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By Mom Unplugged, September 19, 2007 9:25 pm

I can’t write this one as a traditional “review” since it is a bit premature. I only just heard about this book today, and obviously have not yet read it.

On NPR this morning, there was an interview with Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, the authors of The Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming. The authors are apparently the producers of Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

This book is a guide to global warming aimed at children (according to Amazon, ages 9-12). The NPR interview says the book features kid-friendly science to explain the phenomenon, and has ideas for what kids can do to help combating global warming.

Ms. David and Ms. Gordon explain that they are attempting to reach children while they are young, and create a shift in their consciousness. They want to teach children to think about how their daily activities affect global warming. They give the example of going to the mall and coming home with five different plastic (petroleum-based) bags. Why not take a reusable canvas bag to the mall?

Water bottles are another example of the change in thinking that the authors hope to pass along to young readers. According to the authors, 2.5 million water bottles PER HOUR go in the trash. Why not carry your own refillable water bottle? (For more on bottled water, please check out my post “Unplug Your Water“).

They also suggest starting a “Green Team” at school to reduce school lunch waste or enact a “no-idle” rule in the drop-off lane.

This book relies on the power of “kids with a cause.” No one will be more likely to reprimand parents on their choice of paper towels or light bulbs than an informed child. So…beware! If you have your children read this book, be prepared to hear criticism of your personal habits until you make them “greener!”

Hear the interview here (3 minutes, 42 seconds).

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By Mom Unplugged, September 12, 2007 9:21 pm

For someone who is supposed to be “unplugged,” I seem to spend quite a bit of time flitting about on Amazon. We have no decent local bookstore (sorry “Bookworm”), and I love books. Even our local library is poorly stocked. So that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Anyhow, one of my happy Amazon finds one day was this lovely book: The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the book, although the description and reviews on Amazon made it sound wonderful.

The text is a republication of a 1956 essay by “ahead of her time” environmental writer Rachel Carson (Essay: “Help Your Child to Wonder,” Woman’s Home Companion magazine, July 1956). In this edition, her inspiring words are accompanied by gorgeous, and often unusual, nature photographs by Nick Kelsh. As the dust jacket flap says: “Kelsh’s camera is drawn to patterns in nature that all too often elude hurried adults…” which is the whole point of Rachel Carson’s essay.

This is a big book (111 pages), but much of it is photography. I was easily able to read the whole thing in bed one night before going to sleep (and believe me, I am so tired at the end of the day that I don’t usually last long, no matter how good the book).

Rachel Carson writes about helping children discover nature, and about rediscovering nature with a childlike sense of wonder as an adult. This wonderful essay is a compilation of Carson’s thoughts about experiencing the world of Maine’s rocky coast with her nephew Roger. As she says:

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” (p.55)

Carson speaks much of “feeling” vs. “knowing,” exploring with the senses rather than the intellect. She expresses her philosophy in this wonderful image:

“If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil.” (p.56)

Another all-too-true lesson from this book is that as adults, we tend not to see that which is available to us every day. We grown-ups lose ourselves in the artificial and mundane. We forget how to really observe and experience the world, and tend to take the nature around us for granted. Because we can see the stars almost every night, we never actually stop to take the opportunity to gaze at the stars! Just as when living near the Grand Canyon, for example, one never goes to visit it.

The next time you “see nature,” even if it is only a bird momentarily alighting on the railing of your city apartment balcony, Ms. Carson urges you to ask yourself:

“What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?” (p.67)

Relearn the observation of the natural world using all your senses. See the beauty and perfection, even in the tiniest of objects. Take a hike in the woods (or your local city park) equipped with only a magnifying glass and an eager child to see what beauty you can find.

I find this book to be so inspirational, every time I read it I want to immediately drop the laundry basket and rush outside with my children! Honestly, I could read it over and over again. It evokes in me the same feelings that I experienced while reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea(published in 1955). I simply can’t believe that these amazing women wrote these remarkable words fifty years ago.

There are many obvious differences between the two books, but deep down, they convey the same message and have the same peaceful and comforting “feel” about them. How interesting that they were written within one year of each other, both works taking place by the sea in New England, and both authored by extraordinary women. I wish I had a doctoral thesis to write (in all my free time) because I certainly see a fascinating one here.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any parent, especially those of the Waldorf, Montessori, or home school persuasion. If you are like me, you will want to read it over and over again. If you are still not convinced, then check it out of the library and I bet that after a quick read you will be ready to invest in a hardcover version of your very own.

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By Mom Unplugged, July 14, 2007 8:22 am

A dog? A deer? A rabbit? An ostrich? An ostrich!!! Yes! that’s what it is!!!

A dog? A deer? A crocodile? Our dog Belle? Hmmm……….

I was recently reminded of the fun ancient “unplugged activity” of casting hand shadows on the wall. My kids had never seen this before, but REALLY enjoyed it. I made these up myself, but if you really want to get into it, here are some web and book resources!

Internet Links:Shadow-Puppets.com

Shadow Puppets: Designing, Building, and Performing

Hand Shadows to be Thrown Upon the Wall (Henry Bursill), a free, public domain downloadable e-book from the 19th century (from Project Gutenberg) - or buy it in real book form below from Amazon

Exploring Shadow Puppets

Make a Shadow Puppet Theatre

What Changes a Shadow’s Size (science experiments from NASA’s Kids’ Science News Network)

Books:

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By Mom Unplugged, May 28, 2007 10:20 am

A bare-root Rose de Rescht - ugh!! But, there is at least a tiny sign of life (see the little red shoots)

One of the tasks I accomplished these past few weeks was ordering and planting my new roses. For any interested gardeners out there I ordered:

• From David Austin: Mme Alfred Carriere, Roseraie de l’Hay, Graham Thomas, and Rose de Rescht.
• From High Country Roses: Pat Austin, Ballerina, Louise Odier, Buff Beauty, Henry Hudson, and Frau Dagmar Hartopp.

Being an extreme nerd, I research extensively just about any project that I undertake. Last summer I bought some rose books (see bottom of post for titles) and tried to find suitable roses for my conditions. I searched for some shade tolerance (due to all my Ponderosa Pines), good disease resistance (I have too many other needy creatures to mother without fussing over roses as well), and decent repeat bloom (if I am going to all this trouble, I don’t want to have just one show of flowers per year). After nearly a year of reading and note-taking, I came up with the selection above.

I figure that one example of each rose should be an interesting experiment. I will see what does well and what does not and can replant accordingly if necessary.

The only problem is that the David Austin roses were sent as bare-root roses and thus require a lot of imagination to visualize the beauties they will (hopefully) become!

Much of gardening involves delayed gratification which is not really my forte. I don’t mind hard work, but I like results…and I like them NOW. Therefore I am not sure why I like gardening so much. I guess because the results are usually very much worth the wait.

Plus, I have a good imagination and can look at my wooded lot seeing not trees and rocks and lots of dry dirt, but an English rose garden, misty with dew. OK. I know my piece of high-elevation Arizona forest will never be a dewy English, cottage garden. But, I can always hope!

A more hopeful sight, these roses were shipped in pots and look like real roses already, albeit small. This one is Buff Beauty.

Ballerina

Books that helped me:

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By Mom Unplugged, April 22, 2007 10:54 am

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day seems like a great day for my final gDiapers, flushable diapers, post. In case you haven’t been enthusiastically following this series of posts (why wouldn’t you??), click on the “Great Diaper Challenge” label in the right sidebar to read about our experiences using flushable diapers.

FINAL UPDATE: The baby’s diaper rash cleared up and we returned to the gDiapers. They are great, but for my very sensitive-bottomed baby (I can’t even use any brand of wipes, just a wet washcloth), we needed to add an extra morning and an extra afternoon change to our schedule. At night I use a disposable because I know her bottom can handle it for that long. In my opinion, two extra changes per day is a small price to pay for helping the environment!

My biggest worry was the flushing issue. But, so far, so good. All the poopy ones have flushed without problem. My compost pile is enjoying the added nitrogen from the wet gDiapers. My septic tank has not overflowed into my yard. My plumber remains unbothered by any agitated calls for help from me. All is well with the world.

ABOUT gDIAPERS:
gDiapers seems to be a very friendly company with lots of support options. The starter kit instructions list an “800″ number where they say they will happily talk you through an actual diapering! There is also a helpful Yahoo User Group of 816 “gMums” and Dads at www.flushability.com. Jason Graham-Nye, the CEO of gDiapers, has an amusing blog gDiapers: the early years, where you can get the latest news. Incidentally, Jason somehow “found” me (isn’t the internet amazing?) and left a very nice comment to my first post - True Confessions.

According to Jason, you can also read about gDiapers in John Kerry & Teresa Heinz Kerry’s book This Moment on Earth: Today’s New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future. I have not read it yet, but it is on my list. (Maybe next week when I do less blogging for The TV Turn-Off Week Blog Challenge?)

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS:
I will close this post with some disposable diaper facts from the gDiapers website:

• “A disposable diaper takes 500 years to biodegrade”
• “Last year alone, 18-23 billion diapers went into landfills across America. That works out to be approximately 38,000 every minute and adds up to about 3.5 million tons of waste.”
• “Conventional disposable diapers are the third largest contributors to landfills in the world and yet only five percent of the population uses them.

If you are currently using cloth diapers, I think you will LOVE these! If you are using disposables there will be a slightly bigger learning curve with a few extra diaper steps (see my “technical” post). But it is worth it.

Try these diapers. You might like them, and I promise that you will feel good about using them! Click here to find out availability in your area, or here to order online.