photo-of-the-day

photo-of-the-day

America Recycles Day

At this point, most of us are probably recycling in some shape or form, but traveling is always a conundrum for me. At home, we filter our drinking water and I am really good about using reusable water bottles. When we travel, I must still drink plenty of agua, but every time I purchase a plastic water bottle, I can only picture the  North Pacific Gyre. It used to be defined by geography and ecology, but today it is also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This patch contains a massive collection of man-made debris because of the ocean currents and the way debris is pushed to the center of the Gyre. I can just see all the water bottles I buy when traveling floating around in this garbage patch. Well, luckily for all of us, there are some amazing companies out there that are busy working on this exact problem!

As for filtered water, Brita has been on the forefront of water filtering for quite some time, and they now have a solution for us travelers. Their water bottle has a filter built right into it. Brilliant! And it eliminates those plastic throw-away water bottles completely. They even have a cute kiddo version that might just end up in Christmas stockings at my house this year. Thank you, Brita!

And if you do have to buy a few of those plastic throw-away water bottles, Method has come up with another solution. They are literally sending crews out to harvest those bottles floating around our treasured oceans and turning them back into bottles containing their soaps. Brilliant again! Maybe Santa will be dropping some of those under our tree as well. Thank you, Method!

 

 

photo-of-the-day

lollapalooza

It’s a lollapalooza of a word.

Like a lollypop and appaloosa smashed together.

Who doesn’t love both of those?

And … it’s also an event!

A Lollapalooza sign. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. tammylo

Continue reading

Dropseater

Every small town has a story …

But not every town’s story is quite as

cozy

as this one:

The Red Flannel Story of Cedar Springs, Michigan.

Population 3,543 (give or take).

Rumor has it, the Cedar Springs red flannel saga began during the winter of 1936.

And, yes, it was “the worst winter in years.”

Big snow, temps well below—you get the idea.

Granted, the country was mired in the midst of the Great Depression, and winters then must have felt colder than ever.

It is said that a writer from the New York Sun newspaper set out on a quest to find a traditional flannel union suit to help him weather the weather. His search stretched from the Atlantic coast to Cleveland, but no flannel underthings could be found. (I slept in a cotton red flannel suit complete with drop-seat every night when I lived in a wall tent during the dead of winter while working for the Forest Service in the ’70s.)

Nancy Collins: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.collins.7140

“Here we are in the midst of an old-fashioned winter,” he groused, “and there are no red flannels in the USA to go with it.”

None?

We’ll see about that.

When the Clipper Girls read the reporter’s rant, their blood ran hot …

Continue reading

Vinotok

Fall festivals …

What fun.

I’m thinking …

candied apples,

pumpkin carving,

wooly sweaters,

and a flaming

GRUMP.

Huh?

I knew that would get your attention.

Strange as it sounds, I really did mean to say “grump.”

Curious?

Come with me …

Continue reading