May 2007- Summer is Coming

It was so great to see everyone at our monthly meeting/potluck on Sunday. What a glorious day.. the kids were in the wading pool, we were all sitting out on the back patio, sharing food & conversation. A great way to end the weekend.
Most of us are acknowledging that it is both "getting easier" and "getting harder" . We have each (for the most part with some exceptions) had a few "slip ups" where we have found ourselves buying something in a moment of mindless consumer pattern.. like hair dye (just cause the girls were having fun!), or bees wax candles (at the market but still a buy), or something we "justified" based on health or safety, but knew it really wasn't... And a couple of us have just plain "broken down" and made a purchase ... like that "must have" book to mark the birth of our 1st grand-baby, or the frames because mom (who is 85) really wanted those family pictures hung..

The funniest is running into a fellow compacter at the local office supply store and the voice says " so what did you buy?".. it turns out just to be photocopying for work..

Mostly we all are acknowledging how overwhelming it is to be in any type of huge consumer store these days... Stepping inside one of those monsters is enough to send any of us running for cover... and what's the point if you aren't going to buy anything anyway? So we just don't go.

So the season is changing and summer is coming and that has provided us with a whole new set of "issues" to discuss. They mostly revolve around seasonal issues like:
Garden preparation.. like what can be scrounged for a new garden plot (old papers for mulch, wood chips, lumber, plants from people willing to share) and does buying soil made mostly from local organic compost count? (probably - but not everyone is convinced)
Bicycle & related stuff: A couple of our compacters have made the decision not own a car (way to go!) or (if they do own a car) to use their bikes much more (also way to go!). They have kids and have found out that it is next to impossible to find a used child carrier ..You know, the one that attach to the bike and roll behind the bike and can be used for transporting kids & groceries and all sorts of stuff.. We have ALL been looking but no luck.. So the question is... if we can put gas in the car and do car repairs... doesn't it make sense to buy the carrier and have a good reliable (and safe) means of transportation that is bike related? Our answer is probably but we are going to give one last concerted effort to find something used (we need two of them)...

On a less challenging note, the big HRM police bike auction is coming up this Saturday at the Forum so anyone looking for a bike is going there....

It is nice to talk with our fellow compacters.. get a boost to keep going and keep challenging ourselves. I still can't believe that 1/3rd of the year is almost over....