Sleeping Out

It is common knowledge amongst my family and friends that no amount of prodding or bribing will get me to sleep outside in a tent. Any thoughts about camping were squelched years ago after a mini-vacation that deposited the four of us, by boat, onto an island during a non-stop rain event. There’s a mention of that fateful trip in this post about glamping. Even if my kids were miraculously transformed into the cutest little campers again (sigh) – there’s still no way I will ever sleep on a one-inch foam pad.

lake-porch

It’s been hot here. There is no air conditioning in my bedroom. I won’t get into the uneconess of air conditioning right now, but if you want to learn more about cooling without air conditioning, check out this NYTimes article. Or,…you could ask my husband who tries to convince me daily that a/c will only make me feel hotter in the long run. Ha! What does he know about being a middle-aged woman?

I will say, that if you cool your home with air conditioning, Practically Green recommends that you shade your unit because you can reduce the amount of energy by 10%.

girl-porch

Anyway, a recent bout of unrestful sleep has left my thoughts meandering. Then my writing goes south - rendering me useless. By late afternoon, I need to close my bleary-eyed peepers. I headed onto the lounge chair in the screened-in porch and was lulled to sleep by the sounds of frogs, birds, crickets, and a cooling rain. I woke up feeling refreshed, connected to my natural surroundings, and thinking about my friends who have a summer bedroom. The first hint of warm weather, they haul their bed out to their porch. Such a fine idea!

Do you have an outdoor sleeping space? If not, here are 10 tips for creating one.

Enjoy a restful weekend!

Credits: Wonderlust Journal, Apartment Therapy

Cutting Edge: Woodland Topiary

The gardens that surround my home are woodsy, indigenous, perennial-laden (thank goodness), and at the moment gushing over with foliage and fresh blooms. While colorful and overabundant might be used to describe the lush rural garden, there's nothing remotely sculpted (hardly trimmed) to provide me with any reference about the art of topiary gardening. So, when I interviewed landscaper, Keith Buesing who is known for his topiary skills for this article, I didn't know quite what to expect. In fact, when I started to research topiary gardens, they appeared a bit fussy and over-managed for my tastes.

When I strolled around the landscaper’s property, I almost missed the garden stone and plant embellishments that layered soulfully into the natural setting. Buesing considers his property the “lab” where he “transforms the land and permeates ideas.”

Buesing is the local go-to guy if you want large garden topiary installations.

Let's backtrack just a bit: For those of you unfamiliar with topiary, it is the horticultural art of training perennial plants by clipping and pruning them into a living sculpture. The first topiaries were said to have been in Roman gardens more than 2,000 years ago. Topiaries can be both fancifully witty and classically formal.

Much to the delight of Buesing's community - Gardiner, NY, he has transformed the lawn of the library with a giant green lizard reading a stone book inscribed with the words "Love, Lizard, Life, Lapidary." He also tends to a “Stegodile” - a croc that has taken on the characteristics of a Stegosaurus. The installation miraculously changed a busy, mundane state highway intersection into anything but ordinary.

It was obvious to me that in his own rustic retreat, the seemingly laid-back Buesing favors a relaxed environment. When I asked him what he was currently working on, I expected a description of a dense, mossy mountainside hide-away garden. Instead, Buesing is working on a formal English garden. Since Buesing is such a versatile landscaper, I have no doubt that meticulously edged hedges, spiral topiary, and walled gardens are totally within his realm.

Buesing has shown me that dramatic installations can be a part of a woodland retreat. Off to get boxwood…

Photos: Juliet R. Harrison Photography

Gimme Shelter!

A few of my readers have asked me to post more eco-shelter inspiration. So I thought, I could easily oblige with interior space imagery from my bookmarked mile-high photo file, but then I watched this video today on the Rolling Stone magazine website. I know, you’re thinking: "She reads Rolling Stone?" YES, I love Rolling Stone…

…and I absolutely LOVE what Playing For Change does:

“Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.”

How’d you like the eco-shelter inspiration for today?

Signs Of The Times

Sometimes I feel like I grew up on the ledge – a ledge that was propelled into action by the signs of the times. With the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Women's Movement simmering to a boiling point. It was ALL personal. It was ALL political.

Ledge-Leaning

In many ways, I stopped jumping off ledges when I had kids. I’m still easily riled up, but politics moved to the back burner. The choices changed from demanding equal pay and peace on earth, to whether or not to use cloth diapers, and what school to send the kids to. Believe me, there were many worthy ledges to jump off of, but most were personal – kids, jobs, house. Politically, the most ledgework I could muster up was to rant to my family and vote with my conscience.

My 20-something year old children are also ledge-leaning. If I'm willing to drink a little beer and hum along with the guitar into the wee morning hours, I can engage them in a lively discussion about eco-energy issues like, dirty coal, fracking, mercury testing, and voting to keep the Clean Air Act from being rendered impotent.

Signs Of The Times

"Yes, yes, mom – We'll vote!" They will, but they are worried about another "eco" –  a sign of their times. Their minds are filled with the economics of finding and securing jobs. So many recent college graduates are buried under this weight.

Growing up in the '60’s and '70's, we jumped off ledges. The work got done. Attitudes changed. The results were fair and everlasting, or so we thought...

Outrage

Most people were so outraged by prejudice and segregation that laws got changed. Currently, on the clean air front, more non-white children live with the highest concentrations of air pollution. 60% of Latino children are more likely to suffer from asthma and other environmental illnesses…and three times as likely to die of asthma? How fair is that?

Most people were so outraged about the inequality of women that laws got changed. I couldn't be more elated that women are in the political arena. We fought hard for political equality, but not all female politicians have their priorities straight. Just last week, Sarah Palin proudly announced to a group of veterans and TV cameras, “I love that smell of the emissions.” It is unfathomable to me that a mom of 5 could debunk the scientific knowledge that greenhouse gas emissions have increased by a record amount last year, leaving us with the highest carbon output in history. How fair is that?

Most people were so outraged about an unjust war that they ended it. Now our wars are based on energy politics. Some politicians, backed by energy corporations have much to lose and little to gain from leading us into a truly clean energy revolution. Instead of looking to, and legislating for squeaky clean renewable energy, some politicians are putting the Clean Air Act on the chopping block to protect their "assets." How fair is that?

Ledgework

Our kids are teeter-tottering on a dangerous ledge. Are you ready to do a little ledgework for your kids and help keep the air clean for our kids to breathe? Those of you with young children will have to jump off the ledge for them. Those of us with older children will need to give them a hefty nudge because their generation is rightfully distracted. Here’s what you can do to help save the Clean Air Act.

It will be a sign of “good” times when our kids thank us by texting, “Hey Mom - Peace, Love and Clean Air.”

Photo credit: Ted Fink  Drawing: Liza Donnelly

Inside Out

Every once in a while, an image captures your attention and you can’t let it go. After dreaming about this photograph last night, I thought I’d throw it up here and see what you have to say about this "down to earth" home.

“The idea of having a sand floor was to bring the outside in, to live naturally. It’s very calming, which is what my wife Andreia, and I wanted in a beach house. We picked Comporta in Portugal, an hour south of Lisbon, with its wild beaches full of birds and dolphins but very few people. The original inhabitants fished and grew rice. They picked straw at river’s edge, and built small houses with compacted earth floors. This was the tradition; you cannot build anything new. Our architects at Aires Mateus could only rebuild what was there, because it’s a preserve. When our kids, Joao and Maria, go into the house, they play like they are on the beach, with shovels and buckets. A cleaning lady comes in; she goes over the sand with a big rake. And no, you don’t need to wear shoes. There is a heated concrete floor underneath, so even in winter, the sand is warm.” ~ Joao Rodrigues, Coastal Living

For more information, visit CasaNaAreia.

Credit: Gaelle Le Boulicaut