Currently Reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress: A Novel By Dai Sijie see related

Last weekend, we were walking the boardwalk along the Pacific Ocean in San Diego.  I had the most expensive ice cream cone of my entire life:  $9.25 for just a double scoop waffle cone at Ben and Jerry's!  The day was hot and beautiful and the exorbitant prices didn't seem to stop anyone, including Tory and I.  Wow!

One week later, I am living in a quaint, furnished apartment overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota.  There is nothing but a few pine trees and grass between our front door and the largest fresh water lake in the world.  It looks like an ocean and we sit on our deck and watch the 1000 foot long iron ore ships transverse the endless blue horizon.  It is beautiful, cool, green and refreshing here.  We take Indi, our 8 month old golden retriever to the lake daily.  She discovered a passion for running and leaping off the boat dock for a plunge into the cool waters.  It's hilarious to watch her extend her legs like superman and fly off, creating a great belly flop below!

I'm working on increasing my green meter.  For 3 months already, we have been sharing one vehicle.  I love it.  It keeps life simple, we cut down on gas and expenses.  I purchased a Terrapass for my next flight to offset my carbons but my challenge with bottled water consumption still haunts me.  We have well water which is salty and completely undrinkable...I buy mass amount of bottled water.  I feel bad about this.  Bottled water costs more than gasoline and leaves a terrible carbon footprint.  I have been trying to fill my nalgene bottled with the good city water from the park drinking fountain.  I can't make it there everyday, however.  I'm still looking for a good solution.  I never appreciated having good drinking water from the faucet until I moved away from it.  I'm still looking for a few more environmentally friendly ideas to incorporate into my lifestyle...