Coronavirus and Climate Change: The intersection of action and mitigation

I am unable to stop noticing how similarly the efforts to stem the most serious impacts of climate change mirror efforts being made to stem the most serious impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

With regard to climate change we have been saying (for a very, very long) time, that we must act. We encourage individuals to do their part: refuse single use plastics by carrying their own reusable bags and bamboo utensils and straws everywhere they go, reduce consumption, reuse, repurpose, and recycle ♻️ recycle ♻️ recycle ♻️. We implore governments, businesses and corporations to believe the science and take bold actions to reduce their carbon footprints; to follow the recommendations of the scientists and environmentalists. We know that every individual action can and does make a positive difference in our collective efforts to save the planet from the most horrible impacts of climate change. We know from history that individual actions when taken together push governments, businesses and corporations to take actions they otherwise wouldn’t take. We are now in a climate crisis or climate emergency because action has been slow to achieve to tip the scales that move those bigger GHG emitters. Time is of the essence. Every minute and every climate action matters.

With regard to the novel coronavirus, we are hearing that we must act. We as individuals must follow science-based recommendations regarding washing our hands: with soap and warm water for twenty seconds or as long as it takes you to sing Happy Birthday to yourself. We must also not touch our faces (so shocked at how often I touch my face!). And, also important, to not go out if you are sick; and self-quarantine if you’ve been exposed to the virus. We are hearing that businesses, governments and corporations must do more: provide more testing and make ready the healthcare sector for the impact this virus will have, cancel large gatherings, conferences, and travel. We are hearing that individual action can stem the spread of this new virus, and will likely ensure that we can mitigate the worst case scenario. We must follow the guidelines being set forth by experts- scientists and physicians. All of our collective actions must be brought to bear against this health crisis to prevent the worst outcomes from befalling us. We know from history that our safety and health depend on people doing their part and governments and businesses doing their parts. Just like with regard to climate change. We must join together and do our best to save our people, animals and planet.

And the question that remains for both climate change and coronavirus is: Will we?

Will we listen to the experts, follow the science and undertake as many climate actions as we possibly can while pushing governments and businesses to make big changes too? Will we do as much as we can, including social distancing-avoiding big groups of people or gatherings and staying home when we are sick or exposed to sickness to stem the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus?

We will see.

In The Bubble

Owen Brown Tennis Club

One of the advantages of being a blogger in Howard County (HoCo), Maryland is the wonderful network of bloggers you can get to know. Many of HoCo’s bloggers know and blog about local events and happenings, and etc. I was happy to catch up with one such knowledgeable blogger at the Nalley Fresh Blog party a couple weeks ago. Duane, of HoCoConnect blog fame, has shared lots of newsy tidbits on things to do around the county. Today, I had a chance to check one out. I went to Drop-in Pickleball at the Owen Brown Tennis Club bubble. Since I’m not a tennis player, it was my first time at this Columbia Association facility, which currently offers drop-in pickleball twice a week. Wednesdays from 1-3 PM and Thursdays from 12-2 PM. There is a nominal fee of $3.00, and they have paddles to use if you don’t have your own.

 

In the Bubble

It was not my first time attempting to play Pickleball. But, it was my first time playing with folks who know the rules. I have a lot to learn, which is really easy to do with practice. And, while I can say I played real Pickleball, I cannot say it went real(ly) well. In fact, suffice it to say I will not be representing the USA in any World Pickleball Championships any time soon. Or ever. Just judging by my games today.

The good news is, I am back into the whole idea of playing and can now set about to get some drop in sessions on my calendar. Many thanks to Duane, his wife and her teammate for today for teaching me the ropes (and for having lots of patience!). With spring right around the corner, look for more opportunities to learn to play this fun game that has elements of tennis, badminton and ping pong at different locations around the county.

 

#HoCoBlogs

Setbacks along the trail of life and blog

View from Mt. Vernon Trail

 

In June, I was pretty certain that I would have two or three nice, new rail trail or otherwise paved trail bike rides completed by August. Thus continuing my one bike blog post a month since being empty nesters. I actually did a June ride with two friends, Sue and Sara, on the Mt. Vernon trail.

Sara and Sue

 

We drove down to Virginia, loaded ourselves up for an exciting day on a new trail. I took pictures. We were smiling. The trail is beautiful around the water. As we rode it got a little more challenging. Then, as we got closer to Mt. Vernon, there were some killer hills. I thought I was in bike riding shape. John and I had just done a long ride on Sunday (and it was Tuesday).

 

But, I was struggling up the last big hill before the benches and water fountain break spot. I actually fell over and ended up giving up and walking the bike up the last few hundred feet. I was humiliated and devastated. My friends made some gear change suggestions, which I eagerly tried. On our way back, I was exhausted and falling more and more behind. It made no sense that I should be struggling this much. I figured I must have been still fatigued from the long 26 mile ride I had done two days before. Well, upon closer examination we discovered I had a flat rear tire. We made an attempt to change the tire ourselves. But, despite Sue offering me her spare tube, it didn’t go well. I was so unprepared for a flat tire. So, after 16 miles, I was done. My friends rode the remaining seven miles back to the car and drove back to pick me and my bike, which was in several pieces, up. Needless to say, I was very unhappy. In tears upon arriving home unhappy. My ride, my pride, my new, cute Athleta shirt, all in ruins. I couldn’t even write about it. It was too awful.

 

So, I got the bike tire repaired that night, but I didn’t get back in the saddle until last week. We decided we may as well try to get back into our cycling hobby, since we have a semi empty nest with our oldest home and working full time and our youngest back at school. I was not looking forward to it at all. But, I thought the B & A Trail, which is mostly flat, would be a good place to start over. Three miles into our ride, I heard the familiar sound of a rear flat tire. We couldn’t believe it. It was supposed to be fixed.

There I was again. Sitting alone with my bike, waiting to be picked up. Not good. This time, I had a more knowledgable bike guy fix it. He recommended a new, higher quality tire, which I gladly agreed to.

 

Which takes me to today. They say, “Third time’s a charm.” After back to back disappointment with bike rides – two flat tires in a row, we were ready for a good outing. We once again set off along the B&A Trail. It was a hot, sunny day. There were nice stretches of shade along the way. We made it to the top of the trail, got off our bikes and stretched and hydrated. We had never gone beyond this point because we had heard that the trail had somewhat steep hills and went along a busy highway (which it does). I asked John if he wanted to go a little further to see what it was like. A guy taking a break on the bench next to us told us about a river view at the Maryland WWII Memorial just two miles further. Hummmm. Energized by our curiosity, we decided to try it. It wasn’t bad on our way to the memorial, but I was sure I wasn’t going to make it back. But, I’d deal with that on our return trip.

We made it! The memorial was beautiful. The views of Annapolis and the river were pretty. We were glad we went the extra two miles.

The way back to the trail was not hard at all, just a little work, but it was getting hotter. I definitely felt out of bike-shape. With about a mile and a half to go, I just fell so far behind John, it was ridiculous. I was pedaling my legs off and going nowhere fast. Well, we made it back to the car, loaded it up, got the AC cranked up, and headed home. It was an 18 mile ride. We chatted briefly about why I was so tired and couldn’t keep up, but I was glad to have finished a ride. Time to plan the next one!

As we were unloading the car, I hear John say, “No Way!” I walk over and there he is looking at my FLAT front tire! Noooooo. So much for third time’s a charm.

But, it explained a lot.

 

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From the Farmer’s Market to the Farm

Farmer's Market Lettuce

@HoCoBlogs

There has been much blogging and tweeting about buying local, buying fresh and supporting local farms. Today, I decided to jump on the farm stand bandwagon and went to the Farmer's Market at the Oakland Mills Village Center. I made it there about a half hour before it closed.

There were pros and cons to arriving so late, but I was determined to check it out. The main pro was that it was not as crowded as I'm sure it was earlier, so I could visit each stand and easily see what each had. The obvious con was that there were a lot of empty slots. I settled on broccoli from one stand, a large bag of mixed lettuce from another, and cookies from A Bite of Heaven, that we had for dessert. They were very tasty. I really liked the Snickerdoodles. It was a safe start. I came straight home and had a big salad for lunch. It was delicious, as one would expect.

Our “Perfect” Strawberries, Picked by Us

As if my big outing to the Farmer's Market wasn't adventurous enough, my mom and I talked ourselves into heading out to Larriland Farm for the “pick your own strawberries.” Alyssa was eager to join the fun, so off we went. There were a lot of folks in the fields. We picked about two rows and headed back to the main farm to pick our own spinach. We were on a roll!

This character was at Larriland Farm. He was not too interested in posing for this photo, but I took one anyway.

We had another big salad with our dinner that included some of the spinach from Larriland and a bunch of vegetables either sold out or not available yet from the farm stands. Delicious! I think I'm sold on making the extra trip to the farmer's markets.

I thought about what prevents (or has prevented) me from actively participating in farmer's market shopping. Three things popped into my mind: 1) I never carry cash and I assume that farmers will only take cash; 2) There isn't one on my beaten path, so I have to plan to make a trip to one; and 3) I've not really shopped at farmer's markets much, so it's hard to know who has the best produce. I'm sure it could be argued that there is no bad produce at a farm stand. But, I think just that little unknown has held me back. After today, however, I am more willing than ever to become a frequent shopper at these markets and farms.

 

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Fruity Fish is a Hit

 

We are always hoping for a new dinner idea. So, the topic of “What's for dinner? comes up in my discussions with friends. Saturday night we went to dinner with friends, who also have been thinking about creative dinner ideas. We shared our different-fish-a-different-way each week idea with them. I'm glad we did, because our conversation lead us to choosing Grouper as our fish for this week. We also decided on a mango salsa to go over it. I thought that pairing called for black beans and rice from Chipotle (since they do rice and beans better than I do).

John got the fish and a mango-pineapple salsa from Wegman's. I was a little unsure about how to cook the fish, but I went with broiling it. I have a number of fancy olive oils and balsamic vinegars that I thought might work well. So I pre-mixed a small amount of a garlic and herb olive oil with my pineapple balsamic. It was perfect! The light garlic and light pineapple flavor was a very nice flavor on the grouper. The only problem was that the oil didn't work well with my broiler. I had flames sparking and smoke. Ugh! So, I cancelled the broil plan after 7 minutes or so and went with baking instead. That seemed to take a lot longer than I expected. But, since I already had my side dish from Chipotle, it didn't really matter how long it would take. It was more annoying than anything.

We were very pleased with the fish choice and the light drizzle of garlic herb olive oil and pineapple balsamic, but I was very unhappy about the salsa. It wasn't what I had wanted or expected. There were no visible mango or pineapple pieces, no light, sweet salsa sauce. No, this was a thicker tomato salsa with a heavy smoky flavor and a slight fruit flavor. It was weird. Overall, we gave the meal high marks and will likely make this again (with a different, fruitier salsa).

Next up…We may try to make homemade lobster rolls next week. We'll have to see if we can find a good recipe for it. I don't want to try to wing it. We have been to New England. We know what an awesome lobster roll tastes like!

 

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