Cape Wind and Cape Cod... Our Energy Future?

The New York Times announced today that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved the controversial Wind Turbine project in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Cape Cod area in Massachusetts. It has been lingering in the annals of 'project hell' for nine years as its developers attempted to get approval in spite of much political opposition. 

Photo Courtesy of NASA, Provincetown Spit, Cape Cod, Massachusetts


Although the late Senator Ted Kennedy opposed the project, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick along with Green Peace and the Sierra Club are supporters. Certainly it is clean energy - and in spite of the cries about taxpayer expense for re-doing the electrical grid in Massachusetts, the fears that tourism will be affected, etc. - and will broadcast to those middle east, oil-producing countries that America is moving ahead and making alternative plans.


Although I only lived in Massachusetts as a child - on the 'other' Cape Ann - it does seem a bit tragic that this beautiful and quaint coastline will be marred. Then again, tourism may be stimulated as the Greenies come for eco-tours and the energy industry props up a state that has had cyclical unemployment issues for as long as I can remember.


Personally, I would prefer a little scenic marring to a new nuclear energy plant.  As most Americans have refused to reduce their energy consumption in any meaningful way, these alternatives to fossil fuel and the greenhouse gases they emit are necessary.  The people who are crying 'not in my back yard' - with perhaps the exception of the Wampanoag Tribe that has sacred ceremonies based on a full horizon view - are just being... selfish.


There may be scientific reasons or strong safety concerns - like radar issues with the turbines - but as pretty as the coastline may be, preserving the entire planet's eco-system will take sacrifice on all our parts.  Even those with deep pockets and big real estate investments on Cape Cod may have to tolerate some scenic disadvantages to save both proverbial and real polar bears.

Fruit & Veggie Pesticide Risks: List of Best & Worst from EWG

The Environmental Working Group, a dedicated environmental watchdog organization, has published their Worst and Best Pesticide Fruits and Vegetables List.  Unfortunately, if you eat the recommended five fruits and vegetables a day from the 'worst' group, but do not buy organic produce, you will ingest up to 15 pesticide residues that day.

Worst: Celery, Peaches, Strawberries, Apples, Blueberries, Nectarines, Bell Peppers,  Spinach, Kale, Cherries, Potatoes, Imported Grapes 

Even the 'best' category will expose you with the same five servings to two pesticides residues a day, but by comparison it is an improvement.

Best: Onions, Avocado, Sweet Corn, Pineapple, Mangos, Sweet Peas, Asparagus, Kiwi, Cabbage, Eggplant, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Grapefruit, Sweet Potato, Honeydew Melon

The usual methods of washing and peeling rarely solve the problem, as pesticides become absorbed through the skin and into the fruit or vegetable. Plus, peeling the skins often removes valuable fiber and nutrients from the product.

Protect your children, folks, and yourself.

Oh Art, Thou Dost Teacheth Me Way Too Much!

Painting, and pretty much all creative and artistic expression , is a growth experience. For instance, this painting started out as a very different one. I intended to paint a clown fish in a sea anemone.  I had an underwater picture that was just striking, and although I was not trying to duplicate it, I thought it would be a simple matter.  After all, how hard could it be to paint Nemo? 

Well, folks, some subject matter is much better done with an underwater camera and not by a novice painter.  After a very frustrating series of attempts to make the clown fish look like a real fish and not a caricature, I gave up.  For a few moments I mourned the fact that the painting would go into my drawer of shame. The issue, of course, was that my background work had taken so much time. Who wants to invest in something and have it turn out crappy.  It is like spending hours on a new recipe and the dinner is a huge disappointment or studying for week for a final and flunking the darn thing.

In a sort of frenzy I remembered my art teacher had mentioned using a mat to 'frame' an unfinished work and see what popped and what didn't.  Suddenly it occurred to me that I could cut off the part I didn't like - so poor Nemo had to go!

Then I put in some nice whimsical looking fish and as they looked a little disoriented, I gave them some purpose with the fishing line and baited hooks.  The painting is titled, "Worms again?"  Okay, so it is a silly name, but it is kind of a silly, almost pretty painting.  I like it though and that is what counts in art in the end. It is impossible to always get validation from others, and although it feels good when it happens, art is personal.  If I like I put it up on the wall or I give it away to someone who expresses the same appreciation I feel. One day I may sell my work, but not yet.

My job is pretty much a head trip as I write all day. When I quit work I do need to indulge in something that stimulates the rest of my brain. I judge my time and effort by whether or not the creative expression felt good.  Did it shut down my head for a change?  Did I forget about my husband's cookies and chocolates for a few hours? Was I able to lose myself in the infinite and suddenly realize that hours had gone by because I was so immersed in the process and so intensely focused?  That is how I judge the experience. The end result is hopefully worth keeping, but if it isn't, then it isn't. One of my descendants will toss it when it no longer has any relevance.

When I do any kind of art or creative work I have to remind myself that if it flops, I will not go to prison.  I will just do another painting or sculpture or basket and try again. Most of us don't want to even try things we aren't already good at, which is a shame. Imagine if someone thought they had to be a great pianist the first day they sat down to play, or the same thing with a great actress or a sports figure or even a politician.  We are all entitled to fail on our own terms. Hopefully it will be a temporary and short-lived experience.


My mini-epiphany with this painting was that just like in life, not every effort we make in art has to be perfect. As a matter of fact, even in utter failure, we often learn something more valuable. Maybe it is as simple as browns and purples aren't that pretty together.  Art is teaching me to be less impulsive (think about the design first and get the perspective correct), more patient (paint does need to dry) and to take risks (yellow and purple... hmmmm) without fear of failure.

Ni moto, as they say in Mexico. Roughly translated it means, oh well, or maybe it doesn't matter or its out of my control so I will give it one good shrug and then let it go.

Pedal For a Free Dinner in Copenhagen? Wow!

The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers is doing something so cool I have to write about it, even though I do not know a soul visiting Copenhagen this year. Not that it isn't a wonderful place, but my friends have been visiting Latin America lately or French Canada. So here it is.

According to CNET News:

Two stationary bicycles are hooked up to generators, with an iPhone attached to the handlebar to display the wattage. Guests willing to sweat it out to deliver 10 watt hours of power score a meal worth about 240 Danish crowns (US$44) in the hotel's restaurant or lobby bar. Not half bad for doing your part for the environment.

The "Cycle for Your Supper" program, which kicked off Monday for hotel guests only, will run for a year, and word is that if it's successful, we could see the eco initiative rolled out across the U.K. and possibly even internationally.

Here's the full link to the story if you are interested: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20002995-54.html?tag=nl.e797

Honestly, if I could convince myself that I would be doing the world good - and not just sweating for my own health and well-being - I might use my stationery bike a lot more. Naw... only when my feet hurt or its pouring rain outside. Still, I wish it was hooked up to a generator, just because it is so cool.

Cancer Survival Is Not About Being Positive

As a cancer survivor, every time I read about 'positive attitudes' I want to scream. I survived cancer (9 years, 4 months, 4 days and counting), and yes I am a positive person fortunately. However, this had nothing to do with my survival. I had great insurance, I had great doctors, I had a horrid but effective chemo/radiation/surgery regimen and I was lucky enough to survive it all.

This ridiculousness that people can just 'try harder' and beat cancer has got to end - particularly from the American Cancer Society. Survival is a combination of genetics, luck, the kind of cancer cell it is, the availability of treatment, the other complications that might arise, etc. You would not expect someone with schizophrenia or heart disease to 'think themselves' into a cure by being positive, so why do we place this burden on people struggling to overcome cancer?

Please stop implying or thinking that if one is 'disciplined' and 'positive' enough that person will be 'cured'. Not only is it totally irresponsible and a bunch of crap, it undermines and degrades the efforts of people who are not only unfortunate enough to develop cancer but now must be guilty of 'not being positive' enough if they die.

Let's keep 'new age' hopefulness out of the science room, folks. Cancer sucks and I hate everyone of those 100 different cells (from different cancers) that try to kill us.

Yes, being positive and sweet and grateful and all those lovely qualities that some of us express some of the time are wonderful things to be. Our caregivers appreciate them even more than most, but guilt for being upset, angry, sad, sentimental, emotional, tired or even completely exhausted and fatigued by the disease and the treatment? This is human. Please allow us at least that.

I do believe we are not given more than we can handle each day without being given the grace to handle it... but have a heart. Nobody with cancer really feels happy about it. That would be a complete absurdity. Let us feel our feelings, please, even if they might make someone else (or you) uncomfortable. Someone fighting for his or her life has the right to be self-centered, moody and distressed at the very least.

Thanks for letting me defend all those people who go a bit negative, cry, swear, vomit, suffer agonizing pain... because when you are in that situation in life the last thing you want somebody to do is suggest you 'cheer up'.

Potato Chips vs Cement, Another Revelation

The Carbon Trust, http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/the-construction-index-news/More-carbon-emissions-from-crisps-than-cement, recently announced that more carbon emissions are produced making potato chips than cement. Of course, cement production is greater in the United States than that of chips, but it gives one pause.

How much processed food can we really consume without being accountable. According to Michael Pollan, and his wonderful books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, our food has become something produced by the industrial/military complex. You may doubt me and the Carbon Trust, but read any of Pollan's books and you will jump on board.

After realizing that Americans had supplanted the Mexicans as the real "Corn People", I have a hard time cutting into a steak without wondering what horrid life that poor animal lived. Here's a tiny synopsis of how that steer ended up on my plate:

1. Our government decided that paying subsidies to farmers to keep small farms in business was counter-productive politically. They created policies that paid farmers to produce more food by paying them less. The farmers, to make their personal livelihoods possible, planted more food.
2. Excess petroleum products, equipment, and chemicals left over from wars were used for fertilizers, making the need to have animals fertilize the croplands unnecessary and eliminating the need for overwintering crops.
3. Mono-planting depleted the soil, wind took over depleting the top soil, and more chemical fertilzer was needed.
4. Excess corn was produced, so this was used to make biofuel (ethanol, etc.), feed ruminants like cattle (who get sick from eating this mess as their two stomachs are meant to process grasses), feed other animals this same feed, and get made into high frustose corn syrup which is in everything possible in the processed food category from sodas to packaged casseroles.
5. The chicken McNugget or the Hamburger? Not only does it have corn in it, all the flavorings are corn. The liter of soda? That probably has more calories in it than most of us should consumer in two of our three meals.
6. And as we omnivore's evolve and become consumers of corn in such huge quantities it is hard to fathom, we again disrupt the ecology of everything around us.

I was sickened thinking about the poor animals needing antibiotics and other medicines just to tolerate the non-grass meals they are force fed in pens littered with their own manure. I imagine that they are terrified, miss their mothers, spend their last months of a shortened life while their fat becomes 'marbled', confused and abused.

And now potato chips are righteously under attack. Luckily I gave them up years ago, but my point is this. We may be omnivores, but our bodies are rebelling against the massive amounts of grass (corn is a giant grass after all) we are eating. Not only have our body masses ballooned, our hearts and other organs are not able to evolve quickly enough to compensate.

Natural foods, foods you grow and preserve yourself, foods from urban farms, community gardens, farmers' markets and local farms. Support them before it is too late and they are all farming corn.

Rural Africa & Solar Pebbles

Innovation really turns me on, as does anything that eliminates smoke. A sensitive asthmatic, my darling friends often suffocate me unintentionally, particularly at parties. There's a fireplace going, a bunch of candles everywhere spewing chemicals that are similar to those produced by a diesel engine, and then there are campfires.

Rural Africans without electricity and public utilities have similar issues with pollution. Most families use kerosene lamps, highly polluting contraptions but there is hope. An amazing lighting solution, called a 'solar pebble', is expected to transform rural Africa by replacing the need for the highly polluting lamps. Solar Aid, http://solar-aid.org/projects/health/lighting-malawian-homes.html, a UK non-profit and three undergrads collaborated and designed the solar lamp. Not only can it light the entire smaller African rural home, but it is designed to also function as a mobile phone charger. It can also replenish the charge on other portable equipment.

The designers also made it a 'snap this piece in and out' design to make repairs easy. The parts are shipped dissembled so that putting the lamps together can create work for the local people.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20001768-54.html?tag=nl.e797

Potatoes: Planting in a Garbage Can

Potatoes can be grown easily in any container that has good drainage, but a garbage can works well because you have the use of a lid if you need to protect your crop from driving rain or cold.

Items Needed:
1.A standard garbage can
2.Potting soil
3.Gravel or small stones or a stack of newspapers sufficient for a 6" bottom layer
4.Organic, slow release fertilizer
5.Enough potting soil for at least a 15" layer of soil
6.Soil, compost or bark dust sufficient to fill the rest of the container
7.Seed potatoes from a nursery or store bought potatoes with 'eyes'
8.A dish or drip pan to capture water draining from the can bottom

The garbage can (or any container of similar dimensions) should be big enough to allow for planting potatoes at least 16 inches deep and about 6 inches apart. Drill holes in the bottom of the garbage can for drainage or if you don't have a drill, use a large nail and a hammer to make the drainage holes. If you are growing this on a balcony or patio, keep in mind that the water will exit from the bottom. If your can is not going to be sheltered from rain, you may also want to drill holes on the sides of the container on the bottom 6 inches.

Place newspapers or small rocks in the bottom to create a 6” layer to provide drainage. Mix a slow release fertilizer into the potting soil before planting. If you skip this part you will need to fertilizer your plants every two weeks.

Planting the Potatoes:
• Add 6” of potting soil/fertilizer mixture on top of the 6” of papers/stones and water it until it is moist.
• Place the eyes from potatoes on top of this soil layer, facing up, spaced about 4” or 5” apart.
• If you want to increase the number of plants, do not use whole potatoes, but cut them into pieces (each piece should have at least 3 eyes in it)
• Leave each set of eyes with at least an inch of potato to provide nutrients until the sprouts have rooted. If you use cut potatoes, they need to cure before planting.
• “Cure” your cut potatoes by letting them dry out on a paper towel-covered plate. They need to be dry before planting so that the potato piece is somewhat sealed and will not rot when put into the moist potting soil.
• Place the potatoes 4” to 5” apart.
• Cover the potatoes loosely with a 2” layer of soil. If the eyes have already sprouted, cover them with 3” of soil. After the sprouts gain some length, add more soil.
• Water, then keep soil moist, but not too wet
• If the weather gets too cold or there is punishing rain, cover the garbage can at night, but remember to remove the cover the next morning.


Growing/Maintenance of Vines
• The vines will soon begin to grow and as soon as they reach 4 inches tall, cover all but 1 inch of the lowest vine with compost, wood chips or potting soil.
• The soil should also be kept moist, but not wet throughout their growing season. During hot weather you may need to water them everyday.
• Continue to cover the vines in this way until they grow out of the top of the garbage can.
• Once the vines bloom, you can reach in and pick the biggest spuds you can find. New potatoes won't store, but they are delicious for that evening's dinner.
• Wait to do the main harvest until vines turn yellow and die back completely in the fall.
• Potatoes need at least 6 hours of sunlight and take 65 to 100 days to harvest
• Do not water for a couple of days. Place a tarp on the ground, dump out the soil and gently remove your potatoes. The skin is soft, so care should be taken to pick them by hand. You can brush the dirt off gently.

Potatoes generally prefer cooler weather, so the period from September through March is ideal for growing in some areas. You will want to avoid freezing, however, so that may not work in areas like SW Washington. However, growing potatoes in garbage cans allows you to move or cover them when necessary. If you want baby potatoes and live in a cooler climate, you can also get in a late summer planting to harvest around Thanksgiving. Potatoes picked after the vines die back will store in a dark, cool spot for up to six months.

After you harvest the potatoes, the soil will not be suitable for other plantings without being amended with compost and nutrients, so if you decide to grow potatoes next year? Get new potting soil and compost and start fresh. Of course, it’s always a good idea to rotate crops so that the soil is not depleted of nitrogen but with potatoes this is very important.