we're travelling this thanksgiving, which isn't riotous in itself, but we're doing it by bus and rail.
tonight we leave new york by greyhound through cleveland to ashtabula. friday we'll spend the day hanging out with friends and family there and connect with jake. then the three of us will catch a train out of cleveland and down to florida, where erin's folks (and friends) live. we'll be staying with family, who may be in danger of desperately spoiling jake because he's their first grandchild experience ;)
erin's mom, judi, has been incited to try for a mostly local thanksgiving dinner *jumping for joy* with a turkey from a guy they know, and we'll hit the local farmer's markets and stores that sell local produce. i'll be bringing jersey cranberries with us cos i don't think they grow down there.
we'll be renting a car while we're there :( but we did get the smallest available car.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
A Day in the Lower Impact Life
sharon started a virtual roll-call of low[er]-impact "a day in the life" articles. kim did one. glenn did one. sarah did one. i'm sure others have done them, too, but i forget who did and who didn't. here's mine! this is from yesterday, thursday, november 8.
i wake up to my cell phone going off at 5:30am. i don't keep an alarm clock plugged in, and i only have to charge my cell phone every other day. i plug in the bedside lamp, click it on, roll over and poke/converse erin awake enough for us to get up. since i'm not showering today, this takes up to a half hour and involves some giggling. we get up, i grab my work clothes and the kitten and the kitten's box and my cell phone and unplug the bedside lamp before heading downstairs. i let the dog out, feed the cats, start the coffee (actually, erin usually does the coffee, which is fair trade, organic and locally roasted in brooklyn), use the bathroom after erin to combine our flush. if there's any water left in the shower bucket from whoever showered last then i pour that into the toilet to flush it instead of pulling the handle. i dress, deodorizing with my lovely crystal deo. back in the kitchen, i toast a couple pieces of bread (this week is whole wheat from a local bakery, but i'd rather if it were homemade) and spread them with either peanut butter (organic, but not local) or yogurt cheese from ronnybrook farms (today was yogurt cheese). a cup of coffee with ronnybrook milk rounds out breakfast. i read whatever is on the table while i eat (we do still get the newspaper). i grab leftovers from the fridge (today i'm having pumpkin black bean chili, leftover parsley potatoes and steamed broccoli), and an apple from the counter and stuff them in my bag. i wash my plate and knife (unless erin uses them for her toast) and rinse out my coffee cup and hang it up. i brush my teeth and head out the door to the bus. it's now 7:00am.
by bus and subway train i travel the 10 miles to work. i like seeing the same people on the bus and train most days. in the summer i was biking to the train station, but i've let that go for now.
8:00am i arrive at work and take the elevator to the 41st floor. i put my lunch in the fridge, turn on my computer, and do a day's work. if i have something that's not paper recyclable, i take it to the common trash can in the kitchen. i use a cloth i keep in my pocket to dry my hands in the restroom. i use my re-usable mug for my cup of coffee, and also for the water i drink during the day (from the tap). i heat my lunch up in a glass bowl i brought from home, and eat it with real utensils, using a cloth napkin to wipe my mouth. i pack up my teabag and apple core in my otherwise empty food containers to take home to compost. i continue doing work (and internetting in between bits of work). at 4pm, it's time to head home, so i shut down my computer, turn off the monitor, check to see if the lights in my bosses' offices are off, grab my food containers and my jacket and ride the elevator downstairs again.
i walk a half mile up the train route and catch the train at brooklyn bridge. this is as far as "every day is mostly the same" goes.
today's thursday, so that means stopping on the way home to pick up the csa share. today's also sign-up for the winter share, so hang out and talk with diane a bit about what would be required of the site co-ordinator for winter share pickup, even though someone else has already signed on for the job. then i head home with our veggies (this week we got red boston lettuce, daikon radishes, rutabegas, yellow potatoes, cilantro, parsley, scallions, and red cabbage). i could walk the 2.5 miles home from sunnyside, but it's remarkably dark already, and i can see the bus coming when i get to the bus stop, so i decide to hop on. i get off the bus 2 miles later and walk the 0.5 miles home from there.
6:15pm i get home, put the veggies on the table and make my way upstairs to see what is going on in the house. erin's watching re-run tv to unwind from a stressful event at work. we argue briefly, and i go play with the kitten in the bedroom. usually i would work on making dinner, but we're having a sort of going-away celebration for our roommate who is moving out this weekend. so tonight isn't going to be particularly low-impact in terms of food. at least we don't order in, but we do go to the regular grocery store and pick up several items of unknown origin (taco shells, whole wheat tortillas, tapatio hot sauce, vegetarian taco mix in a box, pre-shredded cheese, sparkling apple cider from california, on-sale halloween candy). it's going to be a taco night ;)
when we get home with the groceries (i'm sad to say that we did drive to the store, but i'm glad to say we didn't take use plastic bags to carry our purchases), christine and ruben are home. we all gather in the kitchen for an entertaining version of making dinner. we eat, we drink apple cider, we laugh, there's a toast, christine brought cupcakes...
8:30pm no one can eat any more food. lol. we pull out the scattergories game and play three rounds. then we get distracted. after a bit, someone picks up the alphabet die and starts rolling it. it morphs into a free association word game, each of us calling out words that start with whatever letter lands on top. then we decide to make up sentences, each of us rolling the die in turn and adding a word to the sentence. good wholesome low-impact fun. much much much laughter. many lewd references. around 10:45pm we all head up to our respective beds.
i wake up to my cell phone going off at 5:30am. i don't keep an alarm clock plugged in, and i only have to charge my cell phone every other day. i plug in the bedside lamp, click it on, roll over and poke/converse erin awake enough for us to get up. since i'm not showering today, this takes up to a half hour and involves some giggling. we get up, i grab my work clothes and the kitten and the kitten's box and my cell phone and unplug the bedside lamp before heading downstairs. i let the dog out, feed the cats, start the coffee (actually, erin usually does the coffee, which is fair trade, organic and locally roasted in brooklyn), use the bathroom after erin to combine our flush. if there's any water left in the shower bucket from whoever showered last then i pour that into the toilet to flush it instead of pulling the handle. i dress, deodorizing with my lovely crystal deo. back in the kitchen, i toast a couple pieces of bread (this week is whole wheat from a local bakery, but i'd rather if it were homemade) and spread them with either peanut butter (organic, but not local) or yogurt cheese from ronnybrook farms (today was yogurt cheese). a cup of coffee with ronnybrook milk rounds out breakfast. i read whatever is on the table while i eat (we do still get the newspaper). i grab leftovers from the fridge (today i'm having pumpkin black bean chili, leftover parsley potatoes and steamed broccoli), and an apple from the counter and stuff them in my bag. i wash my plate and knife (unless erin uses them for her toast) and rinse out my coffee cup and hang it up. i brush my teeth and head out the door to the bus. it's now 7:00am.
by bus and subway train i travel the 10 miles to work. i like seeing the same people on the bus and train most days. in the summer i was biking to the train station, but i've let that go for now.
8:00am i arrive at work and take the elevator to the 41st floor. i put my lunch in the fridge, turn on my computer, and do a day's work. if i have something that's not paper recyclable, i take it to the common trash can in the kitchen. i use a cloth i keep in my pocket to dry my hands in the restroom. i use my re-usable mug for my cup of coffee, and also for the water i drink during the day (from the tap). i heat my lunch up in a glass bowl i brought from home, and eat it with real utensils, using a cloth napkin to wipe my mouth. i pack up my teabag and apple core in my otherwise empty food containers to take home to compost. i continue doing work (and internetting in between bits of work). at 4pm, it's time to head home, so i shut down my computer, turn off the monitor, check to see if the lights in my bosses' offices are off, grab my food containers and my jacket and ride the elevator downstairs again.
i walk a half mile up the train route and catch the train at brooklyn bridge. this is as far as "every day is mostly the same" goes.
today's thursday, so that means stopping on the way home to pick up the csa share. today's also sign-up for the winter share, so hang out and talk with diane a bit about what would be required of the site co-ordinator for winter share pickup, even though someone else has already signed on for the job. then i head home with our veggies (this week we got red boston lettuce, daikon radishes, rutabegas, yellow potatoes, cilantro, parsley, scallions, and red cabbage). i could walk the 2.5 miles home from sunnyside, but it's remarkably dark already, and i can see the bus coming when i get to the bus stop, so i decide to hop on. i get off the bus 2 miles later and walk the 0.5 miles home from there.
6:15pm i get home, put the veggies on the table and make my way upstairs to see what is going on in the house. erin's watching re-run tv to unwind from a stressful event at work. we argue briefly, and i go play with the kitten in the bedroom. usually i would work on making dinner, but we're having a sort of going-away celebration for our roommate who is moving out this weekend. so tonight isn't going to be particularly low-impact in terms of food. at least we don't order in, but we do go to the regular grocery store and pick up several items of unknown origin (taco shells, whole wheat tortillas, tapatio hot sauce, vegetarian taco mix in a box, pre-shredded cheese, sparkling apple cider from california, on-sale halloween candy). it's going to be a taco night ;)
when we get home with the groceries (i'm sad to say that we did drive to the store, but i'm glad to say we didn't take use plastic bags to carry our purchases), christine and ruben are home. we all gather in the kitchen for an entertaining version of making dinner. we eat, we drink apple cider, we laugh, there's a toast, christine brought cupcakes...
8:30pm no one can eat any more food. lol. we pull out the scattergories game and play three rounds. then we get distracted. after a bit, someone picks up the alphabet die and starts rolling it. it morphs into a free association word game, each of us calling out words that start with whatever letter lands on top. then we decide to make up sentences, each of us rolling the die in turn and adding a word to the sentence. good wholesome low-impact fun. much much much laughter. many lewd references. around 10:45pm we all head up to our respective beds.
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