I was thrilled to attend a presentation by Dr. Jane Goodall at TC Williams High School today, and grateful that my son was one of the middle-school students bused over to hear this brilliant, inspiring, and accomplished scientist and conservationist, whose work revolutionized her field. Primatologist Jane Goodall, considered the world's foremost ( Read more... )

I just finished making a batch of Easter Eggs, using a technique I hadn't tried before. Onion skins and purple cabbage impart vibrant orange and blue shades, and flowers and leaves I picked in my own yard make interesting stencils! This is what they look like finished:

( Read more... )

Tomorrow, my husband's 15-year-old Mercury Tracer station wagon begins what will probably be the first leg of its journey to that Great Junkyard In the Sky. Two months ago, a truck plowed into it at an intersection. The damage didn't look too terrible. It's dented on one side, and the door sticks when you try to open it. But since then, the front ( Read more... )

I'm reading novelist Barbara Kingsolver's memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I'm not even halfway through the book yet, so this is based on an incomplete reading. But so far I'm finding it to be an intriguing and well-written book about a year-long experiment in sustainable eating that she and her family undertook. (Don't worry; I'm not including ( Read more... )

Earth Hour has started, and I'm sitting in the dark until 9:30. Unfortunately, when I look outside my door, it seems that the lights are glaring from the windows of most of the other houses on the street. It's rough being a trailblazer.

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UPDATE: Some of the neighbors' houses went dark a little after ( Read more... )

Are you taking part in Earth Hour? Tomorrow night, Saturday, March 28, turn off your lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. to save energy and show support for the planet. Here's a link to the website --  www.earthhour.org/ -- if you want to learn more. Of course, this is mostly a symbolic gesture; one hour a year on the final Saturday in March won't save ( Read more... )