Moments

Inside of Outside

Ah. To be back inside of outside. Nancy and I just got back from a week of backpacking the Black Hills of Wyoming. It was beautiful. Tall green pines, vibrant yellow and orange aspens quaking in the breeze, transparent blue skies, purple and white wildflowers blossoming underfoot.

Of course campfires, watching shooting stars at night, enjoying the chattering squirrels and muted nuthatches, and enduring the pain of carrying 50+ pounds on your back everyday were all great parts of our trip, but I had two favourite moments. The first was sitting by a stream in the morning filtering water to drink--listening to the babbling brook and enjoying the peacefulness of being in that moment with nothing else to think or worry about. The second was lying in the tent one night, and being woken up by the huffing, panting, and footsteps of a herd of deer, just outside our tent, and staying awake to listen to the hooting of an owl.

It was Nancy's first ever backpacking trip. If you ask her, she'll tell you that next time she probably won't pack so many clothes. But she had a good time, and it was great to spend time with her, doing something that I love and sharing it with her. Here we are at the end of the trip, a little trail-worn, but very happy.

Bernie

Inside of Outside



So a while back, "I" posted about getting a motorcycle. Well, it wasn't true. It is true that I would like to get a motorcycle one day, but that day hasn't arrived yet. However, I did recently splurge and buy a new mountain bike. It's a Trek 4300 for those who care, and it's burnt orange, silver, and black. His name is Bernie. My uber-cool helmet was bought for me by Nancy for my birthday. Isn't she great?!

So far, I've been riding mostly around Lincoln, and in a few parks around Lincoln and Council Bluffs Iowa. I love it. I like being able to ride places and feel environmentally friendly, and I love riding in the parks and enjoying the sights. So far, while out on rides, I've seen white pelicans, various and sundry woodpeckers, a ground hog, great blue herons, white-tailed deer, and lots of other cool stuff. I'm hoping to do a lot more riding this summer. At the very least, I'll be able to put the bike rack that I've been carrying around on my car for the past year and half to use again.

One Dollar = One Tree

Inside of Outside

I just planted 10 trees. Ok, not me literally. But I donated to the Plant a Billion Trees campaign, sponsored by the Nature Conservancy. They're aiming to plant 1,000,000,000 trees over the next seven years, in the most endangered rainforest in Brazil.

They've already planted over 200,000 trees in the Atlantic Forest, on Brazil's east coast, which has already lost 93% of its area. The end result of the project--large areas of restored rain forest, the preservation of unique habitat, increased space for rare and endangered species, and 10 million tons of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere every year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road.

More good news--to plant a tree only costs one dollar. I've set a goal of planting 50 more trees by the end of the year. If you feel inspired you can join me and contribute to the tree planting initiative--otherwise, I'll have to plant them all myself :)

[April 22, 2008 - Removed the statement: (although you have to buy them in batches of 10)]

Nancy

Inside of Outside

This, is my girlfriend, Nancy, whom I love. Those of you who know her, already realize what a great person she is. Those of you who don't know her, are missing out.