Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year!

This year has been generally uneventful for the House House. Thankfully. Neither of us are major fans of upheaval! J We are both still at our respective jobs, still in our little house on State Street, and still parents to the Misses My and Sade. Right at the beginning of the year, our ancient oil furnace finally gave up the ghost. Right when it was nice and frigid in late January! We had to have a new gas line installed as there wasn’t one there before – what a muddy mess that was! The new gas furnace is wonderful… so quiet, does not reek of burnt heating oil, and actually keeps the house nice and toasty. The grass and ivy have nearly grown back and covered the two big holes that were dug in the yard. I was also super excited to trade in my old clunker POS washing machine for a “scratch and dent” high efficiency front loading one. It’s a beautiful thing. I spent a lot of time in the garden this summer – raised nine varieties of tomato, lots and lots of herbs and too many sunflowers. I installed a drip system in the garden this year and it made watering so much easier! I built a compost tumbler almost 100% of recycled materials. I will put it into full production next year when I figure out how to get regular water to it. We had a summer squash plant that grew to great heights and produced tons of baby squash, but they all withered on the vine before getting big enough to harvest. Rob even talked to it every day and tried to baby the fruit to maturity, but it was not to be. Old seeds, I think. You all noted that Rob’s Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series, right? Woo hoo! Our wish for this year is that we are all able to slow down. In light of current tumultuous economic and social times, maybe we can all hearken back to an older, quieter, more centered existence. Dare I say “old fashioned?” Personally, I have been working over the years to simplify how I live. Have I been successful? On some fronts. I recycle everything that I can, grow some of my own food, preserve what I can, reuse old things, sew up holes in seams, try to buy locally and organically, and cut down on the chemicals that I use around my home and yard. I am proud to say my garden is 100% organic and has been since its inception. Yes, these practices seem to make the house a little more cluttered, the bugs and weeds a little more plentiful, and my lifestyle a little more eclectic looking – but I honestly believe that I am doing all that I can to be a steward of the Earth and my community. I hope that we can all work together to undo some of the damage that has been done to our Earth and our society in the blind pursuit of wealth and the domination of Nature. If we could all consider the impact our actions have on each other and the world around us, maybe we can once again find the glue that has held us together over the past few generations…the ideals that kept our families and our children close, our hands busy and maybe a little calloused, our minds occupied and our hearts full of pride for what we have wrought. We hope that this letter finds you and yours happy and healthy – full of life and grand ideas. Take care of yourselves and the people and things you hold dear.