Archive for category Simple Living
What’s Your Favorite Blog?
Posted by Abby Quillen in Household, New Urban Habitat, Simple Living on June 22, 2011
Lately I’ve been cleaning, and when I say cleaning, I mean emptying dressers, stripping closets, and purging file cabinets and hard drives. I feel agitated when the kitchen counter is not scrubbed clean. I eye the newspaper moments after bringing it in from the porch, eager to recycle it.
The other day, as I was uttering “Why are these (fill in the blank: trains, balls, cars, clothes) always on the floor?” while I zipped around the house tidying, it occurred to me that the intensity of all of this scouring, scrubbing, and sanitizing isn’t, um, exactly normal for me.
Then I remembered something my friend said during her first pregnancy. “I knew I was nesting when I finished vacuuming and then took the vacuum apart to clean it.”
Oh, right, nesting. Is that what I’ve been doing?
Here’s what Pregnancy Weekly says about it:
Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently. Women have reported throwing away perfectly good sheets and towels because they felt the strong need to have “brand new, clean” sheets and towels in their home. They have also reported doing things like taking apart the knobs on kitchen cupboards, just so they could disinfect the screws attached to the knobs. Women have discussed taking on cleaning their entire house, armed with a toothbrush.
Okay, so that does sound curiously like what I’ve been doing. But I’m still clinging to the idea that I rationally make decisions about my day-to-day activities.
In any case, I figured I’d put all of this organizing mojo to use and attack a few of the more messy, disheveled, bedraggled corners of my life.
Enter: my Google feed reader.
A minimalist blogger recommends regularly purging your feed reader entirely and adding back only the blogs you miss. Sounds like a great idea, right?
I opened my reader, resolved to click on “delete all”. Except first I had to browse through my list of blogs … and then read through a few recent posts … and then click on a few of the posts those posts mentioned.
Full confession: I added seven blogs to my feed reader and deleted maybe six. Oops. So much for purging. But I fully intend to return to said reader with a more discerning eye in the near future.
There are just so many great blogs out there. Recently a reader recommended Drawing America by Bike, where Eric Clausen documents his 14-month round-the-country bike tour with ink drawings. It’s very cool, and it made me wonder what else I don’t know about.
I know it’s the opposite of purging, but in the interest of making my feed reader more interesting (albeit a little cluttered) will you help me by answering a few questions:
What’s your favorite blog? What blog(s) deserves to be on my feed reader? If you have time, I’m also curious, approximately how many blogs do you read? How do you keep up with them? Do you use a feed reader or some other method? Do you read blogs every day, once a week, or less often?
Thanks for your feedback! I’ll check out all of your recommendations and report back next week on my favorite new finds.
(To reach me, you can leave a comment below, email newurbanhabitat at gmail dot com, or tweet @newurbanhabitat.)
17 Ways to Celebrate the First Day of Summer
Posted by Abby Quillen in Family life, Nature, Simple Living on June 13, 2011
Tuesday, June 21 is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun will bathe the Arctic Circle in 24 hours of daylight, and ancient monuments around the world will align with the sun. Historically Europeans celebrated the summer solstice by gathering plants and holding bonfires and festivals. Native American plains tribes held sun dances.
The first day of summer is a great time to start new family traditions. Seasonal celebrations are a fun way to connect with nature and they can be as easy or elaborate as you want them to be. Here are a few ideas:
1. Take a trip to the library a few days before your celebration and pick out books about summer. Some of my family’s favorite summer picture-books are: Before the Storm by Jan Yolen, Summertime Waltz by Nina Payne, Canoe Days by Gary Paulsen, Sun Dance Water Dance by Jonathan London, Summer is Summer by Phillis and David Gershator, and Under Alaska’s Midnight Sun by Deb Venasse. For adult reading, check out these lists of 2011 summer must-reads compiled by NPR, Newsweek, and Oprah.
2. Place a bouquet of roses, lilies, or daisies in your family members’ bedrooms while they sleep, so they wake to fresh summer flowers.
3. Find a special place outside to watch the sunrise and sunset. You can find out what time the sun will rise and set where you live here.
4. Eat breakfast outside.
5. Trace each other’s shadows throughout the day to note the sun’s long trip across the sky.
6. Take a camping trip. Light a fire at night to celebrate the warmth of the sun. Sleep outside. Wake with the sun.
7. Go on a nature hike. Bring along guidebooks to help you identify birds, butterflies, mushrooms, or wildflowers.
8. Make flower chains or a summer solstice wreath.
9. Display summer decorations: seashells, flowers, sand dollars, or whatever symbolizes summer in your family.
10. Gather or plant Saint John’s Wort. Traditionally Europeans harvested the plant’s cheerful yellow flowers on the first day of summer, dried them, and made them into a tea on the first day of winter. The tea supposedly brought the summer sunniness into the dark winter days. If you don’t have any Saint John’s Wort in your garden, consider planting it. It is an incredibly useful herb, and it thrives in poor soil with little attention. Find out more about it here.
11. Visit a U-pick farm to harvest strawberries, snap peas, or whatever is in season where you live. Find a “pick your own” farm near you here.
12. Make a summer feast. Eat exclusively from your garden or the farmer’s market to celebrate the bounties of summer in your area.
13. Host a “locavore” potluck.
14. Turn off all the indoor lights, light candles, and eat dinner outside.
15. Play outside games, watercolor, or decorate the sidewalks with chalk until the sun sets.
16. Read aloud from The Summer Solstice by Ellen Jackson.
17. Read aloud, watch, or put on your own rendition of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. For kids, check out the book A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Kids by Lois Burdett or Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Kids: 3 melodramatic plays for 3 group sizes by Brendan P. Kelso.
Need more inspiration? Check out these resources:
- Celebrating Midsummer – School of the Seasons
- Celebrating the Solstice: Fiery Fetes of Summer – Huffington Post
- Summer Solstice 2010 Pictures – National Geographic
- Stonehedge Summer Solstice 2010 – YouTube (1 min. 49 sec. video)
5 Simple (and Free) Ways to Entertain a Young Child
Posted by Abby Quillen in Parenting, Simple Living on May 25, 2011
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American child will cost his parents $222,360 by the time he turns 17. I’d like to refute that number, since so far my husband and I have needed to buy very little for our three-year-old son Ezra. We thrived without many of the must-haves on the infant lists: a bassinet, crib, diaper-changing table, infant car seat, etc. Boxes of beautiful hand-me-down clothes seem to show up the moment we need them. Family members and friends have generously gifted Ezra toys and books, a wagon, a tricycle, bikes, and a scooter. And he mostly just eats the same things we do.
Having kids isn’t so expensive, I like to muse to myself. But then I remember the major costs of having a small child: daycare ($10,740 a year on average for an infant in this area) or lost wages – and health care. Oh right. There’s no denying it: having kids can be costly.
But here’s a little secret my son keeps teaching me – entertaining a small child can be simple, free, and fun. We spend most days doing the following free activities, all of which Ezra loves:
- going on walks
- riding bikes
- visiting city parks
- packing picnics
- gardening
- going to events at our local library
- picking out and reading library books
- telling stories
- visiting friends
- drawing, coloring, or painting
- playing with homemade play dough
- listening to music and dancing
- playing with the neighbors
Honestly he even loves to make beds and sweep. He can spend 20 minutes examining a lady bug and is endlessly interested in the gas caps on cars. It’s not hard to amuse him. Sometimes we go out for lunch or pick up a treat at the health food store, but most days, we don’t buy anything.
On occasion, though, the old routines grow tiresome, and I sense that a more creative approach to entertainment is in order. Of course, a special event, elaborate art project, hike, or out-of-town trip is sure to please. But here are a few far more simple and free (or almost free) ways to entertain a small child that you might not have thought of:
1. Visit a construction site
Ezra is a huge fan of “tractors” – a class of vehicles that includes forklifts, dump trucks, cranes, front loaders, diggers, and all of the other big, loud machines you find at a construction site. He can stand mesmerized by these giant tools and the people using them for more than an hour. And then he talks about it for days afterward.
It only occurred to me recently to seek out construction sites for his entertainment. Fortunately it’s spring and there are construction projects happening on all over the city. What’s surprised me is how entertained I am by watching humans construct giant buildings. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
2. Go to the train station
Ezra loves trains. He builds tracks all over the living room and is quite particular about which train cars can go where. We’re planning to take him on a long train ride this summer, but recently it occurred to me that just visiting the train station when the passenger train comes in might be a big hit. It is. I imagine visiting an airport would be similarly entertaining if you live near one.
3. Ride the bus or light rail
We do not ride the bus often. In fact, we ride it so little that I didn’t realize how much Ezra would love it until we needed to get across town on a rainy night and decided to opt for public transit instead of bikes. That was several months ago, and Ezra still talks about it. He loves sitting in the entry garden at our library, because across the street is “where the buses live” and he can watch them come and go. This pretty much sums up how easy it is to entertain a three-year-old.
4. Watch a game
It’s almost softball season, which means endless free entertainment opportunities in our neighborhood. There are a couple of games going on most summer nights at a park a few blocks away from our house. This year we’re looking forward to watching one of our friends play there, but in the past, we’ve watched many strangers play softball. With the night lights on, fans cheering in the stands, and kids running around on the grass – it’s fun and free entertainment. And if softball’s not your thing, there are almost always tennis matches, ultimate Frisbee games, and Frisbee golf tournaments going on in that same park. I’d guess a park near you offers similar free entertainment opportunities.
5. Turn a walk into a scavenger hunt
When motivated to get somewhere, I can’t believe how far Ezra can walk. When he’s tired, on the other hand, a few blocks can feel like an ultra-marathon. That’s when we hunt for things. Looking for cats, snails, things that start with the letter A, certain kinds of flowers, purple things, etc. can make a walk far more entertaining and help the blocks pass more quickly. Plus, I’m almost always amazed by the things Ezra notices that I never would.
I’d love to hear your ideas (especially for entertaining girls, since I’m not as experienced in that area).
Happy May Day
Posted by Abby Quillen in Family life, Nature, Simple Living on April 30, 2011
When I was a kid, every May 1, I accompanied a friend’s family in their festivities. We made homemade baskets, filled them with flowers, hung them on neighbors doorknobs, and ran away. Since it wasn’t my family’s tradition, I never understood why or what we were celebrating.
It turns out that May Day was traditionally a pagan holiday practiced throughout Europe in honor of the end of the dormant winter months. Festivities varied from country to country, but dancing around a Maypole with ribbons or streamers has been a common activity in modern times.
May Day is a simple, fun, and earth-friendly way to celebrate the beginning of spring and share some of your blooms, plants, seeds, or handicrafts with your neighbors. Want some inspiration for homemade baskets? Check out these resources:
- 10 May Day Baskets Made of Recycled Materials - Mother Earth News
- Celebrating May Day! – Mother Nature Network
- The Recycling Bin: May Day Baskets - The Goods
- Celebrating May Day With Crafts – About.com
- Happy May Day – Kleas

Car-Free is Carefree
Posted by Abby Quillen in Family life, Simple Living on January 10, 2011
Sometimes I miss the family car, especially when my friends seem to so effortlessly come and go, while my husband and I are plotting out our trips, negotiating whether we can fit all of our groceries in our bike trailer, and opting to stay home at times rather than trek across town after dark in the rain. But recently I came across a few more reasons to celebrate the car-free life.
We started 2011 with the highest gas prices ever in January, averaging $3.01 a gallon. In December, John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil predicted that gas will reach $5.00 a gallon within two years. More conservative forecasters predict that it will top out at $3.50 to $3.75 sometime this summer.
Of course, being car-free doesn’t make us entirely immune to high gasoline prices, since they trickle down into the cost of everything that’s transported. But it sure is nice not to have to pay for it at the pump.
And if high gas prices aren’t enough to make people want to park the car these days, accidents may make more think twice.
On December 9, NPR reported that five children a day die in car crashes. They are the leading cause of death for children, topping home accidents, illness, and poisoning. “I think it happens so frequently and with such regularity that we’ve lost focus on how important it is. And I think that we’re so reliant on cars to get us from Point A to Point B that we’ve sort of accepted it as the price of doing business. ” Ben Hoffman, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, told NPR.
NPR focused on the National Transportation Safety Board’s new recommendation that children ride in rear-facing car seats until they are two, citing that toddlers are five times safer facing backward than forward.
Or, of course, you could also just stay out of the car altogether.
Living car-free doesn’t make us immune to accidents either. We are fortunate to have an extensive network of off-street bike paths in Eugene, but it’s impossible to avoid riding our bikes on the streets altogether. And as much as I love walking, I’m all too aware that it can be risky. I know two pedestrians who were hit by cars – one fatally while walking down the sidewalk and another who was hit while crossing with the light at an intersection. But I do feel a little safer avoiding the highways. And the more people who choose to travel on bikes, on foot, or on public transportation the safer we’ll all be.
So at this moment, the car-free life really does feel like a carefree option.
A Year of Meditation
Posted by Abby Quillen in Simple Living on January 5, 2011
You will be far more productive in the ensuing hours if you begin the day by spending five minutes actively engaged in doing nothing at all. – Karen Maezen Miller
Last year at this time, I resolved to do something that seemed radical at the time – nothing. I made a commitment to sit for 15 minutes every day and meditate. Why? We’ve all heard that meditation can change our lives. Sometimes the claims read like an infomercial. It’s supposed to prevent and cure everything from anxiety to heart disease. And MRI scans show that in the long-term, meditation can even change the way the brain functions.
But I was looking for something less dramatic. I felt unfocused and impatient. I was spending too much time multitasking and surfing the Internet. I was restless.
I’m happy to report that during 2010, I sat down nearly every day and did nothing for 15 minutes.
There are lots of ways to meditate. I simply sit, close my eyes, and pay attention to my breath. Thoughts and emotions invariably come and go, and I try to simply take note of them and return my attention to my breath. Sounds simple, right? Sometimes it is. Other times, it’s not.
Has meditation revolutionized my life? It’s hard to say. I feel more focused, relaxed, and at ease at the start of 2011 than 2010. But there’s nothing dramatic about meditating. It is what it is – resting, paying attention, simply being. In other words, it’s not something you can easily measure or quantify – at least without an MRI machine.
That said, it’s a practice I’ll be continuing it into 2011. It gives me a chance to rest, and I find that I take those moments of sitting into my days. When I’m feeling impatient or angry, I’m more apt to recognize those emotions as fleeting and to breathe.
Did you stick with your New Year’s Resolution for 2010? Did you make a resolution for 2011?
Simple-Living Boot Camp
Posted by Abby Quillen in Parenting, Simple Living on December 13, 2010
We’re all familiar with the learning curve – that slow, hiccuping start we get off to when we tackle a new task. The period where we suck at something, which is the necessary preamble to the period where we kick ass at something.
I’ve watched my two-year-old son wobble, fall, and falter hundreds of times already. So I’m sure I’ve been through the learning curve more than a million.
But, for some reason, I didn’t expect a learning curve when it came to simplifying our lives
About a year and a half ago, my husband and I both worked outside the home. We had opposite work schedules, so we never saw each other. We were both working constantly, either at our jobs, or at home caring for our infant son and trying to tame mountains of laundry, dishes, and bills.
By the time our son was one, we were crazy about him. But we were exhausted and miserable about our lifestyles. We knew we had to make a change.
We decided the answer was simple – simple living that is. We would choose to live on less, allowing me to quit my job and be with our son, as well as focusing on my dream job of freelance writing. We’d make bread. We’d garden and compost. We’d ditch processed foods and restaurants and cook everything from scratch. We’d keep backyard hens. We’d make stuff ourselves and heat our house with wood. We’d hang our clothes on the line. We’d ride our bikes and walk more and drive less.
It’s not as though we lived extravagantly before. My husband and I have both always lived fairly simply. I was raised by thrifty freelance-writer parents. I’ve ridden my bike and walked most places for my entire life. I’ve never been into diamonds or spending weekends at the mall. Shopping has always been low on my list of favorite pastimes. And I’ve long been a fan of the voluntary simplicity movement.
So I assumed we’d love our simpler lifestyle. I imagined it would be relatively easy to pare down.
It wasn’t easy.
Recently, a few things made me realize how difficult it was.
- We went out with friends to a restaurant we used to frequent. (We used to eat out a lot.) The food didn’t taste good. Then the same thing happened at another restaurant. That’s when I realized what had really happened. The food we make at home now tastes really good. We learned how to cook.
- I started looking forward to heading outside on cool mornings to swing the axe around and realized that I’ve become a master wood-splitter.
- I have not used a recipe to make bread in eight months.
- My friend asked me if I missed our car, and I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about at first. Miss our car? Oh, that’s right, we’re not driving our car. I hardly even think about our car, and I usually don’t miss it, at least 95 percent of the time.
The relative ease of cooking from scratch, making bread, chopping wood, and living sans automobile today made me realize that these and so many of our other lifestyle changes were once pretty difficult.
The first few times I made bread felt like conducting a chemistry experiment. And I’m glad you’ll never see my first attempts at chopping wood or taste some of our not-so-delicious attempts at main courses. When my husband first started riding his bike to work, he came home exhausted most days. And I think he probably said, “The simple life isn’t so simple.” at least 50 times last year.
It feels like we’ve been through simple-living boot camp.
We still have a lot to learn. But we’ve gotten physically stronger and more resilient and we’ve honed dozens of skills that serve us well everyday, make us feel better about our environmental impact, and which I hope will help us be more financially secure in the future. As my friend, who’s been on her own journey toward a simpler, greener, thriftier life, quipped the other day, “If I’d lived like this for the last ten years, I’d have $50,000 in the bank right now.”
So if you’re thinking about paring down, trying to save more money, learning to cook or meal-plan, giving up TV, ditching plastic, switching to green cleaners, making your own personal care items, or embarking on some other lifestyle change, I am here to tell you that it may not be easy at first. You will probably have to learn each new skill, just as you’ve learned everything else in your life – slowly and day-by-day.
But you will kick ass at it before you know it.
What new skills have you learned this year? What’s the most difficult lifestyle change you’ve made? What’s the most rewarding?










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