A friend came to visit us and after eating homemade Belgian waffles I suggested I take her and my family to Pod Meadow, which I had discovered on a walk with Transition earlier in the week. The weather was a balmy 55F and only partially overcast. Pod Meadow is an amazing conservation area in my …
Author Archives: kaat
Latest Pots
Yesterday I went to my teacher, Lisa Dolliver’s annual show. After wowing all the pottery on display and making a small purchase I picked up the small, heavy box with my name on it. It contained the pots I made during the last session. The session before that had been cancelled so these pots were …
Wild is Old (Owls) Redux
I am writing another poem for my 350 poems project. At this rate I’ll be 90 years old by the time we get 350 poems together. That won’t be too bad, really.
Mixed Up Library
Yesterday I finally straightened out my library. I found it to be a strange mixture of Gardening, Herbalism, Ecology, Botany, Beekeeping, Environmentalism, Ethics, Drawing, Interior Design, Transition, Native American history, Latin (!), etc. Also poetry and some novels (Harrison, Bass, Oliver). At the moment I’m reading Ceremonial Time, Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile …
Riot for Austerity – Month 37
This is the Riot for the month of November 2011 for the three of us. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers! Gasoline.  Calculated per person. We drove to NYC and back for Thanksgiving. I walk Amie to …
The Dreadful Public Speaking
I was never a confident public speaker. I used to be a TA at the university where I did a lot of teaching, mostly to groups of 20 student, occasionally to an auditorium of 250. I would rehearse those hours meticulously, often to the point of learning the whole thing by heart. It was exhausting, …
Harvested Ginger
I harvested the ginger that I put in in June. I put in 12 ounces and out came exactly 16 ounces! I had to throw out part of the old root (darker brown) because it had gone mushy. The rest of the old root is still firm and spicy. I should have harvested before the frost …
Freaking out: IEA: 5 years or that’s it!
Okay, so now I am freaking out. The IEA  now says that we have five years to change our fossil fuel infrastructure or we’re headed for irreversible climate change, or  the world will “lose for ever” the chance to avoid dangerous climate change. “The door is closing,†Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), …
Salvage
Another “hot” day, in the high 60s. Yesterday we reached 70. Â Talking with people as I go about town it occurs to me that we love it. Of course, who wouldn’t, right? Well… A couple of warm days in November and we’re happy because we can open the windows and leave our jackets at home. …
Riot of Austerity – Month 36
This is the Riot for the (crazy) month of October 2011 for the 3 of us. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator! Gasoline.  Calculated per person. 17.16 gallons per person 41.8% of the US National Average Electricity. This is reckoned per household, not per …