What we writers won’t do to get published! Here is a requirement for a contest sponsored by the Guide to Literary Agents Blog: that I mention the blog and also the contest on my blog. No kidding. But since I enjoy reading the messages from GLA, it’s no big deal to tell others about their contest. In fact, the only downside to letting others know about the contests that I may enter, is that there will be more competition. I’m bigger than that! So go to www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog to check out a series of writing contests. Good luck!
January, 2010
30
Jan 10
The Diaper Dilemma: Cloth or Disposable? Part 2
When I started to write about backpacking with babies and camping with kids, I carried a prejudice against disposable diapers. I assumed that disposables used up precious resources—wood fibers for the absorbent inner lining and fossil fuels for the plastic coverings. In addition, my experiences with early disposables had not been happy ones; the absorbent layers leaked and the sides of the diapers did not fit well. I thought cloth diapers were more absorbent, fit better, and didn’t waste resources. That was a long time ago. Since then disposable diapers have improved; they fit very nicely around a baby’s legs and they are much more absorbent. Also I have learned a lot more about what constitutes precious resources. My current thinking on the cloth vs. disposable debate: it all depends on where you live.
Here in the Northwest, where I live, water is abundant, hydro-electric power is abundant, and our forests need protection, so I still vote for cloth diapers here. However, a correspondent living in a Southwestern state pointed out that where he lives, water is their most precious resource, not to be wasted washing diapers. Furthermore, in his community, he said, coal-burning electric plants are being phased out, to be replaced by garbage-burning plants fitted with scrubbers that clean the exhaust. Less coal, cleaner air, an argument for disposable diapers.
Next question: what does that mean for diapers in camp? Look for Part 3.
30
Jan 10
The Diaper Dilemma: Cloth or Disposable? Part 1
I wrote the following response to the word GARBOLOGY which appeared in AWAD (A.Word. A. Day) in April 2006; my response was included in the April 30 Compendium (now there’s a word) of Feedback on the W ords in AWAD.
I’d never heard of garbology, but when I was researching my book, Backpacking
with Babies and Small Children (Wilderness Press, Berkeley, CA), I came
across the Garbage Project of the Bureau of Applied Research, Department
of Anthropology, University of Arizona. Beginning in the 1980s, these
researchers dug up landfills in different parts of the country. Up until
that time, no one had really studied what happens in landfills. Assumptions
were based on models that assumed that biodegradable materials would degrade
with time. The investigations showed that as the landfills aged and the
oxygen in the first two or three feet was used up, decomposition stopped.
At the bottom of the landfills, they found 40-year-old newspapers that were
still legible. Surprisingly to me, as a writer trying to discourage parents
from using disposable diapers, it was not the diapers that were filling up
the landfills–most of the intact material was newspapers.
More to come.
18
Jan 10
Reserve Your Summer Campsite NOW
Helping set up the tent.
Two of my favorite places to camp are salt-water beach state parks, Deception Pass State Park in Washington State and Jesse M. Honeyman State Park in Oregon. These two parks, like other very popular camping parks, fill up very quickly. It’s not too soon to think about making reservations for the park you plan to camp in next summer. Both Washington and Oregon parks take reservations up to nine months in advance. Are you planning your vacation for July or August of 2010? Do the math. Your camp is already filling up. The situation in other states is probably similar. Go to the website of the state where you plan to camp and find out what the restrictions are for advance reservations (e.g., how do they treat no-shows and cancellations) and how to make a reservation.
Are you not sure where you want to camp next summer? Now is the time to start your research. Contact the tourism office of the states you are considering visiting (every state has an office of tourism, it’s big business) and have them send you information on camping in their state. Better yet, have them send it to your kids. Let the kids read the material or look at the pictures, and help choose the place for your next vacation. There’s lots of detailed advice for planning in CAMPING WITH KIDS. Happy Camping!
8
Jan 10
My favorite Namibian
One of my favorite people from my wonderful Out of Africa trip with Overseas Adventure Travel in October and November 2009 was Priscilla. In the Lianshulu Bush Lodge in Namibia, we were given the hut farthest from the main lodge but with the most luxurious bathroom. In addition to the big stall shower, it had a deep soaking tub. I thought it would be great to soak at night with soft music–well, there was no radio, and the generators turned off at 9, so I asked Priscilla, one of the managers of the lodge, for a candle lantern like the ones that appeared on our dinner table. She looked at me suspiciously. “Do you know how to use these?” she asked, showing me a box of matches and the candle. I assured her that I could light matches. “Show me,” she said. So I struck a match and it lit at first try (often at home I have to try several times.) “All right, then,” she said, “I’ll send the lantern to your room tonight.”
“Priscilla,” I said, “do you know that I am Jewish, and that we Jews observe our Sabbath from Friday at sundown to Saturday sundown. It’s our tradition to begin the Sabbath every Friday night by saying a special blessing and lighting candles, so I have been striking matches for many years.”
And Priscilla said, “I always learn so much from our guests.”
6
Jan 10
First Hike of 2010–Queen Anne Loop
Queen Anne hill, north of the Seattle downtown area, was named in the 1880s for the many houses built there in the Queen Anne style. Some of those homes, more than 100 years old, still exist, but most of the hill is now covered with more modest single family homes, apartments, and condominiums. It’s still a very desirable place to live, close to downtown with good bus service and Queen Anne Avenue, the “high street” of the hill, providing every kind of amenity one could desire: doctors and dentists; supermarkets; restaurants from fine dining to fast food; stores for clothing, toys, and books; coffee and tea shops; salons for tanning, hair styling and yoga; and in the blocks adjacent to the avenue, a public library, a public swimming pool, and many parks and playgrounds.
For our first hike of the year, from Gas Works Park on Lake Union to the top of Queen Anne hill, we took a slightly different, shorter route than we had done in the past, when we went to the top by way of Galer Street, through a series of overpasses and stairways. This time we went up the steep Fulton Street stairs at the south end of the Fremont Bridge, then made our way west and south, up, up, up to Queen Anne Avenue where we made a welcome pit stop at my son’s house. (No one was home, but we had permission.) It was too early for lunch so we wandered around the top of the hill as far south as Highland Drive, admiring the stunning homes and pausing at the Betty Bowen Overlook to look across the Sound and at Kerry Park to look down on the city. Lunch at the 5 Spot, then all the way down Queen Anne Avenue to return to the Fremont Bridge. We rewarded ourselves with a visit to Theo Chocolates for samples.