In the dark

I engaged in a little experiment this past weekend. As I'm hoping most of you know, Saturday evening was Earth Hour, and since last year it was so easy, I wanted to push myself to do something a little harder. Electricity is something we tend to take for granted because it's just always there. I wondered what my life would be like with rolling blackouts or EMP (a good book, btw, even if Gingrich did recommend it). Declaring it Earth "Weekend", I decided to find out (sort of). I flipped all the breakers to off when I got home Friday night and left them that way the entire weekend.

















Was I successful? Yes...at least in the sense that I didn't cheat. Once those breakers were flipped, I didn't turn them back on. Actually, I forgot to turn them back on as I left this morning, so technically I'm still participating ;-)

Candlelight provided light to read and write by. Natural sunlight during the day afforded me the ability to wash my dishes by hand, rip apart a couple of chairs I want to redo, and read without fear of straining my eyes.















However, if I'm honest with myself (and with you), I will readily admit that I, in no way, know what it's like to live without electricity. While I reveled in the stillness of an apartment without TV or music and embraced a "come what may" attitude about my hair sans flat iron, I could still escape to a world that was very much wired and alive. I stole away to the apartment business center for wifi and an outlet to charge my phone. I went to the movies and to Steven's concert and out to dinner (try cooking without electricity). I was never truly inconvenienced in the way I would be if our resources ever ran out.
























*all images from WeHeartIt.

Sprung

I make it a habit not to talk about work on here, but this week I just can't resist. Tuesday was honestly such a lovely day that I just wanted to run around shouting it from the rooftops. Sure there were the standard meetings to be had that didn't accomplish as much as they should. It's the after that's the good stuff though.

There was a need. To find vernal pools.* Or rather to document their existence and determine whether or not the project we are working on will impact them. Note: evidently vernal pools are pretty important.


















Faced with a choice between traveling back to the office and burying my head in the computer (which, don't get me wrong, I also sort of love) or hiking along the river on a day where the sun is bright and it's a balmy 65 guess which one I chose. I chose the path to education. To seeing what a vernal pool was first hand. To getting up close and personal with a big spring storm's impact on a river.























At one point I was mid-calf in mud and fearful of losing a boot. This was followed by a stint sliding down a muddy slope while trying to climb up. At the end of the day I headed back to Virginia caked in mud, and that's when it hit me. I couldn't be happier.



















*The creative license I have taken with standard grammar rules is on purpose.

Austin Kleon...

...is someone whose work you should get to know.
www.austinkleon.com/blog

--notmiranda

Sharing is caring

Every now and then I fall down the blog wormhole and fall for new blogs and lives that inspire and motivate me. I share these folks periodically with friends but thought I'd share a few of my new finds with all of you.

Allister Ann

Adorable. Creative. Inspiring. I also like the fact that I get to hear great new music. Watch the video from her Portland birthday adventure. Doesn't it make you want to be her friend, too? I found this lovely video on her blog.



What I Wore

I'm not a huge fashion nut and certainly don't take that great of care with my own wardrobe. That said, I think I've been pretty upfront about the fact that I like pretty things. In my opinion, this girl wears some pretty things. I'm a fan of the way she puts things together and her use of vintage pieces.























lizzy-writes

I am now kind of obsessed with the way she strings words together. She requires no photos. Her words are enough.

And then I fell in love...

...with a camera. My mom bought me a Diana for Christmas. Simple, lo-fi, takes 120 film and leaves you wondering what you'll get. I was immediately intrigued by the ability to control how long the shutter stays open (and, yes, I realize fancy cameras do that, but I don't have one of those) and the ability to double expose. I felt a little bit powerful and full of creative license.

Then I got that first roll developed and fell in love.






































































The rest are on my flickr.