A Few Words from Hollis

The Connection Between the Iraq War and NOT Living Green

My family and I joined about 750 fellow peaceniks this past weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah to rally against the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. Almost one fifth of the protesters came from Idaho Falls, Boise, and Hailey. The Idaho Falls group was primarily composed of our local Drinking Liberally chapter and the Snake River Freedom Coalition, who, I am proud to say, got behind this movement in a big way. I am so proud of my fellow Idahoans for showing up and taking a stand for peace!

We gathered at the Utah State Capitol building and from there joined other lively and loud marchers down Salt Lake City's State Street to the rally at City Hall where various speakers (including war veterans), passionately and powerfully affirmed their patriotism in stark opposition to the unconstitutional aggressive war policies of the Bush administration. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson gave the concluding speech: an indictment of news media dereliction, presidential malfeasance, and public apathy.

Speaking of public apathy, I've been asking myself the question (actually for 4 years!) "So, what is this war really about? Is it coincidence that this particular area of our planet has one of the largest crude oil reserves? Former Federal Reserve Board chief Alan Greenspan hit the nail on the head, me thinks, in his new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

So what does this have to do with public apathy you ask? A lot! How does my lifestyle and yours contribute to war? The energy gluttony of the American people and the corporate greed of the oil companies who provide the oil to quench our never-ending thirst for the black stuff, are largely responsible for the invasion of Iraq.

Most American are waiting for the magic bullet, the right hybrid car, or bio fuel – any technological solution that will save us from ourselves and our own over-consumption. Maybe we should, instead, look at ways we can offset the oil we get from the Middle East. Perhaps if everyone would slow down and ride a bike whenever possible, turn down our heat and air-conditioning, recycle, air-dry our laundry, stop eating meat, etc. we could offset the oil we get from the Middle East. New bio-fuels and technologies get most of the press, but the fact that individuals can make a difference doesn't get much.

And while the Bush administration would have us believe that the war was/is about weapons of mass destruction, liberating the Iraqi people, fighting terror in defense of our way of life and promoting democracy, most of us -- at least in hindsight -- can see that those are excuses at best and outright lies at worst.

As Americans, taking a stand to make ourselves energy efficient and independent should be our top priority. And not only because of the real threat of global warming, but because, if we value peace, we are duty-bound to do so.

Isn't it interesting that conservatives ridicule energy efficiency and independence as something only liberals, tree-huggers and sissies believe is necessary and possible?. My response is this: living green is not some weak-minded, new age way of being on the planet. And it is definitely NOT for sissies! It is a tough-minded and patriotic thing to do. And if you do it right it isn't easy, either. I, for one, have had enough of this Bush-Cheney nonsense that conservation, energy efficiency and environmentalism are some "hobby" we can't afford. And I'm not going to take it any longer!

If we as Americans are not outraged by this war, we are not thinking. I can't think of anything more cowardly or un-American than to continue to support this war and disregard our own personal responsibility for living a greener life. Real patriots, real activists and real advocates of spreading democracy around the world live green!

Oh, and one last thing. Having been raised in a very devout, Mormon household (I no longer practice that religion) my favorite peace sign this weekend was: "If you support Bush's war, you are NO disciple of Christ!" Perhaps something the Bush administration and the Christian right, who continue to support this immoral war, should take to heart!
Salt Lake City Peace March (YouTube)

Pictorial Vignettes: Backwards through time.

It is difficult to get to passionate about life in St. Louis. It is always interesting but never stirs any deeper emotion. It does not have the sort of landscape that motivates me to wax poetic nor go off on a detailed narrative of any one event or place. It has the capacity to overload the senses (and the pocketbook) w/ its abundance or urban offerings. I do not complain (too often), mind you. There are much worse alternatives to "interesting".

I tend to derive a certain sense of self from my geographic surroundings. Landscape is ever-so-important to me. In New Hampshire I was never happier than on those solitary Sunday mornings in January that I would set fresh tracks on century old carriage roads. In Idaho my favorite place to be is heading south up Taylor Creek trail at either dusk or dawn. More likely to happen upon a moose or mountain lion.. hee hee..at those hours.

Try as I may, I am unable to compose a respectable blog-length piece on any one St Louis event thus far. So what follows is a series of descriptive photos on a handful of the exploits that have occupied our time since arriving in the Show Me State.

These are the Arch Rival Roller Girls flying by my camera. This is St. Louis' All Female Flat Track Roller Derby and yes, we attended a "bout". These events attract an eclectic crowd w/ a decided goth overtone. Owen did not enjoy it so much. The humor was adult (e.g. spanking booth for charity) and went over his head...oh the innocence.

Nellie in a state of repose.

Tony finds a handy new use for his rack.

Owen competing in the Halloween Pull Down in Kansas City. It is hard to tell in the close-up photo, but he is coming out from under an overhang. He placed 3rd in the recreational division beating out most of a field who was 2 or more yrs older. The kid is a sight to behold....if I do say so myself.



Red River Gorge, Kentucky. This is the best place I've been so far. It is truly a geologic wonder with over 100 natural land arches. It was the venue location for the Petzl RocTrip Climbing Festival. My parents and brother's family met us there. We had a blast! Owen won a lot of climbing shwag and rubbed elbows with some of his sporting heroes.





Who said you can't bring a baby camping?
Owen's favorite climb of the weekend? Up the pole of the big top tent. Hey, there were no signs saying "no climbing".
Hanging around at the Loop.

Sushi Festival downtown. The featured event was a sushi eating contest. Winner ate about 70 pieces in 10 minutes. Think you can eat more? So did they. Most predicted eating over 100 pieces.



An afternoon at the beloved CITY MUSEUM!! .....for Tony, Owen and friends. An afternoon of Harry Potter for Wendy!!! Thanks Tony.

Views from a bike ride home from Illinois.

Dining at our favorite restaurant. Perched along the bluffs of the Missouri River and with an ever- changing menu, each dining experience is unique from the previous. This time I ordered sauteed trout topped with a root vegetable lyonnaise served on a bed of italian parsley puree and crispy cabbage au gratin. Tony had a grilled strip steak with crayfish lobster butter, rosemary grits, beer-braised greens and smoked paparika dusted fried leeks. How do they come up with these culinary combinations?

Although Nellie definitely preferred last year's daily runs along the Chubb Trail, a 12 mile drive away, this year she is making-do with the off-leash dog park just a short walk from our back door. The Puppy Pool Party, held the final day of the season at University City public pool is a fund raiser that benefits the park.

On a Quest

I emailed out a nifty little link I had heard about on NPR whereby you answer lifestyle questions, in the format of a game, and find out how many earths it would take to support your lifestyle if everyone lived like you.http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/ It is a test of one's "green-ness" and I flunked...big time. How the hell can that be? I obsess over recycling, not using my car except when necessary, reducing my consumptive habits, keeping the heat so low in winter my friends bring jackets to dinner, replacing w/ fluorescent light bulbs, air drying laundry...yet it is not enough. Needless to say I am now perseverating (thanks Emily) on how to better my "score". Everyone being equal, just how many earths will it take to support our collective fat ass in the lap of luxury to which I am so shamelessly accustomed? 3.5!!! You read right. Three point five earths.


So lets talk about this game (that has ruined my smug self perception) and how one is measured. My friend pointed out that the game is biased against people living in the country (or suburbs). I speculate that sustainability is biased against those living in the country or suburbs. When I was playing the game I had to decide which of my lives (I have two, you know) I was going to examine. At first I was cherry picking for the best results. Then I got honest. My life in Idaho is dismally unsustainable. It is darn near impossible to live without using my car, glass and most plastics are not recyclable, no public transport system, little moral support of like-minded individuals, nary an organic option at my local grocer of choice (Winco), big freaking house (4,200 sq/ft) and I could go on. There are two glaring green positives in Idaho Falls. Our electric power comes from hydro and wind and the shopping options, franchises and more franchises, are such that who would want to spend any money.

I have a sneaking suspicion that those impoverished, uneducated Americans, of which there is an abundance here in St Louis,(disproportionately African American, of course) who have likely never even contemplated the idea of sustainability, would score way better than I or any of my accordant allies. They live without the bells and whistles of a middle class life style because they have no other choice. I should strive to be more like them.

So where did I go wrong? 1. The air travel I do yearly, about 15 hrs, negates all my hard-earned miles on the bike. Solution: take Amtrak if possible. 2. I rarely drive here in MO, but in Idaho I am beholden to my car. Solution: car-pool on Teton trips, when possible. Check out the Greyhound situation. Just say no if it is under 5 miles and then hook up the Burley trailer to my bike. 3. Food. We eat out too often, eat too much meat, drink too much coffee and don't buy enough organic or locally produced. Solution: This is the category on which I am currently concentrating. I claim progress, not perfection. I will save it for another post.

It's All About the Bike

As a child of the 70s I, of course, had the mandatory Schwinn single speed ( purple) purchased at the Schwinn Bicycle Store. It was used to get to and from my best friend's house a mile away and to go down to the Aquilla State Park store for candy. Besides that it languished in the garage.

Bicycles have been an integral part of my life since the late 80s when I first saw a "mountain bike". I was working as a crew member for Alvei http://www.alvei.com/, a 100 ft. sailing vessel that was being brought down to Portugal from where it was purchased in Norway. The captain owned a mountain bike that he kept in the hold. It would be pulled out when we arrived at various ports and made available to crew members for the purpose of tooling around town and running errands. It had 15 gears and big knobby tires that were perfect for jumping curbs. When I got back to the states I immediately started saving my money.

My first mountain bike was a used $200 Cycle Pro but I quickly upgraded to a $400 Nishiki Colorado. I was living in a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and did not own a car so I needed a good bike for going up steep hills and over rough trails.

I vividly remember my first trail ride with my girlfriend and roommate who had recently scored a job at the local bike shop. After poring over the local topo map we discovered a network of trails that would take us into town in a circuitous fashion. Perfect. It had just rained. The trail was extremely slippery and technical. The ride resulted in a spectacular crash that left us both laying mid-trail in a bloody heap laughing our asses off. I was hooked.

Within months I had again upgraded, this time to a $1,150 hand-built Fat Chance http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1990_Fat_Chance_CC.htm. You must click on this link and admire this bike. It was the bomb! It was a work of artistic craftsmanship. Unfortunately Fat City Cycles is no more, having gone the way of too many hand-built, frame makers and small, locally owned bike shops; it gave way to the corporate giants of the industry. That same year I took my first bike tour, riding from Oslo to Trondheim Norway, a distance of 250 kilometers, by myself and loaded down with enough gear to keep on peddling to the Arctic Circle and perhaps beyond.

Bicycles have figured prominently in my relationship with my husband. In 1991 Tony had just moved to town and showed up for the Wednesday night group ride of the shop at which I was employed. He was impressed with my bike. I was impressed that he had a real job and a brand new Subaru wagon in spite of his almost prepubescent appearance. Our first date was to the Bike Nashbar factory outlet. Our first vacation together was riding our bikes from Ohio to New Hampshire. We got married at Elk River Touring Center http://www.ertc.com/ , a mountain bike touring center in West Virginia owned by some friends. The post-nuptial ceremony activities included a mountain bike polo match and a 3 hour group ride through some of the sweetest single track WV has to offer. We were teammates for 11 consecutive years at the 24 Hours of Canaan/Snowshoe in West Virginia until we finally moved too far away to be able to drive to the race.

Bikes and bicycling have been an important part of our child rearing philosophy. Ben was off training wheels at 3 1/2 yrs old, rode his first 20 miler at 5 1/2, went to more mountain bike races than I can remember and on his 10th birthday was somewhere in the hills of central Pennsylvania, having agree to accompany me by bike halfway to New Hampshire from Ohio. He no longer rides but I imagine he will as an adult. Owen was on his own bike at 4 1/2. Our anti-car rhetoric has really taken root in him. He usually prefers to ride places in order to NOT use the car. He has really embraced the party line, as opposed to Ben who thought it was stupid to ride our bikes when we had a perfectly good car sitting in the driveway.

It is only natural that, as we reluctantly settle into the aging process, our recreational passion is evolving into a form of advocacy. I know that someday bicycles will be an important component of the global solution to the mess we have made of our natural environment due to our addiction to the automobile, petroleum and all its byproducts. It will not always be just a fringe group, represented by the likes of our family, friends and relatives, who takes up cycling as a way of life. It will take a seismic shift in what we deem acceptable in the geography of transportation but I am beginning to feel the tremors of change in the most unlikely of places. Idaho Falls, a place where the word "progressive" is never used in the same sentence as the town's name (unless it is preceded by the words "not even remotely"), actually has a nascent organization devoted to promoting non-motorized transportation. WOW. Way cool.