2013 in Review

Taking a moment to reflect back on the waves and patterns of 2013, it seems like the year was full of Harvest Power, gardening, Gene, running, family, and friends.  Here's a recap of highlights:

January - Connected with Wellesley friends in Boston.  Mike made amazing croissants.  Also did Tellyfest at Hoodoo Mountain with Sally and Chris Bell!  So much fun.  Also, Gene and I became graduates of the Landmark Forum (if you feel a block in life, need to blow up your current paradigm of life, or want to get touched, moved and inspired, do Landmark).

Petra, Erin, April, Theresa, Ashley, Meredith

Mike's homemade croissants.  Oh my.

Hoodoo Telly Fest with Chris, Sally, Gene, and Meredith

February - On Amy Yates' bridal shower weekend getaway at the coast -- where Patty introduced us to the awesome game of lawn bowling -- I decided to commit to training for the Pac Crest Half Ironman which shaped the next few months.  Also marveled at our solar panels' production -- if you are in Oregon check out RS Energy.

Amy Yates.  Read her socks if you can.

Aw yeah!

This is the highest I've ever seen our 3.2kw array hit.

March - An 11-mile ski into Flagpoint Lookout with Becky Brun!  So nice to get offline for a bit, though it was hard-pack coming back down the hill.  Ouch.  Tahoe the Dawg often spends the day in my office reviewing important documents and giving very good advice.

BB at Flagpoint

Mt. Hood

Tahoe picks out some summer reading.

April - Harvest Power won the Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award.  I was particularly proud because I filled out the burly application.  Also, did a video shoot for some of Harvest Power's soil products.  Gene started finishing houses at the Waverly Commons project and I dabbled with soil blocks.

Video Shoot with Harvest's Superpowered product line.

The first house Gene finished at Waverly Commons.

Soil blocks

May - Training peak with lots of swimming, biking, and running.  I kept a sticker chart to stay true to my workouts (and also make sure I did good things for my body like yoga, massage, and chiropractic adjustments).  Gene was a champion supporter calling out in the early morning as I crawled out of bed, "Go Meredith. You can do it."  Katie P and I ran almost every Tuesday, Thursday and weekend either up Mt. Tabor or around the neighborhood.

My sticker chart to track training.

Katie P! 

June - This month was jam packed with good things. Backyard fun with friends from near and far (Reb, Huck and tractor, plus good time with Jess and Mark's Baxter and Sunny).  Catching up with colleagues on the east coast (see mulch). My cousin Alica Peake Henning married Mark Bublitz over an amazing wedding weekend in New Jersey (oh my, they are adorable -- see tennis court photo). Gene and I went on top of a neighbor's roof to stretch our calves.  And bros-in-law Chip and Zac kept it real (why do I take more photos of my brothers-in-laws than I do my sisters?).  After the wedding we got some more family time in timeless Point O' Woods, Fire Island (my parents jumped for the ferry as we left; it's a tradition but still, sheesh, that's love). The month got even better when my CEO Paul Sellew presented a TEDx talk in Boston; I went with my colleague Arjun.  Then, as a cherry on top of the June cake I got 3rd in my division in the Pacific Crest half ironman (1.1 mile swim, 58 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).

Huck loves playing with the tractor Gene had when he was a boy.

Reb, Huck, Baxter, Jess, Sunny and Mia

Baxter and Gene

King & Leigh's home -- new shingles where they got flooded in Hurricane Sandy.

My mom had one of her busiest years for her business.

King, Leigh, Meredith

Mmm…..mulch

Mark and Alicia, so cute.

Gene and Meredith and the Shrewsbury River / Atlantic Ocean

Chip and Zac.  (I need more photos of my sisters!!)

Lovely.

Ellis and Arden

Sandy and Gene

Arden and Eliza

PO'W Jump Part 1: The Wave

PO'W Jump Part 2: The Splash

PO'W Jump Part 3: The Wave from the Water

Paul Sellew of Harvest Power presents!

Meredith and Arjun in the TEDx crowd.  So cool to be a part of it!

Gene and Mer: Pre-race.

Meredith, post 70.2 miles.  Sore legs, happy heart.

July - Watershed Relay with Sally Bell.  The climb up was stunning: basically a steady quick pace up from the parking lot to lunch counter to meet up with Becky, Jonathan, and others just as the sun was setting.  The summit was a blast with costumes and high energy.  The descent turned into a long day when Joc broke her tib/fib but everyone made it out okay.

Meredith and Sally

At the summit with Johnny and Becky

August - Summer adventures with Katie (note matching shirt with wall). Becky's bachelorette weekend with covered the spectrum of trails (the McKenzie River trail with a crew of awesome ladies) and sparkles (oh my). Launching the Harvest Power Store complete with CLASSIC Food Waste Flip Flops.  Taking care of Ellis and Sevie, who came down to Portland OR for 4 days while Jenny and Chip went hiking.  A circum-nav run of Three-Fingered Jack with the Portland Extreme Picnickers crew -- so pretty.

A mid-ride breakfast stop.

McKenzie River Trail

Jess and Meredith: We clean up real nice.

A highlight, 3 wordplays in 7 words: "Step Up to the Plate: Recycle Organics!"

Our garden burst with a zillion sunflowers this summer.

Ellis, a voracious reader

Ellis and Sevie Doo

Sevie and Gene grab dinner from the volunteer squash plant.

The Trappist Abbey

3-Fingered Jack!  Patty, Anna, Amy, Meredith, Jason

September - Becky and Jonathan's wedding!!  SO amazing.  Becky was beautiful and poised as ever.  Jonathan was funny and present and loving.  All of us gathered together in a small circle in a clearing in the woods and while I almost bubbled over with tears at the beginning of the ceremony I held it together and officiated their union.  It was so powerful.  Crazily, I have about zero photos of this event.  We danced under the stars late into the night.  Later that month was Brooke and Darcy's wedding in North Carolina where a highlight for me was the rope swing (I think that's a photo of me).  Clearly I did not document September very well.

The rope swing at Brooke & Darcy's wedding

October - Ran the length of the Wildwood.  Saw Dar Williams in the Gorge!  Farm to Table auction at Zenger Farm's fundraiser with Bob's Red Mill.  At BioCycle in Columbus OH, I got to circulate the 3 videos we produced over the summer to promote compost and mulch.  Check 'em out --  Hilarious.

November - Friend time in Portland.  Birthday run with Katie (and the perfectly-toasted bagel at Albina Press).  Then family time in Oakland (the kids got crafty with leaves and a glue gun), a train ride up the hills, and then Thanksgiving in Truckee, CA with the Andersons and Sorenwalds.  Paddle boarding on Lake Tahoe was dreamy.

Jenny, Irving, Katie, Becky

Birthday Breakfast!!!!!  Albina Press toasts their bagels perfectly.

A cozy moment with Eliza and Arden, and Macki the dog-sitting dog.

Love this.

The kids know how to rally.

Amtrak up to Truckee: the way to ride.

Book worms Sophie and Reb

Spencer and Arden = Card Sharks

Spencer, Sophie, and Arden

Reb and the paddle board

December - Year end wrap up stuff with Harvest Power, and family time.  Onwards to 2014!

3 Moments When The World Made Sense

Well I better write at least one post a year to keep this blog alive.  

I’ve recently been reflecting on how things often don’t make sense to me. How I’m still figuring them out, and probably will be for a long time. However, during at least three points in my life things made sense – if only for a few seconds.  I’d like to share those moments here.

The world was at my feet on the Appalachian Trail.

1. It was the fall of 2001 and I was hiking up a hill on the Appalachian Trail. It was more of a mound – imaging a large grassy knoll called Max Patch. I was planning to sleep there that night with my then-hiking buddy, Crispy; he had gone ahead as I could not match his crisp 4mph+ pace. The sun was on the descent over the western hills and the grass was perfect. With 1900 miles under my belt and a glimpse of the future ( I had just received word I had been accepted as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Ivory Coast) I felt strong and confident. It was something about the angle of the slope and the descent of the sun that made the hill feel like a gigantic treadmill, a rolling canvas of green possibility. Extrapolated out I felt like the entire planet was literally at my feet – a playground to explore and discover step by step. That was one moment when I felt like I understood the world.

I was able to connect the dots of our galaxy in West Africa.

2. It was the fall of 2002 and I had been living in my village – Toumbo Yaga, about 3 hours west of Bondoukou in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa. A few months into adjusting to a new culture, overcoming language hurdles, and getting comfortable with this pocket of the world with mango trees, scarce water, thatch roofs, and 400 villagers trying to feed their families and stay healthy. I had just finished dinner with the chief of the village his wife, and their 10 children – a simple affair near the fire with some mashed up cassava.  As I padded my way back to my house in flip flops, I stopped a moment oto look up at the sky sparkling with stars.  Now when I was a little girl my dad would stand out on the deck and learn the stars.  I thought he was silly, but over time I bought my own H.A. Rey book of the stars and started piecing together the sky during fall nights at Wellesley, at sea during my time at Williams-Mystic, and southern hemisphere stars during my 6 months in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

So it was on a dark, clear night in Africa that I started my usual journey across the sky – arc to Arcturus, pointers to Casseopeia, onwards to the square of Pegasus, and on.  I reached the horizons and continued in my imagination, connecting the dots. And bam! For a brief moment, kind of like in the Celestine Prophecy, I understood our galaxy.  Well “understood” might be an exaggeration but at least I felt at a base, primal level that everything was connected.

This photograph marks the formal start of my career.

3. It was the middle of 2004, and I was walking down a road in Madagascar and saw a woman sweeping her stoop. I stopped, snapped her photo, and asked a few questions such as, “How often do you sweep?” and “Where do you put your sweepings?” and “Do you use compost on your garden?”  She was somewhat baffled and amused by this blond lady speaking her language.  I smiled and continued on, pleased with that exchange.  At that moment I thought, “Meredith, that’s just weird. No one else asks people about their garbage and recycling.”  [insert pause]  Then I thought, “Hmmm. I guess that’s what I should do in life.”  And that moment sparked my interest in pursuing a career in solid waste management.

For these three moments in this lifetime where things made sense, connected, and seemed possible, I am grateful.  These days I'm spending my time cultivating the conversation around organic recycling, anaerobic digestion and composting through my work with Harvest. Good times.

Compost Education Via Garlic

Through my work at Harvest I write about the virtues of compost almost every day. But even I was floored by my wee public compost education experiment I did on the sideyard.

In the fall of 2010, I applied 3 cubic feet of compost to half the garlic bed, and zero compost to the other half.

The difference

is striking: the garlic with compost is a lush, rich green, nearly twice as high as the half without any soil amendment. The garlic without compost literally pales in comparison.

I'm infecting the neighborhood with excitement for adding nutrients to our soil. I hear people walking by exclaim, "Wow. Look at the difference compost makes!" and "Honey, we need to get some compost for our garden."

It feels great to raise the profile of compost in our local neighborhood.

Hike Madagascar Videos

Enjoy these 3 videos from my 8-month hike the length of Madagascar.

Garlic

Ahhh... garlic. Keeps away vampires. Maintains health. It's great.

I planted my first batch of garlic ever with Nancy Pierce last year in her garden (see our harvest in the photo to the right). Last year we did hard neck garlic. This year she sent over some soft neck garlic, recommended highly by a local green thumb. My boss advises me, "Garlic needs FULL sun." So I've prepared a bed to the south of my fence that gets lots of sun.

Bulbs going in this weekend. Grow well little ones. See you in the spring.

One Can a Month Challenge

For the last couple months I've been volunteering for the Richmond Can-A-Month Challenge. Ten families with kids and pets signed up to take the challenge to reduce their garbage collection from once per week to once per month.

Allen Field was the brainchild and force behind the challenge. He called me up a few months ago. I haven't done much volunteering since my Peace Corps days, and I'm a sucker for anything involving community and garbage, so I signed up to help get the situation sorted.

First, we met and brainstormed the ways to set the families up for success. We figured they needed a few angles of attack to whittle their garbage ration down from once a week to once a month. First, they needed to do curbside recycling (here in Portland OR that includes paper, metal and plastic bottles with glass on the side). Second, they needed to go "beyond curbside" which meant bringing rigid plastics, film plastics, and miscellaneous materials to Far West Fibres. Third, they had to do backyard composting, or vermicomposting. Fourth, they needed to address diapers and pet waste (here's one dog waste solution). Finally, they would (ideally) start to wrap their head around "precycling," or buying things with less waste in the first place.

Allen led a two-hour intro session with the group mid-April 2010, with me acting as support crew. He kept the tone light and positive saying, "This shouldn't be a source of stress. If you get overloaded with garbage for whatever reason, just put out another bag one week. It's only $5.00." (We joked at one point about taking the "one flush a month challenge" next year.)

Then, for the first few weeks in May 2010 we followed up with 1.5-hour in-home consultations with each family to do sorts and set up worm bins. The folks at CES and other volunteers helped too. We would dump their trash and recycling out on a big blue tarp. Then we would go through the garbage piece by piece, either confirming its pile (yup, this crinkly wrapper goes in the trash) or giving it a new life (this bread crust can go in the compost).

It always amazes me how much you learn about a household through its garbage -- the hundreds of bits of scrap paper at one house told the story a recent school craft project.

We took pictures of each pile. Most families were shocked at how little "trash waste" they had -- with the air squeezed out, it was oftentimes the size of a softball or basketball.

I was really impressed with the delivery of this vision and project. Allen set up a blog on the Richmond neighborhood website. He got grants from local business and government agencies to help supply worm bins and other waste reduction supplies. He included a "pay-it-forward" element to the challenge to enable/coerce participants to extend their experience to their community. He pointed folks towards useful resources such as the EnviroMom website and a participant's blog. The project has already gotten great press.

The idea is already spreading -- I just called up my garbage hauler and switched from a weekly 20-gallon can to a 35-gallon roll cart. I'll save about $5 per month. More importantly, it feels good to take on the challenge. If families with kids and pets can do it, I can-a-month, too.

An Evening with Annie Leonard - The Story of Stuff

In April 2010 I spent a delightful evening with Annie Leonard and Friends. Annie came out with a hit movie a few years ago titled The Story of Stuff. This year, she came out with a book -- aptly titled "The Story of Stuff" that goes into more details about "how our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our health, and our communities."

She was just as effervescent in person as she is in her movies: Spunky. Quirky. Passionate. She knows her stuff.

I encouraged Annie to make a Story of Organics to add to her growing list that includes The Story of Bottled Water and The Story of Cap & Trade. She didn't bite, but I think her mother liked the idea...which is a good start.

Anyways, thanks for the wonderful evening, Annie and Friends. (Delicious food, by the way -- I was stuffed.)