Keep Oregon Green (It's my favorite color!)

After roasting for the past few days, I'm delighted by the full-on thunder storm we are having right now! It's 75 degrees, and pouring. The thunder & lightening is quite spectacular. Car alarms are going off, my neighbor is calling her kitty in (who is no doubt hiding under a car or something), and it is wet, wet, wet outside. Ahhh....

I just have to say that I LOVE OREGON. I don't know how I ended up being born in the Willamette Valley, I couldn't have picked a better spot to grow up. Yes, it rains a lot, but it's green and lush and beautiful. I truly love it here, and can't imagine living anywhere else (at least not permanently).

Oddly enough, when the storm started I was reading online about a very peculiar looking bicycle my neighbors just purchased. They're a young couple with a toddler and a greyhound named--what are the odds--Henry! Sarah explained that they recently got rid of their car and are opting to be a bike only family. Wow, that's so very green and cool of them! I wish we could be less dependent on our car...although I love it soooo much, I feel a bit guilty driving it almost every single day. Adam takes public transportation to & from work most days. We live 2 1/2 miles from Kira's school (with Alameda Ridge between here and there) and six miles from my school (which is on the side of a MOUNTAIN). Unfortunately, I just can't give up the car. I'd love for us to move closer to my work so I could leave it at home. I'm so envious of the preschool families who walk or bike to and from every day. This is definitely a goal for us in the next couple of years. For now I'll have to settle for other ways to be green. Kira and I definitely need to give the trail-a-bike another SPIN! I know we can do it...but I think for starters we may need to slap some training wheels on her end!