The Environmental Discovery Center of Sonoma County offers multi-sensory, hands-on activities for people of all ages. Rotating exhibits focus on a different aspect of the natural resources of Sonoma County.

 Center's Features

• Nature Trails
• Outdoor Amphitheater
• Storytelling Cavern
• Science Activities
• Technology Tent - interactive computer games
• Theater - Educational videos

For more information,check out their website

I'm so excited about this! We are getting a wine barrel to collect rain water.  There is a gutter that leaks water onto the path to our kitchen door, so were going to fix that by collecting the water instead.

As for planting, right now just flowers and hopfully anything that deers and other animals won't eat.  We have no grass on the property. So nice cause then we don't have to use the electric lawn mower which we are letting my parents borrow for now.

We have natural A/C - TREES!!!!!  When we were having that heat wave a few weeks ago it was 104 outside and a cool 84 inside.

There is also lots of windows so no need to turn any lights on during the day.

We don't have a garbage disposal. Well, unless you count the cat that lives outside.  I hope to compost, but have to figure out where and keep it animal safe.

We are on well water and have a septic system. The well water is yellow. We have a filter, but the water still tastes gross. I know it's not green, but we are buying water for now.  When we moved in the owners had the well inspected and it needs to be fixed/replaced.  So for now we are drinking bottled water to stay safe until it gets fixed.  With the septic system, we really have to watch what goes down the drain now.  I'm using organic soap for the dishes and clothes.

I'm so proud of myself. The other day when I went food shopping, I brought all 10 of my reusable bags and used them.  Now I just need to remember to bring them all again.

And since today is "Bike to work day" Dan road his bike to work today! Woo Hoo!!!  We also have some nice walking trails, so I don't have to drive somewhere to go walking.

Since this is public, if you want to know where we are now, please e-mail me. Thank you!

EARTH DAY ON THE GREENWAY

Celebrate  Earth Day’s 40^th birthday on the Prince Memorial Greenway with a clean up of Santa Rosa Creek.  The restored creek flowing through the heart of downtown provides a home for river otter, kingfishers, egrets, and steelhead trout as well as parks, public art, and recreation along the six mile creek trail.

Date: Saturday April 25

Time: 9:00 – noon

Location: Olive Park footbridge near the Vineyard Creek Hotel on West 3rd St.

Noah and I will be going to help out at this event. 

We hope you can join us for this great opportunity to introduce our children to the idea of  community service and environmental responsibility.

“After tens of thousands of years of children playing and working primarily outdoors, the last few generations have seen such interaction with nature vanish almost entirely. The implications -- for children's physical and mental health… -- are immense”  (Richard Louv, interviewed by David Roberts, 30 March 2006)

Yesterday we spent the day at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, less than a 30 minute drive from Santa Rosa. It was a beautiful park with a lot of history and easy trails for the kids to hike on. Not only did we learn a lot of neat information about Jack London, California writer and adventurer, but the beauty of the area was also incredible. 

One thing I have noticed with the kids in nature is that we almost never have behavioral problems with them. In nature, all their senses are engaged, nothing is off limits to touch, see, and smell. It is in the natural environment where kids really get to organically create and explore.

The state of California is sponsoring a Children in Nature Campaign. A few of the goals of the campaign are to:

• Encourage children to experience nature and give them the opportunity to develop a sense of wonder and joy for the natural world,
  
• Increase children’s awareness that nature is everywhere,
  
• Build children’s knowledge of the interconnectedness of natural systems,
  
• Help children develop the critical scientific and social skills necessary to address environmental issues, both locally and globally.

I am encouraged by the effort California is beginning to make by making the connection between nature and kids a priority. If you want more information on ways your family can participate in the Children in Nature Campaign, follow the link above.

If you family visits a regional or state park, I encourage you to post information on it to share your find with us. Jack London State Park was a gem of a place to find, with kid friendly trails and interesting history for any Californian.  

This is how the "universe" always works....When I heard this story airing on NPR yesterday, I thought, ”Of course. That’s how the universe works when you are tuned in”…. and sometimes (only sometimes) I am tuned in. The timing seemed to be "cosmic" because I had recently dusted off my old VHS tapes from childhood and selected the movie Charlotte’s Web to share with my kids. After watching it with them, I felt really touched and moved by the character of Charlotte and told my friend Jen A. about it when she was in town about a month ago. Since then I have been thinking about Charlotte a lot.

I love Charlotte because she is caring but straightforward, she is hardworking and extremely loyal to her friend Wilbur. She is also wise and a little sassy.

I have been restless with ideas lately about feeling like I am not doing meaningful work, and maybe I need to go back "to work", and do something "important" instead of staying home with my kids. I like to think about Charlotte when I think about my role as mother (particularly as stay at home mother) because since having children 4 years ago, I often have had internal struggles about whether what I am currently doing is important or has meaning. Before I had children and decided to stay at home with them, my identity was largely wrapped up in my profession as social worker and I was reminded every day of my purpose and importance in making a difference to people and in the community. As a mother, that sense of purpose and importance is much more…subtle and gradual (at least for me).

I do have so much gratitude for the opportunity to be able to stay home with my kids and I know that it is often seen as a luxury. I also, however, cannot help struggling with questions like “is this work important?” and “is this work meaningful?” and “is this my ‘calling’ right now?”. I think those questions will likely always weave in and out of my life as I make certain choices. Watching Charlotte’s Web with my kids, though, has helped me to remind myself during those questioning times that Charlotte did many magnificent things like write on her web, rally a barnyard of animals around a cause, and ultimately save a life, but what she called her life’s magnum opus (her masterpiece) was her children and that gives me comfort.

So I appreciate (as Jen A. can attest to because I think I was pretty emotional when I told her this) and have learned to remind myself of the things I learned through Charlotte’s character. That being a parent is some of the most, if not THE most important work one can do. Raising the next generation. And as a GreenMommy, I am particularly proud to be a part of a group of woman who are not only raising children, but raising future stewards of the earth by the influence we have on them now and by raising consciousness.

So if you are interested in learning a little more about the character of Charlotte or haven’t read the book or seen the movie in a while, I would encourage you to check them out. I really enjoyed this piece that aired yesterday on the character of Charlotte. And when I listened to the many different people who spoke about Charlotte, it made me feel better that I am not the only one who is brought to tears by a spider.

 I came across this quote today and really liked it. Luther Burbank as most of you Santa Rosans know came to Santa Rosa in his 20's and is famous here and around the country / world for developing more than 800 varieties of plants and flowers. Most famously among his creations are the Shasta Daisy and the Russett Burbank potato (which is the most widely cultivated potato in the U.S.) McDonald's uses the Russett Burbank potato for their french fries......that has got to be A LOT of potatoes. 

Anyway, I wanted to share this poignant quote that I found today as well as let any of you local Santa Rosans know that if you haven't been to Luther Burbank gardens in a while (or ever), its a beautiful, peaceful place to go and see beautiful gardens and learn more about Burbank who was a pretty fascinating person and true environmentalist.

 
"Every child should have mudpies, grasshoppers, waterbugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, animals to pet, hay fields, pinecones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets - and any child who has been deprived of these has been deprived of the best part of his education." 

- Luther Burbank

Since summer / fall seems to fill up fast, I wanted to give you an early heads up for the "Farm Trails Weekend" which this year will be the weekend of September 27-28.

We visited about 8-9 farms last year during their farm trails weekend and LOVED it. The kids dug potatoes out of the ground, milked cows, picked fruit and vegetables, saw all kinds of animals, and in general got a real flavor of the local Sonoma County farms. I would highly recommend it!!!!

There are so many fascinating things about nature, it's hard to know where to begin to talk about all of the miracles happening around us all the time. One has been on my mind the last few days as we have been spending time in our backyard. I noticed that there was a cracking/popping sound about every 2 minutes and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. After finding some uncoiled seed pods on the ground next to our wisteria we have growing above our fence line, I realized it was the wisteria seed pods popping (in fact I just heard one, it's pretty loud...ooh, there's another). Anyway, after figuring out what the noise was, I have been thinking about how fascinating nature is. That popping sound, I learned from Googling "popping wisteria", is nature's way and the wisteria's way of reproduction called explosive dispersal, where a seed pod pops open and flings its seeds away from the plant. The evolutionary explanation for this is to prevent overcrowding of seedlings around the parent plant, giving them the light and space they need to mature. Isn't that amazing???

And nature doesn't just have one way of dispersing seeds but many different and amazing ways like wind (dandelion seeds), animals (acorns) and water (Pond Lilly). I take nature for granted so often and rarely recognize or ponder the fact that my shirt (cotton) came from a seed, my desk (tree) came from a seed, and the bread for my sandwich I am eating now (wheat) came from a seed too. 

I know this is beginning to sound like a 2nd grade science lecture but those seeds popping right now in my backyard are bringing back some of the 8 year old fascination I had with nature that can get so easily lost when we are adults and have "more important" things to think about.

What simple things in nature have you been amazed by lately? 

Stumbled upon this information..my plan is to put plants in the rooms I don't have one yet.

Though chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide are anathema to human health, plants can thrive on them, while also removing them from the air. Plants that top the clean-air list include peace lily, bamboo palm, English ivy, mums, and gerbera daisies, all of which are both easy to find and easy to care for, so even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still have a green home or office.

Cameron and I took the kids camping over the weekend and I think overall it went really well. The best part about it was that there was no distractions such as the TV, radio, toys, etc. I think there were many benefits I saw taking the kids camping. We actually sat around a lot and talked (what a concept!), showed N and R how many things there are to be interested in in nature such as observing the birds and other wildlife, taking nature walks, collecting sticks for the fire, and showing them what real darkness looks and feels like. 

We were in fact very close to civilization (Anadel State Park) but they didn't know that. The nice thing to see was that they didn't seem to get bored once (unlike at home where they seem to need constant entertainment). In a place where on the surface there appears to be nothing to do, there was actually so much to do and see and learn. 

My parents were not campers  (in fact I remember my dad had a T shirt that said "My idea of camping is when room service is late") but thankfully I had an aunt and uncle who were and introduced me to the world of "roughing it".  I think the earlier we introduce our kids to the beauty  and appreciation of nature, the more they will have that love for nature ":in their bones".

 With rising fuel costs and the economic troubles many are facing, camping is also a great way to have a really wonderful time with family, without spending a lot of money.

For information on local camping spots, click here.