Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
“What was the best part of your day?” my husband asked me last night in bed. I was cuddled up with my head on his shoulder. Sometimes in this nightly ritual of ours I think for a bit, reflecting back over the day, before I answer. But last night my words sprang like a racehorse from [...]
Tags: 350.org·bicycles·civil disobedience·civil rights·fossil fuels·Portland Raging Grannies·Rising Tide·solar panels·South Sister·Summer Heat·symbolic flotilla
“She’s naked under those clothes,” my husband said solemnly the other evening. He was referring to a good-looking woman sitting at Songbird Cafe. I cracked up. “We’re all naked under our clothes! Your material is getting better, honey.” Thor has a lifelong campaign to
Tags: 350·350.org·climate change·clothes·faith·fossil fuels·naked·resiliency
I’m enchanted to read about “Battle of the Blades”, the Canadian TV show that pairs champion ice dancers with professional hockey players. The artistic athletes do ice-dance routines in a competition format similar to “Dancing With The Stars” — and have quickly reached similar popularity. Why am I enchanted? At least two reasons: Dance and [...]
Tags: Battle of the Blades·dance·fossil fuels·hockey·ice dancing·sports·Tie Domi·yin and yang
Did you know that 40% of trips made in the U.S. are two miles or less in length? That’s walking and bicycling distance. Yet cars are currently being used for most of those trips. So much physical, sensual pleasure being bypassed as we vegetate in our vehicles! And carbon emissions needlessly created. And overweight-ness perpetuated. [...]
Tags: bicycling·carbon footprint·conservation·energy independence·exercise·fossil fuels·fun·happiness·life·outdoors·technology·walking
In his lean, lovely book Deep Economy, Bill McKibben explains that we should see wind and solar energy as our partners in meeting our energy needs. They’re not sugar-daddies, like fossil fuels, giving us whatever we want when we want it. (OK, sugar-daddy is my phrase, not Bill’s. So is equal-opportunity lover). We have to [...]
Tags: Bill McKibben·conservation·consumption·fossil fuels·green living·happiness·life·oil·Oregon·renewable energy·Sebastiano Pitruzzello·solar energy·sugar-daddy·technology·thrift·wind turbines
Of all the good pieces in today’s Green Issue of New York Times magazine, “Why Bother?” by Michael Pollan is the one that helps us see that lower-consumption lifestyles are crucial in dealing with global warming, Inventors and legislators cannot rescue us.
1.) Pollan points out that being a role model is powerful. As various citizens like you and me consume significantly less, especially in terms of fossil fuels, other
Tags: carbon footprint·character·climate change·consumption·environment·fossil fuels·global warming·Michael Pollan·quality of life·role modeling·TriMet
I’m glad that Hillary Clinton is back in the presidential race. While I wish she would mount a a truly appropriate response to global warming, I respect the way she has reached across party lines in the past as a senator to help make abortion both legal and rare. (Repeated research has shown that is what most Americans would like abortion to be.)
Let’s run today with that concept of
Tags: abortion·bipartisan politics·climate change·consumption·environment·fossil fuels·Hillary Clinton·legal and rare·pro-choice·pro-life
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