http://waterwordsthatwork.com/ maybe my favorite blog so far. I say this mostly because I work for an environmental non-profit who provides consulting to other environmental non-profits and often the issue of "framing the problem" comes up. This blog primarily focuses on water issues (streams, stormwater, pollution, water rights, etc) but the concepts could be applied to almost any environmental issue.
The genius of this blog is not immediately apparent, but read a few posts and you'll see that this guy (Eric Eckl is his name) writes well and stays focused. You won't read many platitudes or "engagement made easy" kinds of articles because he understands that getting people to change their behavior for the common good is difficult work.
In short - community organizers, and local non-profits take note!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Pons Aelius
When Hadrian commissioned his great wall in AD 122, he ordered six forts be built along its length, a castle every mile, and two watchtowers between each milecastle. With today's visit to the Castle Keep in Newcastle (from which the modern city gets its name), we have been to the site of five of the six forts. There is nothing left of the fort at Pons Aelius (the bridge of Aelius: Hadrian's family name), but there is a fun Norman keep. We climbed all the way to the roof up the scariest spiral stairs we've yet seen to some beautiful views on this beautiful day, our last here. The two modern bridges you see in the background are the main car and pedestrian routes, respectively, to the city of Gateshead across the River Tyne. The pedestrian bridge is an engineering marvel - it's a drawbridge that hinges at its abutments and swings vertically out of a passing ship's path.
We visited the Diamond pub one last time, and much to our delight the man in grey was still there, as was cask conditioned Black Sheep ale, our favorite on this trip. Having said our goodbyes to the beer barrels, we are now ready to travel for 30-some hours tomorrow. The only form of motorized trasport we won't use is a boat! We will post if time and brain allow. Thanks for reading this, and we look forward to showing you all of our pictures when we return.
We visited the Diamond pub one last time, and much to our delight the man in grey was still there, as was cask conditioned Black Sheep ale, our favorite on this trip. Having said our goodbyes to the beer barrels, we are now ready to travel for 30-some hours tomorrow. The only form of motorized trasport we won't use is a boat! We will post if time and brain allow. Thanks for reading this, and we look forward to showing you all of our pictures when we return.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Homesick now
We could think of no more fitting way to spend our second to last day in Newcastle than by attending a football match. We slept in a bit at Simon's, mostly shook off the exertions of last night on the town, and wandered into the team store to get tickets. According to our friends here, there's been a great deal of drama within the home team's leadership, leading up to the sudden departure of the manager (we would say coach) the day we first arrived here. Today's match was N.U.'s third or fourth without a leader, and the team has not been doing well. They are a good team, it's just that morale is in the toilet right now. So today's match was an instructive one for us: we were really there more for the people-watching than for the actual game, and the crowd obliged by being large, mostly supportive of the team, and extraordinarily vocal. You see, soccer fans don't just yell, they sing. In unison. All 53,000 of them. It was awesome!
We are having a great time here, but we both feel ready to head home soon. It's hard work being a stranger in a strange land, and we really miss our friends, colleagues, and cats. After all, there's no place like home. See you soon.
We are having a great time here, but we both feel ready to head home soon. It's hard work being a stranger in a strange land, and we really miss our friends, colleagues, and cats. After all, there's no place like home. See you soon.
Make way for the princess
Today's trip was to the highly defensible town of Durham and its cathedral, said by many to be the finest example of Norman, that is Romanesqe, architecture in England and resting place of Saint Cuthbert. We'd been looking forward to climbing the bell tower, which at 280 feet is the highest in Europe, according to the guide. Apparently they also have some beautiful reliquaries and devotional art, not to mention the Saint's lovely shrine. To our dissappointment, all these were closed and visiting hours severely curtailed due to the imminent arrival of Princess Anne. We mere peasants were made to go have a pint on the riverside in the warm sunshine. Durham Brewery's fine cream ale did much to restore our spirits, and we had a lovely time exploring the medieval streets, vennels, and market places.
Then it was on to an evening with Simon and Jill, who took us out to sample a bit of real Newcastle nightlife. Northern Soul is apparently alive and well, as evidenced by the fabulous funk band we heard. We shook our moneymakers until Sam couldn't stand anymore, and walked back to Simon's sweet garret flat for a well-earned rest.
Then it was on to an evening with Simon and Jill, who took us out to sample a bit of real Newcastle nightlife. Northern Soul is apparently alive and well, as evidenced by the fabulous funk band we heard. We shook our moneymakers until Sam couldn't stand anymore, and walked back to Simon's sweet garret flat for a well-earned rest.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Hotspur! (Not the musical.)
Well here we are on one of our last days out and about and it was a good one. Not only was it our ninth wedding anniversary, it was sunny and we got to explore a spectacular castle ruin near the equally fine coastal town of Amble. The castle overlooks a small bay and the North Sea beyond. We found it hard to photograph due to its size and general complexity. The best part was the three-story keep which we ran all around in and felt quite lost in a bygone century.
We had Angus' nephew Simon with us who was kind enough to drive us to each of our destinations today. We started out the day in search of 'proper' fish and chips which took us to no less than three coastal towns before we found our quarry. 'Proper' must come in newspaper, be comprised of a large chunk of fried fish and deep-fried or 'batter' sausage should be on the menu as well.
We spent the afternoon in Alnwick gardens, which were not as cool as advertised, but had some pretty neat water sculptures. Even though it's hard by Alnwick castle, the garden is cunningly designed so as to allow no views of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's residence. The treehouse was a highlight, although tea was not available at four pm, but it did feel as if we'd gone to Endor, sans Ewoks.
We had Angus' nephew Simon with us who was kind enough to drive us to each of our destinations today. We started out the day in search of 'proper' fish and chips which took us to no less than three coastal towns before we found our quarry. 'Proper' must come in newspaper, be comprised of a large chunk of fried fish and deep-fried or 'batter' sausage should be on the menu as well.
We spent the afternoon in Alnwick gardens, which were not as cool as advertised, but had some pretty neat water sculptures. Even though it's hard by Alnwick castle, the garden is cunningly designed so as to allow no views of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's residence. The treehouse was a highlight, although tea was not available at four pm, but it did feel as if we'd gone to Endor, sans Ewoks.
Hotspur! (Not the musical.)
Well here we are on one of our last days out and about and it was a good one. Not only was it our ninth wedding anniversary, it was sunny and we got to explore a spectacular castle ruin near the equally fine coastal town of Amble. The castle overlooks a small bay and the North Sea beyond. We found it hard to photograph due to its size and general complexity. The best part was the three-story keep which we ran all around in and felt quite lost in a bygone century.
We had Angus' nephew Simon with us who was kind enough to drive us to each of our destinations today. We started out the day in search of 'proper' fish and chips which took us to no less than three coastal towns before we found our quarry. 'Proper' must come in newspaper, be comprised of a large chunk of fried fish and deep-fried or 'batter' sausage should be on the menu as well.
We spent the afternoon in Alnwick gardens, which were not as cool as advertised, but had some pretty neat water sculptures. Even though it's hard by Alnwick castle, the garden is cunningly designed so as to allow no views of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's residence. The treehouse was a highlight, although tea was not available at four pm, but it did feel as if we'd gone to Endor, sans Ewoks.
We had Angus' nephew Simon with us who was kind enough to drive us to each of our destinations today. We started out the day in search of 'proper' fish and chips which took us to no less than three coastal towns before we found our quarry. 'Proper' must come in newspaper, be comprised of a large chunk of fried fish and deep-fried or 'batter' sausage should be on the menu as well.
We spent the afternoon in Alnwick gardens, which were not as cool as advertised, but had some pretty neat water sculptures. Even though it's hard by Alnwick castle, the garden is cunningly designed so as to allow no views of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's residence. The treehouse was a highlight, although tea was not available at four pm, but it did feel as if we'd gone to Endor, sans Ewoks.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Ave Maria, and Maria, and Maria
Our last day on the wall was short on walking and long on looking. We backtracked for a few miles to the cutoff to Lanercost Priory and its beautiful parish church (Anglican) and the ruined abbey (Catholic). Not surprisingly, this was the fifth or sixth St. Mary's we've come across. It was also a great example of what went on here during the religious troubles of the late Tudor period. We had a great look around, then caught the AD 122 bus to the immense fort and archeological dig at Vindolanda. Their museum is excellent, entirely filled with items from the site and well interpreted, to give a vibrant picture of daily life in a Roman outpost. Town, really - in addition to the legions, there was a substantial civilian presence there. Our favorite parts were standing on the full-size replica wall and shouting insults at sheep, learning about the many uses of hair moss, marveling at the preserved leather goods and silver ear cleaners, and playing find-the-phallus in all the engraved stones. Romans had dirty minds, I'm here to say. Now we're back in Ponteland, resting up for a day driving north with Simon tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Mille Passum
Willowford Farm was totally awesome! If you are ever in the north of England, Liam and the gals will treat you right, and feed you better than anywhere else. And as for tourist value, the Wall runs through the place, and most of the buildings are made from parts of it. When we put together our farm B&B, all you who are in on that crazy plan, these folks make a great model - and they are our age. From there we rambled across easy, if mucky, pasture land to the imaginatively named village of Walltown and the Centurion Inn, which makes up for its lumpy beds with fabulous trout, local craft ales, and a decent selection of single malt scotches, not to mention the friendly barmaid and the lively conversation. We needed all that after our walk today. Tomorrow: a shorter walk, more ruins, and return to Ponteland. Now: deep sleep, and dreams of large farm animals.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Romani ite domum!
It's big. It's long. It's hard. It's craggy. It's covered in sheep.
We walked a long time and learned that stone in the north of England only need be quarried once every couple of millenia: what was a wall became a castle which became a farmhouse - all within a stones' throw of one another. Reduce, reuse, recycle indeed. As our current culture can't seem to merely get a grip on something as simple as aluminum cans, it doesn't seem to bode well. There is only so many times you can reuse chipboard and sheetrock, after all.
When we return, ask us and we will tell you the tale of Devil Mare. We had a huge dinner here at Willowford Farm, and we must now sleep. Just for the record, all day I've alternated between feeling that I'm walking through either a Hogarth painting or an episode of "All Creatures Great and Small." In either case, Sam has no idea what i'm referring to. Finally found good local dark beer, and found the entrance to the Mines of Moria. Sleep now.
We walked a long time and learned that stone in the north of England only need be quarried once every couple of millenia: what was a wall became a castle which became a farmhouse - all within a stones' throw of one another. Reduce, reuse, recycle indeed. As our current culture can't seem to merely get a grip on something as simple as aluminum cans, it doesn't seem to bode well. There is only so many times you can reuse chipboard and sheetrock, after all.
When we return, ask us and we will tell you the tale of Devil Mare. We had a huge dinner here at Willowford Farm, and we must now sleep. Just for the record, all day I've alternated between feeling that I'm walking through either a Hogarth painting or an episode of "All Creatures Great and Small." In either case, Sam has no idea what i'm referring to. Finally found good local dark beer, and found the entrance to the Mines of Moria. Sleep now.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The man in the grey suit
Another rest day today. The regional buses are abysmal on Sundays and Simon was working, so we stayed in the village for rest, a mini pub crawl, and a traditional English Sunday lunch. The first place we went, the Seven Stars, was not serving food. The Smithy, a place recommended by Simon, was fully booked. Starting to believe that this is really going to be one of our traditional everything-is-closed anniversary trips, we went to our first public house here, the Diamond. They had just stopped serving lunch. At five after two.
The barman suggested we try the Italian place down the way, and we confused the pants off him when we said we'd already been there, and we really wanted to eat English food. It was then that I noticed the Man in Grey. He was standing at the end of the bar, dapperly dressed and drinking Guinness, exactly as he had been on Friday night. He caught the barman's eye, made a subtle gesture, and before you could say Yorkshire Pudding, we were seated in the back and ordering enoumous plates of roast beast and root vegetables. I had the lamb, and it will surely be some time before I feel a craving to taste mint. They put massive quantities of mint gravy over the whole plate. Now I know why Dad was apprehensive when I served lamb at a family dinner.
We then crossed the river Pont to explore the pretty church and graveyard. Parts of the building date back to Norman times, but the oldest grave marker we could read was from 1729. Sam fond out that squashed yew berries are sticky and foul smelling. We also noticed that crows have very different voices here. They don't caw, more like scold like a grey jay. Much more genteel than our raucous crows!
The barman suggested we try the Italian place down the way, and we confused the pants off him when we said we'd already been there, and we really wanted to eat English food. It was then that I noticed the Man in Grey. He was standing at the end of the bar, dapperly dressed and drinking Guinness, exactly as he had been on Friday night. He caught the barman's eye, made a subtle gesture, and before you could say Yorkshire Pudding, we were seated in the back and ordering enoumous plates of roast beast and root vegetables. I had the lamb, and it will surely be some time before I feel a craving to taste mint. They put massive quantities of mint gravy over the whole plate. Now I know why Dad was apprehensive when I served lamb at a family dinner.
We then crossed the river Pont to explore the pretty church and graveyard. Parts of the building date back to Norman times, but the oldest grave marker we could read was from 1729. Sam fond out that squashed yew berries are sticky and foul smelling. We also noticed that crows have very different voices here. They don't caw, more like scold like a grey jay. Much more genteel than our raucous crows!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Bringing coals to Newcastle
Today was another day of exploration as we wandered in circles in the medieval street plan of Newcastle, dodged cowpats in the town moor (where every freeman or his widow may pasture two milk cows - even to this day!), and observed the local street life, mostly composed of hordes of teenaged punks drinking from bottles in the town square. It felt like a weird combination of the Grove in Boise and a play I worked on at Cornish, set in a depressed coal mining town in the both of England. The accent here is certianly what we were aiming for then, and I'm sure I've recognized a few of the characters. We found the old town wall and two old churches, the university, and a 13th century abbey, now a fancy restaurant. We had dinner and a pint at our host Simon's three-story pub-cum-dance club. Now we wait for the late bus to Ponteland. We miss the convenience of the Tube, even as we love the beauty of the country. We still hold out hope of spotting a hedgehog.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Rest Day
After a lovely train ride through the English countryside, we've made it to the Ritson house in Ponteland, outside of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. To celebrate, we took a bath and a nap and walked to the village pub for a pint of bitter. This house is lovely, very comfortable and with a beautiful garden. We look forward to breakfasting in the conservatory.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Eye in the sky
Well our last day in London has come and gone. We ended the day with a ride on the Eye - a truly gigantic farris wheel that takes 30 minutes to make a single rotation. The picture here is the view from the top. At last we could see the extent of the place we had been running around in like mice in a maze.
We also visited Greenwich, land where time and longitude began. It's a very nice town just down the Thames from the heart of London. We took a commuter boat to get there and got to see much of the waterfront. The Royal Observatory is in Greenwich where many historical clocks and telescopes are kept. Much to our surprise there are also parrots in the park nearby!
Lastly, there was the Tower of London. It's basically a huge castle right in the middle of town. So much to say about that and much more but that's all for now! Pictures await you all.
We also visited Greenwich, land where time and longitude began. It's a very nice town just down the Thames from the heart of London. We took a commuter boat to get there and got to see much of the waterfront. The Royal Observatory is in Greenwich where many historical clocks and telescopes are kept. Much to our surprise there are also parrots in the park nearby!
Lastly, there was the Tower of London. It's basically a huge castle right in the middle of town. So much to say about that and much more but that's all for now! Pictures await you all.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
But better is beer if drink you lack...
Today was museum day. British Museum and the Hadrian exhibit in the AM, walk throgh Hyde Park, then Natural History Museum in the afternoon. Of course we spent way too much time in the British, and of course it took longer to walk through the park than we had planned. Altogether a good time was had by all, even though our brains a-splode. There was so much to see! We concentrated on the Hadrian stuff (his boyfriend was really pretty) and the mummies (nice blokes, very dry humor). We could spend a week there. Natural History: dinosaurs. We even saw our favorite - a pleasiasaur. Then, the tube at rush hour back to our Notting Hill lodgings, and the corner pub. Sam had bangers and mash, as if that's a surprise to anyone. We are now resting our feet and watching football with the neigborhood. My feet hurt, but it's a good pain. London has a very fine texture: lots to see and absorb, but presented in zillions of small bits.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Mind the Gap
Well here we are, farther from home than we have ever been, yet remarkably comfortable. The air feels and smells like Seattle: damp, briny, and urban. We've seen things we know from movies and things that might as well have been in movies and a very nice play. We have been more or less awake for 32 hours. We have learned that banks don't always work the way we want, and that's ok. We are very tired and will sleep like babies. Right now.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Not All Cats Hate Water
Despite the popular theory that cats really hate water, it seems that there are nevertheless some who don't mind it. Take our cat Heloise for instance. It may appear from this photo that she simply got a bath. Not true. Turns out that she likes to chase the hose when I was watering the garden. We ran her around the backyard as the chased the stream of water (much like cats chase a laser pointer) and even blasted her directly a few times. All that seemed to do was harden her resolve to "catch that damn water once and for all". Ryan can be seen here dealing with the aftermath.
In other non-aquafeline news, we are making final preparation for leaving for England on Monday. Apparently that consists of going to a halibut barbecue at a local plant nursery, planting a red castor bean plant (Ricinus communis), going to the airport to pick up our friend from Illinois, and . . . oh casing the cat around the backyard with the hose. I for one have never felt more ready to travel.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Snow Lake and Samderella
This summer, we've not had nearly enough time in the mountains, what with the house, the kittens, and my hurt foot. Oh, and saving up vacation time for England. So, we decided to go for a day hike.
Snow Lake is the most popular trail in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness, due to its proximity to Seattle, ease of ascent, and stunning beauty. We generally avoid these trails, but we wanted a dose of subalpine beauty without a huge time commtiment, so we joined the conga line and up we went.
Three easy and beautiful miles later, we found ourselves on an enourmous boulder overlooking the lake. Soon joined by camp robbers, we discovered that these may be the most tame wild birds ever. When Sam held his arm up to shade the sun, one nearly took a perch! We weren't planning on feeding them until that. Then of course we had to each give it a try. Sam looked like a fairy tale character, he was so covered in woodland creatures.
Snow Lake is the most popular trail in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness, due to its proximity to Seattle, ease of ascent, and stunning beauty. We generally avoid these trails, but we wanted a dose of subalpine beauty without a huge time commtiment, so we joined the conga line and up we went.
Three easy and beautiful miles later, we found ourselves on an enourmous boulder overlooking the lake. Soon joined by camp robbers, we discovered that these may be the most tame wild birds ever. When Sam held his arm up to shade the sun, one nearly took a perch! We weren't planning on feeding them until that. Then of course we had to each give it a try. Sam looked like a fairy tale character, he was so covered in woodland creatures.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Bufo at the MK Nature Center
The MK Nature Center or, as we like to call it, the Trout Zoo, is a great place. From it, Boiseans can learn all about gardening for wildlife and habitat preservation. And the life cycle of Salmon. In addition to this totally cute frog, we saw a deer and her fawn eating apples, lots of butterflies, ducks, and the biggest salmon I have ever seen swimming 500 miles from the nearest ocean.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
iPhoneography
Learning how to post entries from the magic wonderbrick. Sam played drums and provided tech support.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Building Blocks
The other day, I watched a speech given by consumer waste watchdog-cum-photographer (and local Seattle resident) Chris Jordan given at the Greener Gadgets conference earlier this year in New York City. If you haven't seen his work, it's highly recommendable and awe-inspiring. At one point in his speech, he talks about plastic water bottles and how many millions are used every day in this county. Bottled water is a rather new phenomenon and a particularly wasteful and decadent one especially for anyone living in Seattle (we have some of the cleanest municipal water in the world for a city of this size). The plastic that makes up water bottles is of course, at its core, a synthetic molecule often a polymer such as polyethylene terephthalate (or PETE). Chris Jordan mentioned that such plastics never truly degrade back into the environment. All they can do is break down into smaller and smaller pieces ending eventually at single molecules of PETE running around.
Which got me thinking . . .
What if we're laying the groundwork for new, sophisticated forms of life that have yet to evolve? I can image strange biota of the future fueled not by glucose and other simple hydrocarbons, but by some of these strange, much more complex polymers. Increasingly, it seems that geology and outerspace will no longer determine the fate of our planet, as it once did. Complex, intelligent, reactive, adaptive life will. Is this all to say that I sanction throwing plastic around everywhere? Truly I do not, but I am constantly fascinated with the lemonade our planet has made of out eons of lemons. Earth's early atmosphere consisted of very little oxygen, and was therefore totally inhospitable to most of the animal lifeforms present today. It look single-celled lifeforms millions of years to slowly convert sunlight and CO2 into a waste product that we rely on everyday, good old oxygen.
Final thoughts: just a sense of wonder at how closely linked death is to birth, and creation is to destruction.
Which got me thinking . . .
What if we're laying the groundwork for new, sophisticated forms of life that have yet to evolve? I can image strange biota of the future fueled not by glucose and other simple hydrocarbons, but by some of these strange, much more complex polymers. Increasingly, it seems that geology and outerspace will no longer determine the fate of our planet, as it once did. Complex, intelligent, reactive, adaptive life will. Is this all to say that I sanction throwing plastic around everywhere? Truly I do not, but I am constantly fascinated with the lemonade our planet has made of out eons of lemons. Earth's early atmosphere consisted of very little oxygen, and was therefore totally inhospitable to most of the animal lifeforms present today. It look single-celled lifeforms millions of years to slowly convert sunlight and CO2 into a waste product that we rely on everyday, good old oxygen.
Final thoughts: just a sense of wonder at how closely linked death is to birth, and creation is to destruction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)