Thanksgiving Turkey

Today I am feeling very grateful for Willy Street's new west side store.

I have been planning to buy this year's Thanksgiving turkey since this time last year. I did some reading on the subject of Thanksgiving turkeys last year when a friend was upset about the killing of sharks in Japan for traditional shark fin soup; how they catch them wild, cut off the fin and then drop them back into the water to drown. I thought, I bet we kill a lot more turkeys for our Thanksgiving tradition than they do sharks- and I bet those turkeys have a worse life and death. It doesn't take much google searching to find ample support for that belief.

For the last several months I've been trying (somewhat successfully) to restrict myself to fewer animal products, and ones that were raised in conditions humane to the animal and to the people raising and killing them. But I end up eating conventional meat at family meals from time to time (especially at my in-laws) because often I cannot bring myself to decline something they have made for me- because of guilt, and because of hunger. So I knew if I didn't want to be a hypocrite on Thanksgiving or go without turkey, I'd better offer to bring it.

So anyway, for many months I've had this intention, but of course I procrastinated way too long. Suddenly last weekend it hit me that Thanksgiving was less than two weeks away and I probably should have looked into a turkey by now if I didn't want the ones at the grocery store.

A friend had told me that his friend raised awesome turkeys for around $3 a pound, which sounded great- but by the time I asked him for his friend's name, they were sold out. I went to the co-op and they were sold out of the good pre-order turkeys. The frozen Organic Prairie turkeys were all out that day and my only choice on the east side was Bell & Evans. Bell & Evans seems like a pretty good company from their website, but they are still a mass producer of poultry from Pennsylvania, which was not the Wisconsin-small- farm-pasture-raised turkey I was hoping for.

I started looking at getting a turkey directly from a farm. Reap food group has a wonderful website to help you find small, local farmers selling all kinds of meat: http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/atlas/buy_local.htm. I learned a lot reading up on the various farms' websites.

For instance, there are farms around here raising heritage turkeys. These are breeds of turkeys that don't have such giant breasts. (But they are still sexy turkeys!) They live more normal lives because they haven't been bred to have a huge, rapidly-growing body that causes them pain and discomfort and premature disease, as the traditional turkeys have. And they can breed naturally instead of needing artificial insemination, which sounds like about the worst job you could ever have- a nasty process for the birds and for the humans who do it at a rapid fire pace all day long.

Unfortunately for me, these turkeys sell out fast and some farms require you to pre-order them way ahead, when the farm is deciding how many poults to raise that year. Also, even with the "regular" turkeys we are used to, I wasn't sure from the websites if farms still had turkeys left- some did not say they were sold out, but they also didn't have any recent updates or "yes we still have turkeys" posts.

It looked like I was going to need to spend some time on the phone finding a farm that wasn't sold out of their turkeys, that wasn't too far away, where I could pick up the turkey this weekend. Unfortunately, work was crazy on Monday and today; no time for phone calls. Stress levels were starting to soar as I tried to figure out when I would call these farms, much less go pick up a turkey. But tonight at 8:45pm I was within a 10 minute drive of the new west side store of the Willy Street Coop, which just opened yesterday and was open until 9:30. I got there, and there in the case was a beautiful frozen Organic Prairie turkey, in the size I needed. Yay!

Organic Prairie is probably not a perfect match to what I wanted either, but it's closer. It's a co-op of small organic farms, many of them in Wisconsin. From their website: Organic Prairie farmers are committed to providing your family with the healthiest, most wholesome meat, raised humanely in accordance with organic principles and practices—respecting the dignity and interdependence of human, animal, plant, soil and global life.

I am pretty excited about my turkey, but part of me wishes I had held out and tried this week to get a farm-direct turkey, because I could probably have bought my organic prairie turkey next week if things didn't work out. As I was writing this post, I clicked on one of the farm websites and it had just put an update on its site saying they still had turkeys- if only that had been there two days ago! But I'm not going to beat myself up about it- my turkey is still a step up from a conventional turkey, and I will do better next year now that I know more. I will do my research and pick a farm ahead of time, and probably reserve my turkey in advance for no last minute dash (and to provide security for the farmer), and I would really like to try one of those heritage breeds. I think it would be a treat to see what turkey is really supposed to taste like.

I would also like to find out where the small family farms around here get their baby turkeys and where they slaughter them and what the conditions are there. If there are better facilities that some farms use, I'd like to give those farms preference. A lot of the bad stuff I've read about happens during those two parts of the turkey's life. It's great if the in between of life is better than the norm, but a brutal beginning for a baby chick is not something I'd like to support. And, of course, there is something particularly impacting about how a living thing ends its life. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. If somebody lives a wonderful life but then comes to a brutal and horrible end, I think it feels viscerally more tragic and awful than if we hear about a person who has had a very tragic life dying happy with loving friends around them. The first person may have had a greater sum of happy moments in life, and yet I think people feel worse about that person's situation. Why is that?

Anyway, if you are going to be purchasing a Thanksgiving turkey still this year, (or one for Christmas) the Willy Street Coop will continue to have Organic Prairie and Bell & Evans turkeys, and it's a great excuse to go check out the west side store. The Organic Prairie are $4.59 per pound; Bell & Evans are around half that price.

Here are some of the farms I looked at too:

• JR's Country Acres in Lake Mills is the farm that posted the "we still have turkeys!" post on the 15th. If you're on the east side this wouldn't be too far of a drive. Website doesn't list a price.
• Jordandal farms has turkeys for a pretty nice price- 2.75/lb. They are out for Thanksgiving but you can order for Christmas or probably even for next Thanksgiving. You can pick up at the Dane County farmer's market or the Westside Community Markets (or at the farm in Argyle WI).
• JenEhr family farm looks really awesome and they have heritage breed turkeys as well as traditional. $4.50/lb. I'm thinking this might be the farm I go with for next year. They have a turkey order form on their site and list a pickup date of Nov 20th. Site doesn't say they aren't sold out but I am kind of skeptical. You can pick up at the Dane County farmer's market, their Sun Prairie farm, or even at the West Allis farmer's market.
• Good Earth Farms, $3.99/lb, their farm is in central WI but they ship. Sold out for this Thanksgiving. I like their mission statement: To produce the highest quality organic grass fed beef, pasture raised pork, and pasture raised poultry and make it available at a reasonable price to all those who seek it.

All of these farms sell other animal products too, so check them out! And do check out REAP's website, because there are lots of other farms I didn't even have time to look at.

One last thought: If you cringe at the prices listed above, with Butterball turkeys being sold at Copps for .99/lb, here's how I think of it- I paid about $50 more for my turkey this year than I would have at the Copps (I could have paid about $30 less with Bell & Evans). But I would be more than willing to donate $25-$50 to a charitable organization supporting humane treatment of animals, good working environments for the people that raise them, and responsible treatment of the environment, in a world where most of the meat we eat comes at the expense of real horrors to animals, people and the planet. Supporting these farms is a very concrete way of supporting those things.

I also think of it as a holiday gift to the cause of compassion, and a better testament to the spirit of Thanksgiving than gorging myself on the cheapest food I can find. Lots of people cannot afford a more humanely raised turkey no matter how good the reason, but lots of us truly CAN, if it is a priority for us. And the more of us that do this, the more farms can be supported and the lower the prices can go, which eventually makes this kind of eating more accessible to everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading.

Take Comfort in Rituals

I saw this sign at the Target yesterday and was struck by it. I was kind of amazed, I gues,s by how blatant and straightforward the message was. I think I've seen variations of this ad hundreds of times, yet not so blunt. All of these ads play on our love of ritual and our need for comforting. I felt grudging admiration for whoever created this and their decision to just cut to the chase, as well as sadness at what a poor excuse for a ritual they were offering. And despite that sadness, I totally could feel it working on me. Luckily for my blood glucose levels, it was like 9:30pm and the Starbucks in the Target was closed.

When I started this blog I said that I wanted to talk about my efforts to lead a life that was both more environmentally friendly and more compassionate. I haven't talked so far about the compassionate part. But I'm beginning to think it's the most important part.

Rituals are pretty important to me, particularly spiritual ones. During the weeks leading up to the start of this blog, I'd been doing a lot of reading in a little book by Thich Nhat Hanh called Present Moment Wonderful Moment. It's a book of gathas, which are "short verses we can recite during our daily activities to help us return to the present moment and dwell in mindfulness". Thich Nhat Hanh talks a lot about rituals as a way to support the practice of mindfulness and compassion. A lot of the gathas in this book refer to the interconnectedness of the universe and compassion for the suffering of other human beings. For example:

5. Turning On The Water

Water flows from high in the mountains.

Water runs deep in the Earth.

Miraculously, water comes to us,

and sustains all life.

A short homily follows:

"Even if we know the source of our water, we still take its appearance for granted. But it is thanks to water that life is possible. Our bodies are more than seventy percent water. Our food can be grown and raised because of water. Water is a good friend, a bodhisattva, which nourishes the many thousands of species on Earth. Its benefits are numberless.

Reciting this gatha before turning on the faucet or drinking a glass of water enables us to see the stream of fresh water in our own hearts so that we feel completely refreshed. To celebrate the gift of water is to cultivate awareness and help sustain our life and the lives of others."

Doesn't reading that give a whole new perspective to water conservation? I never was able to get into the habit of actually reciting the verses at the appropriate times of the day, but just reading a few things out of this little book each day had, I think, a bigger impact on me during those weeks than I knew.

I feel much more motivated to take care of the earth and make an effort when I spend time each day contemplating on how I am in some way connected with everything on it and in it, and feeling gratitude. I guess it makes sense; it's just a way of bringing the environment into my monkeysphere.

Lately I have not been reading my gathas. I also have had a lack of energy and been feeling less enthusiastic about my efforts. I am going to start back up again now that I've begun to suspect that those little verses started all of this in the first place.

Back on the Horse

I'm new to this blog writing thing and obviously have not yet mastered the art of keeping to a regular writing schedule even when "life" interferes. Work got very busy, I got out of the habit of writing, and since then it's just been one excuse or another. Part of the problem is writer's block.

So today I'm just going to take a stab at something, which was advice from a friend. I'm going to write about eating for the environment. This is a big topic that will probably serve as fodder for many blog posts (ba dum bum).

Around the time that I decided to start this blog, I decided to try really hard to avoid eating meat unless I felt as sure as I could that the animal had been given a good life before it became my meal. It has not been easy at all, which is probably why I have gone so long before attempting this, despite knowing about the horrors of conventional meat for at least 8 years.

Let me start out by saying I'm not really what you'd call an animal person. As with children, I will make a small effort to get to know them, and if they don't respond enthusiastically, I tend to get bored and go find someone else to talk to. (Mike is one of those wonderful people who can intuit just how to draw any animal or child out of its shell and befriend it, and I love to watch him at work, but I doubt I will ever be patient enough to do it myself.)

I don't think that I know what's going on in animals' heads. I have no idea, and that rather freaks me out. The reality of the existence of populations of large wild mammals in the world, living out their lives so differently than me, despite all that we have in common biologically, is one of those thoughts that can kind of blow my mind when I sit and contemplate it at length. To sit and think about how much of life on Earth is non-human has the power to momentarily jar me out of my human-centric worldview, and that is an odd and unsettling experience. I found a website today that said "animals fascinate and horrify us", and that is certainly true for me. I have no doubt our movies and books humanize animals so much in part to make them seem less scary and unknowable to us.

And yet despite the mystery that animals are to me, I do feel pretty confident that animals can feel pain, suffer, feel frustrated, and have other emotions, even if they likely experience these things differently than I do. I believe we all evolved together, and it seems obvious to me that if you do something to an animal that would cause pain and suffering to a human (castration or cutting off a tail or beak without anesthetic), and the animal responds with a scream, they are in pain or at least suffering in some way. I'm pretty sure those aren't screams of happiness. I read and see videos about the day to day conditions of factory raised animals and find it impossible to believe that an animal could live out their life that way and not suffer horribly. I also am bothered by the suffering of people who work in these operations. (For details read Fast Food Nation.)

I may not be an animal person, but I have a very low tolerance for suffering. Especially the sights and sounds of suffering. When I started this blog I had long tried to buy "better" meat when I could, but then one day I stumbled upon a website run by mercy for pigs, and saw some pretty awful video that I would not have sought out. That's probably why they have the video start immediately when you go to the site rather than requiring you to click on it or something. Shaking and crying, I resolved to stop eating conventionally raised pork and beef altogether.

The next day I had a sneaking suspicion and google confirmed my fears- I couldn't just eat organic meat or meat from Whole Foods and avoid the horrors of confined animal feeding operations. There is such a thing as an organic foodlot. It seemed the only way I could really be sure I was not supporting CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) was by checking out sources one by one.

I also soon realized that I would need to not just eat different meat and animal products, but less of them, because when you raise these products without all the horrifying practices, it is more expensive. A pig given a pasture to graze in and good food is more expensive to keep than keeping 20 pigs in that same space, confining them so they can't do anything but grow fat and muscle, and feeding them the cheapest crap you can find. It also requires more space, and more labor. I doubt we could transition all of the meat and animal products America consumes to humane operations because there probably wouldn't be enough good pasture land. Also, it bothers me that the rate at which we consume animal products means it's a lot of people's jobs to slaughter animals all day, day in and day out, which doesn't seem like a healthy job for anybody to have to do.

Since then, I've been fighting a losing battle of avoiding conventionally raised meat, dairy products and eggs. But I am trying. It is not easy for me and it makes me depressed, because I love to eat, I love animal products, I love to eat in restaurants, I love barbecue in the summer and have found that this never seems to be made with humane products. (Why?? The most commonly found humanely raised product on a Madison restaurant menu is a pasture-raised burger. That's great, but a burger is SO not barbecued ribs or pulled pork. Also, I can make a pasture raised burger at home really easily, unlike barbecued pork or chicken.)

OK, enough whining. The good parts so far.

1) I work at a place that, thankfully, makes a lot of good vegetarian food. They make a lot more good food that contains meat, and I really get sad when I can't have some of it (especially pork), but when I begrudgingly get the vegetarian option instead, I usually find that it's delicious and that I'm happy to eat it. Unfortunately many of these options still have conventional dairy and eggs. This bothers me because egg-laying hens have, reportedly, an even worse life than chickens raised for meat. The other problem is that these meals are more likely to lack protein and make me feel full of carbs and fat and still hungry than a meaty meal. Maybe I should start bringing in sides of bean salad to work. I really like beans and they help with this feeling.

2) I would like to say that eating less meat is making me appreciate it more when I eat it. I don't know if that's really happened yet, I think because when I do get to eat meat it is often not what I really want- I want barbecued pork but the only humane option easily available is a burger, for instance. Or I really wanted the meat prepared super well in the restaurant, but instead I'm eating my closest approximation at home, that is not even close to what a skilled chef on restaurant quality equipment can achieve. So I eat the meal but still feel dissatisfied (instead of grateful) because I really want something else. Friends, send me your suggestions about this problem. What a shame to eat anything and not feel grateful when having enough to eat at all is such a blessing. But at least I'm not chowing down on meat all day without a thought anymore. I like the idea that meat should be a special occasion, in keeping with what a gift it is. I'm saving up for a humanely raised turkey for Thanksgiving. They are very expensive. I think the meal will feel more special when the main dish really is a luxury, like in the days before such readily available cheap meat.

3) I'm sure eventually I will learn how to cook well if it's the only way I can get the meat I feel comfortable eating. It will come. And that will be a useful skill to have.

It's still hard. I really like eating meat and it's hard to cut back. I think it's time to watch that horrifying pig video again. The beauty of video and sound is that it has the ability to jolt me to reality in a way that written descriptions do not.

Time to end this post as I will be late to church. More another day. But how do your eating habits reflect your values? How have you overcome challenges related to eating? I would love to hear some inspiring stories.

The Many and Varied Miracles Achieved by Biking to Work

I think we've all had resolutions over the years that follow this basic pattern:

1) Inspiration- I am SO excited about cooking healthy meals for self every day/learning to knit and sew/ learning to play guitar/other impressive and/or virtuous new practice

2) Short lived fervor- Buy paraphernalia, read obsessively about subject, daydream, about one week of effort

3) Interruption- busy week at work/indecision re: sewing patterns and inability to read them/ lack of brain for proceeding beyond step 1 of "learn to play guitar" free online lessons

4) Lapse-no further action until paraphernalia is sold or the sight of paraphernalia/article/more virtuous friend inspires me to try again

This is the pattern I have followed many times, especially in regards to biking. I've tried to get in the habit of biking to work for about 4 years, and part of the reason Mike and I bought this house two+ years ago was the idea that we were close enough to work to bike there (3.6 miles). And yet I have never biked to work more than maybe 5 days in a row- and usually it's a day here or there, never more than a couple weeks totaled up each summer.

So I am very proud to say that this is the year I finally biked for more than a week straight. In fact I am entering my 7th week with only 2 off days! I can't tell you how exciting this is for me.

This all started a couple weeks after we got back from Peru in May. Bike to work week was the catalyst (so if you have a job organizing events like this, pat yourself on the back), combined with vexation regarding my bottom-of-barrel physical performance on the Inca trail (so if you are one of the people that was kicking my keister, kudos) and guilt over the BP oil spill (I'm not thanking BP for that one, but rather this blog post- as Garrison Keillor says, "that's guilt friends, it's good for you") .

During that week Mike and I encountered rain, I had to get to work at 6:30am one day, and I had to wear nice business clothes on one of the rainy days. But I was determined for once to not cave in to these things. I knew each was surmountable with a little planning- and in retrospect, with my to do list at work spiraling out of all control, I think my pysche was in desperate need of a readily surmountable problem. (The physical release of pounding up a hill and then gleefully racing down didn't hurt either).

Getting through the whole week despite the obstacles gave Mike and I the inspiration to continue, but the second week was harder than first week. The first blush of excitement over new hobby was fading, it kept raining, and the physical effort required seemed to actually increase. I felt a lot slower. What kept me going was that each day I biked I could tally as a success, and I realize now how much that helps when the fruits of my labor at my job are still months of hard work away.

Usually when work is busy and very challenging, I dig in and start giving things up- time, and all the things outside of work that require time. But thankfully, the fact that biking was something I could consider More Important Than Work (because of Need To Save the Earth) allowed me to justify taking the time. (And it really only takes an extra 20-30 minutes out of my day anyway).

I never realized how much doing this would help my attitude and experience at work; how effectively it would fight depression. It has been an incredible help. Having this other project that is going well outside of work makes so many more things feel possible during the day.

After six weeks I am seeing a lot of other benefits too:

• I am dramatically more motivated to make other lifestyle changes to reduce my environmental impact (and that has led me to create this blog and try writing again)
• Skin clear enough to skip the makeup most days, for first time in decades (Maybe coincidence or due to other changes like eating a lot less meat and a lot more vegetables? Maybe bizarre undiscovered benefit of getting more sun? Hard to say.)
• Defined calf muscles- I didn't even think I was using those!- and other muscles too- took awhile, but they are coming
• Nice tan (due to brief periods of sun exposure early and late in the day-not enough to burn- yes I know this is not good for me but I can't deny enjoying it)
• I am fully awake once I get to work, no matter how little sleep I got
• Better parking spot at work (the bike racks are right by the door on the top floor of the parking garage)
• I'm finally getting faster, and I'm not really winded by the ride anymore- yes!!
• I do something I love every day now- it turns out I really love the sensation of being on the bike and racing along on smooth pavement, the wind in my face, watching fireflies dance in the prairie I ride past. I even love it when it's raining. And I love arriving at work drenched in sweat, ready for the best shower ever (the post bike shower).

Everything I try to do to reduce my environmental impact seems to be based on the simple principle of delayed gratification. Whatever is easy now is usually not the best thing for for me (or the earth) later. In the mornings when I first get up, at least 75% of the time I still want to drive to work. I have to fight that immediate urge because if I do drive, I will trade in that brief comfort for disappointment, lethargy and depression once I get to work. (Not to mention the gas I've burned.) I've found the secret is to have everything planned for biking and set out the night before, so that I have to actually make an effort to change my plans if I want to drive.

The other secret is to pay very little attention to weather reports, and just learn how to bike in light-to-moderate rain. Otherwise you miss out on the 90% of good biking days where it doesn't rain after all (or rains during the day while you're working), and you will probably get caught in the rain at some point despite your best efforts. (If you want any tips for riding in the rain I am happy to share; leave a comment. It's pretty simple and whatever you are guessing is probably what I am going to tell you.) This has got me thinking that there must be a lot of good things to do in life that could be accomplished if we ignored some of those obstacles we anticipate we may encounter. So often they don't appear, or are not that hard to deal with. My mother used to tell me that when you are looking down the road and you see boulders rolling towards you, remember that many of them are going to roll right off the side of the road before they ever get to you. This isn't the best analogy for biking since that usually involves riding on the side of the road, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am very grateful that so far I have been able to continue biking. I am not sure what I am going to do when winter comes again and I have to stop.

Environmental savings:

• At 7.2 miles per day round trip, and 25 mpg (that's generous for our cars when driving under 5 miles at a time; they are pretty inefficient for those trips), we're saving about .3 gallons of gas a day, or 1.4 gallons of gas a week. Over the past six weeks, Mike and I have saved at least 8 gallons, but actually more because of all the days we have had to leave work at different times (meaning I had to work late or he had to leave early) and thus would have driven separately.
• According to this website, if we saved 8 gallons that adds up to about 30.6 pounds of CO2 emissions kept out of the air each week, and over 180 pounds for the six weeks we've biked so far. (We've saved more than Mike's weight in emissions, awesome!)
• According to this calculator, when other costs of driving are figured in, we're saving almost $3 a day by biking, over $84 so far. Not a ton, but it adds up and we can spend it on buying more things organic, so that fits in this category, right?

Of course, I think we have spent that much on bike paraphernalia. :) We got these gift certificates for $20 off a $50 purchase at Trek thanks to Bike to Work Week, and it sucked us in. What I really want is a radio because I do sometimes miss listening to that on the way to work in the mornings. That, and ergonomic handlebar grips. They didn't have those in stock at Trek so I was forced to buy what is, as it turns out, the BEST TANK TOP IN EXISTENCE.

Just another one of those silver linings that I've been noticing a lot of lately.

The Pleasures of Cool Water

Hello friends. I am starting this new blog because I have lately been inspired to live more lightly on this earth and in a way that is more compassionate towards my fellow creatures (human and otherwise). Seriously guys, I hear "Man in the Mirror" and start choking up. It's pretty ridiculous but also feels awesome. For some reason, I got a burst of energy in this direction after seeing As You Like It performed at the American Players Theater (APT), and the name of this blog comes from that play. So far, each time that I try to do without a certain environment-harming convenience, out of the adversity of the experience I have reaped spiritual benefits from the most mundane things. I hope to use this blog to share the things I'm trying, to encourage myself to keep pushing myself to keep at it, and to reflect on the surprises I'm finding along the way. I hope my friends will add comments to give me advice and that we can learn from each other!

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So anyway, Mike and I have been seeing how long we can go without turning on the air conditioning. We've not turned it on yet this summer; we have just been leaving the windows open when it's not raining and using a box fan downstairs, and wearing little clothing. A tiny fan by my bedside helps keep me comfortable at night. (Mike claims he can feel the breeze from it; I don't see how this is possible but he seems to be doing ok.) We are lucky to live where we feel comfortable leaving those windows open all the time with just the screens on. I am also lucky that I am cold all the time so this isn't a huge sacrifice for me.

I'm not opposed to putting the thing on if we get really uncomfortable, but so far we've been (surprisingly) doing fine. One of the "sermons" I've gotten from this experiment so far has been the joy of really experiencing summer. Having the windows open all the time and relishing in high-70's temps and tropical-style humidity makes it unmistakable; winter is NOT HERE and this is DIFFERENT. I smell grass and plants and rain and cedar decking throughout the house, and I can hear our wind chimes. My chronically dry nose is happy as a clam without any treatment. And the other day I noticed my skin has been feeling incredibly moisturized and soft- I think it must be the humidity, since I'm not using any lotion and my skin is usually on the dry side. I've also found I have no problem with stopping the water in the shower while I'm lathering up- it's warm enough in the bathroom that I don't get chills.

On the downside, if there is anything stinky in the house (like a rotting onion not discovered for a week), there's nothing like high humidity and heat to make a bad smell worse. I also feel a little concerned about what the high humidity is going to do to the house long term (mold??).

Anyway, today I was covered in itchy mosquito bites, sweaty and a bit muddy from a bike ride home, and just generally grumpy- and the house was 81 degrees and humid as all get out. I thought about putting on the AC but was too lazy to do anything about it.

I first ran the two inches of cold water into the bathtub with the plan of rinsing my poor, hot, mosquito bitten feet and then putting them in socks to keep from scratching the bites. (I did do that later and it's very helpful.) But as the cool water flowed over my toes, I realized I had stumbled onto something wonderful.

I took a washcloth and started giving myself an old fashioned sponge bath. At first it was shockingly cold, the contrast between the cold washcloth and my warm skin, but soon enough either I cooled down or the water warmed up, and the washcloth just felt deliciously cool and refreshing. Through the bathroom window a fiery pink sunset blazed through steamy wisps of cloud, and filled the room with a soothing, otherworldly glow. Outside was quiet, I heard only a few bird calls and the tinkling wet sound of the water in the tub. After I was all clean I sat down in the tub, let my head sink back into the soft coolness, and marveled at how much pleasure there was to be had in two inches of cold bath water.

Lesson: Water cools you down and you don't have to go to the lake or the pool to experience it. You also don't need a lot of it.

Environmental Impact:

I know that when my heat and electric were on the same bill, I always paid a lot more in summer (with AC) than in winter (with heat) so I figure the energy savings are probably pretty substantial, especially the longer we are able to leave it off. I tried to do some research for this post and the best I could find was this highly suspect blog: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html, but apparently heating and cooling are a pretty huge part of household energy use, and we could be saving something like 3500 watts of electricity for every hour that we don't use the AC. By contrast, it appears that a box fan uses something like 100 watts. Nice.

Other Lessons Learned:

• To save your lintels from water, you need to be vigilant about closing the windows when leaving the house if rain may come while you're gone.
• For best results, throw the windows wide in the evening when it cools down outside and blast the fan at that time to bring in cool air. We should probably try closing the shades during the day to keep it cooler; for some reason I didn't think of that until just now even though I think I've read a million pamphlets that tell you to do that.
• I read somewhere that the main thing a fan does is make you feel cooler through the breeze, but it doesn't actually cool the air down much- so unless you have it right in front of an open window to pull in cool night air, it doesn't make sense to leave it on when you're not in the room to enjoy it. Good to know!
• Our cat is really cute when she is stretched out on her back to expose her belly to the fan breeze.