Today is May10, 2011. I am 65 years old, and my computer skills are nil. Never mind. Computer literacy is not my "brag about" competency. With the exception of Freecell. I'm better at sitting through meetings, learning about the big picture, creating funny events like "Squash Global Warming" and providing leadership in the trivia...making sure the meeting room is picked up, tallying the Ballard Market receipts and offering hands on help to other Sustainable Ballard projects when

called for.  I consider this  the unglamorous glue that holds things together behind the scenes.

 I muddle through, but find myself still looking things up in the phone book, picking up the phone to try reaching someone for a ride, and otherwise trying to stay connected.  It rarely works.   I see the usefulness in the disembodied life of the internet, but it is awfully lonely.  Well, I've had some "wiki training" from Fulvio, the guru, now, so I know a bit more than I did.  Still, I find the computer an odd, uncomfortable medium.     Oh, well.  And it is also true, I don't have a cell phone, either...  You want to talk to me, the number is 783 6963 at home...no calls after 10 PM please.

As for my life, mostly one meeting after another, interrupted by meaningful activity on occasion...like substituting in a primary grade class somewhere, or planting vegetable starts in the backyard, or making dinner for my spouse. Sunday afternoons often find us in Edmonds at my 94 year old mother's house, where we pool our leftovers and play Scrabble. My mother usually wins. My daughter Anne is starting a coffee consulting business with the goal of making baristas into civilized people, explaining the difference between fair trade and direct trade, why global warming is a serious challenge to coffee growers near the equator, and so on.

Sustainable Ballard offers a constant undertow. As it evolves, I see the curse of car ownership, which results in the endless hauling of material and bodies. My Prius has become the de facto hauling vehicle. My own interests have drifted from working on home energy improvement into the general area of legislative action on climate change. I participate with Seattle's chapter of Citizen Climate Lobby, a group dedicated to creating the political will to take significant action for a sustainable climate. It is ALL worth doing, and it is hard to choose.

In addition, I just finished chairing the board of Groundswell NW, building community parks and habitat in greater Ballard. A new park at 9th NW between 70th and 73rd will be developed this year. Since 1989 we have added 12 parks or open spaces in the Ballard area.