The sun, a cloud, a bird, a small electric van, a grumbly brain

Grizz' scoot, my e-bike, and the sun peeking through this morning

It was yesterday I saw the photo of the Salvadoran father and child floating face down in the Rio Grande. It's been haunting me. I miss the days when I believed in my country as a place that offered refuge to those in need. Your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...

Last Saturday's view

Not a lot to report. Other than riding to work, there's been little progress on the green living/project front. The garage is getting cleaner and more organized. The gas-burners are in better repair. One tree is trimmed. The tomatoes are ripening.

A great egret fishing in the rain run-off

We've had a lot of night rain lately. More green. More mosquitoes. The sound of gas-powered lawn equipment is almost constant during daylight hours.

Same egret. This morning it was replaced by a snowy egret.

A Vantage GreenVan

D and I went to recycle this week at Texas Tech and got to check out this nifty little electric van parked at the recycle station entrance. A little web-surfing revealed it to be a Vantage GreenVan. The first tip was the lack of exhaust pipe. It looks very rough on the inside. If it were capable of more than 25mph, I'd sure want it for hauling recycling, bicycles, scooters, kayaks, and dogs.

I was excited to hear John Delaney discussing a bipartisan carbon tax bill (just like the Citizens Climate Lobby plan) on last night's debates. More like this, American politicians, please!

That's enough grumbling for today. May you be well with a forecast for better!

Lubbock on a Bike: Summer Healing

Monday morning

This time of year, things are smoother for this Lubbock cyclist. The rides to work the last two days have been more pleasure cruise than commute. A lot of people are sleeping in. I don't feel the need to avoid school zones. In a weird way, I feel fortunate (in the moment) not to live in a town with great biking infrastructure. Within the confines of Point A and Point B, I am free to take a slightly different route every day. It's less about speed and ease during the summer. It's about enjoying the ride and choosing to see little snippets as the scenic route.

Ducklings from this morning's ride

This morning's ride offered up a mallard hen with her ducklings, a Mississippi kite easing into a tree, a snowy egret in flight, and a silent and deserted paved alley where I stood up on the pedals and coasted like that egret in flight - so much nicer than racing red lights, biting fingernails, and dreading the day.

my favorite Lubbock birdwatching location

This week I had to look through my most recently finished journal to get details for some paperwork. Looking through the book, I realized that this has been one of the hardest of my fifty years, maybe the hardest. There's been little time for blogging, for serving others (outside of our family), for dreaming about (and working on) projects, and for focusing on the people I love. Also, I've taken little time to focus on what I am thankful for.

Today, I am thankful for pedals, feathers, and a twenty minute (very quiet) adventure that brought me to work.

May you find your own tiny adventures throughout your day, and may you know some peace.

Thanks for reading, friends!

Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet - HOL Community Garden

Check out the pollen on that rear leg!

I'm not sure if he knows it or not, but Dustin and I are in training for some bigger bike rides in the next few months. So, yesterday after church we pedaled on over to the Heart of Lubbock Community Garden. The garden's looking great and the pollinators were downright intoxicated. It was awesome to be there and see all that tiny pollinating action happen on such a massive scale. All the six-legged critters were making it happen. Dustin was excited to see his science class lessons coming to life! (Thanks, Ms. Litteral!)

Definitely a Mesquite Hugger happy place!

Click here for the TMBG reference song/video

May we all be fortunate enough to find beauty even in tiny spaces.

What's that smoke?

CNN Coverage

It looks like it's starting again - another war based on our insatiable desire for oil. Oil prices have immediately started rising as have international tensions.

From the same article

What if we reduced our need for foreign oil by switching to renewable wind and solar (powering electric vehicles and appliances) and focused our energies on caring for people in need? What if we focused on the Golden Rule rather than the black gold? What if we chose to focus on people?

PlugInAmerica.org

May we seek logical, helpful, healthy solutions and find ways to keep from killing each other.

The Mid-Life Eco-Fight Lull (a thank you letter to those working for a better world)

Several years ago my wife and I went to DC to join in a peaceful protest aimed at slowing fossil fuel production and increasing renewable energy production. As we gathered with a few hundred new friends, we looked around and noticed a few thing about the crowd. First, and not surprising, we were the only Texans there. Second, we were also a big minority in our age. There were lots of people under 30 and there were lots of people over 60. I think there were four of us total.

One of the organizers explained it pretty easily. People in our age range were too busy trying to raise families, stay employed, prepare for retirement, and pay for their mortgages and loans and colleges and cars and credit cards and....a whole lot of other stuff that defines the middle-aged and middle-classed. They were too caught up in staying afloat to reach much outside of their own homes. I understood it then and was thankful we were in a place that allowed us to reach outside of our little lives.

We're not in that place now. We are fully overwhelmed with trying to take care of kids and parents and grandparents, trying to keep the house from falling down, trying to keep the bills somewhat current, and trying not to walk away from our beliefs.

So, when I see people organizing, educating, and passionately working to create a healthier world where the planet and all people are respected, protected, and cared for, I am thankful and inspired to keep pedaling, to keep bugging my local lawmakers, and to look forward to a time when I can get back in the battle for our lives. Godspeed, my friends, and thank you for all your effort, passion, and sacrifice.

The view from Lubbock, a week into June

the view this morning

Then I scooted back

the wall of dirt that hit Lubbock around 6:30 last night

An average day for the 2Wheels Maybe blog

An average day for Mesquite Hugger blog

olla-watered homegrown tomatoes five days ago

a well-wishing dumpster near home

May the dumpsters and more wish you well!