Review of 2018

Seems every December, hard to believe another year come and gone.

It was a good year.  Home, garden, friends, projects, bit of travel adventure. 

"Green and resilient" advocacy remains a core part of what I do.  See below the fotos for more comments/observations about current events and trends.

I made two trips to Texas.

First visit was mostly in Wichita Falls and my brother's property an hour east.  We also drove to Dallas and then Ft. Worth to see our brother, Allen, living in managed care.

Second visit in March was primarily to see Allen as he was not expected to live. I stayed with my nephew Bryan and his wife Sue in suburban Dallas.  I was able to move around Dallas and to Ft. Worth by train and bike.  Allen died a couple weeks after I returned to Eugene. Rest in peace, Allen.

In late April, I boxed  up my new recumbent bike, put it on Amtrak and took it to Tuscon, Arizona for one of the best bike rides ever, meandering across southeast Arizona, visiting some friends along the way and ending up in El Paso ten days later.  There are several fotos below and a link to more detailed coverage of that 400 mile adventure.

Civics. I remain so grateful for living in a neighborhood with so many community minded people with an ideal of making River Road a more green and resilient place to live.  Currently, our neighborhood is involved with the City of Eugene in crafting a new neighborhood plan. This process is a totally unprecedented opportunity to put green and resilient/permaculture ideas and examples about culture, lifestyle and economy out to a wider audience.

This plan will guide decision making for the next generation [current n'hood plan dates to 1986] in regard to transportation, land use, economic development, open spaces, community building and resilience.  The process for creating this plan is about half way through 2 years of meetings, discussions, surveys.  More info below.

It was a pretty good year for the garden.  I can climb in trees that were planted almost 20 years ago.  Its rare for me to buy fruit or veggies any time of year.  There was a feature article about my lemon tree in the local paper.
Sharing my place with three housemates goes pretty well.  At this time, I am the only resident here with a car.  I give a modest break on rent for housemates who voluntarily do not have a car.  We are all vegetarian.

Advocacy for lifestyle and cultural alternatives. I made two presentations at the Mother Earth News Fair, which now takes place only 30 miles away.  There are 6 MEN fairs each year scattered all over the country.
Here is a link to one of the presentations.  Tabled with suburban permaculture info at a number of events.  Gave away hundreds of posters I made about regime change.  I continue to blog for Mother Earth News.  Have a schedule for the new year to a dozen nearby properties so people can see big changes people are making where they live to become more green and resilient.

I helped with the 2018 Northwest Permaculture Convergence, coordinating the 35 or so presentations, panels and skill shares.  It was a very good convergence. I gave a presentation and organized a plenary panel made up of 4 people who told great stories about greening their neighborhoods and communities.

The beginning of January, I will start a radio program on local radio station KEPW.  The first episode's recording is already complete and cued up.  Its an hour show, once a month titled "Creating Green and Resilient Homes, Neighborhoods, Economy and Culture."  I will post info on exactly when the first date when I have it.  Each episode will have a podcast also, so the content will be easy to access.  More below.

Local recreation and fun is good.  Visited nephew and niece in law Scott and Molly, who now live in nearby Salem and recently bought a house. So glad they live nearby!  I take occasional  30 - 40 mile day bike rides out of town and shorter rides in town.  Also occasional hikes out of town with friends.  Its also great to show and tell the area with visiting friends like Lanny and lisa, pals from Houston.  Louise, Tom and Cindy from Arkansas also came to Eugene.

Looking forward to 2019 with a visit to Palm Springs planned for the 2019 Neighborhoods USA Conference. I will make a presentation about transforming suburbia and was asked to moderate a panel. Likely turning the Amtrak trip into a small speaking tour, Sacramento, Riverside, maybe a couple other locations. Also continuing with others to make the neighborhood plan a strong tool for neighborhood outreach.  Major soil building initiative under way for my garden.

I would love to hear updates from friends, especially with some fotos!

Here are fotos from 2018.  Hover over the foto for a caption, you can clik on the image for a larger view.

State of the world. We will either gracefully downsize our individual and collective eco footprints or wish we had.

The lifestyles and affluence typical and expected by most Americans is undermining those very same lifestyles and affluence.

Updates on social, environmental and economic trends are rarely good. Personally, I dont think humans are up to the task for doing what needs to be done to create a resilient, peaceful and sustainable future.  Global market capitalism as we know it, cannot exist without imposing severe damage to people and planet. It is supremely seductive. Still, its more important than ever to make the effort - at home, families and neighborhoods, to create positive alternatives.  Lots of reasons - the natural world, our own well being, self respect,,,,,