>

It only took a month, but we finally got the bench for the nature
center! Bee wants to paint it pink, but Im not sure that we will do
that! I think that next comes the bird feeder. Give us another month.
ha ha. Now, here is an interesting tidbit for you. So you know I
teach seniors at MSU this semester, and yesterday was the first day
of class. I was going over the class list to make sure everyone was
there and to learn their names, and would you believe that 6 of my 25
seniors have the middle name Marie and 5 more have the middle name
Elizabeth? That's practically half the class!

>Senator Obama was in Lansing today to talk about his plan for energy
and the economy! My friend and I were able to get 11 tickets so that
we could take a group of youth from the GET City (Green energy
technologies in the city) to see him speak, which was a perfect
topic, since the kids have been studying energy issues all year! And
a couple of kids from our program were interviewed by CBS news so
that was exciting to see!

The day started off with a bang (literally) as we watched a police
car go up in flames. I guess it overheated and it somehow caused a
fire. It was little freaky because the heat of the fire caused the
ammunition in the car to go off and you could hear the ammunition
popping! I was for sure they were going to cancel the event.

then we watched Sen. Obama give a talk on energy issues, primarily
oil independence, climate change, and the role of new energy
technologies in transforming the economy and in global
sustainability. These are issues you all know I care alot about, and
so it was especially interesting to be able to see Obama speak on
these issues.

The crowd was fairly small – about 2500 people so even though we were
close to the back of the room, we felt like we were close to the stage!

Oh and I forgot to add that today is Obama’s birthday so the whole crowd sang happy birthday to him! So while I did not get to shake his hand, I did get to sing happy birthday to him in person!

Go Obama!

>We’ve decided to put in a little nature center in our background.
Well, admittedly, all of our backyard is nature. However, we thought
we would work with a part of the backyard to put in a little path, a
bench, a birdbath or bird feeder, some plants and whatnot. Its sort
of a mix of tranquility and imagination. The kids can play there and
create whatever worlds they want. We can sit there and enjoy the
peacefulness that is east lansing. So, the first picture is what we
started with. Then we cleared the the area. Then, the second picture
is the pathway we put in. We got some new york slate and put in a
pathway, with a sol y la luna step at the beginning and end. The next
step has not yet been determined but stay tuned!!

>

Drum roll please….

from the little twig we planted last summer…. we figure if the
number of berries doubles each year, in 10 years we will have over
1000 raspberries (1024 to be exact)!

>

Here is our level 1 swimmer! I think she is ready for Beijing, dont you!

>
Obama!! ha ha!!

For those of you familiar with MSU… Bee’s summer camp class painted the “rock” near the auditorium on friday! Bee’s friends call her Bee Bee, so if you see the “BB” on the right side that is Bee’s contribution!

>

We went to the Nokemos Learning Center, sort of close to our house.
Its a recreation of an old farm village with the actual farm house,
school and general store. It was a sunday afternoon so everything was
closed but we still had fun wandering around, looking for frogs in
the lake, and pretending to be laura ingalls wilder!

>

We put in our garden over Memorial Day weekend. We put in the usuals, including a variety of tomatoes and eggplant. Our strawberries from last year seem to be doing well. We also added broccoli for the first time this year. I have never grown it before so I didnt know what to
expect. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the plant we put into the ground is actually starting to look like the broccoli Im used to eating! Do you see the little floret in the middle???? Ok, you have to look real close, but still!! I sure hope it gets larger!

>

The one thing that really surprised me but also caused me to reflect upon my own practices was how committed the Dutch were to riding bikes and other forms of alternative transportation! I knew that the Dutch rode their bikes more, and that cars were not as dominant a part of their society, but I was really astounded by how many bike riders I saw of all ages. And the things they could do on their bikes!

First, there were definitely more bike riders than people in cars. Walking down the street I think you have to be more worried about being hit by a bike than a car. In fact, they have special lights at intersections just for the bikes. You can see in this one picture, the bikes lined up at the light.

Second, I saw old people (80s and up!) riding bikes, young people (lets say ages as low as 3) riding 2 wheelers with agility. I saw women of all ages riding bikes with 3 and 4 kids in tow (2 in front and 2 in the back) whilst also carrying groceries and other odds and ends. I saw a woman, I’d say about 65 years old, who was wearing a dark suit with a skirt, high pencil thin heels, cruising down the street. I saw a priest in full dress. I couldnt whip my camera out fast enough to catch these images, but they are certainly indelibly imprinted in my mind.

Now, really, when I think I cant ride my bike to school because I have too much to carry, I will think twice, and try hopping on the bike. I will also say that I think its going to take some practice. We saw lots of adults carrying adults on the back of the bike (like Im trying to do with my colleage, Nancy, in this picture), but lets just say its really hard to keep your balance when you havent done this before!

If the Dutch aren’t riding their bikes they are taking the train, the tram or the bus. The public transportation system in both amsterdam and utrecht was enviable. And, packed! People used it! Here in the US people are complaining about $4/gallon price for gas. Some folks even want to lift drilling restrictions to get more oil into the system, despite good evidence that it is harmful to the larger ecosystems we share with other species. I think, as a society, we have a lot to learn from the Dutch!!

>I do not have too many picture since sunday since I have been at a meeting in utrecht, so I thought I would wrap up my post about amsterdam. I was able to visit Anne Frank’s hiding place from 1942-1944. It was actually bigger than I anticipated, but still with two families hiding and trying to live in total darkness and silence the space I bet felt very small.