Liberal Me- Congratulations OHB!

I am very happy with the results of last nights presidential election. A chance for hope and positive change is now a possibility.

Barrack Obama did a great job of energizing Americans to vote! I hope this trend will continue.

I titled this "Liberal Me" because I am liberal, I am idealist. I believe that we should treat others as we wish to be treated. I believe in diplomacy. I wish for national health care, same sex marriage, substainable living. I support Roe vs Wade. I support our troops- but not the war. I pray everyday that the US will no longer us the military to create war.

Now that the election is over, I do hope that the nation will rally behind Barrack Obama and understand that we might all need to make sacrifices to make the change we want to see in the world. My children might have a brighter future.

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Maya Angelou

Pumpkin Patch - Jubilee Farm

Jubilee is a great local, king county, organic farm. 30 minutes from Seattle- it is close enough to make visiting not an ordeal. I have been a subscriber of their newsletter for 2 years, and I know Wendy and Erick have worked very hard on local and national farm bills / zoning, etc. I like them because when I visit- it feels real- not over commercialized.

I am considering ordering their summer CSA- registration is now, October. They have a drop off location in Columbia City, down the hill from where I live- which is easier for me than trying to visit a farmer's market every week.

I support local farming. I am committed to sustainable living. I support the trend to live, eat, shop locally. I could go on and on.

But, I will have to admit that I have been shocked by the prices of local food here in Seattle. Jubilee's prices at the farm were high. I am not sure why I must pay 0.50 cents a pound for a pumpkin or why corn on the cob is 0.75 cents each- when those are the same prices I can find at PCC. If I am driving to the farm, should I not get the produce for less?

Portland keeps kids off field with high lead level

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND -- Portland Public Schools is limiting access to an elementary school field with artificial turf as a precaution against lead.

Children 11 and younger won't be allowed on the field. So, Rieke Elementary School students won't be able to use the field during the school day. The city parks department will limit some of its programs on the field.

The district had independent tests on its three fields after reports about lead in East Coast turf fields.

The district's results were within safety ranges set by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. But they exceeded more general recommendations for lead in soil set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

Family Vacation

The cultural scablands of Washington state was the location of our family vacation.
Interesting history.

Dry Falls, Steamboat Mountain, & Grand Coulee Dam

Saving Rain

There is this article in today's Seattle PI that mentions an archaic Washington State water law. Click here to read the article.

I decided to do some research- what is this law exactly?

RCW 90.46.130 Impairment of water rights downstream from freshwater discharge points.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, facilities that reclaim water under this chapter shall not impair any existing water right downstream from any freshwater discharge points of such facilities unless compensation or mitigation for such impairment is agreed to by the holder of the affected water right.

(2) Agricultural water use of agricultural industrial process water and use of industrial reuse water under this chapter shall not impair existing water rights within the water source that is the source of supply for the agricultural processing plant or the industrial processing and, if the water source is surface water, the existing water rights are downstream from the agricultural processing plant's discharge points existing on July 22, 2001, or from the industrial processing's discharge points existing on June 13, 2002.

Washington Department of Ecology established the Reclaimed Water And Water Rights Impairment Advisory Committee to assist the agency in examining water right issues and finding appropriate solutions. The Department of Ecology has given themselves to December 31, 2010 to develop and adopt new rules based upon suggestions from the advisory committee.

As a homeowner- I have been looking at collection rain water in containers larger than my 55 - gallon rain barrel and would like to install a cistern. I do not know for sure, but there seems to be a City of Seattle pilot program currently in place called Seattle RainCatcher Pilot.

Seattle Public Utilities Rain water harvesting.