The Writing's on the E-Wall: Personal Health = Eco-Health

I keep finding myself in doctors' offices with my family. We're mostly in the UMC system, so each office has the same electronic reader board that displays a new e-poster every thirty seconds or so. It's smart. We are an A-D-D culture trapped in a tiny room. The scrolling images help us not to go bonkers and give us lots of great health advice that we wouldn't sit still for anywhere else.

Apple, heart, lifestyle changes

Besides the A-D-D thing, I've always been a compulsive reader. If there's a printed word, I can't resist. It's astounding how many cereal boxes I've read as I sat there munching sugar-coated goodness.

So, as we sit waiting for doctors, I have no choice. I have to read. Really - I absolutely have to!

Scale, apple, shoe

What I've come to notice is that the health posters keep telling us the same things to help us live a healthy life:

• Eat better food
• Exercise
• Lose weight
• Lower your stress
• Avoid inhaling smoke

Woohoo! This one even has a pic of a bike!

Those messages play over and over. It's amazing how many times I've seen them without making this one simple connection - all of the eco-health-save-the-planet-climate-strike messages I read just as voraciously say the same thing.

Eat Better

• less and cleaner meat
• more locally-grown, chemical free veggies
• less processed foods
• less processed sugar (There goes my cereal box!)
• less food served in plastic, stryrofoam, and cardboard

Exercise, Be more Active, Lose Weight

• utilize people-powered transportation as much as possible (biking, walking, etc.)
• use stairs
• ride a bike
• get outside
• ride a bike
• garden
• ride a bike
• turn off the TV, phone, computer, tablet
• ride a bike
• get off your butt and on your feet
• ride a bike

(all about the boodie)

Lower Your Stress

• drive less
• sleep better/more
• turn off the electronics
• exercise
• eat better
• spend time with good people

Avoid Inhaling Smoke

• from tobacco
• from vaping
• from tailpipes (cars, trucks, lawn equipment, generators, boats, motorbikes, etc.)
• from coal power
• from natural gas
• from clearing forests

So, there you have it - save yourself and get the added bonus of saving the planet. Not a bad deal at all!

I pray that you are well and getting better. Thanks for reading, friends!

Lubbock in a Garden: Pedal-Powered Water Pump - More Progress! (Part 3)

(For all of you who've been following the Heart of Lubbock Community Garden series) 

 

See where it all started by clicking here and here.

 

Keeping words to a minimum. (Sometimes I talk too much.)

 

I really hate plumbing stuff, snagit!

(Nothing to see here.)

It's coming along.

 

Next steps:

• Create adjustable, sliding brackets for the pump
• Attach the V-belt and pulley setup
• Attach the new wheel (We will try to keep the speedometer intact.)
• Figure out the rest of the plumbing (Snagit!)
• Put it all together
• Have a super-soaker party

May your projects go smoothly, bless someone, and make this ol' blue marble a better place to live!

 

(And may the plumbing department not prompt male and female anatomy questions from children - ¡Oy vey, hermanito!)

 

 

PS. It would already be in the garden and pumping if it weren't for you meddling plumbing parts, snagit!)

14 Random Pics, Updates, and a Mockingbird Serenade

 

 

1. This morning's sunrise - all taken on Salem Avenue on my morning bike commute. (Good ride!)
2. Table display from last night's Heart of Lubbock Community Garden Fundraiser (Much fun - donate!)
3. AJ article from Tuesday about Texas Agrilife's Russ Wallace and his amazing strawberry operation. (Be watching for the Strawberry Edition of the Lubbock Downtown Farmers' Market in the next few weeks.)
4. A blurry pic of our first tomato flower from the new MH Instructable planter.
5. Life springing (from what we thought were) dead prickly pear fragments on our back porch
6. Knippa rocking some cool shades from our epic adventure to the Goodwill Pound Store to get messenger bags for my bicycle pannier project.
7. What's left of my grandfather's armadillo sign (I have loved that sign for years)
8. The geckos are growing (in the compost box)
9. Things are getting cheap at the Sun Adventure Going-out-of-Business sale. It stinks that they are closing, but it is a great time for you to get ready to ride this spring and summer. Do yourself a favor - ride a bike as often as possible.
10. Lost and Found Goat on Lubbock Nextdoor this week
11. Feeling all legit with my new upcycled business cards!
12. West Texas Cycling Association bumper sticker spotted in the Covenant parking garage.
13. This giant soccer ball brought mirth to my Monday morning ride.
14. Little purple flowers from Saturday's Yellowhouse Coffee stroll. 

We have been blessed with lots of mockingbirds this season. This one made my day.

 

May your photos reflect growth, joy, progress, hope, and may they help you to recognize your blessings.

EV Vespa, Farmers Market, glad to be alive

I love Saturday mornings. Saturday is the one morning each week where I do not have a prescribed place to be, and there is a tremendous value in that.

This Saturday was a good one. I met some (many) of the Too Flatters downtown for breakfast and a stroll around the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market.

I bought coffee, dog biscuits, carrots, peaches, and a truly magnificent brownie from my favorite vendor - Chocolate and Beyond. (Condo's favorite is still the KDJ Barkery.)

Lucy the truck, the (silver) Gas-Powered Vespa, and the (black & dusty) electric Vespa

 

The electric Vespa has gathered entirely too much dust lately, so I dragged it out of the back of the overly junky garage. And the same thing happened that always happens. I re-fell in love with it and electric vehicles in general. I have been toying with the idea of selling it to raise funds for paying bills and funneling a little to the electric pigeon fund. The Vespa is quick (but not fast). It has a low center of gravity and great brakes. And it is silent. It handles better and stops better than any vintage Vespa I have ridden. And I have ridden many. It doesn't leak any fluids. It emits no carbon monoxide and doesn't require any increasingly expensive 2-stroke oil or gasoline. Riding it makes me smile a lot! (And without the guilt I feel when riding a gas-powered scooter.)

 

Where am I going with this? Nowhere. When our country is running around angrily pointing fingers and judging each other, sometimes it's refreshing to spend time with friends, feel the wind in your hair, share a little chocolate, and take some time to enjoy life.

 

May you have a Saturday morning soon.

Combating Lubbock Boringitis: Urban Tech

Imagine living in a place where there is always something to do.

In case you haven't heard, our fair city has once again been voted the most boring town in America. And it is not hard to see why we have such a reputation. If one is not interested in going to a movie, attending a sports event, or heading down to the Depot District to drink a lot of alcohol, well, you are going to have to do some digging.

Don't do it!

But there have been many glimmers of hope in the last few years. Two that stand out happen in the downtown area: the LHUCA First Friday Art Trail and the Lubbock Downtown Farmer's Market. If you have been fortunate enough to visit either of those recurring events, you've had the chance to see local folks out enjoying the place we call home and the company of our neighbors. And it's pretty darned awesome.

Another group that is working in the same direction is Urban Tech. They are an offshoot of the Texas Tech College of Architecture. In their own words:

A place for students to think, draw, design, model and create.
A product of ideas and information in public exhibition in the form of drawings and models and transportable information via digital media.
A process of civic engagement and exploration.
Urban Tech will clarify the public benefits of architecture, promote the creation of new knowledge and serve as a laboratory for ethical professional behavior where community needs supersede private agendas. (I really like that last sentence!)

Urban Tech has been stepping away from the drawing board lately and taking their work and ideas into the street downtown. And if you have not made it out there, you still have time this week to head over to Avenue J to see what's up and to support the idea of resurrecting our downtown to create an area where people would love to live, work, and play. Besides the cultural events, you can check out the functional art, the pocket park, and the prospective graphics on the windows. You can even pick up one of the cool t-shirts for $10.

Bands on Friday Night

Coffee in the morning and live music during the lunch hour and after work

Last night's Broadway & Gourmet on Ave J

If you are one of those who keep complaining about how boring our town is, here is your chance to truly be the change you wish to see in the world. Get out and support a future that can be.

May you live in an interesting place that inspires you!

PS. Be sure to check out a few of the other projects on the Urban Tech website. BIKE!

Lubbock Reminder: Downtown Farmers Market Tomorrow

Farmers Market Season is almost over, so don't forget to check out Christmas and other seasonal gifts at the market while you still have easy access. I know from experience that people love to receive Kell B jams around the holidays. The farmers market is a great place to find gifts that let the people around you know you care enough to seek out something special.

And you need to be consuming more local produce, honey, and Holy Cow beef (if you're into that sort of thing!)

Learn more here:
http://lubbockdowntownfarmersmarket.com/

May you and your neighbors thrive!!!!!

Lubbock: Don't forget the Farmers Market tomorrow (With dog photos!)

Condo loves the peanut butter treats from KDJ Barkery

My wife and I have been enjoying Saturday mornings lately. Breakfast at Aranda's or the Ranch House, and then a trip to the Downtown Farmers Market. One of the foster dogs will go with us. It's very encouraging and fun to see something like this happening in our town. Good stuff!

Mattie went to the FM a few weeks ago and had a great time.

Besides the local veggies and eggs, here is our shopping list this week

• Wolf Creek Farms - Laundry Soap
• Chocolate & Beyond - Blackberry Cobbler
• KDJ Barkery - Peanut Butter dog treats (Condo endorsed)
• Solar Chef - say hi to Janie (and talk her out of a free cookie)
• Apple Country - Local Honey!
• Yellowhouse - Ice coffee for my wife
• Yoga Bean - hot coffee for me

Kylie went with us on the rain-out day.

May you have a great Saturday morning too!

Avoiding the Fridge Clean-out Horror

The Ghost of Veggies Past

It usually coincides with shopping day - which is depressing enough - but one of the most depressing days around our house is fridge clean-out day. That's the day when we realize that our grand plans for cooking and eating healthier foods at home have gone horribly wrong.

And that is a failure on several fronts:

• we are trying to eat healthier
• we are trying to spend quality time at home together
• we are trying to save money
• wasting fresh and healthy food is a terrible thing
• and I haven't built a composter yet - so it's all waste

And I am the bad influence at home. My wife will suggest that we cook at home and I will suggest that we are both tired, that we hate doing dishes, that the house is too full of dogs, and that I have a coupon to this or that eatery.

So, I pay attention when I see an article that offers suggestions that help us to reduce our food waste in hopes of learning to do better. Green Living Ideas offered up one such article today: 5 Money-saving Sustainable Food Strategies

May you not know the horror from the fridge or pantry!

PS. We have two great and lovable young dogs up for adoption - please let me know if you interested in giving them a great home!

Kylie the Cuddler

Matilda - sweet and very smart

Lubbock this Weekend:Quick Reminders with Links

 Jacob McCoy Burton at J&B Coffee (26th and Boston) tonight 9/5/14

Snapshots of Hunger: Lubbock - First Friday Art Trail  Tonight

Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market - Saturday starting at 9am

Walk to End Alzheimer's Register Saturday at 8am - Now an indoor event! (South Plains Mall)

Walk for 4 Health at Lubbock Lake Landmark - Saturday 9am-1pm (Come-n-Go)

May you find something to keep you busy this weekend!

Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market: Weekly dose of good humor, but no goat to promote!

http://lubbockdowntownfarmersmarket.com/

You know the drill - It opens at 9 and the good veggies and baked goods are gone by 10:30.

Nobody mentions promoting goats, but I will be swinging by the WCF booth for some good humor.

Wolf Creek Farms - 
Tomatoes (green and red), cherry tomatoes, slicing and pickling cucumbers, Holland white cucumbers, homemade laundry soap (don't forget your empties for your $1 off), and our weekly dose of good humor.

And the C: A&B booth to find out how to pronounce "Capirotada".

Chocolate: Above&Beyond - 
7-Up Pound Cake, Philadelphia Jewish Apple Cake, Black Bottom Cake, Peach Cobbler, Pecan-Peach Cobbler, Blueberry-Peach Cobbler, Capirotada (with rum soaked raisins and apples), Fig-and-Raspberry Cobbler, and Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler.

http://www.solar-chef.com/

And, of course, I will stop by the Solar Chef booth to see if Janie will give me yet another free cookie from the coolest off-grid oven in Texas.

As always, tell them the Mesquite Hugger sent you!

May your body be as healthy as the stuff you put in your belly!

Downtown Farmers Market - and It's National Farmers Market Week!

(Not the actual goat - learn more about this one here: Cowboy Bebop)

I just received the email listing this week's vendors, and I found this literary jewel:

Honeys Farm Fresh - 
Eggs, rabbit, duck, chicken, soap, laundry soap... and a Pet Goat to promote!


 A pet goat to promote! (In a boat? On a moat? Does it like oat(s)?

Get your butt out there:

• eat healthy
• support local farmers, craftspeople, and artists
• talk to Janie about the Solar Chef oven (she gives out free cookies!)
• Do the taste test challenge for great 34th St coffee - the Yoga Bean/Yellowhouse challenge!)
• Say hi to the lovely and delightful Kelle B
• Check out Baron Batch's really cool welding masks
• Buy the silverware road runner and donate it to the Mesquite Hugger Foundation
• Promote a pet goat!
• Do not tell my wife about the pet goat thing!

A little advice - if you want the good produce, get out there before 10:15!

Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market

By the way, it's the 15th Annual National Farmers Market Week!

May your goat be gotten!

Lubbock: Support Your Local Farmers Market AND Eat Local Foods Year Round

(Find this image and lots of cool canning info at awaytogarden.com)

In case you are headed to the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday morning AND you are looking for a productive and tasty indoor activity for the hot hot hot afternoon this week, here is a Treehugger article on canning that I found pretty inspiring:

9 Reasons to Try Canning this Summer

Personally, I was really impressed with six of the nine reasons, but I know that many of you wish I'd get to the point a little quicker, so, here are my top three - 1, 3, & 5.
1. Canning is almost zero-waste
3. Canning at home allows you to keep additives out of your food
5. Canning helps you to support local farmers and reduce food miles



Bonus for those of you still reading: my favorite is #6!

6. Canning can save you a lot of money

May you get off your can and can soon!

EBike Infographic

Amen on that 67% stat! (My co-workers would agree.)

Ok, you know that I love e-bikes, and you know that I love infographics. So you can imagine how excited I am any time I run across an e-bike infographic. (Both of these images and a video can be found in this article: Electric Bikes Enable More People to Ride Bikes More Often)

Me, I am still pedaling a regular bicycle right now, but I am hoping to upgrade to an ebike this fall. It would have been nice today.

I took a motorcycle jacket to coffee today to loan to a friend.
Another friend brought back a motorcycle helmet I had loaned him.
My office mate brought a bunch of clothes for us to sell in this weekend's garage sale.
And I have vowed to not drive a car (or any other petroleum-powered vehicle) to work at least two days per week through the summer.

An e-bike with a large basket or two would have been great today. Sigh. We will get there!

For those of you who just can't get enough of reading about e-bikes, here are three sites I recommend highly:
electricbikereport.com
electricbike.com
endless-sphere.com (the granddaddy of all forums for the DIY e-biker)

May you get there too!

PS. Don't forget the downtown farmers market tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Be sure to check out the solar oven and get a free cookie!

Lubbock, get a huge flower, support a local green business, and eat some cookies!

I had a few minutes to swing by the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market this weekend, and I fell in love with a big silver sunflower. There, in front of the Cactus Theatre, it was churning out fresh-baked cookies. And it was not hooked up to electric power. And it was not hooked up to gas power. And there were no flames. It just sat there taking in a few rays, and it baked cookies in twelve minutes. Really good cookies! (Yes, I have a great weakness for fresh-baked cookies.)

The woman passing out the cookies was Janie McNutt, the president of Solar Chef International. Be sure to check out the website to see these really great solar ovens that are being produced here on the South Plains. I keep looking at plans for diy solar ovens, but I have not seen anything yet to rival the intelligent design features packed into these powerful ovens.

May your cookies do very little damage to the environment and your waistline!

PS. You can apparently use these ovens for things other than cookies, but why?

Good news, Lubbock Food Truck Fans! (Be there or be hungry!)

Food trucks legal in Lubbock?!!! Well, not yet, but the revolution seems to be underway, and you can join in on Sunday.

Lubbock Free Food Truck Event and Petition Signing

Sunday June 29th

12:30-3pm

Garden Ridge Parking Lot

4304 West Loop 289

May local businesses find a welcome in your town!

Bonus link: The First Mesquite Hugger Post on Food Trucks in Lubbock

PS. Don't forget the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday!

Lubbock Alternative Shoppers: Mark Your Bike/Junk/Food Calendars for Saturday (June 14)

Check out those bikes!

The one I am excited about - Bicycle Swap Meet! I am trying to raise funds for an electric bike project and hope to take a vintage Schwinn cruiser some other cool stuff to sell.

Funky Junk Roundup  I will admit it, this one scares me a bit. It may be the word "bling" on the artwork, but words like vintage," "reloved," and "junk" bring me back around a bit.

And of course, the Downtown Farmers Market is happening again!

May you relove something in a good way!

Please tell everyone the Mesquite Hugger sent you!

Lubbock this Weekend (June 6th and 7th, 2014)

The First Friday Art Trail is tonight.

LHUCA First Friday

The Downtown Farmer's Market really does kick off tomorrow morning.

Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market

May you find inspiration, health, and a good bargain or two!

PS - Say hi to Yellowhouse Lance and Kelle B from the Mesquite Hugger!

Mark Your Calendar APOLOGY: Downtown Farmer's Market starts June 7

I read it wrong. The days have all been blurring together lately and I messed it up. I apologize and I sincerely hope none of you end up standing on Buddy Holly Avenue alone and cursing my mesquite-hugging name. 

Get the correct info here: http://lubbockdowntownfarmersmarket.com/

May your fresh veggie patience hold out another week.

Lubbock Local Business: The Downtown Farmers Market Kicks Off NEXT Saturday June 7

Mark your calendar! 

Here is your chance to eat better, cut down on your food's carbon footprint, and support your hard-working neighbors. Be sure to tell Kelle B and the Yellowhouse people hello from the Mesquite Hugger! And make sure you sample some Dutch Cheese - they have great Gouda!

May your hometown thrive!

Local Event: Lubbock Preparedness Fair this Weekend

It's not every day that I get to promote a Lubbock event that promotes backyard chickens! 

Just a few of the things you could learn about. (I highlighted a few that we have discussed on MH.)

There are lots of details available on the website, but the overall goes something like this:

Saturday, March 29

10am-3pm

70th and Frankford Avenue

It's FREE!

Here's the website: http://www.lubbockpreparednessfair.com/

Tell them the Mesquite Hugger sent you!

May your weekend prepare you for something!