When Christians Attack?

I am not quite sure what to think of this article posted in a blog oriented towards liberal North Carolina politics (gotta keep up with the competition). Gist is that the author attended a High Point City Council meeting where there was a debate over the meeting's opening prayer. The most provocative part of this story to me is not the facts of the story, but the author's engagement with Christians - her obvious natural bias against Christians, and her grudging respect and even identification with the Christians attending the meeting. I haven't thought about it enough yet, but there is something significant embedded here.

Volunteerism and Commuting Inversely Proportional

Is this related to Putnam's Bowling Alone phenomenon? It seems to make sense, though the causation/correlation thing doesn't seem to be controlled or addressed in the discussion.

Underwater Logging: Submarine Rediscovers Lost Wood

Underwater Logging: Submarine Rediscovers Lost Wood

This makes so much sense I guess, though I would have thought the trees had rotted after 20-50 years of submersion. Apparently that's not the case. Another article I read about this in Urban Land described that BC alone has almost 5 billion board feet of salvageable wood. And much of the wood is profitable or hard-to-find species like Douglas fir, hemlock, etc.

What Our Grandparents Can Teach Us About Saving The World

I'm getting more comfortable all the time wearing the "greeny tree-hugger" moniker, though I'm a little sad it's not due to a newly discovered self-confidence, but instead to the fact that being a tree-hugger is increasingly popular. Emily and I have talked a lot about consumerism being the root problem of environmental degradation, and the irony of most "green" solutions that rely on buying a new or different product, rather than not buying one at all and making-do with what you already have or even better getting comfortable doing without. This article was provocative in that direction - even though the "Greatest Generations'" motives weren't "green," the values and willingness to sacrifice behind the motives had a green affect. Will our willingness to be green and sustainable last beyond our ability to avoid sacrificing, or survive the siege of consumerism?

*Green* Lawn

http://www.realestatejournal.com/homegarden/20070712-bounds.html?refresh=on

Luxury Delivery

We did our hospital tour tonight at Presbyterian Hospital's Women's Center. Holy mackeral! We've been there recently to visit friends who have had children, but it never struck us how daggum beautiful that place is! The artwork is spectacular (mostly local, lots of interesting sculpture), and the common areas and rooms are all set up like a spa. There's even a whirlpool in the delivery room, though Emily said it wouldn't be wise for my longterm well being to chill out in the hot tub while she's in labor. We've never enjoyed a trip to the hospital quite like this. I must say that I totally failed at remembering anything useful about how to get Emily to the right place at the right time. We walked out to the parking deck and I couldn't remember a thing we were just told. Thankfully I did remember that we should bring our own DVDs in case labor lasts very long.

Scout.com

Apparently everyone except me has known about this web site forever. In case anyone reading this is as out of the loop as I was, enjoy.

Belly Update

An update to a previous post Emily is starting to show - a lot!

The week of June 13, 2007 (Baby Week 22)



















The week of June 20, 2007 (Baby Week 23)



















The week of July 4, 2007 (Baby Week 25)

Gaston County

We finally visited Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont yesterday after years of having it on the "to do" list. We were concerned that the summer would be a poor time to visit, but it was absolutely lovely, and gave Emily some great ideas for the yard.

The happy mommy- and daddy-to-be outside the second fountain (self-portrait).














A sitting area tucked away behind some hedges. The trellises were interesting and looked like a painter was in the process of setting up an easle to go to work.














This fountain was fun, and had a sign that more or less called visitors wimps if they didn't pass through the water arches.














The lines-of-sight were really well done, with both clear vistas and moments of discovery. The walkway from the welcome center to the first fountain was lined with an interesting mix of traditional hedges and arbor vitae as well as cacti and exotic groundcover.














We had never seen Italian Arum before and thought it was really colorful and whimsical.














The arborway was a dramatic walkway with an interesting use of light and dark in the plants. It also underscored the awareness that the garden is very new - I guess it's about a decade old. As pretty as it is now, it is going to be stunning in 20 years when the trees have filled out and the structures feel more organic.














One area outside the North arbor walkway struck Emily as a good model for a section of our back yard.














Robyn loves the gladiolus, and we thought of her in this section of the flower garden. The gladiolii in her garden are much better than the few here at DSBG.



















Emily and Stephanie in front of the first fountain before the walkway to the canal.














Emily and Zipper in front of the second fountain.














The firecracker vine is another element Emily wants to incorporate into our own yard.



















The Freeze for Bees mascot!

More Kicking

Zipper was kicking something fierce last night, and it was the first time Randy got to feel her moving too. We've seen the goo-goo looks parents give on TV when they feel the baby kick, but for some reason we were both still really surprised and awestruck with the event. Interestingly, Zipper isn't really "kicking." Rather, Emily found out during her ultrasound last week that Zipper is shrugging and standing - she's sort of stuck in the corner of the womb and more or less sitting on her legs, facing backwards. This is great news because we were a little concerned that Emily wasn't feeling more movement. It also means that rather than the small flutters of movement being the norm, instead Emily usually feels these huge upheavals as Zipper tries to stand and extricate herself from the corner. The doctor was not concerned at all by the baby's position and we expect either she'll get herself unstuck, or the womb will grow larger and she'll have more freedom to move around.

The Baby-Name Business

Terrifying article in the WSJ June 22 about the rise of professional baby-naming consultants, and the lengths parents go through to choose the "right" name. We've been struggling a little ourselves on picking the right name, though: (1) we've both separately come to the same realization that we should relax and not get caught up in having to find *the* right name - there are many beautiful names, many of which would be just perfect, and (2) we frankly haven't spent much time or brainpower trying to figure out the best options. We like the idea of family names, we like the idea of simplicity, and we like the idea of traditional (read: common, as opposed to unique) names. I suggested we offer naming rights for sale on Ebay - Emily's glare put that idea to bed pretty quickly.