First Night Out

We had our first babysitters the other night.  It was me Ma and Pa, which is somewhat ironic, since they've not been very much of a presence in the girls' lives, so far (except for Mom being around for the hospital stay...thank goodness for that, with all the complications).  It went off without a hitch, but we were truly exhausted by the time we returned from our short engagement.  They stayed asleep the entire time we were gone.  Perfect.

As for Jody's question about cloth versus paper diapers, I'm still unsure on this point.  There are good reasons to go with cloth, but with twins that were "releasing" nearly 8-10 times a day, each, there was no chance in hell.  If one looks at the life cycle cost of the two options, it is probably a little softer on the planet to go with cloth.  Although a British environment agency study suggested that there is no significant difference in the footprint of the different options.  Importantly, there is controversy about the methodology from that study.  

We're going to try switching to cloth, now that the girls are "disposing" of much less (at least on easy days...we'll probably still resort to paper on busy/errand days).  In a CBC article, I came across one of the best arguments I've seen for or against cloth.  It mentioned the transmission of vaccine organisms and other things that might turn up in the babies' waste.  Of course, if our wastewater treatment was cutting-edge, this stuff would get eliminated when the diapers were laundered, but just what makes it through to our tap?  The answer is, of course, all kinds of things of unknown toxicity.  On the other hand, if the diapers get put in a landfill, bad things can still leach into aquifers, assuming landfill liners are less than perfect (they are).  

We've got efficient appliances, but one also has to have the time to get the laundry done (I just put back up our dryer line in the yard, which adds more stress to that time budget, but makes me much happier than drying everything in the machine).  Saving the rain in barrels is only one way of making up for the strain we create by consuming paper (or cloth) diapers.  Having a baby or two is, inherently, consumptive, but there is such a thing as mitigating for that consumption (luckily, we live in a less-consumptive way than most parents we know, and we will only get better at this with time). 

Speaking of consumption, I was struck by a comment I noticed in the documentary film "The Future of Food."  It was from the Director of Corporate Communications at Monsanto.  He was quoted in the NY Times as having said, ''Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food.  Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the F.D.A.'s job.''  What a refreshing moment of honesty, eh?  Watch the movie and see what you think.  It is available on Netflix online.  Also check out the Frontline "Poisoned Waters" online, if you need some motivation for filtering your city water and saving the rain that falls upon your roof for watering your plants.  

Almost finished the Greenpeace book (very movie-like...no surprise Watson went on to do the "Whale Wars" show), and I'm thinking of reading "Nickel and Dimed," next. On the other hand, I've been digesting so much negative news through Mother Jones and other media, lately, that I may have to go with another Terkel tome (And They All Sang was good stuff...good, but not great).  It's got me thinking about another media hiatus, since common sense is enough to keep me living as sustainably as possible.  I really don't need any more guilt about that sort of stuff, and it really does start sounding a little dogmatic and authoritarian, sometimes.  As well, I'm not in a position to do much for others, right now, aside from continuing to live reasonably as an example to those that do not (though, I do not do so for them...still debating whether there is such a thing as pure altruism). 

I picked up a Clifford Brown/Max Roach disc that is one of the best jazz albums I've ever heard (and I've heard many).  It's called "Study in Brown."  The same applies to the Charlie Parker 2-disc set from Rhino.  Check them out.  I also picked up some Pteradactyl, Bamboos, Big Sleep, Hoodoo Gurus, and the first Replacements (it's amazing how far the last two strayed from the really cool stuff they did, initially).  The Pteradactyl is a reference from Dirt Rag, and it reminds me of Arab on Radar mixed with Three Mile Pilot (very good stuff).

The plants are all doing great.  I added three blueberry shrubs to our mish-mash of trees and veggies that we're accumulating.  I'm hoping to find some plums or apples that will do well on the coast, but I'm not too hopeful.  I'm "building" out from the corner of the backyard and, so far, have a red buckeye, american elm, redbud, fig, some sweetgrass, and blueberries in place.  The idea is to, eventually, transition the yard into a "working" forest (or useful, if you please).  While I probably won't be crushing up the buckeye to stupefy fish (a historical use), it will provide nectar for hummingbirds and a few other organisms (useful in all ways, not just ways that benefit us).  Germination continues, so lots of work in the near future.

Finally, I ordered the Jamis Eclipse.  The owner of the shop has offered to cover the paint job I bought for the Raleigh, since it belonged to his brother, and he'd like to keep it.  I'm converting bike money into bike money.  This got me over the remaining worry about pulling money out of our family funds.  As well, after last nights ride, I ate it hard in the grocery down the street from the shop.  I was coming around the corner with 2 6-packs in my hands, and the super slick heel of my old Adidas shoe provided exactly zero traction to steer me through the challenge of 90 degrees.  It sounded like an explosion, my knee feels like crap, and many shoppers were treated to quite the entertaining site, I am sure.  I think I'm gonna' have to get rid of those shoes, finally (they're probably 20 years old, by now, and the soles are getting glued back to the shoes in the garage, as I write).  

I watched the Frontline called "Sick Around the World."  It was a brief treatment of health coverage in some other countries (who knew Taiwan had universal coverage?).  It was upsetting, of course, since we've had nothing but bad experiences since the girls were born (Andree's been on the phone for what must be hours, over the past 6 months).  I just don't understand how people can be satisfied with a service that delivers so little for what is paid.  On that note, however, it occurred to me the other day how odd it is that our discussion is so narrow.  What about home and car insurance?  We hear so little about these things, but they are just as much of a pain in the ass.  As an example, the company that insured our former home would not insure our new one.  We live less than a mile from where we used to live, and we are no closer to salt marsh than we were.  If anything, we're now a few more feet above sea level.  Of course, we got our former policy before Katrina and, weirdly, the guy on the phone representing our former company mentioned that we should try again 5 months from when we were calling (as Andree pointed out, AFTER hurricane season!).  

I don't know if the problem is the profit motive behind insurance companies or that we are so practiced at deflecting personal responsibility.  We seem convinced that, even though we know profit is the purpose, somebody else will take care of things if we build our house in a hazardous place, or crash our car because we were texting something banal, or get cancer because we smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for years.  One thing is for sure.  It will be a rough transition to a better system, since it requires a sort of forced altruism that I'm afraid many in this country will vehemently resist (you can't make people love others).  Down the road, perhaps everybody will realize the personal benefits of a healthy population (one can support this for purely selfish reasons...maybe that is what is missing from the arguments for a universal coverage system).  

This reminds me of the "Authority of the Resource" argument, however, which encourages an appreciation of the inherent value in the natural world.  We shouldn't have to convince people that a plant is valuable to them as food or medicine, for example.  It should be enough that the plant is part of a larger system that makes up the regional (indeed, the planetary) organism; humans or no.  That is a subject for another time, though. 

Thanks to all for the comments.  Keep those coming and I'll provide more entries.  It really helps to know that you all are reading this stuff.  I hope at least some of it makes you think or laugh a little.  Oh, and check out the Charleston Bicycle Company website for my completed animation.  It will rotate into the video bar if you just wait, or you can click on it to see it on demand. 

http://charlestonbicyclecompany.com/

Photos:  Cannibal baby, Spiranthes sp. orchid from the back yard, and the three most beautiful females in the world.

 

Double Trouble?

I swore to my wife that I was going to punch the next person that said, "Oh, oh.  Double trouble."  It is the most popular, laziest, and most offensive comment we hear when people see us with the girls.  Our most frequent response to it is, "Double blessing."  This occurs even though we are not religious people.  However, we are considering a service or two at the Unitarian Church.  We were both thinking about it, but neither of us had made a big case for it.  I checked their website the other day, and I kind of dig the whole social justice and compassionate edge they espouse, assuming it is not sandwiched within too much of the boring and insulting ritual and ceremony  that has kept us out of other such places.  I also remember going to some shows at a Unitarian Church in New Orleans, while I was in school at Baton Rouge.  In fact, I specifically remember seeing Policy of Three, there, which was one of the best shows I ever attended, though, I know there was at least one other (was it Men's Recovery Project, too, Bob?...ah, the scary, scary masks).  If a church would host such events, it may be the church for me.

The girls are currently napping, but I'm doubting I'll get another two-hour spell.  I screwed up this morning and got them up too early.  We've been consistent about helping them go back to sleep when they wake at 5:30 or 6 most mornings, but Delia's clogged nares foiled this morning's attempt.  I think the poor angel is suffering from the same pollen sensitivity her father fights every spring.  They're doing fairly well, but I'm growing less and less concerned with following the Baby Whisperer book.  As with most books, there is little to no attention to twins, which makes any routine much, much harder (they're individuals, and they can't always be on exactly the same time frame).  We're having success going 4 hours between feeding, now, but they seem to need a little more sleep than the book suggests.  They'll go from about 7 at night until 6 or so in the morning, which is awesome, but they sure get to lookin' sleepy a good bit throughout the day, and I'd rather respond to those cues of yawning, ear-pulling, face-rubbing, and thumb-sucking by putting them down, rather than trying to force them to stay up, possibly killing the chance that they'll make it through the night.

Delia sounds like a little lion compared to her sister, but Tillie is still speaking noises that are much closer to words.  Delia mostly growls, squeaks, whistles, and barks.  I can't wait 'till she's able to sing along with the Pete Seeger CD we've been listening to since they were born.  She's going to love it...until she's 13, at which point, she'll inevitably refer to it as that embarrassing CD her father, oddly enough, seems to always put on when she has friends over. 

I'm toying with the idea of buying a used Lemond Ti frame from '01.  I was going to buy a Jamis Eclipse (853 steel), but I'd save some money if the seller will meet me near my asking price.  Besides, it'd be nice not to have to worry about the degradation of the frame material, after having gotten rammed in the rear end by Surly and their unfaithful representation of paint finish warranty.

The garden is about the only thing that I seem to make any progress on, lately (other than the girls), which is just fine, since only producing some of our food is a big accomplishment in the face of twins that, again, are napping, albeit with much protest.  I salvaged some sliding shower doors of tempered glass and made a bed with them and some concrete blocks that I finally broke down and purchased (12 at around $1.50 each).  I just missed slicing this poor glass lizard in half with the pick-ax, so I released it in the compost pile for a better life.  I assume he was just coming out of wintering mode; down there grabbing an earthworm here and a few ants and beetle grubs there.  The bed seems to be holding after the first couple of rains, but it's a great reminder of how much more garden space I need if I'm to grow what I'd like.  I got seeds from Clemson Extension, again, this year, so I got Charleston blackeye peas and cayenne peppers, some sunflowers for Andree, dill, parsley, tomatoes, bell peppers, and a few others.  I'll keep updating on their progress.  The lettuce has produced like gangbusters for the second year in a row, though the spinach was less prolific.  It's hanging on, but we've only gotten a few handfuls from the 8 or so plants.

The rain barrel design is near completion.  I now need only disguise them with some of that cheap bamboo fencing and fasten the second overflow hose.  I also need to buy a cistern pump for watering purposes.  I tried a cheap manual siphon pump, but with the barrels only being at ground level or only slightly above, this is none too easy.  The overflow hose is pool hose from Lowes, attached to 1 1/2" couplings that have a rubber washer and a steel lockring on the inside.  I originally glued this into the trash can barrel I made, but the gutter sealant I used is probably one of the most toxic substances one can buy, and the water will at least only flow by that which is in the gutters (I didn't want the water sitting in the barrel, reacting with the stuff over time and with the addition of the sun's heat).  I opted for a gutter separate from the barrel, since I didn't want water backing up the gutter and spilling onto the house.  I also screened the ends of the overflow hoses.  The entrance to the barrel is simply a plant pot with some extra holes I drilled, some mesh screen, and some river stones to weigh down the pot and help catch any big stuff that might, otherwise, clog the screen. 

After just having watched the Frontline on water pollution, the film "The Unforeseen" (about contamination of the Barton Springs area in Austin by development), the film "Flow" (about water problems the world over), and the current dialogue with Garrett about stormwater mis-management, the rain barrels are seeming more and more important.  Though it'd be nice to have an entirely terra cotta or other clay or stone-based system and one that collects all that falls upon the roof, I don't have the money.  The two 55-gallon, plastic barrels will have to do, and I'm comfortable watering the plants from them, since the intended use for these is drinking water storage.  Ultimately, I'd like to get a table-top filter reservoir (like the ones Lehman's carries), so that we can provide most of our own drinking water from the barrels.  With the current home and money limitations, the grey-water recycling probably won't happen, but that can remain a goal for down the road (drainage is critical for this sort of thing, and our lot is not amenable).

I'm thinking this may be an avenue for my next job.  I could live with installing rain collection systems for a paycheck, and these will only become more important over time.  I suspect it'll be either this or electronic engineering or an electrician apprenticeship (if I can't get back into teaching Natural History somewhere).  These interest me for two reasons.  Number one, micro-solar and micro-wind systems will only become more prevalent as we continue to phase out current electricity fuels.  Second, I really, really would like to know how to make a bicycle do more, electrically.  There are at least a couple of vendors online that sell storage batteries that hook up to bicycle trainers.  Even as inefficient as they are, a two-hour spin on the trainer could power the television for a movie or the computer for a few hours each evening.  The thing is, I'd like to know how to patch this power into a home grid, rather than just to a 12-volt battery.  I'm pretty sure Ed Begley (sp?) has some such system, but I haven't done any looking to see what he uses.  Ultimately, I would at least figure out a generator that would negate the need for ever needing bicycle light batteries.  I've been riding Shimano's front generator for a long time, now, but it is only for the headlight.  I'm very happy with the performance (I've been through at least a few hard rains with it and the resistance is minimal).  I'd like a taillight, too.

The ride last night was a smasher.  We went to Mt. Pleasant, then joined some of the CBC team at Hampton Park, downtown, for some very fast laps.  I rode the Lemond for a second time, but I won't be buying it.  I'd be replacing the wheels and the fork, and it'd wind up costing me as much as the Jamis, in the end, without a warranty that was mine (plus, it ain't steel).  So, I now need to find a buyer for my huge, 58-60cm Raleigh and either my fixed gear Miyata and/or my repainted tour monster.  I sold the Xtracycle to a good friend for $800, and I don't really miss it.  I'm thinking I'll feel the same with the other two, if they both sell, at least until I have the time (read:  the girls are old enough) to get back on the bicycle camping horse.  The goal for now is to get down to 1 MTB, 1 road race bike, and 1 tour bike (though, I could always just tow the Burley behind the race frame, in a pinch).  In the meantime, I miss the Marrington rides with Dave.  I've got to get back off the road.  

Update:  the sunflowers are germinating (as are some other seeds, but I haven't yet identified them...they're all still in the cold frame, for now).