Green Gal

It's only the second day of nature camp, and as a counselor I have already spent many hours of my free time after work studying things that I have missed so much during the past school year of papers and assigned readings... Last night, I studied Ohlone culture for an hour or two, taking notes for a lesson that I am facilitating on Friday about technology (mortar and pestle, bow and arrow, nets, snares, hot rocks, etc.), the natural landscape as it was 200 years ago in my hometown and surrounding area, and medicinal and useful plants. These are topics I avidly studied in high school on my own, back when I had more free time. Once I create the lesson plan for Friday, perhaps I'll post it here so others can use it, too. Tonight, I spent some time re-reading the biography of Opal Whiteley, an inspiring American nature enthusiast and writer who at the age of 5 began writing a nature diary in the woods near her home in Oregon. She was a remarkable person, and I remember being ve...

On a typical Thursday, I wake up around 9 AM and make my way by bike or leg power to work in the Sustainability Office on campus. But today was no typical Thursday morning. Today is Bike to Work & School Day , which meant that my day began at 6 AM when my phone alarm went a-buzzin'. I hopped out of bed around 6:15 AM, ready to zoom down the hill to the base of campus. UC Santa Cruz is a pretty cool place to be a cyclist. You get a real challenge on the way up to campus and such a fantastically speedy and beautiful ride down after the day is done. Since I live on campus and I was volunteering at the base of campus to serve breakfast to cyclists, my morning began with that awesome ride, the bay in view and the flowery meadows in my peripheral vision. The view from the UC Santa Cruz bike path on a typical afternoon. Glorious!   It was great to connect with fellow students and community members who were also helping out at the breakfast station. At UCSC today, there ...

　 Yesterday, Monday, April 22, was my 21st b-earth day, and at 6:30 AM my phone buzzed with a text message from my aunt and uncle wishing me a happy birthday. Normally, I would respond thank you and then fall back to sleep for another couple hours. But something about knowing that it was Earth Day and my birthday made me think twice about closing my eyes. Ultimately, the morning mystery of early sunlight that I could see through my window got me up and out of bed and out the door into the morning. I walked to a garden near where I live and spent some time observing the little lettuces and other plants growing there. The view of the bay from the garden was stunning, and I felt so blessed and grateful for the morning and the place where I live. As I walked back, I noticed a sqaushed plastic water bottle by the grass, so I picked it up to recycle it. I kept walking and saw cigarette butts on the ground near some benches, so I picked them up and put them into the little ash tray bu...

I have been visiting the Alviso Adobe Community Park in Pleasanton, CA, since it opened in 2008. This video documents my amazing journey of learning experiences there, and it also serves as a way to share about the park's history and beauty. I have written a lot on this blog about my experiences at the park. Please click here to view those posts.

In addition to being great exercise and a way to get to really awesome places in the world, hiking is also one of my favorite social activities. Since the time I was old enough to hike around Pinecrest Lake, I was making the trek with my family, trying to keep up with uncles and cousins in my little hiking boots and sunhat. I've always been a hiker, and I continue to be one, especially since I live in a hilly forest off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. How can you not be a hiker when you live two minutes from hiking trails and views of the ocean? Given this interest in hiking and the opportunities for social engagement and community building that it offers, this past fall, a fellow student sustainability leader at UC Santa Cruz and I organized a hike into the Upper Campus trails that meander through forest and meadow above our university home. The goal was to bring together students, staff, faculty, community members interested in sustainability at UC Santa Cruz for a day hike to ...

Before I introduce my younger sister, who last night began a blog of her own ( Jeune Gal ), I want to provide some background about my family. I come from a family of writers, each of us with a unique style and method of sharing our hearts and thoughts with the world. I have so much gratitude for the way I was brought up, always being read to and encouraged to write. My father recited Shakespeare to me when I was a really little kid, and perhaps the nectar of Shakespeare's language flowed into my developing brain and planted a seed that continues to grow each time a line of poetry or a storyline comes into my head. When I was seven, I applied to be a poet laureate in my hometown at the suggestion of my father, who later did become the poet laureate. Though I knew I wouldn't be selected, going through the process of submitting poetry and receiving a personal letter of encouragement from the committee was an empowering process that no doubt contributed to my con...

Have you ever realized that the most sustainably packaged, healthy, and portable snack out there is fruit? It comes with its own wrapper (its skin), it's good for your health and your soul (as my boyfriend always reminds me, fruit is designed by nature to be attractive and taste good... I say that anything whose sole intention is to make you feel good is good for the soul), and you can take fruit with you without hassle. Apples, bananas, oranges, peaches, and other hand-held fruits are especially portable, but strawberries, berries, and other smaller fruits are easy enough to carry in hand or in a basket. Can we all just take a moment to be grateful and exhilarated by the beauty that is fruit? Mmm, peaches at a local farm. Juicy and delicious and portable and not wasteful! Gorgeous, too!   Organic strawberries at the local farmers' market