Grief is the pathway to action

...ut these things because we don’t want to be a downer. Nor do we want to be labeled morbid, pessimistic, impractical, oversensitive or even (gasp!) a tree-hugger. (FYI I was reprimanded in kindergarten for repeatedly arriving at school covered in sap because I’d been hugging trees all the way to school.) But the grief is there, the endangered elephant in the room, which we walk around and talk past, and do our best to ignore by making our lives eve...

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2015 Resolutions

...he first quarter of the year. Erik’s 2015 resolutions Write a whole grain ebook. Now that I can make a decent whole grain loaf it’s time to see if I can teach it. Take an electronics class. I’ve built circuits in the past but I can’t say that I fully understand how they work. I’ve also fooled around with an Arduino, but I need to deepen my knowledge. Take a woodworking class. I’ve got some basic skills, but it’s well past time to get better at car...

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Heirloom Expo in Photos

I highly recommend making the trip next year to Santa Rosa to see the National Heirloom Exposition put on by the folks at Baker Creek Seeds. The centerpiece of the expo is the massive display of hundreds of different varieties of squash, melons, tomatoes and other edibles. It’s inspiring and frustrating all at once since, unless you have your own garden, you’ll never see such diversity at the supermarket. I came back with the will to improve our...

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Branch Weaving & Climbing Structure Workshop

...Come join us in building a natural climbing structure out of branches and making beautiful branch weavings(to take home). “At the very moment that the bond is breaking between the young and the natural world, a growing body of research links our mental, physical and spiritual health directly to our association with nature.” –Richard Louv: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder Bring Your Own Lunch We will provid...

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Cat Scratch Fever: How to Make Your Own Cat Scratching Posts

...make nice things scratch-able? With these two notions in mind I set about making a scratching post that I could attach to the side of our Ikea couch. Here’s what you’ll need: 3/8 inch sisal rope scrap wood (I used a 4×4) [I have revised this post: nails work better than staples!] #17 x 1 inch wire nails hot glue (optional, but a few dabs will keep the sisal on the post longer) Wrapping the wood is straightforwards, if tedious. I used some clamps...

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