Don't Rake Leaves!

Give yourself a break this year and don't rake your leaves! Leaf raking is an aesthetic choice that has evolved with the development of suburban lifestyles and the habit of growing carpet-green lawns.

But leaf raking is not necessary! In fact, it is downright harmful to the environment. There is no reason to rake leaves unless you are collecting them to use in a compost pile or as mulch underneath trees and shrubs or around perennials.

Instead, run over leaves with a lawn mower every five days or so. Leaf litter will not smother the grass. Microbes will decay the litter and treat your lawn to a feast of nutrients.

Pile up the leaves and jump in them with the kids. Afterwards, pile them up again and add twigs and branches to hold them in place. The leaf pile will provide food and cover for birds and all sorts of insects, reptiles, and small mammals. Enjoy looking for toads and watching rabbits. Develop your backyard as a habitat. The National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat program can guide you.

www.saraelewis.com

Today's Sermon

The topic of today's sermon at the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists church: "Is This All There Is?"

A loaded question, of course, and one that is seldom asked until life presents us with a crisis. I found the WUU church about 15 years ago ... after a crisis. I return time and again to center myself on this very question and to focus on being "at one" with the world.

Like 90% of Unitarian Universalists, I jumped ship from a mainstream church because I wasn't comfortable with pat solutions and a promise of afterlife. While services, prayers, and songs made me tingle, the mainstream church usually left me cold. Answers were easy to accept in the short term, but they didn't really address my yearning to explore, learn, and grow. Magical thinking didn't do it for me because is rooted in one historical story, embellished over time for largely political reasons, and humanity's story is a very recent one at that.

I found what I needed in the Unitarian Universalists church and I was reminded of this today. The minister discussed the fact that Unitarian Universalism isn't a church that believes in everything and nothing, as it is often portrayed. Rather, the UU church attracts those who are drawn to depth and a spirit-centered life. The UU church supports people in their exploration of the great questions of life. It supports people who have discerned that materialism is not the answer and that, after all, life is short. It supports people who value thoughtful spirituality.

The UU church supports people who value wholeness. Wholeness is spiritual and to get there we have to move beyond the material realm. The UU church is a place UUs support on Sundays and other days, as we are willing and able, because it helps us discover the fleeting beauty and awesome depth of life in a complex world. The church helps us focus on the fact that we feel whole when we simplify. We prefer a short, deep, thoughtful, and whole existence to a "long life of half-baked hapiness" where material things and magical thinking distract us from what it means to be human.

www.saraelewis.com

New Quarter Park Habitats

We're having an all-day Walk and Talk program at New Quarter Park on November 1. Here's the press release:

All-day Walk and Talk on Habitats at New Quarter Park

September 26, 2008 – A daylong “Habitat Happening” will be held at New Quarter Park, a York County park near Williamsburg, Virginia, on Saturday, November 1, in lieu of the park’s usual 2-hour Walk and Talk. Participants will explore the plants and animals that live in the upland forest, ridges and bottoms, meadows, and wetland habitats at the park with local experts.

The program, coordinated by the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, will begin at 9:00 a.m. with registration. At 9:30 a.m. participants will explore plants and their habitats with Dr. Donna Ware, retired herbarium curator with the Department of Biology at William and Mary, and Jim Orband, horticulture and natural resources agent, County of York. The brown bag lunch speaker will be Dr. Randy Chambers, director of the Keck Environmental Laboratory at William and Mary, who will talk about recent research on turtles. In the afternoon, Dave Graft, Lafayette High School biology and oceanography teacher, will lead participants in the discovery of animals that live in the wetlands and open water habitats surrounding the park. The program will conclude at 3:30 p.m.

The fee for the event is $25 (checks payable to Treasurer, County of York) and participation is limited to 30 people, ages 16 through adult. Download a registration form from the November 1 calendar link at http://historicrivers.org/. Complete the form and mail it with your check to Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, P.O. Box 6424, Williamsburg, VA 23187. For more information, call Shirley Devan, Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists, at 757-813-1322. Participants should bring a brown bag lunch and dress to spend the day outdoors.

www.saraelewis.com

Cause Blogging

"It's not easy being green," croaked Kermit the Frog. This is one of my all-time favorite "quotes" and one that I paraphrase here: "It's not easy being a 1980s M.B.A.-turned-vegetarian-environmentalist."

Since leaving my traditional marketing career I've enjoyed freelance writing and consulting work that allows me to explore what it means to be a human being who is intricately tied to the web of life on planet earth. The more I look at the natural world, the more I am genuinely thrilled as I watch and learn about my living and non-living natural surroundings. Yes, that's me getting up close and personal with barnacles. A friend caught me (in the green shirt, of course) and other Virginia Master Naturalists watching and listening to them on the dock at New Quarter Park as we watched them chow down on a meal of whatever good stuff happens to float by.

Since becoming a vegetarian environmentalist I've challenged myself by participating in the Volunteer Chesapeake Steward (VoiCeS) training program offered by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I am currently enrolled in the Historic Rivers Chapter, Virginia Master Naturalists program. I'm getting greener every day! And the good news is that more of us are becoming environmentally aware and doing something about it.

This blog as well as my Suite 101 posts allow me to "market" environmental events and ideas. As a marketing communicator, writing about and promoting the environmental cause is just ... natural.

www.saraelewis.com

Pro Walk/Pro Bike

I attended a great conference in Seattle, Washington, last week. See my Suite.101 postings for more information about Pro Walk/Pro Bike, the annual conference of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking.

My favorite workshop was a tour of the Interurban Trail in Shoreline, which made the formerly gray and impassable Aurora corridor into a walkable, bikeable, driveable community treasure. The slower pace, artful elements, and greenscaping make it more than just a way to get from Point A to Point B. Other workshops that presented information on partnering with public health to shift the emphasis from cars only to cars and bikes and pedestrians were valuable for planners and advocates.

www.saraelewis.com