Category: save our world

just do it already · save our world · tue Gutes und sprich darüber

Happy Earth Day!

GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

Hey! It’s Earth Day, earthlings. What do you do to help save our world?

While I know I can do more, here are some things I regularly do:

1. I have a compost pile which I use for soil around my trees and new plants or flowers. I get such a strange satisfaction to throw in my leftover vegetables, fruits, etc and then mix it all up. It is amazing to see how rich and dark the soil is when I get around to using it. It works!

2. I recycle. Full stop. I recycle everything – plastic, paper, glass. If it can be recycled it goes in my recycling bin where once I week I take it to the bigger bins that Spain has placed everywhere around Mallorca.

3. I pick up litter. I definitely do this around my neighborhood. On my way to the trash I pick up things on the ground, in the lots nearby – here there are usually three big trash cans within a block or two away that the garbagemen come by to empty every day except Saturday. That’s right folks, even on Sunday. And I do try to do a monthly bike ride on the sole purpose of picking up trash around my town and dropping it in the recycling bins.

And then there are random things – recycling household things for teaching – toilet paper rolls to make into owls or whatever animal we are learning about, taking things to charity (clothes, furniture, appliances) and who knows what else.

I do try to be conscience on my ecological footprint. So, please, do the same! It is the only earth we’ve got!

.

earth day

animals · beauty · birds · cool photos · Germany · love love love · poland · Road Trip · save our world

Brought to you by the Klapperstorch

GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

Der Klapperstorch or the White Stork to us English speaking folks. It is called der Klapperstorch in German because of the sound it makes with its beak. The adult White Stork’s main sound is noisy bill-clattering, which has been likened to distant machine gun fire. The bird makes these sounds by rapidly opening and closing its beak so that a knocking sound is made each time its beak closes. The clattering is amplified by its throat pouch. Used in a variety of social interactions, bill-clattering generally grows louder the longer it lasts, and takes on distinctive rhythms depending on the situation—for example, slower during copulation and briefer when given as an alarm call. Like the adults, young also clatter their beaks.The up-down display is used for a number of interactions with other members of the species. Here a stork quickly throws its head backwards so that its crown rests on its back before slowly bringing its head and neck forwards again, and this is repeated several times. The display is used as a greeting between birds, post coitus, and also as a threat display. Breeding pairs use this display, as well as crouching forward with the tails cocked and wings extended.

Wouldn’t that be awesome if humans used those behaviors to show greetings, or post coitus or when threatened? Your mate throws his head back and forth showing pleasure from the moment – or when greeting his best friends? Doesn’t  matter which, it is all the same emotion.

Back to the birds. When my parents and I were leaving Poland my mom shouted (way too early in the morning), “Did you see that?!”. I flipped the car around and lo and behold there was this stork nest!! Have you ever seen a nest with storks in it? The nest was huge and these two adorable (yes, adorable) storks just hanging out.

The White Stork breeds in open farmland areas with access to marshy wetlands (this nest was next to a large pond), building a large stick nest in trees, on buildings, or on purpose-built man-made platforms. Each nest is 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) in-depth, 0.8–1.5 m (2.6–4.9 ft) in diameter, and 60–250 kg (130–550 lb) in weight. Nests are built in loose colonies. Not persecuted as it is viewed as a good omen, it often nests close to human habitation; in southern Europe, nests can be seen on churches and other buildings.

I had noticed these large nest of twigs, mostly on top of homes, where the chimney was, I wondered why they would leave the nest there, because you cannot use your chimney with a stork nest on top of it. But since the storks do migrate to Africa in the winter maybe they would take the nest down when the migrated? And put it back when it was spring? Not sure, but once I first saw them, I noticed the nests everywhere.

Storks!! They bring babies, have you heard? According to northern European legend, the stork is responsible for bringing babies to new parents. The legend is very ancient, but was popularised by a 19th century Hans Christian Andersen story called The Storks. German folklore held that storks found babies in caves or marshes and brought them to households in a basket on their backs or held in their beaks. These caves contained adebarsteine or “stork stones”. The babies would then be given to the mother or dropped down the chimney. Households would notify when they wanted children by placing sweets for the stork on the window sill. From there the folklore has spread around the world to countries such as the Philippines and South America.

Save

2010 · save our world

I’ve Got Good News, and I’ve Got Some Bad News.

GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

Which do you want to hear first? I always want to hear the bad news first. 

The bad news is jobless claims rose to their highest level in 9 months. It was the third straight week that first-time jobless claims rose. That ain’t good news, my friends. As I return to the job search (again) and struggle through interviews (again), I know that hundreds of people will also be applying to that one perfect job out there. I won’t truly start complaining yet. I will enjoy a few more weeks of summer in Mallorca before I start that. You’re welcome. 

And the good news? Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade heads home. I loved this line for the AP “A line of heavily armored American military vehicles, their headlights twinkling in the pre-dawn desert, lumbered past the barbed wire and metal gates marking the border between Iraq and Kuwait early Thursday and rolled into history.” 

Can you envision it? Isn’t it a lovely sight? 

While the U.S. presence is far from over, there are still around 52,000 troops to stay for at least another year. But this move of the combat brigade makes me smile. It is time for the Iraqi security forces to defend their people. And with the U.S. support, they can. And will. 

Troops crossing over from Iraq to Kuwait.
2010 · save our world

Vote Earth!

GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

Well howdy partners. Just returning from a lovely trip up to Germany for Oma’s 98th birthday and then to England. Getting my schtuff organized to show off some pics but there is something a little more important….

Earth Hour 2010.

Vote earth to continue the awareness of our world, the beauty of it and so much more. Turn off your lights at your local time of 8:30 pm for at least one hour. It’s not so much to ask for is it? Save our world.

save our world

doomsday thwarted

GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

 Thwarted is a funny looking word…. just sayin. There, a spell of randomness for a very important announcement. Time for another SAVE OUR WORLD post. Let’s get serious, pwease. heehee. Okay, really.

A minute gained, a lesson learned?

The doomsday clock was pushed back one minute. It is now 6 Minutes to Midnight. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global disaster.

It was last changed in 2007 where it lost two minutes, bringing it to 5 Minutes to Midnight. Reasons for the loss was North Korea’s test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia. Some scientists, assessing the dangers posed to civilization, have added climate change to the prospect of nuclear annihilation as the greatest threats to humankind.

This year we gained a minute in thanks to the Worldwide cooperation to reduce nuclear arsenals and limit effect of climate change.

For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material. And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable.

Push yourself to take it one step further. Do something good for the world and for yourself; go plant a tree with your grandson, start that compost pile or donate some time to a child in need or an elder. We can make a difference but you must take those steps in order to see minutes gained. Not only minutes gained, but a change that you can feel.

Together it is possible.

Only between 30,000 and 40,000 humpback whales remain in the world.

 

 

england · happy happy joy joy · Road Trip · save our world · travel

the english scarlet land of happy happy joy joy

GOING NINETY MILES1 Comment

My alarm rudely woke me at an ungodly hour, “The time is six fifteen, it is time to wake up”, in a British voice no less. While I scrambled to finish my last minute packing and put plates of food and bowls of water outside for the cats, I looked up at the sky slowly brightening and took in the fact that my 38th year on this planet had arrived. Oh me oh my! Thirty-eight years and what have I accomplished? Is this a thought at anyone’s birthday after the age of thirty?

I bypassed the thought with a flight to Düsseldorf where I met my boyfriend waiting for me with a lovely box of gifts. I love birthday presents first thing in the morning! And after a quick stop at his parent’s house for birthday kisses, Meerrettich Miree (a horseradish cream cheese spread – MY FAVORITE) on toast and a sad goodbye to their house on Reuterstrasse (it just sold), we headed off towards Calais to take the tunnel to Folkestone.

I must admit I was a bit apprehensive (combined with a touch of claustrophobia) about the EuroTunnel. How exactly deep are we under the water? Will there be attendants to direct me to my nearest exit in case of emergency? Or was it, if something happened you were pretty much a goner. I tried to distract myself with making stupid faces at my boyfriend and singing along with Lily Allen. I found enough things to keep me entertained for the thirty-five minutes (Amazing right? ONLY 35 minutes) it took to get from France to England under several metres of water that could come rushing in at any moment.

We arrived in Folkestone, England to buckets of rain pouring from the dark sky. And let’s not forget that we must combine that with now having to drive on the left side of the road. Tricky, tricky – and off to Canterbury we went.

IMG_3883

Canterbury was cute. We stayed at the Falstaff Hotel which used to be a coaching inn, established in the year 1403. The rain had turned to a drizzle so we set off on foot to find some birthday dinner. We chose an Indian restaurant that apparently has a pea soup on the menu that they refuse to serve because it is, quoting the waiter, “pretty terrible”. Why then is it on the menu? Whatevs. The food they did serve us was pretty good, but I am sucker for lamb with a yogurt and cucumber sauce from anywhere. We ended the night at a small hotel for a nightcap where I ended up spilling half of my port down my jacket. And happy birthday to ME!

When I woke the next morning at the Falstaff I silently told myself – You have made it one more year, now this year let’s get these important things you want started. I’ll just leave that there for now – let’s go to CORNWALL.

I saw thousands of cows and sheep, a few pigs and horses in dresses. Fine, not really dresses but those jacket thingies – I like dresses better. And then we drove over this hill and lo and behold – STONEHENGE!! There it was, just 150 feet from the highway. Stonehenge, right there! YO Stonehenge! Did you know the age of it is estimated at 3100 BC. Now THAT is old.

IMG_3901

Still on our six hour drive to our hotel in Mawgan Porth….. I entertained us by reading signs and some of the funny city names (yes, I am becoming my mother), oh and yelling out whenever I saw any sort of animal – COW! PIGS! HORSES IN DRESSES! Finally to my boyfriend’s relief we arrived at the Scarlet Hotel. Here is the view from our room. GORGEOUS!

IMG_3921

The Scarlet was exactly what I was wanting for my birthday getaway. It is a brand new hotel in a breathtaking location, plus it is eco-friendly (you know I like that). We arrived around five in the afternoon, checked in and ordered tea service. I love having delicious Earl Grey tea brought to my room to enjoy on my balcony. Heaven. Then it was a quick walk down to the beach to chase after seagulls and watch the brave surfers hanging ten. One of the sweetest things about the hotel is Jasper, the hotel dog, you can take him for walks on the beach! How fun is that?

We had dinner at the hotel, it was good but nothing truly amazing – but then again, I can be happy with Kraft Mac n’ Cheese for dinner too. After dinner, we headed to the bar area which for half of the time, we were the only ones there, no customers and no bartender. But it is the place where I fell in love with my Atlantic Gold Ale, I am sure you saw it in my earlier post. And The German was in love with a new whiskey – The Peat Monster, it has a very smoky taste. He loved it and we had to return the next night for a few more rounds of our newfound loves.

The next day was a bit of craziness. We headed into the nearest largest town in search of an adaptor for my boyfriend’s computer. Never come to England without one because they are not easy to find. TRUST ME. Several hours later with adaptor in hand we headed towards the most southern point and hit the adorable towns of St. Ives, Penzance and Mousehole. So cute! But I was glad I wasn’t the one driving, some of those roads are narrow! Yikes. Plus that whole driving on the left side, double yikes.

So sad that the trip was already coming to a close, we book a reservation at The Seafood Restaurant (yes, that is its real name) in Padstow. And to close the post, a lovely cell phone picture of me getting messy with the yum, fabulous lobster.

P2233_11-10-09

Now it is your turn to visit. GO!

Save

earth · save our world · Things and Stuff

Compost Happens

GOING NINETY MILES1 Comment

Well, my blog is turning out a bit random – advertising, photos, clothes, SHOES. Have you been longing for a blog with some real substance? Do you reminisce about the days I wrote about the police and roadtripping with the rents and schniedelwutz?

Okay, some real substance is what you are just dying for…..how about POOP? There’s some (smelly) substance for you. Some of my girlfriends are potty training their younguns and all I hear about lately is poop, pee – riveting shit, really. No really! Seriously ladies, I do love the stories and if I am one day blessed with a little one – you better be all ears for my poop on the potty stories.

All right, so besides poop, here is another subject near and dear to my heart. The ENVIRONMENT. Gone are the days when Amy would look horrified when I threw my Coke can out the window. I know, I KNOW! I still feel horrible. At least Bessie and I collected cans for money in high school (I guess this was after the throwing the cans out the window days). We would drive around in the hot OK summers with the windows down and Shawn Cassidy blaring out the Buick Electra and hop out anytime a can was spotted. The money made from the cans probably paid for the gas driving around looking for them.

There are so many simple ways to have save our environment. Not to be an EPA snob but I recycle almost everything (Spain has an amazing amount of containers for plastic, glass and paper), I bring a large canvas bag to put my groceries in (no more plastic bags) and my latest adventure is my COMPOST PILE. I love it and find it completely fascinating.

How%20Compost%20Happens

I will forgive my NYC friends for not keeping a compost pile (although there are plastic compost bins with lids that you can keep on a balcony) but all the rest of you with a backyard – here are some tips and an easy how to get started. Let’s save this erratic but wonderful world. It’s the only one we got.

  1. Choose a spot where you want to compost. I have only a pile in my backyard that is hidden by the trees but some people prefer to have a bin to throw everything into. You can construct a simple box or bin using stiff wire mesh or slatted wood. The compost pile should be at least three square feet and three feet tall so that it maintains a constant temperature so the organic matter can decompose.
  2. Gather the right materials. (Almost anything organic works.) You should have some “brown” dry material, like fallen leaves, dead flowers, straw, sawdust, shredded paper (especially newspaper), shredded cardboard or paper towels. This provides the “bulk” to a good compost.
  3. Gather some “green” wet material as well, like grass clippings, fresh leaves and nonflowering weeds, barnyard animal manure, chopped leafy prunings, pine needles, coffee grounds, teabags and crushed eggshells. These provide readily-available food to the microorganisms that do the decomposing work. This green material will later be added to your dry mix.
  4. The proportions of “brown to green” are not critical, as long as you have more “brown” than “green.”
  5. Mix and build a pile. Combine your dry/brown material with your wet/green material and add a shovelful of good soil.
  6. Compost also needs the correct amount of moisture to breakdown. Compost with the right moisture level should feel like a damp, wrung-out sponge. Too much moisture can cause temperatures to fall within the pile (and make it smell). Too little moisture slows down the decomposition rate and keeps the pile from heating up. Check your compost pile’s moisture level once a week and adjust it if necessary by adding water to increase moisture or more browns to help dry the pile out.
  7. Turn pile with a pitch fork every few weeks. Doing so gets oxygen in the pile which speeds up decomposition.

Do not add animal waste, meats, oils, dairy, diseased plants, weeds that have gone to seed, or plants treated with pesticides or herbicides to your compost.

Sit back and enjoy the decomposition.

Next up – MADRID!! Off to the city of bull-fighting and flamenco, maybe I will return as one. You will have to stay tuned to find out. Olé!

Save

Save