Lately I have been fascinated by the subject of green roofs. I wrote an article for greenlandlady.com which I could have tripled in length. It still would not have included all the things green roofs do to improve the urban environment like capture rainwater, insulate rooftops and eliminate heat islands to name a few.
Portlanders understand me. The airport has vines crawling up the parking structure for no other reason than they are beautiful, which warms my heart. Under my daughter's direction, Multnomah's County Crops farm produced 12,000 pounds of fresh vegetables for the food banks this past summer. People ride bikes to work (like demons, so watch those intersections), walk and use public transit as reflex behavior. With our general drizzle, nobody cares what you hair looks like either. It's a cool place.
Our young people here are just brimming with great ideas. Another local gal, Laura Kutner, is currently serving with the Peace Corps in Guatemala. She got some well-deserved press when she helped insulate a school there with discarded plastic bottles. She noticed there was a lot of trash around where she was living and convinced her students and the community to collect them. The article is pretty interesting - it has pictures too - and shows the construction with the bottles, stuffed and filled, being stuccoed inside the walls.
The latest? The Federal building at Jefferson and Third in downtown Portland will be using $133 million dollars to revamp the energy waster high rise and turn it into an environmental showpiece. The money came from the stimulus/recovery act and will help fulfill President Obama's desire to upgrade all federal buildings and structures to energy efficiency and environmentally sound operations.
A wonderful feature that the architects, SERA, will provide to satisfy the Portland community's soul is a green wall on the building. The West side of this 18-story tower will have plants growing all the way up that side of the building. The story even made the New York Times' on-line edition this morning, as it is such a cool idea. They haven't completely worked out the kinks yet - like how to prune the plants, etc. - but the remodel includes a rain harvesting system that will probably direct the rainwater from the roof down onto the planters.
Of course, they may need to refer to a few mountain people to figure out what will be able to grow well 200 feet in the air with wind factors and other such things. It is all just so... innovative and so cool. Well, I have nothing else to say. What about you? Anything fun happening with your town?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Feeding the Soul...
Today I am going to start a new watercolor. Nobody reading this should care, frankly, but my point is not what I am going to do this afternoon. Rather it is to pose a question. What have you done to feed that inner creative child who wants to play and needs release?
We Americans totally immerse ourselves in work which is admirable I suppose, but generally an over-reaction to our inbred consumerism. We now hold the dubious honor of working more hours than our Japanese friends - whom we used to criticize/admire for their productivity. Then we over-achieved even these over-achievers.
Yes, I know how it is. If you have a job, you're currently doing the work of the seven people who were let go, three of whom were actually quite productive. And if you don't have a job? Well, like me, you'll do almost anything to put food on the table. Or will you?
Tell me about it. Get your shame out on the table and then forgive yourself for being such a ... whatever you were. You'll find your compadres and comadres here.
During my job search I was offered two jobs. In between I spent hours and hours and then more hours writing resumes, perfect cover letters, interviewing with pizzazz and generally promoting myself as if I sat at the right hand of the gods. What did I learn from this? No matter how much I think material things matter to me, I have principles. Candidly, it was reassuring. On the other hand, it was scary as hell.
Who works their whole life realizing that beyond survival most of it means nothing? A few of us. Some never really get it that it is our relationships with people, the earth and how we make our personal footprints that matter. Not much more. Oh, yes, if you cured cancer, that would make a difference, or if you were Ella Fitzgerald or George Washington or some incredible savant, but most of us? We're just folks.
I keep needing to learn over and over again, as if I have some sort of spiritual amnesia, that it is about being our most authentic selves and practicing good damage control. And so I need to feed my soul frequently and quiet my personal inner turmoil often.
Certainly there are other people who don't need 2x6 therapy to come to their senses, but as you get to know me you'll realize I don't lack for an opinion. Ever.
So now that I've bared some of those inside thoughts that probably should have stayed there... how about a couple of yours? What moves your motor? Floats your boat? What obsessions do you have? I'll try to post something every day, but if you don't give me some feedback that will get old.:)
My soul food will be a painting of a little clownfish snuggling into a sea anemone. Who doesn't love a Nemo theme, after all? Naw, not your thing and maybe once I paint it, it won't be mine either, but who cares? Today for me is about letting my spirit free and playing as if I were a child. Joy to all of you, my friends.
We Americans totally immerse ourselves in work which is admirable I suppose, but generally an over-reaction to our inbred consumerism. We now hold the dubious honor of working more hours than our Japanese friends - whom we used to criticize/admire for their productivity. Then we over-achieved even these over-achievers.
Yes, I know how it is. If you have a job, you're currently doing the work of the seven people who were let go, three of whom were actually quite productive. And if you don't have a job? Well, like me, you'll do almost anything to put food on the table. Or will you?
Tell me about it. Get your shame out on the table and then forgive yourself for being such a ... whatever you were. You'll find your compadres and comadres here.
During my job search I was offered two jobs. In between I spent hours and hours and then more hours writing resumes, perfect cover letters, interviewing with pizzazz and generally promoting myself as if I sat at the right hand of the gods. What did I learn from this? No matter how much I think material things matter to me, I have principles. Candidly, it was reassuring. On the other hand, it was scary as hell.
Who works their whole life realizing that beyond survival most of it means nothing? A few of us. Some never really get it that it is our relationships with people, the earth and how we make our personal footprints that matter. Not much more. Oh, yes, if you cured cancer, that would make a difference, or if you were Ella Fitzgerald or George Washington or some incredible savant, but most of us? We're just folks.
I keep needing to learn over and over again, as if I have some sort of spiritual amnesia, that it is about being our most authentic selves and practicing good damage control. And so I need to feed my soul frequently and quiet my personal inner turmoil often.
Certainly there are other people who don't need 2x6 therapy to come to their senses, but as you get to know me you'll realize I don't lack for an opinion. Ever.
So now that I've bared some of those inside thoughts that probably should have stayed there... how about a couple of yours? What moves your motor? Floats your boat? What obsessions do you have? I'll try to post something every day, but if you don't give me some feedback that will get old.:)
My soul food will be a painting of a little clownfish snuggling into a sea anemone. Who doesn't love a Nemo theme, after all? Naw, not your thing and maybe once I paint it, it won't be mine either, but who cares? Today for me is about letting my spirit free and playing as if I were a child. Joy to all of you, my friends.
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