>Biking and Spirituality

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The “dashboard” of the mule, circa late January 2009

I have often found bicycling more than just a mode of transport from point-A to point-B. Nor is it simply a way to conserve gas money, get exercise, and save the planet…for me bicycling can actually be a meditative and spiritual practice. When I’m in traffic in a vehicle I, like many, often find myself frustrated and angry. When I’m on a bike life takes on a different pace…things are more relaxed, calmer…simpler.

I, of course, am not the only one who feels this way….click here, here, here, here, and here.

This Bothers Me

This bothers me on many levels (and no, the quality of the image isn’t one of them). I was out for a walk today and came across this soda container in the grass…it bothers me that a person would either discard it as they walked by or threw it out a car window…couldn’t they wait to get to a trash can? But what I find equally bothersome is the size of the container…64 ounces! That’s a half-gallon of soda. Could one person have drank that entire thing? I was recently at a movie theater and the smallest soda available was 24 ounces…popcorn came served in containers larger than a waste-basket. But then again that may explain why the container was lying in the grass…maybe the owner drank the entire 64 ounces and passed out and had to be rushed to hospital…leaving only an empty container as evidence.

>This Bothers Me

>This bothers me on many levels (and no, the quality of the image isn’t one of them). I was out for a walk today and came across this soda container in the grass…it bothers me that a person would either discard it as they walked by or threw it out a car window…couldn’t they wait to get to a trash can? But what I find equally bothersome is the size of the container…64 ounces! That’s a half-gallon of soda. Could one person have drank that entire thing? I was recently at a movie theater and the smallest soda available was 24 ounces…popcorn came served in containers larger than a waste-basket. But then again that may explain why the container was lying in the grass…maybe the owner drank the entire 64 ounces and passed out and had to be rushed to hospital…leaving only an empty container as evidence.

Sold!

Yup, I sold it…well, almost…was given a down-payment on it. The buyer is a local chef/restaurateur that is going to use it to make deliveries…awesome, I couldn’t ask for a better home for it. When the sale goes through and it’s in use I’ll post photos and links. In the meantime here’s a link of it in use a year-and-a-half ago…click here.

Three Qualities of a Sustainable City

This is a great interview with Jan Gehl…the Danish architect who specializes in sustainable city design (to read a short bio of him click here).

If you’re a regular reader of this blog this video is preaching to the choir, but it’s an inspiring one none-the-less (and worth the 4 minutes to watch). Hopefully more cities in America will heed his (and other advocate’s) advice.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1677412&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Jan Gehl: 3 Qualities of the sustainable city from Sustainable Cities™ on Vimeo.

>Three Qualities of a Sustainable City

>This is a great interview with Jan Gehl…the Danish architect who specializes in sustainable city design (to read a short bio of him click here).

If you’re a regular reader of this blog this video is preaching to the choir, but it’s an inspiring one none-the-less (and worth the 4 minutes to watch). Hopefully more cities in America will heed his (and other advocate’s) advice.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1677412&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Jan Gehl: 3 Qualities of the sustainable city from Sustainable Cities™ on Vimeo.

The Relentless Urban Rabbits

This has not been a good summer for vegetable gardening…it’s bad enough that there has been a low yield with all the rain and lack of heat and sun, but what has been growing has been slowly and consistently chewed away by rabbits.

I recently posted on the subject of the explosion of urban rabbits this summer (click here to read it), and it hasn’t gotten any better. A few nights ago I came home to see a rabbit calmly sitting in the middle of the garden gnawing away at what remains of a broccoli plant…and it didn’t even run away initially…I had to stamp my feet (as if my neighbors don’t already think I’m a little nuts). Thus far the rabbits have eaten all of the broccoli (two-foot wide plants down to stumps), most of the Brussels sprouts (they left the leaves for now but ate all of the actual vegetable), and have even eaten a pot of jalapeno plants…peppers and all! I’ve also noticed some suspicious nibblings on the red cabbage. Next year I’m going to be like some grumpy old man sitting on my front porch with a wine glass in one hand and a slingshot in the other.