Freezing your Clothing, a Choice for Change.

I will admit, I felt a bit silly dragging my son's sheets and blankets out onto the line last week when the temperature outside was 10 degrees, but I just needed to discover if things could really dry in below freezing temperatures. I had been reading on the internet about others who had successfully dried things outdoors in the winter and was intrigued. As I trudged through the snow, I could just picture the woman that lives behind me, peering out her window, and shaking her head. As I wrestled with the quickly freezing bedsheets, even I wondered if I was nuts.

Sometimes it is really hard to strike out and do things a bit differently than those around you, even if you know you are doing the right thing environmentally. What helps is by looking for and discovering other folks who have also chosen a different path. By coming together with these people, both locally and on the internet, one can become empowered to continue making the choices that are right for the planet, no matter how unusual they appear to those following the status quo.

On that sunny wind-whipped day, as I clipped the last clothespin onto a pillowcase, I felt a bit better about my choice to venture outdoors and hang my clothes, if for nothing more than to get back indoors where it was warm. As I returned to my house, leaving behind my frozen stiff laundry, I doubted anything would dry in those bitter temperatures. But six hours later, when I returned to remove the bedclothes, I was surprised to find that most everything had dried. I removed the stuff from the line and discovered the damp things quickly finished drying once they came into the warmth of the house.

Later that night, as I made up my son's bed, the fresh smell of winter on his sheets, I felt really good about the choice I made that day. Little choices added collectively together, become bigger choices. Being the first one to make a different choice in my neighborhood, may encourage someone else to make the same choice at which point change grows exponentially. It has got to start somewhere and why not with me?

For more of my experiences in outdoor line drying, please click here.

Winter Wednesday Winter Colors

Ryan and I just started participating in the Winter Wednesday program being offered by the blog Handbook of Nature Study which is based on the book "Discover Nature in Winter" by Elizabeth Lawlor. Each week we will read a chapter in the book and do its corresponding activities. This week we were asked to spend time outdoors noticing the many colors the winter landscape offers.

We ventured out into our yard in the 10 degree weather, knee deep in snow, and looked high and low for any signs of color. After nine straight days of accumulating snow and gray filled days, the clouds had cleared and we could see the blue sky. A white Quaking Aspen stands in the foreground.

Black berries stood out against the snow on a Black Chokeberry. This shrub is native to my area and enjoyed by local wildlife.

Red rose hips on a Pasture Rose, along with the brown of its stems.

Even the yellow found on this switch grass was more vibrant against a field of white snow. While we enjoyed our time outdoors, the cold wind forced us quickly back indoors. The next few days are calling for -35 to -45 degree days factoring in wind chill, a good time to work on our nature journals.

To view past Winter Wednesday posts, please click here

Fullersburg Woods Nature Preserve

These icicles did little to obscure my view of Salt Creek as I looked out the window of the nature center at Fullerburg Woods this afternoon. While my son was participating in a nature program called Mighty Acorns, I was passing the time enjoying the beauty of this wonderful site.

Fullersburg Woods was purchased by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in 1920 and as part of the Roosevelt administration's New Deal Program, a Civilian Conservation Corps' camp was established here in 1934. The CCC built the nature center shown in the picture above along with many trailside shelters that remain from this Depression-era program.

Inside the nature center, there are comfortable chairs in which one can enjoy a cup of tea and a good book. Telescopes are available for bird watching along with many other hands-on activities geared toward teaching children about the natural world.

Despite the temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, I decided to venture out onto the trails and came upon a picnic shelter situated along the creek. A beautiful spot to linger in warmer weather.

I hated to leave this peaceful respite in the woods. Luckily, I will be back many more times between now and May so that my son can attend his nature class here. That is the beauty of homeschooling...being able to learn about your subject in a more hands-on way. To actually learn about nature in nature.

Buy Quality, It Lasts!

I discovered a new blog called Saxton Road http://saxtonroad.blogspot.com/ this afternoon and while reading the different posts, the one titled "It's Easy Being Green...", made me think. The post listed 10 different things that one can do to be green in the kitchen, one of which said to buy quality things that last. A really simple idea...yet difficult to do, especially when so much of what we buy comes by way of China. The post got me thinking though of all the things my husband Mike and I have bought over the years we've been married. With quality in mind, we have always tried to buy the best we could afford and after 23 years of using this philosophy, it is amazing to discover how long things really can last, much to our more style conscious kids dismay. I thought it would be interesting to go around the house and take pictures of some of our more longer lasting purchases and to see what shape these things are in after many years use. To take a look at what the practice of "buying quality" amounted to.

I figured I'd start out slow and take a look at one of our newer items. A Sony analog TV purchased in 2000. We don't plan to buy a new TV anytime soon, especially when we consider the fact that the oldest television we have in our house is almost 20 years old.

This Univega bike was purchased when my son Jimmy was a year old. We put a baby carrier on the back of it and carted him all over the place. Jimmy just turned 21 in December and is an avid cyclist. I wonder if all his early years spent on this bike has something to do with that. My son Ryan now uses this bike to get around the neighborhood all summer long.

Our Toyota 4-Runner was bought by us new in 1999 when we were living in the Colorado mountains and discovered the only way we could get to our house was by using a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Now, 10 years later, with only 125,000 miles on it- it is still going strong. Granted, it is not politically correct to own an SUV anymore, especially when I care about what my personal actions are doing to the earth, but I keep the miles down and consider the resources saved by not buying a new car. This is such a great mulch hauling, flea market shopping, dog to the vet, family going camping, and traversing Chicago in the winter car and I figure I will still have it when my son Ryan, who is 12 turns 20.

We bought this Toro lawnmower when we moved into our first house in Lexington, Kentucky back in 1989. Here we are almost 20 years later and believe it or not the mower still works. It is not because of regular oil changes or tuneups either. Nope, it has had only one tune up over the years and that happened only because we hit a big rock in our backyard and bent the blade. Another minor problem we encountered was when the self-propeller part broke, I took off that feature and we now have to push it, which as I understand it, has the benefit of saving gas. Hopefully by the time the mower breaks for good we will no longer have a yard to mow because we will have converted all of our lawn to garden beds.

Mike and I acquired this stereo just after we got married in 1985. We were living in Portland, Oregon at the time and Mike was awarded points toward this purchase for work well done through his job. The stereo was considered fancy for its time, but according to our kids, it is hopelessly outdated now. While the receiver portion of the stereo still works, the tape player doesn't. Of course, who listens to music on tape anymore? Mike and I are fearful that the stereo may be nearing the end of its life. Occasionally, when we turn it off, it stays on. Something is wrong with the power switch which is easily remedied by simply unplugging it.

As I see it, the only problem with buying quality is that things eventually go out of style which drives my kids crazy. They don't like being the only ones on the block with an analog TV. They kid us about Mike's alarm clock which he has owned since he was in high school or the patio set we have had for 15 years. Mike and I on the other hand don't care about being in style and simply laugh when our kids raise these concerns. The good thing about buying quality is that it keeps us from having to buy new again every few years and it helps to keep our flow to the landfill slower. It also feels good to look around our house and see all of the things that we have had for a long, long time. To remember when we purchased them and to think about the part they have played in our lives over the years. To have history with the things I surround myself with.

So much for outdoor play

I don't have to worry about my son breaking through the ice on the pond or crashing into something with his sled today. Nope, on this beautiful winter day, with a foot of snow on the ground, he is stuck inside, playing video games. That is because yesterday, when Ryan was outside playing with some of his friends, he decided to jump off the second story of his tree fort onto the ground. According to Ryan, it didn't look too far and he thought the snow on the ground would cushion his fall. Shortly after attempting this jump, Ryan came home complaining that both of his heels hurt real bad. As the night wore on, Ryan was in extreme pain when walking and feels pretty much the same way today. We will know the full extent of the damage when we visit the doctor tomorrow. So much for any outdoor play this week.

So much for hiking in the woods on Wednesday with our homeschool group or checking out animal tracks in the snow at Peck Farm Park. Ryan really can't walk at all right now and I figure it will be awhile before his heels heal. As a result of this, Ryan is spending lots of time playing video games and watching TV today, but that doesn't mean he will spend all of his time participating in these mind-numbing activities while he recovers. I am not a big fan of kids playing and watching electronic stuff all day. I think the electronic world takes a child away from other more important pursuits like reading, playing with friends outdoors, or spending time with family.

Ryan and I will figure out a way to get through this. He is starting a nature class at Fullersburg Woods this week and he won't miss that despite this setback and we are also starting Winter Wednesdays through the blog Handbook of Nature Study. http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/
I believe many things can be adapted for a kid that can't get around very well. I certainly don't want to sink to the lowest denominator and fall back on video games or TV.

Homeschooled Public Schooler

My son Ryan resides somewhere between the world of homeschooling and public schooling. For lack of a better word, I guess he could be called a HPS. A Homeschooled Public Schooler. Many homeschooling parents usually would not consider enrolling their child in a public school. They have taken their child out of school to keep them away from some of the perceived evils that school may bring- language, guns, boring subject matter, insensitive teachers, inflexible learning environment etc- and have little positive to say about public schools.

I myself am aware of the drawbacks of public school yet feel that public schools can play an important part in the education of my child. For that reason, my son attends his local middle school for math and science and homeschools the rest of his day. Originally, I took Ryan out of school after determining that his 4th grade teacher was not meeting his needs. Then, after homeschooling Ryan for two years, I decided that I was not able to teach at the level of math Ryan was working at and investigated the options available as a homeschooler. Because Ryan is social and enjoys being with others, I decided an online course would not work and the math courses available in my area were costly and far away. That is where my decision to send my son back to public school part time came in.

After meeting with the principal and school counselor of our local middle school, Ryan's schedule was determined and he became the first part time public school student in our district. I must say, everyone I have come into contact with at the school has been fantastic and supportive and warm. Ryan's experience in the classroom has been wonderful as well. He comes home from school at 11am each morning telling me about the neat lab experiments he has done in science or what he is working on in math. He has met many new friends and feels more in tune with our local community than he did when he was only homeschooling.

Blending public school and homeschooling allows Ryan to have the best of both worlds. He gets to learn important life skills such as math yet still have time to read a novel of his choice at home. In school, he spends time with people other than his parents that offer up new and exciting things to learn and is in an environment that has expectations to be met while fostering independence. At home, he has the freedom to explore additional things that interest him- drawing, guitar, archery, writing, history, nature studies and more. He also has time to travel to museums and visit with other homeschooled friends. As he moves through the grades blending homeschool and school in this way, I see him finding freedom in his learning yet prepared for wherever life takes him.

Pasture Rose

Not sure who is going to get these rose hips first, my mom or the birds. I originally planted this native rose for the birds but soon after, my mother discovered the health benefits of consuming rose hips herself and now pesters me each year to harvest them for her. Last year I sent her my entire supply but luckily this year I have a bumper crop and figure that there are at least 700 hips on my 7 plants...more than enough to feed the birds and my mom. These rose plants go by the name Rosa Carolina- also known as Pasture Rose and are listed by the Wild Ones as one of the best winter berry producing native plants for birds.

Dreaming of Outdoor Line Drying in the Winter...

It dawned sunny, dry, and windy today and I didn't let the high of 32 degrees prevent me from hanging two loads of laundry outside to dry. I figured I needed to experiment and see if the whole idea of sublimation was true. Sublimation is the process where clothing hung on a clothesline in below freezing weather will go from wet to dry by releasing frozen water vapor. Would my clothing dry after four hours outdoors on what would typically be a great day for drying if it wasn't for the fact that it was the end of December and below freezing? According to the process of sublimation, it should.

Now that the experiment is over, I can say that the extremely light weight clothing, the stuff that practically feels dry when you remove it from the washing maching, did dry. So did the men's cotton business shirts. The rest of it was wet and frozen stiff. It was actually kind of cool. I could remove the clothespins from the clothing and the clothing didn't fall off of the line because it was frozen in place. Hating to remove the board stiff clothing and rehang it indoors, I decided to leave it out overnight and hope that it would dry in the early part of the day tomorrow. We are supposed to reach 41 degrees and it will all dry in the morning. Because of the promising weather, dare I try and get a few more loads hung out after that?

You may wonder why I put myself through hanging my laundry outside and dealing with the possibility of it freezing and such. Why not just hang it inside you may think. Well, I really don't enjoy hanging my clothes up inside the house. It feels so much more like work. I guess that it just suits me better to be outside, feeling the sun and wind and watching my dog explore the yard. Plus you can't beat how clothes smell when they come in off of the line. It is especially good in the cold weather when the clothing hung outdoors brings the fresh smell of winter indoors.

All of the posts that discuss my experiences with outdoor line drying can be found by clicking here.

A good reason to buy a snowblower...

I have resisted owning a snowblower my entire life and preferred the quiet solitude along with beneficial exercise that comes from hand shoveling my driveway. Through winters in Colorado high country and now Illinois, I have had this philosophy and it has served me well. But this December here in Chicago, where we have already received 22" of snow, I am not finding snow shoveling to be as much fun. I have spent many hours over the last few days digging digging digging myself out and it is still snowing as I type this.

It has not gone unnoticed by me that my snowblower owning neighbors are able to spend more time sitting by their fire or singing carols around their piano, than communing with their snow shovel on the driveway. They are decked in their Christmas sweaters and gathered around their table as I bundle up for yet another go at shoveling. The snowblowing folks spend a fraction of their time outside, zipping up and down for a few passes and then pop back inside. They spend so little time outdoors, they could almost complete the job while brewing a single cup of coffee if need be.

This may be the year that I need to invest in a snowblower. I can think of a million reasons why it would be a good idea to own one. But something nags at me. The resources used to build it and then the energy used to power it. Also, my trusty shovel never breaks down or needs to be repaired. It is quiet and doesn't send wafts of gasoline smell all over the neighborhood. Just like you don't need a clothes dryer to dry your clothes, you don't need a snowblower to clear your driveway. No matter how great the want feels, you really don't need something if you can do the job without it. It all works out. Expending my own personal energy to hang clothes or shovel the drive gives me a greater level of fitness than simply letting machines do all the work.

I need to remind myself that it really does feel good to spend time outdoors in the cold. Pushing the snow across the drive, lifting and tossing it into a growing pile. Finishing the job gives me a great sense of accomplishment, and a warm cup of coffee afterwards makes a great reward. I will hold off on the purchase until I am old and 80. Maybe then, I will purchase one. On second thought, maybe by then, with global warming, it won't be necessary. Funny to think how if I were to purchase a snowblower today with its belching of carbon dioxide, that I would simply be helping the process of global warming along, and essentially helping to cause the obsolescence of the snowblower...and ourselves too I suppose..

Winter Wonderland

With it just a few days past the winter solstice, it didn't take long for the cold temperatures and snow to really kick in. We had brutal cold over the weekend with a high of -3 on Sunday. Today it is snowing with about 3-5" expected. Above is a view from my front door with snowflakes filling the air.

The snow is even making it hard to count the birds at my feeders. I participate in Project Feeder Watch through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology by monitoring and reporting the number and kinds of birds that visit my backyard.

I have got to get out and put more seed in my feeders so that it doesn't run out. Even though birds are adapted to surviving winter weather without human intervention, I fear that I have conditioned them to rely on my seed. Speaking of winter survival for birds, I have picked up a book called "Winter World, the Ingenuity of Animal Survival" by Bernd Heinrich. This book has gotten good reviews from Amazon and I am looking forward to starting it just after I finish shoveling the driveway this afternoon.