A Few Sunday Photos

A Sunday sunrise and a visit to the Lubbock Arboretum. Enjoy !

May you take time this week to see the beauty around you! (Insect repellant helps!)

Mesquite Hugger gets all personal and spiritual again

<<< Warning: This post contains no photos, no links, no solar-powered hoverboards, no self-watering gardens and no weird creatures that helped me with my latest green project. It won't even mention the Copenhagen wheel. It does mention my belief in Christ a great deal. If you don't like that sort of thing or are not wanting to see that sort of thing, please move along and check back in a few days. I'll get back to compost and electrons in a day or two. >>>

For the most part, I keep this blog spiritually neutral. I feel that while we are here, we all need to work together to keep our planet a healthy place to live and thrive. Nevertheless, I am a Christian and I am thankful to be a Christian, even joyful to be a Christian.

I spent a significant portion of my life being agnostic and would have probably become completely atheistic had I not sought out occasional time in nature. In nature I very easily feel God's presence. Any time I quietly sit observing the natural world, I see and feel God at work. In watching the works of and doings of mankind I have a much harder time.

I tell you this because I wanted to share something else with you. I am happy. And I just realized it this morning. It's a strange feeling. Honestly, I am not used to it. In my family and circle of friends, we have seen lots of death, debt, and disease. These things have become the norm in our lives, and I am surrounded by people who have been and continue to be overwhelmed by this world.

When I realized that I am happy, I questioned it. The death, debt, and disease have not let up. Our problems have not lessened and there is a high probability that they are about to get worse. And I sure don't find a lot of hope in the more public Christians I see. (I do, however, find a lot of hope in the actions of quiet Christians around me who devote themselves to serving others.)

And I readily admit that I could be wrong in my faith, that this may indeed be just a big cosmic accident or that we may be plodding along in a big alien ant farm while they marvel at how cute we are.

If so, I don't want to know. I'd rather operate in my joyful and purpose-filled delusion. I want to grow in my faith in God and in the belief that we are here to serve others and to be stewards of the astounding gifts we've been given. I hope to humbly serve and I hope to to offer hope to those around me. I pray to God every day for that to happen.

And I realized this morning that I am happy and that the only big change lately is that I have spent more quiet time (you can call it prayer, or meditation, or a dork in a coffeehouse looking up at the ceiling) seeking God.

No matter what or how you believe, I hope that we can work together to make this a better and a healthier place for all. And I sincerely thank you for taking the time and mental dedication to read this. I hope that some morning soon, you will lie in bed and realize that you are happy, regardless of what is happening around you.

National Drive Electric Week in OKC and Lubbock(?!!!)

Green Car Reports Article

I watched a video by a guy named John Gallagher this week. And I was excited by what he had to say.

NDEW Website

 

You see, John Gallagher is organizing a National Drive Electric Week gathering in Oklahoma City. It shouldn’t be surprising that there will be such an event in OKC, but it is. OKC, like my own hometown, is just not that interested in such things. We are conservative and extravagant in our thinking. Why would we be interested in something thrifty and short range when our surroundings encourage us to seek comfort and rugged utility? Why drive a Leaf when I can have a well-appointed four-door Ford F150 for similar money? Why worry about the environment when I can worry about paying the bills and keeping myself distracted? Having the gathering in OKC is the first of three surprises (for me) in John’s video.

The second surprise in the video is that John does not own an electric car. He explains that he does not own one but he does understand that electric cars are the obvious and appealing next step in personal transportation. I always expect the organizer of such an event to fall into one of two camps – the old-school early adopter or the very enthusiastic newcomer to EVs. Just so you can visually follow my thinking – I expect the old-school guy to be driving a Ford Pinto he converted to electric in the 1980’s or maybe he stumbled upon an old and neglected Citicar and lovingly restored it. (Sigh) The newcomer, on the other hand, I picture driving a Tesla, wearing a Tesla hat (and possibly monogrammed Tesla underwear), and wearing a T-shirt that commands, “Question Internal Combustion!”

The third surprise in John’s video is learning that he drives an oil tanker truck for a living. Yep, he pulls up to a drilling site, fills his truck with crude oil, and delivers it to a pipeline to be pumped cross-country to a refinery. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That’s how he pays the bills.
So, here’s where it gets a bit sticky for me. That guy is up in OKC organizing a Drive Electric Event, and there is no drive electric event happening in Lubbock, Texas. And that guy doesn’t blog all the time about electric vehicles. That guy doesn’t own an electric vehicle. I own several – a few of them even run! Hmmm…

Jerry Garcia quote

So, I’ve been asking around to see if anyone has any plans for National Drive Electric Week in Lubbock. The answers have been communicated more by puzzled looks and silence than actual answers.  So, let’s see. Nissan sells electric vehicles. Mitsubishi sells electric vehicles. Ford sells electric vehicles. Chevrolet sells electric vehicles. Kia sells electric vehicles. BMW sells electric vehicles. Cadillac sells electric vehicles. All of those companies have dealers here in town; however, very few of those actually sell electric cars here. I know that Nissan, Ford, and Chevrolet do. Cadillac maybe. [In case you are asking about Tesla at this point, just know that Texas lawmakers do not like Tesla and continue to aggressively work at keeping it illegal for Tesla to sell new cars here. Snagging lobbyists…]

 

 

When I search for public EV charging in Lubbock, I only find the Nissan dealership. [Last minute update: Googlemaps is now showing Rick's Tire Warehouse and Dave's Custom Carts as possible public charging stations, but I have not verified either.] [Another update: Rick's Tire Warehouse reported back that they do NOT have an electric car charging station.]

So, where would be a logical place for a Lubbock EV event? We can’t really gather around the one (or one of the three) charger(s) in town, can we? Should we ask a local battery retailer to sponsor an event? How about a local eating place? The Rust, Inc. crew gathers at Jumbo Joe’s. The guys with shiny old cars often gather at Sonic. Maybe we should gather at a local park.

Speaking of “we”, will this be just like junior high where I show up and wonder where everyone is? I am seeing more and more EV’s around town. Last week I spotted a black Tesla Model S in town. Yesterday I spotted a white BMW i3 - the second one in town. One of my co-workers just texted me a photo of a Tesla Roadster he spotted in Lamesa, Texas, a small town about an hour south of here. And I am seeing more and more Leafs. I did see a guy riding a Zero FX on Slide Road recently. It's not a revolution, but they are starting to show up. The real question is will they show up to an event? I am waiting for a Field of Dreams voice of inspiration, but it just has not happened yet.

And why should I bother? Is it because I would love to have an electric car to replace my beloved (but flawed) Lucy? No, what I’d really like is for a whole lot of us to find some form of non-polluting personal transport, and an electric car seems a great place to start.

May we reach our destination without destroying our home.

Lubbock Local Wildlife: Tadpole Update and DUH!!!

This week, the tadpole went from two legs...

...to four legs.

 

The transformation been much slower with this little guy than with the previous tadpoles, but the front legs did appear in a single day.

This is Peggy, the three-footed leopard frog.

 

Peggy came from Mr. Aquarium where she started as a tadpole. She transformed into a frog there, jumped into a koi tank, and lost a foot. She's not a great jumper, but she gets around just fine and loves a good cricket or ten.

 

All along, I have thought that the tadpoles from Clapp Park were a local variation of a leopard frog, but (I know you are stunned to hear this) I was wrong.

This is Ribbert.

 

You may recognize him from earlier posts. (Or not.) He loves a good cricket or twenty - quite the appetite. He is also very skittish. I have been using his image to try to identify which type of leopard frog he is, but I could not find him anywhere until I broadened my search. It turns out that he is a local variation of bullfrog. This explains why the tadpoles have taken so long to transform - bullfrog tadpoles generally take two years to metamorph into their adult state.

This is Kylie.

 

You may recognize her from an earlier post as well. (Or not.) She could care less about frogs, tadpoles, and lots of other things. She loves a good teaspoon of peanut butter or twenty and she loves relaxing on the couch.

 

May you find the answer to your mysteries and get over it when you are wrong. Better yet, may you be like Kylie and not be bothered by such trivia.

Tiny Houses: Are we using the right adjective?

Tiny Houses Real and Imagined

 

From the earliest days of this blog, the posts about tiny houses have been some of the most popular. (I keep trying to market a reality show where Mad Max and the Copenhagen Wheel live in a tiny house together. I think I could retire early if I could get that one project off the ground.)

 

For you tiny house fanatics out there

 

My wife and I live in a 1500 square foot house – it’s closer to 1900 square feet if you count my favorite part of the house, the garage. We have a phenomenal young lady in college who is home for holidays and summers. We definitely don’t live in a tiny house, but it’s no McMansion either. For years it seemed to be on the small side of medium. We’d visit friends in their much bigger houses and we would consider ours quite modest.

Tiny Houses, Grain-Bin Houses: Going Full Circle

Even so, our house is quite a handful to keep up with. The bigger the house, the more you pay in utilities, taxes, and insurance. And our house is ancient - 17 years older than I am! The yard is huge. We have some monstrous elms that need a lot of maintenance. It needs painting. We recently had a leak in the attic that brought down the ceiling. There’s water damage on the back porch. The sidewalk is crumbling. The floors need refinishing. The list goes on and on and grows much faster than we are stemming the tide. But we spend most of our time, money, and resources pursuing and maintaining other things – like family, dogs, education, gardening, and restoring/maintaining things with wheels. (Yes, I can admit I have a problem.) The same is true for most of the people and houses around us.

Texas Tiny House Boot Camp

 

So, when I see a tiny house or a tiny house article, a simple side of my brain sighs and thinks, Wow, less house means less debt less maintenance less stuff less worry less worry less worry less worry better life. That simple side of my brain is repetitive and has little patience with commas.

Your chance to see a tiny house from your not-so-tiny living room

 

But a different simple side of the brain pipes up and asks some really tough questions. Where would you put the recliner? How bad would it be when the dogs fart? (They do that a lot.) Would the West Texas wind huff and puff and blow our house over? Helloooo! Aren’t we big on personal space around here?

The perfect vehicle for tiny-house people

The general consensus among all of the simple sides is that we do not need or really want a tiny house. On the other hand, as we look at ways of being good stewards and caretakers, of having more time and more money to enjoy the world and people around us, the question starts growing of whether or not a change in adjective may make all the difference. How about replacing tiny with smaller? How about a house that requires less but offers enough?

In fantasizing about the extremes, may you find the just right.

(For more MH tiny houses, please click here.)

What's Better than an EV Microbus? A Solar EV Microbus!

 

If you hang around Mesguite Hugger long enough, you're going to see an electric VW or four. VWs make great conversion candidates. They are light, plentiful, and their rear-mounted transaxles adapt easily to electric rebirth.

Green Car Reports posted 1966 Microbus today that has a lot of appeal for me. It's a green, self-fueling machine. The article is pretty skimpy on details, but it's nice to see that we get closer and closer. (The article does mention a slug-bug that's getting the same treatment.)

Classic 1966 VW Bus With Green Drivetrain: Solar-Powered Electric Motor

May you end up with clean, green transport that feeds itself.

In case you are an EV van fan too:

1957 Volkswagen Single Cab Pickup

1978 VW Westfalia

Voltabus!

Early Sunday Ramblings

It started early this morning. About 5 o'clock, the overactive brain kicked in. It's been a rough season. Most everyone around me is going through a difficult time. Many are grieving and feeling lost. There are times it's easy to lie in bed and worry. I did that for an hour.

An hour was enough. I hopped up, dressed, and went for a 4-mile ride. I pointed the bike toward Clapp Park - my favorite spot in town.

I intended to ride past the park, but it's been too long since I stopped. I rode down the drainage ditch to my favorite spot. I am glad I did. Mallards, cattle egrets, green herons, they were present in numbers larger than normal. The water is receding quickly. Lots of fish and tadpoles were visible in the early dawn light.

Cattle egrets in the pre-dawn

Green herons flying over

I stood there and soaked it all in, thankful to be there and then. (I was much less thankful for the mosquitoes who were also thankful that I was there and then.)

It's been a violent season in Lubbock. Even the park's new graffiti reflects it.

The mosquitoes shortened the visit, but I was there long enough to recharge. Even in the midst of our busy town, there is peace and beauty to be found if you choose to look for it. I need to remember this the next time I lie in bed worrying. 

The local elementary is quoting Ghandi.

I rode home feeling better, more ready to face the world. Maybe even strong enough to be the change I wish to see in the world. Definitely enough to push into the next week with a few days of optimism in the reserve.

May you find a way and a place to recharge, and may we all work to preserve those places. (Thanks for coming along on the ride.)