Saturday Ramble: the Week

We had rain this week, thank the Lord! Lubbock was drying up and desperately needed the moisture, but it came with high winds and even a few tornadoes in the area. Lots of damage. Many people will be cutting and hauling branches, repairing fences, and figuring out how to fix things or who to call. But the rain was sure nice.

 Yesterday I saw a Model 3 and a Chevy Volt, but...

...the most exciting green car I saw was...

...an older Prius with a DIY solar panel setup. Intriguing. Was it charging the traction pack? The 12 volt accessory battery? Something else? DIY green ingenuity always gets the juices flowing.

No progress on the Huffy klunker this week, but lots of dreaming.

The most exciting cargo bike news this week was the arrival (in my awareness) of the new Mongoose Envoy cargo bike. It comes in at half the price (or less) of a base model Yuba Mundo. Is this the birth of the accessible cargo bike for the masses or just a serious threat to the small manufacturers who've been carrying the torch so long?

In regional news, I was very excited to see an Electrek post about our neighbors to the west:

You go, New Mexico! (Click here for article) Woohoo!

Here in Lubbock, the steadily increasing stream of pedestrian and bullet-based deaths continues. More painful statistics and meaningless death.

At our house, on the other hand, our household grew by one and we are thrilled!

May you be blessed and encouraged, and may we find better paths!

Palo Duro Canyon, January 31

I had the extreme good fortune to spend about 90 minutes with my wife in Palo Duro Canyon at the end of January. We had picked up a 575 pizza in Amarillo and had a picnic and a short walk on the canyon floor.

Red, muddy water was flowing fast in the stream. We saw a robin, two cardinals, some iridescent olive-colored wrens, and a few gregarious black and orange birds. It was sixty-five degrees and there was almost no breeze.

You know me - I loved it and started scheming:

solar powered electric conversion

We saw a few other hikers, a mountain biker, and a tangerine microbus with a dog riding shotgun. It was a great time at a great place, and my wife's sun-kissed smile made it all the better.

I hope you are all fortunate enough to find yourself in such a wonderful situation soon. I know that I sure felt better afterward.

Another inspiring part of Palo Duro is getting to see all of the structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930's.

Learn more from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Learn more from Wikipedia

 It's nice to think of a time when we worked together to solve our common problems, protect natural spaces, and create something beautiful to share with future generations.

May we know beauty and hope while working to create more of both.