Friday, June 25, 2010

Toward a Sustainable Energy Policy

I'm working with Cherokee Nation to enunciate a functional energy policy.  Its easy to say we want to do more to save energy, enjoy cost savings and lessen our contribution to greenhouse gas-based carbon loading in the Earth's atmosphere.  Its tougher to say "how much" and "when" we make the decisions.

One approach might be to start at zero--- a carbon neutral footprint for the government, businesses, vendors and citizens.  (THAT's an ambitious goal.)  And if so, then the next question might be, "When do we want to deviate from that?" 

Today Cherokee Nation has a FONSI process for when we don't use energy efficiency as a measure.  We publish a notice saying that we didn't use the best practice model (yet in progress) and then state why:  Cost, tech limits, etc. 

Each department might want to answer, "When is it impractical, too costly, or not possible to take energy conservation or efficiency into consideration in every decision?"  In Housing, there are some remarkable technologies and an equally unrestrained range of prices.  For housing, maybe it is best to use a green standard already invented, such as a green certification (LEED, for example).  There is enough thought about housing "out there" to avoid reinventing the wheel.  For, say, Education it might be more of a new frontier in thinking.  Yes, we would encourage energy efficient computers, but do we want to examine the secondary implications of not using recycled paper?  What if it takes more energy to make recycled paper, and the benefit is in renewability and resource conservation and carbon trapping to counterbalance things?

These are some of the complex notions we'll be looking at over the course of the Summer and it will be fast-paced and ever-changing.  Hope you will catch some of the blogs, even if you are not on the Energy Team, and ponder these questions for yourself.  Would love to hear any comments about this.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Geocaching

Geocaching, Found It!

Geocaching is a fun sport, or activity, or lifestyle.  Did you know there are about one million hidden signature logs or little treasure boxes all over the world, which you can find using a Global Positioning Satellite receiver?  When you find one, you log your visit and sometimes (if the container is big enough) you take a trinket and leave a trinket.  Here I'm showing that geocaching will melt your hair if you do it at noon in the Summer in the woods.   Its good exercise and uses your creative sense, because these are often hidden in very good camoflaouge.    (Camo, as I like to say since it is hard to spell.  )  

Children especially love it.  Last week, we took a friend's daughter who is about 8, geocaching in downtown Tahlequah.  Several people wanted to know what we were looking for as we circled around and around a park bench downtown.  We were looking on the underneath side of the bench for a magnetic little micro-sized keyholder-type container.  But we guessed wrong about the size.  It turned out to be just a teensey lil bolt-sized magnetic log to sign, and we were off about the location too.

Some of the best geocaches are big hefty ammo boxes hidden deep in the woods, where you have to hike and there are no trails.  We call it bushwhacking.  We lunge thru the greenbriars, startle the deer, watch for the snakes, roll over the big rocks, climb the cliffs, and whatever else it takes to navigate the terrain.  We like the woods, and this gives a purpose to our trek.  We lap up the exercise and the activity away from our desks.  And as we go, we have a sense of adventure and accomplishment.  We've found about 175 geocaches and we have hidden about 15 geocaches in different places for others to find.  We've helped about a dozen people go geocaching for the very first time:  Gail Ross, Sara Cordle, Ed & Terri Fite, Ray Goldman, Katy & Josh Brinkley, Terra Bellamy & Family, and others.

About the treasure:  Sometimes the best geocaches are only published to premium members at geocaching.com because those are the more serious geocachers and they don't want "muggles" to stray upon their boxes and loot the treatures for trade.  When you take something from a box, you have a duty to put in something for trade which is of equal or greater value.  Some of our best trades have been for a picture from the grave of Jack Kerouac, gold coins, pretty feathers, and gear like caribiners, insect repellent wipes, coozies, bungee cords, etc.

Read some of our adventures by searching for "Fluffy & Friedrick" at http://www.geocaching.com/ .  We encounter snake dens, rock climbing tasks and more. 



Friday, June 18, 2010

Miss Ya, Wilma Bussey

Wilma Bussey is moving to Collinsville with her daughter Susie and family

A favorite friend is Wilma Bussey.  I worked with her in 1980 when we both were Census Enumerators in Cherokee County.  I had known her well before that--- Her son Kyle Bussey and I were in the same grade and in classes where the students sat in alphabetical order, I was usually right after Kyle.  Kayl and I have been friends for amny years, too.  My mom was his Fourth Grade teacher. 

I love Wilma for a bunch of reasons.  One is that she is a true blue Democrat and I could always talk politics with her without being traumatized by some irrational far-flung nihilism.  We were dedicated Mike Synar supporters.  She recommended me for a post on the Board of Directors of Legal Services of Eastern Oklahoma, Inc. 

When Susie was just little, her husband Chief became partially paralyzed and spent most of the next 30 years bedfast.  It attests to a family's tenderness that someone could live 30 years under their care.

But here's my favorite story about Wilma.  (I have other favorite stories about Kyle.... for another day perhaps.)  She loved "The Tules" which was her cane brake in the yard.  She loved wild flowers.  She thought it best not to mow, because it was so sweet to have the butterflies.  She lived on the end of a block at a dead end next to a pasture, so what difference did it make if a widowed woman did not operate a golf course lawn?   Her neighbor complained about the wildlife attracted to the wildlands of her yard.  The city tried to make her mow.  So, we had her lawn dedicated as a wildlife habitat and the newspaper took our side of things.  Yay Wilma!  Love you so much!!!

Wilma and her youngest daughter and family are moving to Collinsville.  We attended a lil party for her at Cherokee County Nursing Home last week.  Morgan's Bakery had decked out a beautiful spread of cakes, and I tried Red Velvet Cake.  Kyle, I wish you could have been there... I'd like to give you a hug.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Tibbits & McCracken

2/3 of Tibbits & McCracken

I'm making a serious effort to post 2 pics of me.  You've hearrd, "The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes."  Well, in my family I'm the picture-taker and so I rarely make it into the pics.  Perhaps one would think that I don't exist!  Or wasn't there.  So, here's two thirds of the music trio, Tibbits & McCracken.  Me on the left and our good friend Leonard McCracken on the right.  Its me he's fondly referring to when he sings Stuck In The Middle With You. 

Leonard is a musician of exceptional talent.  Some musicians, you tolerate their musical laziness just because they're nice.  Some folks have Uber-Skills, but not much musical personality.  Leonard's just a fun, amazingly versatile musician and he loves to play. No drama, all fun.  Now that's what I like!

Tibbits & McCracken is available for parties, events and weddings.  Call 918 797 5016.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Art of Cherokee Living

The Art of Cherokee Living

I didn't ask his name.  As we played a gig on the Cherokee Courthouse Square last Saturday, this Stickball Stick maker unloaded his table and set up to demonstrate the art of taking a wooden branch and turning it into stickball sticks.  You can see from his powerful forearms that making sticks is not something one can do without physical conditioning.  It must also take learning, and listening to the wood-- the nature of the grain and its features.  As we sat and listened to Barbara McAllister and to the Cherokee Childrens' Choir, we watched him work.  With his bare hands, he bent and shaped the wooden frame to curve.  He used his thumbs and the strength of his fingers to teach the wood to fold over all the way against itself.  He used a baseball bat to formulate a uniform shape on the racket.  And that is why all stick ball sticks are about the size of a bat on the racket. 

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Fluffy's Peppermint Tee is Featured in a Gallery

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=134638
links to Two Secrets, an etsy show with gorgeous altered cloth scarves.  She's featuring my Peppermint Swirl tee in her treasury.