Extravagant Wealth

I am taking a personal day.

Like the title says, I am a man of extravagant wealth this morning - I have time.

Morning ride

It's a Thursday morning. I'm not at work. There is no one who is expecting me to be anywhere for hours. I rode the e-bike two miles in pre-dawn dark to get here. Blissful. I'm drinking very good coffee.

When I finish here, I'll switch bikes and go for a klunk on the old Huffy. I'd call it mountain biking, but we don't have mountains and I plan to stop a lot to take pics.

Speaking of pics...

This pic and the next...

I have a new phone/camera that opens up lots of photo opportunities.

...were taken from the same spot!

Let's do that again.

This pic and the next...

...were taken from the same spot.

(Is it still a Texas spiny lizard when you see it in New Mexico?)

I've been deeply immersed in a work project and there's been no time for anything, but now it (that project, at least) is done. And I have a few days to get caught up.

Blogwise, I hope to pound the keyboard and get a few things out. You can look forward to (or dread) the following posts on this blog or 2WheelsMaybe:

• I've now had the Juiced e-bike for a year and I want to report on that.
• We had a quick trip to Taos last weekend and there are pics to share.
• National-Drive-Electric Week is coming up.
• Rad Power Bikes has been on a rampage lately.
• Our warming planet is showing lots of stress.
• The ollas and food-is-free planter have yielded some tasty but tiny tomatoes.
• The cargo bike battles are heating up.
• I hate bumper stickers.
• I love dogs!
• I love birds! (even starlings and grackles)
• I love that crazy woman who married me a while back!
• (And) lots of other stuff has been rattling around upstairs lately.

To my friends, I've missed you all and hope to get caught up soon.

How's that for a tiny tomato?

May you breathe clean air deeply, and calmly.  May you be thankful, and may others be thankful for you.

Back on Texas Time (New Mexico photos)

Work had me in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos (New Mexico) this week. I thought I'd share a few pics:

Albuquerque

Organic Transit Elf!

Tours!

Sandia Peak (ABQ)

 

 

Santa Fe

I love grackle art!

Taos

The Rio Grande Gorge

 

Earthships

You know me and old trucks

and microbuses

and stickers

May your journeys bring you mirth, beauty, and a lot more green!

Cisco, Texas on I-20

My favorite infographic was made into a (short) movie!

Saturday, my wife and I were standing in my favorite store in New Mexico - Seconds. It's a shop where every product could be the final product of an Instructable gone incredibly right. Everything in there is recycled, upcycled, solar, or some kind of renewable. We were drooling over lots of cool items, and we found ourselves focused on a set of eco-friendly eating utensils. (They were designed to carried into those eating establishments that normally serve food with disposable plastic sporks and such, or to take with you camping.) They were beautifully crafted from bamboo and came with a washable carry bag. And they would make a great gift for someone who is looking for another way to achieve personal carbon reduction.

Something like this.

Being the cheapo simpleton that I tend to be, I loved the idea but thought I would be better off running by the local thrift store to pick up a stainless-steel knife, fork, and spoon to carry with me. Then my brain drifted off to my favorite infographic of all time - you know, the one with the spoon.

While we were in New Mexico, we were partially off-grid and had little contact with the internet-connected world, so I did not check out Treehugger or the plethora of other favorite online news outlets for five days. I spent a little time this morning catching up and was pleasantly and coincidentally surprised when I found a TH article about GreenPeace's new video version of my favorite infographic of all time.

Image from The Story of a Spoon

 

May you be moved to get off your lazy butt and wash your own snagging spoon! (Can you tell I have a small case of the post-vacation grouchedy?)

 

Have a great day - and wash a spoon, a fork, a plate, a coffee cup, or anything else that will keep the world from cranking out more disposable plastic crap!

Taos: A Solar-Powered Radio Station, a Frog, a Marmot, and Flaco Claus

(To properly experience this post, click here to stream the radio station featured.)

On those rare occasions when my wife and I vacation, we try to find a small piece of art to purchase as a momento of our trip. On our recent trip to New Mexico, we went all crazy - we bought a tiny painting from a man who called himself "Ray Suncatcher" and we bought two photos from the Field Institute of Taos. Those photos arrived in the mail this week. I opened the envelope and had the opportunity to re-live a great day in Taos.

The frog is my wife's (a great irony considering her thoughts on frogs) and the marmot (impersonating a walrus) is mine.

Before leaving for Taos, we were given a phenomenal gift. Our good friend Keith, whose name shows up on MH often, wrote out a very informal travel guide of things to do (and eat) in Taos. He sent us many places and never steered us wrong. If you ever get the chance to get your own Keith travel guide, jump all over it!

From Keith's Guide

·         KTAO is a solar powered radio station that also has a very informal bar inside where you can sip your beverage and watch the dj put on music.  I mean. . . . he's a few feet away and if you yell profanities, it will go over the air.  They also have a stage outside and a small stage inside.  It's a really unique place, and I highly recommend it on your way out of Taos. 

After reading that, we knew we had to go by KTAO.

View of the front door

The place was a madhouse. Before we made it through the front door, a really skinny Santa Claus pulled up in his sleigh followed by a few dozen Harleys. Lots of other people were there for the local ski equipment swap meet, and the Field Institute of Taos was having a fundraiser in front of the DJ booth. (This discouraged us from yelling profanities, snagit!)

The view behind the place

But the Field Institute is pretty darned cool! They are a non-profit that offers camps and programs to teach kids about nature and fitness. They even teach photography and mountain biking. One of their fundraisers at KTAO was the sale of photos the kids had taken, which is how we ended up with a frog and a marmot to hang in our house.

You can check them out here: www.fitaos.org

The view from inside the bar

The view of the massive solar carport - what could be cooler?

(Okay, having the largest broadcast area of any solar-powered radio station in the world is a bit cooler than having a really big solar carport.)

Some random tourists smiling near the logo

May you find yourself in a great place buying frog and marmot photos to send a kid to camp. I highly recommend it.

Tiny Post: Fun with Bike Racks

So, there I was in Taos checking out a cool bike rack to share with all of you, but I really needed to have what the young'uns are calling a bio break these days. After the break I came back to snap a pic, but I had to wait a while. The bike rack had become a playground. After a few minutes, a father figure said, "That's enough! Let's go." Kids scampered away, and I snapped the pic.

So today I am checking out a blog entry about a family that has two cargo bikes and no car, and off to the side I notice a link to Kids on Bike Racks. I clicked on it, and now I am smiling.

May you click onto a smile today too!

Images from the Enchanted Circle, New Mexico

My lovely wife dragged me off to the mountains to celebrate our wedding anniversary - and I am thankful she did!

Lots of blog posts to follow, but here are some preview photos! Enjoy!

May your trip be book-ended by caterpillars!

PS. Thank you, Knippa!