Remembering the Scents of Fall Keeps Me Cool

August 26, 2007

I started teaching again this week and took my son back-to-school shopping.

These are two signs in my family that fall is arriving. However, it's hard to think fall when summer days are broiling, and our windows are closed to keep air conditioning inside.

It wasn't until I decided to change the aroma of my air-conditioned home that the scent of fall came to me. I went to buy a candle, and I took the lid off one called apple pie. Cinnamon, apples and sugar wafted up my nose, and Thanksgiving was in the air. Ninety-eight degrees were eradicated in one sniff.

It didn't stop there. I thought about raking leaves and the dank, earthy smell of leaf piles. Next, carving pumpkins and scooping out their pungent orange innards floated across my nostrils.

Then the taste of spicy salsa and guacamole to go with chips at a Panthers football party made my mouth water, and I wondered where my long-sleeved Panthers shirt has been hiding since last fall.

I made my way to the check-out counter with my apple pie candle and was asked twice to pay. I was stuck on the odor of the vanilla I put in the icing recipe for sugar cookies at Christmas time.

Bill paid, candle dangling at my side in a plastic bag, I made my way out of the mall. I looked through the glass exit doors and was shocked to see no snow. At that thought, the fragrance of hot chocolate came out of nowhere, and I turned to see who was drinking it. I suddenly realized it was August, and no one was fool enough to drink anything hot.

When I opened the door to leave the mall, I remained strong. I tried to ignore the blistering air by thinking about cool apple cider. I pulled the candle from my bag and took off the lid for a long sniff of apple pie. I walked swiftly to my car and turned on the air conditioner, strengthened by the scent of fall and knowing that summer would be over soon.

Once the air in the car cooled to the point that I could breathe and think clearly, I considered how powerful smells are. Our memories are a strong factor in what makes us who we are. Smells are some of our most influential memory sources.

As a trace of burning leaves and November campfires came to my mind, I realized how much the fragrance of fall had imprinted on me. I knew it was close to time to put away my shorts and pull out my corduroys, and I couldn't wait to get home and light up my apple pie candle.

Thank goodness for the scent of fall.

Through Blood, Sweat, Tears... and Cheers

At 54, I've reclaimed my body, and I'm now training for a triathlon

August 19, 2007

A bottle of Berry Propel Fitness Water is on the desk next to me. I have just completed a 19-mile bike ride followed by a three-mile run. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes, but I did it.

Thank goodness for my iPod. If I had to hear my labored huffing and puffing, I'd stop after several minutes.

At 54, I'm not horrendously out of shape. However, up until 2 1/2 months ago, I never entertained the idea of running any kind of distance. I guess I hoped I could run out of a burning house to push someone out of harm's way, but I never thought to put on a pair of running shoes, decide on a distance, and try to run it.

Although I participated in sports as a kid and have had my fair share of going back to the gym after holiday indulgences, I've never been one of those people who really enjoy working out. The blood, sweat and tears of it all never appealed to me. As soon as physical exertion became that -- exertion -- I stopped. I didn't have an internal challenge button when my muscles began to burn.

I had no idea that this summer was about to change my relationship to physical activity.

First of all, I moved into a teaching position, so I have the summer off. I have free time. Second, my two college-age daughters are doing jobs and internships out of Charlotte, and my son has spent most of his summer away at basketball tournaments and camps.

Those two events alone might have moved me into a semi-midlife predicament, but then I met a personal fitness trainer while volunteering.

Fitness trainer Emily Knudson (Empowered Personal Fitness) needed a kayak for a triathlon for which she was training. I had a kayak collecting dust in the basement, testament to my inactive life. In exchange for using the kayak, Emily offered to give me personal fitness sessions. Since I thought that only movie stars and famous singers were fortunate enough to have trainers, I knew I had won the lottery.

I had also won the right to sweat and burn in places that I didn't know existed on my body. Working out with Emily was a rude awakening to how out of shape I had become. It was also the beginning of reclaiming my body and parts of myself I had forgotten over years of work and raising a family.

Emily started me out slowly, but relentlessly added minutes to my runs, and strength and repetition to my exercises. Most importantly, she encouraged me. When she said I could do a 5K run, she meant it and convinced me of it, too. I worked out four times a week, once with her and three times with the exercise plan she gave me.

I did my first 5K on June 30, at the YMCA. I ran the race with two of my son's friends. Needless to say, they had to wait for me at the finish line. But I was happy to finish and didn't come in last. I not only enjoyed the race but found new energy and pride in the achievement, and I fit back into clothes that were ready to take to Goodwill.

It wasn't long after I met Emily that I heard the University City YMCA was hosting an eight-week triathlon class. In all honesty, I had no intention of doing a triathlon in my lifetime. I could barely say the word, much less spell it.

I figured triathlons were for the hard-core and crazy fitness buffs who weren't remotely like me, but I had gotten used to encouragement from a trainer, and when the training exchange ended, I wanted to continue with others. I knew that left on my own, I would stop exercising.

I joined the class and attended the first six weeks of the twice-weekly instruction and workout class. Six weeks later, I know I can finish the Lake Norman Sprint Triathlon (half-mile swim, 16.8-mile bike ride and 3.2 mile run) on Aug. 25. Through the encouragement of Pam Sardinia, a fitness trainer and teacher of the triathlon class at the YMCA, and the rest of the class, I'm continuing to enjoy physical activity.

I know that my life is changing. My children will be gone soon, and if I continue to teach, my summers will be free. That gives me a good deal of time for myself, and I am glad that I have included physical activity as part of how I use it.

I feel great, and I know that my children and my husband are very proud of me. I have a new group of friends at the YMCA and do not wonder how to spend time when more of it is mine.

There will always be blood, sweat, and tears with any new steps, but the rewards from them are great.

Best Part Of Back Porch Is Viewing The Visitors

July 30, 2007

When we moved to Charlotte four years ago, we debated whether to live in the heart of the city or in the country.

We were thrilled to find the best of both worlds: We live in the University City area and jump on Interstate 85 to theaters, restaurants and sport events in 15 to 20 minutes, and still feel we live in the country because there are trees and wildlife.

We picked a home in the older section of Highland Creek, in large measure for the screened porch in the back of the house. Sitting on the porch feels like sitting in a tree house.

It didn't take us long to lure the birds singing in the trees closer to our home. We hung three birdfeeders and one suet feeder off the back of the house, in front of floor-to-ceiling windows. We hung a hummingbird feeder on the side of the screened porch.

Now we live in an aviary.

After researching what kinds of birds populate North Carolina, we bought black sunflower seed and thistle to feed the local birds. American goldfinches, house finches, purple finches, evening grosbeaks, pine siskins and song sparrows like thistle. Northern cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmouses, Carolina chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches like black sunflower seeds.

We feed a large number of Carolina wrens and a variety of woodpeckers with suet: hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers and red-headed woodpeckers.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds like the hummingbird feeder. (Boil 1 cup of water and stir in 1⁄2 cup of sugar to make hummingbird nectar.)

Once our family got involved in feeding birds, I set out to learn more about them. I bought the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds Eastern Region and placed it on the coffee table, close to the bird feeders.

I researched them online and found out about the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Every year people all over the world count birds anywhere over a four-day period, counting birds of each species seen together at any one time. They submit a checklist online to the Great Backyard Bird Count site.

I took a cup of coffee and the newspaper to the family room on a Saturday and Sunday morning last spring and counted birds. Over two days, 17 species came to our feeders.

As of March 5, participants had submitted 80,744 checklists documenting 11,066,350 birds of 629 species, according to the Great Backyard Bird Count site.

The next thing I did was read about N.C. plants that attract birds and butterflies. I went to the UNC Charlotte Botanical Garden plant sale last October. Larry Mellichamp, the garden director, guided me to buy native plants such as honeysuckle, coneflowers, bee balm and butterfly bush to keep the birds and butterflies happy.

I also urged everyone in the family to pay attention to the feeders. This spring, my husband asked me what kind of bird was eating sunflower seed. I looked at the feeder and saw a bird with brilliant black, white and red on its chest.

I flipped through the Field Guide and found that it was a rose-breasted grosbeak. He was migrating and stayed in our backyard for three days.

It felt as though we had provided a short bed and breakfast stay for him, and I hope he'll find his way back to the inn on his way home.

Era Of Entrepreneur Is Here

July 22, 2007

I grew up in a family whose members worked for people other than for themselves.

Jobs, careers and monthly salaries came from corporations or institutions. No one in my family tree started a business -- small or large.

I was the kid who helped with lemonade and cookie stands in the neighborhood; it was not my idea to start them. Surprise and awe, therefore, were my reaction when I started dating my now husband, visiting him at the fine woodworking shop he owned, eating at his brother's restaurant, and listening to the tales from my brother-in-law's consulting jobs as a fire inspector.

My children grew up in a dual universe -- around people who worked for themselves and those who worked for others.

My eldest daughter babysat for years, saved her money, and bought a seemingly suspect -- yet affordable -- thoroughbred when she was 16 years old. She broke him to ride, trained him in dressage and jumping, and showed him in eventing. When she went to college, she sold him for eight times the amount for which she bought him.

Again, surprise and awe were my reaction. In my 54 years on Earth, I had never done such a thing; she accomplished this by age 21.

My son started buying candy in bulk at BJs when he was in middle school and sold it for profit in the neighborhood. Every Sunday night, we drove to BJs for the weekly stash. He made flyers and learned how to change his prices when competitors undercut his. His bank account grew, and he bought different items such as T-shirts and other gear, turning better and better profits.

He learned how to advertise to his friends via the Internet, set up and track matters on a spreadsheet, and manage a bank account.

I am glad that my children grew up knowing they have choices for their professional lives and can take their own ideas and turn them into realities. This is the lay of the job land now -- flexibility, ingenuity, and change -- and seeing a variety of career paths is important for children as they grow up.

I have learned a good deal from my husband and children about entrepreneurship.

A writer my entire life, I'm beginning to reap small economic rewards for the words I put on paper. Who knows -- next tax season, I might need a tax accountant to file the fees I collect from a variety of my entrepreneurial jobs. Then again, I could just ask my husband, daughter, or son.

I’ve Learned How to Beat, Embrace Heat

June 24, 2007

I grew up in upstate New York and have lived in the Northeast most of my life. Three summers ago, my family and I moved to Charlotte in July. 

I thought I had landed into a drought or heat wave of Biblical proportions. I figured it would pass quickly; I was wrong. Summers in Charlotte take a lot of getting used to for Northerners, along with a good deal of living in air conditioning and planning cool escapes. 

There are ways to beat Charlotte’s heat. One easy way is to get out of it. It is only 1 ½ hours to the mountains, and the air is cool there.  We spend at least one weekend a summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in order to enjoy the cool evenings and lack of humidity. 

Another type of heat escape is to embrace it fully and go to the beach. Again, Charlotte’s location is wonderful for beach trips, just 3 ½ hours away. 

Another way our family survives the summer is by spending time at our neighborhood pool. I love to swim laps, and my son loves to splash and hang out with his friends. My husband is not a pool guy, but he loves the quiet and cool of the house when the rest of the family makes its noise elsewhere. 

There’s also iced lattes at Dilworth Coffee (Prosperity Church Road) and Caribou Coffee( Mallard Creek Road). There I indulge in iced, carmel, coffee wonders. A trip or four or five to Cold Stone Creamery (Mallard Creek Road) is another reward for surviving a hot, Charlotte day.

As for avoiding a large water bill while trying to keep the summer garden looking presentable, there is another University City treasure that does the trick. Buying native North Carolina perennials at the University of North Carolina Botanical Garden sale in October or March, I’ve converted my plants into ones that can sustain the blistering sun of Charlotte. 

During my first Charlotte summer, I went to the local garden stand and bought plants to spruce up my garden. Little did I know that the pretty colored bloomers were water-guzzling maniacs. I learned my lesson; after one or two years of good watering, native plants stand the heat on their own. This allows me to stand my water bill.

There are many free concerts, movies, library visits, and other events that can take one’s mind off of the summer heat. They are typically listed in the Entertainment section of the Charlotte Observer and events in University City are posted in this section of the paper. 

When you start to feel as though your skin is boiled and no amount of air conditioning is going to lower the heat of your blood, you know you’ve experienced a summer day in Charlotte. If you have any additional cool ideas, please send them to me. Together we’ll survive the heat of a Southern summer. 

Teens, Summer and Rites of Passage

June 10, 2007

High School is winding down, and those of us with teenagers in our homes are excited about not waking up in the dark but anxious about teens with too much time on their hands. 

Summer for teens is a land full of milestones—small and large, good and bad—for both teens and their parents. My next-door neighbor told me that her pre-teen son was not signing up for the library reading program this year. The look of sorrow on her face reminded me how I felt when my kids no longer wanted to enroll in arts and crafts camps. 

This rite of pre-teen passage moves them into the middle zone of teen summers when they’re too old to attend camps and too young to get jobs in them. That’s when we cajole them into taking a course or two in science or writing and get them to volunteer at nursing homes or community centers.  We’re lucky if we have a pool nearby, and we have flextime to check in on them and make certain they’re not getting into trouble. 

If your teen is an athlete, teenage summers are a time to get ready to open the wallet. Teens in a variety of sports travel to tournaments and team camps, and the teens usually don’t have jobs that are lucrative enough to help pay the expense. 

Even if they could get good jobs, the practice and game time limits the number of hours they can work. It is exciting for the teenagers, and we love watching our teens’ games. However, when did we all stop going to the corner lot to have local tournaments? 

Another summer milestone for teenagers is finding a job. My oldest daughter was a good babysitter, and she has made that skill into lucrative employment for the past six years. Babysitting is a good starter job because it is flexible, and teens can be young when they begin. 

The next level of job is usually a lifeguard, camp counselor, grocery store or fast food employee. Following that, teens can work at malls. My seventeen year old awaits hearing from employers at a variety of stores. Ten applications are in to date, and no word has been received. These jobs are likely given to eighteen year olds and above. 

This is another teenage summer passage—it is not always easy to find a job. It is not fun to be penniless in the summer when there is free time to hang with the gang. This is one of those teen milestones that is a lesson learned for the teen and a “that’s life’s reality” comment from parents. 

Although we aren’t in the thick of it this summer, we have spent previous summers helping our teenagers get drivers’ licenses. This is a tougher rite of passage for parents than teenagers because we worry about our children on the road, and we know that this is the end of an era of shared car time. 

As much as I complained about being a “soccer mom,” I certainly miss the conversations I had with my kids on the way to practices, events, and meetings. Last night my son and I went out to dinner, just to catch up in the midst of busy lives. 

Summer milestones for teenagers bring new freedoms, joys, and responsibilities for both teens and parents. For every event that takes place, something is replaced. 

As a good friend of mine once said, for every letting go, there is a grieving for something lost—even if that something lost is wonderful. The wonderful rites of summer passage for teenagers are memorable and, as with everything in life, inevitable.  

Saving Money and Energy, Isn’t Difficult

May 30, 2007

This past month, our family’s University City’s electricity bill came in the mail with a $95 credit. In today’s standard energy bill increase, this was a welcome surprise. The reason for the credit is directly linked to two of the three major energy improvements our family made this year.

First, we replaced all of our traditional light bulbs (incandescent lamps) with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs or CFLs. CFLS fit into the same place as incandescent lamps, but they use less energy. Although they cost more on initial purchase, they last longer, and recoup their cost in energy reduction. These reductions are good for our family’s pocket book and the planet’s health. 

According to Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy: 

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.  HYPERLINK "http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls" http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

The second energy money saver that took place in our home this year was installing a Whole House Fan. This project was more costly and labor intensive than twisting out light bulbs. The Whole House Fan was installed through the attic, and it cost $700. The United States Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) discusses how the fan works, “It draws cool outdoor air inside through open windows and exhausting hot room air through the attic to the outside. The result is excellent ventilation, lower indoor temperatures, and improved evaporative cooling.”  HYPERLINK "http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html" http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html 

We love using the Whole House Fan because we’re not trapped, closed up inside, with all our windows closed. We turn the fan on as the evening cools and a gentle, cool air flows across the house. Even though we have a 2,500 square foot home, we only have one heating/cooling zone. The Whole House Fan has helped cool down the upstairs because it gets rid of the hot air trapped at the top of the house. If a family elects to use a Whole House Fan as a supplement to air-conditioning, it will still help with saving both energy and the environment.

As with the Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, savings with the Whole House Fan are seen over the long run. The Department of Engergy’s Office of EERE analyzes the savings:

 

Operating a properly sized 2-ton, 10 SEER air conditioner in Atlanta, Georgia costs over $250 per cooling season (1250 hours), based on 8.5¢/kwh, or roughly 20¢ per hour of runtime. A large 18,000 Btu/hr window unit air conditioner with a 6 EER costs more than 25¢ to operate for one hour.

By contrast, the whole house fan has a motor in the 1/4 to 1/2 hp range, uses between 120 to 600 watts, and costs around 1¢-5¢ per hour of use. http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/wholehousefan.html

The last energy savings we have improved is our recycling. We built a platform for the recycle bins outside our garage door, next to the kitchen. In addition, we put our garbage can in the basement, challenging ourselves to one or maybe two bags of trash per week. We usually come in with one bag, and that’s with feeding and entertaining a large group of teenage boys every week. All of the teenagers know where to recycle their waste and participate in our quest to put little into Charlotte landfills. We are saving tax dollars by being good citizens of recycling. 

Our family has been inconvenienced little by our small attempts to save money and the environment. All of us in University City should plan how to put money back into our pockets while saving the planet.