Nice trees in Skagit Valley

Nice trees I noticed in Skagit Valley while bicycling by.

I joined the parade

Someone got my image as a few of us bicyclists had a place in the 2007 Ski To Sea Parade on Saturday. I'll do the parade, but I don't do races. The Sunday of Ski To Sea Race is a good day to stay home and avoid traffic, competition, hype; the rat race.

Bicycle helmet covers gray hair, if covering gray hair is desirable. Think of all the money people spend on hair coloring chemicals. One helmet can last several years and cost less than $40.

Smart Trips bicycles in Ski To Sea Parade 2007

After Bike To Work Day, it's bike in the parade. Smart Trips and/or Mount Baker Bicycle Club had a spot in the 2007 Ski To Sea Parade. I went along for the ride. Here are a few images. Click on images for larger versions.

Ellen's Smart Trips float.

The sign on my bike says, "25 miles to the carton of chocolate milk."

Solar power for a bike.

At the staging area.

Headed down the parade route.

To find out what Smart Trips is about, visit their web site.

Bicycling a ton of books

Think you have to own a car to move? Watch me bicycle tons of books. It's how libraries create new aisles and, as always, doing more with less.

Or you say it's a nonsensical video? It's only 46 seconds!

Innovation: a solution to global warming

Innovation in lifestyles and technology.

It may take both, but innovation in technology will definitely be necessary if people aren't innovative enough in lifestyles.

Our survival may be a contest between innovation and desperation.

Examples of lifestyle innovation:

Reduce population growth through increase in percentage of population living "child free" lifestyles. Growing acceptance for gay lifestyles is one example.

Reduce consumption. Voluntary simplicity, shorter workweek. Valuing more free time over buying power.

Alternative transportation. Less dependency on automobiles. More bicycling, walking and public transit.

More compact residential development. Planning that grows up instead of out. Smaller lot sizes, more people living in apartments and condominiums. More things with-in walking and biking distance. More density for greater viability of public transit. Hopefully urban lifestyles can be made affordable.

Planting forests.

Examples of technological innovation:

Use Internet to tele-commute rather than driving to work.

Alternative energy from wind, solar, dare I say nuclear power.

Sequestering carbon from fossil fuel such as burning coal for electricity, but capturing the CO2 so it doesn't go out the stack.

Seeding ocean plankton so it sequesters more carbon and sends that to the bottom of the ocean.

More efficient appliances such as the progression from vacuum tube to transistor to microchip.

Reflecting back some of the sun's rays before they reach Earth. Scattering dust into stratosphere. Orbiting a large set of Levolor Blinds in space between Earth and Sun. Remember, they must be Levolor.

To whom do we hand the rod for adjusting the mini blinds?

The UN? President Bush?

Some people might say, "this is really keeping the blinders on."

Still, I believe both lifestyle and technological innovation will be needed.

Be part of the solution and the celebration

Volunteers at one of several Bike To Work and School Day stations. Celebration stations. This one located at Railroad and Holly in downtown Bellingham.

Someone baked a cake. 2007 is the tenth anniversary of this festive event.

Meet lots of interesting folks as people get out of the isolation of their cars and bicycle more. Celebration stations cheer on the bike commuters as they pass. Some will stop for refreshments and conversation on the annual Bike To Work and School Day which was May 18 this year. It encourages people to do more biking throughout the year.

See a video of celebration station. Approx. 1 minute.

Banner at after party in courtyard of Boundary Bay Pub.

Gas Out Day Today

Refinery near Richmond, CA. seen from passing Greyhound Bus 1987 upon returning from my first west coast bicycle tour.

Gas Out Day May 15? Better to celebrate Bike To Work and School Day on May 18.

Gas Out Day tries to protest high oil prices by showing the power of consumers not buying gas on one day. Well, the consumer will just buy more the next day.

Are oil company profits high? I wouldn't be surprised.

They say there hasn't been a new refinery built in the USA for years. Oil companies will justify profits saying, "We need to build more refineries." "We need the capital." "Refineries are expensive!" "More refineries needed as growing demand and population warrant."

Then the "environmentalists" enter stage left. Refinery construction is blocked with "not in my backyard." It's run through a gantlet of regulations.

So, the money goes to lawyers.

Lawyers fighting regulations. Lawyers creating regulations.

No refinery gets built, but the executives of oil companies and law firms all give themselves fat raises anyway, for going through the hassle. It's human nature.

Some refineries have been upgraded recently, but new ones have not been built. Refinery capacity is one weak link in the gas supply chain. Then the Earth is limited as well. Population and demand keep growing.

Better to use alternative transportation. Also better to plan cities and lifestyles differently, so alternatives work.

People need to embrace change. Well, at least noted conservative Jerry Falwell died today. It's time to move on to new ways of thinking.

When the house owns you

In many regions, buying a house has gotten so expensive that it's time to turn around the terminology.

You don't own the house. The house owns you.

People that I know who have bought houses seem like they have fallen into black holes. They disappear from community activities for the most part. Having to work two jobs to pay the mortgage, all the repairs around the house, painting, yard work, gardening. The house owns you.

It's kind of like going back to the time of the native Americans when there was more of a tendency to feel like the land owned you, rather than you owning the land.

Now home ownership is bounded more by environmental regulations than before, burning bans, noxious weeds, noise ordinances, water issues, building permits, zoning, you name it. The world is getting more crowded and these things must come to pass. More pressure to be stewards of the land. Also renting isn't so bad after all.

Sign says wear your helmet

Along a popular road for bicycling, Lake Samish Fire District reminds folks to wear their helmets. Good idea. I've got mine.

Oops, the "I" has dropped in bike.

Also remember May is bicycle month with May 18 as Bike To Work and School Day. And, I say if you feel overwhelmed by "should dos" at work, bike away from work.

Now there is a Study that says taking vacation cuts the risk of heart attack. Article says vacation is more of an enjoyable "should do" than not eating potato chips.

Welding art at Bellingham Technical College

Amazing what can be found serendipitously when bicycling. Not that far from where I live. Looking through fish scales at the technical college. Sculptures all over so I took a few photos. Just caught the tip of the iceberg, but it's my favorite tip.

Decided to add some photos from that relaxing peddle in the afternoon to my Flicker account. See the rest of these images Here.

Don't Buy Gas Day

I have seen some posts that there's a don't buy gas "Gas Out Day" on May 15 to protest high gas prices. Guess what, May 18 is Bike To Work And School Day. Maybe the two days should merge.

Gas prices are bound to go up as demand grows faster than supply. At the same time, prices will go up and down. Sometimes the supply line loosens up a bit. The long term trend is up. As prices go up and down, people tend to blame big oil. They are always looking for a scapegoat.

Certainly oil companies do make a profit, but think about this. I know someone who sold her house in Seattle, back in 1976, for $18,000! Imagine, a house in Seattle for $18,000. Now Zillow.com lists that same house for around $900,000!

I guess gas is still a bargain compared to residential real estate prices.

As land and resources are limited, gas prices are bound to go up. I guess we could use nuclear power to generate hydrogen and then power cars off of the hydrogen. Still, the shortage of land makes it expensive to add lanes to the freeway for reducing traffic. Next we will need to use computers to space the cars so more cars can fit on the freeway.

Until technology solves all our problems, biking is good.

Even after technology solves our problems, biking is still good. Biking is fun.

The back of the immigration line

One way to reduce illegal immigration is to allow more legal immigration. The quota for legal entries to this country is a number that can stimulate discussion. It kind of reminds me of Bellingham's contentious "20 year growth estimate."

That's a number also.

Any value, set for that number sparks discussion. How much do we want Bellingham to grow? How should we plan the city if it does grow; density, parks, transit? Will future residents still be able have a big yard, or drive a car? What's desirable? Denser cities often mean each resident has a smaller footprint on the environment. Less apt to own a car for instance. People also talk about increasing cultural vitality.

Of course there are no absolute answers to these questions, but public discussion is interesting. Washington State Growth Management law requires cities to come up with projected growth estimates. Where that number is set always becomes a "political football." And that's just an estimate. Still, it creates very interesting discussion.

Another aspect of immigration reform is discussion of a "guest worker program." I hear, from listening to the radio a lot, that many people just want to work in USA temporarily and travel back and forth to their home country. In some cases, people might be trapped in this country by fear that they couldn't come back if they went to their home country for part of the year. A guest worker program could "ironically" mean more people going back to their country of origin for part of the year.

It's kind of like the college students in Bellingham. That segment of our population tends to just be here for part of the year.

Then there is the idea of building a fence on the border to cut down on illegal immigration. Could be effective, but not the most compassionate way to go. Also could lead to an economic barrier. In Bellingham, there are people who talk about building a wall across I-5 to keep out new residents.

The issue is basically about population growth and how to avoid it, or adjust to it.

Immigration May Day Rallies

To see most of my comments on immigration, go to my blog label for Population.

In my mind, the issues are very related. Basically USA has been a nation of immigrants for over 200 years, bringing diversity and energy to the land. At the same time it's getting more crowded since the world is getting more crowded.

Behind so many environmental issues are population issues. I just saw this real good Op Ed piece in the February 13 07 Baltimore Sun by a John Seager (mailed to me). It related population and environmental issues. Also had some great news that family planning works.

"Thirty years ago, for example, Mexican women had almost seven children each. Today, thanks to education and the availability of family planning, they have an average of 2.4 children."

On another note, KUOW radio did a split topic for "The Conversation" show this afternoon. Immigration reform and rising fares on Washington State ferries. "Immigration" related to rallies around the country including Seattle and here in Bellingham.

In most people's minds, the topics would be unrelated, but what makes the ferries so expensive?

Not enough room for all the cars.

Rising oil prices effect the big boats which are needed for all the cars. It's cheaper for walk-ons and bike-ons.

One can say, "There is more room for people if they don't insist on dragging a car around."

Too many people? It's even worse when it's too many cars.

Then the question comes up:

"What do you do when you get to the island?" With no car, it isn't very interesting around just the ferry dock. That's where the bicycle is a blessing.

The more urban San Juan Island with it's town called Friday Harbor offers choices for walking off the ferry, but how about Orcas Island? Maybe there's better public transit now. I haven't been to Orcas for a while, but I bring my bicycle and don't mind the hills.

Our whole nation is kind of like an island. For that matter, so is Planet Earth.

Image shows car deck on a British Columbia, Canada ferry I rode back in 1996. I was, of course, on my bicycle.