Muscle Memory

My daughter used to be a figure skater. Not an Olympic champion, but the best skater around here. So when she and her boyfriend came to visit a few weeks ago, I suggested going to the rink. After days and days huddled inside eating and…eating, we all needed to get out and get moving. My daughter lamented that she hadn’t skated since last year and probably would be rusty. She perked up when the plan included hitting the outdoor rink set deep in the majestic Hudson Highlands at Bear Mountain State Park.

We laced up our skates and stepped onto the ice. Kids bundled up in winter gear were racing around the ice in all directions - falling right and left. My daughter and I took the first few laps together. I’ve mentioned before that my dad was a hockey player and the members of my immediate family know their way around an ice rink. Being more cautious than I can ever remember, I found myself looking for openings in the ice where I wouldn’t get run down by the brightly parkered pack. I finally made my way to the sideboards and noticed that many of the skaters had stopped and were facing center ice with broad smiles across their faces. They were watching my daughter spin her magic. She still had it.

Once upon a time, I was a teacher and focused on one thing that I did very, very well…kids. Teaching kids became so casual and easy. It defined me. Purely and simply, the kids loved me, and I loved them. So, when a young boy whizzed by my twirling skater and crashed hard onto the ice while she was in mid-spin, without thinking I glided over, crouched down and scooped him up. He smiled up at me. I still had it.

Muscle memory - we’ve all got it. What’s yours?

Amazing image captured at Bear Mountain Ice Rink by Ben Ross Scott

Heirloom Design At Home

When I was a kid, I thought we were Danish. I am going to tell you about it, but before I explain that far-fetched childhood fantasy, I’d like to talk about heirloom design. I promise to circle back to being Danish.

Bringing Heirloom Design Home

I wrote an article that supported the stance that we are replacing items too often. Our culture has made it easy to create too much stuff with short life cycles. The article explored the concept of "heirloom design." I had heard Saul Griffith at a design conference outline how he was planning to give his soon-to-be-born son a Rolex and a Mont Blanc pen. When his kid was old enough, he would tell him that these would be the only watch and pen he could use for the next 100 years. Griffith's rationale was that, if something is thoughtfully designed and beautiful, it could be passed down through the generations.

I decided to bring the concept home. I explained heirloom design to my kids and asked them to take a look around the house and tell me what they would consider heirloom and hand-me-down worthy. Here's one:

"The artwork collection handed down from Grandma - Particularly, the Bjorn Wiinblad posters. They make Grandma, you, and us smile."

You can read about the other items they chose here.

What Do You Mean We Are Not Danish?

My dad was a mid-century designer. His hand printed, silkscreen wallpaper designs were hung on all of our walls. Interspersed among the flocks and metallics were portraits of happy relatives…or so I thought. These whimsical portraits were the artwork of Bjorn Wiinblad (left). I truly believed Wiinblad was one of my kin. Gazing up at an oversized Wiinblad poster was like getting a huge, smiling hug from an adoring relative - Not the pinch-your-cheek kind, but the kind of family member you admire for her sense of colorful quirkiness.

The Wiinblad posters and pottery that decorated my home also greeted visitors at my Aunt and Uncle's house. The posters were winking at me there too - we must all be related.

Eventually, I figured out that we had no Danish relatives (not a blond among us), and the inspired Wiinblad collection was actually a mutual admiration that my mom and aunt shared. They also collected Wiinblad cards, wrapping paper, china and ash trays.

My children have come to love this “designer's designer” too. The twinkling eyes of Wiinblad's portraits exude the themes of music, art, humor, and the joy of life. We have many Wiinblads in my home. The main image (above) is from a rare detailed ceramic plate that I got (won) on eBay a few years ago. When my best friend Cathy got married, we gave her the "Blue Lady."

As my little home-research discovered, heirloom designed objects don't have to be a Rolex or Mont Blanc, or even a Wiinblad to qualify as heirloom. But, they do have to be thoughtfully designed, beautiful and well taken care of.

If heirloom design goes hand and hand with slower consumption, do you think this is another one of those "green" concepts we should teach our kids? In your home, what would you consider to be heirloom designed? What would your kids choose?

Main image: Ted Fink

Cradle The Kids

“Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, water, soil and power – economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.” ~ William McDonough Can we all agree that this is the world we want to leave to our kids? If so, how can we bring the principles of McDonough’s revolutionary book, Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things to our children? Cradle To Cradle calls for the “transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.” The book approaches a framework for sustainability that follows products through their lifecycle – from cradle to grave.

Since it is my prerogative to bring things that matter to Econesting, I’m going to apply the simple premise of Cradle To Cradle, in all its advocacy, to education...The education system needs to be remade.

Having worked in progressive education for many years, I believe leaving positive footprints (instead of just reducing the negative ones) is what we should be teaching our kids. This is not only for the fate of our ailing environment, but to nurture our children to make the choices needed to close the loop and create a sustainable future.

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I know, you’re thinking I’ve gone off on a tangent and landed on a lofty soapbox.  Let me step out of that cloud for a moment and confess that this is not an earth shattering observation, or a newly minted connection made by just me. Think about it, your education and mine is tunneled so deep into our core. It runs through our veins and deposits its decisions in our words and actions. These decisions (and those of our predecessors) have screwed up our cradle – our planet.

Blame game done. Can we pick up our heavy footprints and figure out what tools to give our babes to make the important decisions that will lighten the load and close the loop? You bet. Here you go…

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The Institute for Humane Education believes that quality humane education covers four elements which include:

1. providing accurate information about the challenges of our time 2. fostering the 3 C’s of curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking 3. instilling the 3 R’s of reverence, respect and responsibility 4. offering positive choices and the tools for problem-solving

Call it Humane, call it Progressive, call it Humanistic – as long as it calls to action an educational system that helps our kids learn how to think with those 3 C’s, make decisions based on those 3 R’s and discover a fifth element:

5. Teach Cradle To Cradle to insure that our kids can rock it...and live in a “delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world.”

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Fern photos: Brian Whitney for Garden Design Magazine.

Why ferns? Ferns embody the 3 E’s - they are endearing, enthralling and enduring. Their ancient beauty has been around for millions of years. Ferns have truly developed a sustainable lifestyle!

Ski Stories With Kids, Cute Dogs (and a video)

As a skier, I've written a bunch of ski and snowboard related posts…

I’ve accused the ski-industry of eco-unfriendly practices, asking how skiers and boarders can possibly schuss down the mountain with a clear conscience as they stomp their expensive mega-carbon footprints all over the environment?

“The ski industry notoriously gets a green thumbs down for being unfriendly to both the environment and our pocketbooks. How ski resorts deal with snow-making guns, high-speed lifts that suck up epic amounts of energy, parking lots that are amass with gas guzzling SUV’s, extravagant ski homes and the exorbitant cost of individual lift tickets over $90 at some areas, are under close scrutiny. The ski industry needs an eco-facelift.”

With that in mind, I offered up 10 Tips For Skiing On A Budget and shared an account of how my family managed to ski without breaking the bank: “Here’s a true story: Every Saturday afternoon during the winter months for years, my family loaded up the car with ski/snowboard equipment (purchased at ski swaps), food and drink (a lot of it), and kids. Many kids – my own and as many as we could squeeze in (legally). I volunteered to coordinate the school ski program that met every Saturday from 5-9 pm. Classmates and friends descended on a small ski area in the Berkshire Mountains for a few hours of night skiing (the cheapest time to ski). This rewarded my whole family a season pass each year. Yes, it was a bit of work, and one or two of those below zero Saturdays, I would have been more contented staying home by the warm fire with a hot toddy. Still, I wouldn’t have done it differently and we looked forward to it all year.”

I even dug deep into the hip DIY ski and snowboarding world and unearthed an array of ski and snowboarding projects. Did you know you could build your own skis, snowboards and roof racks? I also added a recipe for snowboarding wax, and a few knitting, sewing and woodworking projects to round out the post, 10 DIY Ski and Snowboard Projects.

This was all fun, but until last week I had yet to write about one of the most harrowing skiing experiences I ever encountered – being stuck on a ski lift at Squaw Valley during an avalanche that cut off power to the lifts. To find out how I managed to not scare myself to death for 5 hours high above the freezing Lake Tahoe snow, while waiting to be rescued, read: Rescue Pups Find Adventure And Fun In The Snow. Here’s a teaser from the video that accompanies the post (believe me, it was not nearly as much fun as these pooches are having):

Thank you, John Snyder for sharing this video on Facebook last winter.

Main Image: Ski Pup by Don Freeman

Living Inside A Snow Globe

There is a simplicity to winter when a snowstorm casts a shadowy blanket of calmness onto the woods around our nests. Its quiet stillness is like the insulated caress of living inside a dome of snow. The storm at my home arrived right after the barreling in of far-flung children, presents and all the holiday festivities. In its wake, the storm left us a winter wonderland, but no chance to fulfill our travel plans to drive to my mom's on Sunday. Instead, the four of us unplugged, unwound and reconnected as a family. It is in this calmness that I hope you also had a moment to step back and enjoy the wonderland of your life.

Make and Shake Snow Globes

I had a small childhood collection of souvenir-type snow globes. They are long gone, but those tiny window wonderlands pop into my thoughts each winter.

When I was a teacher, I created snow globes with the school kids for holiday gifts for their parents from this adapted Martha Stewart project. It was my way of sharing everything I love about winter (which you can read more about here, here and here).

Materials:

A jar (baby food or olive jars work well)

Ceramic figurines

Small evergreen tips or flowers from craft shops

Glitter or fake snow

Distilled water

Glycerin (available in drug or health food stores)

Clear drying waterproof epoxy

Small piece of sandpaper

What to do: 1. Sand the inside of the lid until the surface is rough. 2. Adhere the figurine to the inside of the lid with epoxy and let dry. 3. Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water. 4. Add a pinch of glitter–not too much or the glitter will stick to the bottom of the jar when it is flipped. 5. Add a dash of glycerin. 6. Screw on the lid tightly, being careful not to dislodge the figurine. 7. Shake the jar and watch it snow!

Photos: Materialicious, LA Times,  Martha Stewart