Author: kmarieclark

Travel

Sole e Luna in Roma

My Mom and husband, who couldn’t sleep after 23 hours of travel, started walking the streets near our B&B. They found their way to a nearby park and turned a corner to be surprised by the dominating face of the Colosseum. They took us back later, when the rest of us had woken up, to have dinner in the district with rainbow flags. Within view of the 2000 year-old monument Mom toasted her father –who had come back to Italy forty years earlier to trace his own roots back to Giulianova.

Roma, Day 2: At Sole e Luna we were served breakfast each morning in bed. I don’t know if there is anything better than being served Italian coffee on a platter first thing in the morning in Rome. The hotel courtyard below was full of potted plants, big ones, with new red blooms in the corners, and on window-sills. Rome was gearing up for the canonization of Pope John Paul II, or Ioannes Paulus II as they called him here, and Pope John XXIII, which would happen the weekend after we left the city.

Tags Italy to Find Family

Travel

Italia ~ Day by Day

Last year my family went to Italy in search of our relatives… and we found them. It’s now a year later and I’ve wanted to memorialize our trip day by day to remember how special the experience was for us. So, for the next few weeks each day I will present an image or two and a short synopsis of what we experienced.

The first day was a day of travel.

Half-asleep, we meandered outside to find the bus between the airport and historic city center. Men along the curb side pick-up were smoking, and speaking with all of the extra inflections one would expect, stereotypically. When our bus arrived the Italians crowded the drive and we shoved along and into the mess because we wanted to get on –which we did. Into the ancient walled city, the crumbling brick facades, old plaster colors fading into the street.

Welcome to Italy, where lunch portions are digestible, the restrooms are inaccessible to anyone impaired, always downstairs behind some small doors, and you listen in on a language spoken like a romantic Latin song.

Our hotel, Sole e Luna, was through a small door, easily missed as the marker was a note beside a doorbell. Up four and a half flights of steps or from within the elevator cut into the stair, we found our rooms and opened the shutters.

Welcome to Roma.

Tags Italy to Find Family

Environmental

Ecological Literacy – David Orr

Post author By kmarieclark
Post date April 18, 2015
No Comments on Ecological Literacy – David Orr

Ecological Literacy: Education and the Transition to a Postmodern World

Growth is a renewed sense of being reverberates in my mind. David Orr states ‘hidden beneath the rhetoric [of sustainability] are assumptions about growth, technology, democracy, public participation and human values.’ Orr answers the call of awareness with two attractive solutions I will discuss; mimicking nature and decentralized systems. I’d like to evaluate these ideas in respect to an architectural firm.

Entropy: lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

What firm model develops a business plan to do the right thing for the environment? Must I develop my own projects to progress toward sustainably? Or, take action in educating the public? If I took Orr’s language of the ‘energy efficiency, closed loops, redundancy, and decentralized character of ecosystems allow them to swim upstream against the force of entropy’ to mean stability and current ‘industrial systems, on the contrary, assume linearity, perpetual growth and progress which increase entropy and decrease stability’ as a critique of my own firm how would I change the model? What’s closed loop in a firm, perhaps the hierarchy of principal to project manager to staff back to principal? Redundancy in the type of projects acquired and decentralization of work in team membership? The structure of a team is that they do not cross into the opposing circle. You’re trying to win, or rather, trying to have a project on budget, sustainable, and constructible for clients with the same group of people. What would nature do to be self-organizing? How would nature develop priorities? The Biomimicry Institute has a site, asknature.org, where these questions may also be addressed.

Would this model of an architectural firm eventually spiral-off to become self-sufficient? (Decentralized systems by Leopold Kahn and Schumacher) Perhaps. Beyond the structure of a firm is the work which is produced. Our practices can rely more on using recycled and local materials, labor, respecting existing places, and renovating when possible. This is an example of ‘unlimited growth in a finite system.’

Architects should be leading others outside of our institution to practice more sustainably and beginning with our clientele is the most obvious opportunity. We architects must educate others that the power of a city is in maintaining what exists. Market research must show a need for the refurbished center, a smarter center patterned like nature. Architects have the opportunity, if not the responsiblity to be a part of this evolution.

~ Photo from In the Garden with Mariani Landscape ~

Architecture

Work / Life Balance

~ Juice Plus . Com Image

In the equation of a work / life balance, works seems to weigh heavy on the week. I am discovering ways to evaluate parts of work that can contribute to a positive work / life balance. It seems to be the topic of the week as all of a sudden a few different sources have come my way without my direct request of them.

Consider the seven ways to apportion your day as compared to Dr. Dan’s suggested plan -comparing a workday to a weekend day. Below is my ideal work vs. weekend day. Consider this for yourself. How would you divide each type of day to accommodate the seven times a day?

Sleep is easy as long as you allow the time for it. Doing the same thing at the same time every day is good for developing natural circadian rhythms for your mind and body. In evaluating my chart I notice that I fill my work days with timelier demands. I also allow more time for focusing during the week, with zone-out time and chores taking the place of it for the afternoon on weekends. I lack time with those that I love early on workday mornings. On the weekends I don’t feel the ‘In’ need to reconnect to myself after focus time which probably means I expect the workday to have distractions. Which is true. I feel the need to allow myself to respect those trying to get a hold of me. Try to get a hold of me on a weekend and I wish you luck. 🙂

In my current occupation of self-evaluation by night, I’ve also enjoyed this recent article by Arch Daily about 21 ways an architect can work more efficiently. I personally love number 7!

Tags architect's work

Uncategorized

Practicing what you Believe

Post author By kmarieclark
Post date April 11, 2015
2 Comments on Practicing what you Believe

A practice that I have started in my work life, that I’ve always enjoyed in my personal life, is list making.

During Deepak’s meditation this past spring he suggested establishing measurable goals. A friend I work with suggested taking an active role in deciding how to spend the workday by taking a moment to write a list of priorities each morning. By writing this list I recognize what I need to focus on, and evaluate what I feel I can reasonably do in a day.

By not letting the long, ideal list of things to do at work be the only measure in what is being accomplished, I feel I am in control of what I can finish. This recently introduced practice has allowed me to feel very productive. I have the ability to give time to specific tasks with appropriate expectations. When I come to work I list three things that I want to focus on. Typically these items take me into the afternoon with the expected distractions of a workday. However, at the end of the day even if I have not crossed everything off, I feel rewarded for finishing some of what I set out to do.

Deepak’s meditation discusses the importance of realizing what you want to give attention to. Incorporating this practice in my work space has allowed me to feel settled when it is time to enjoy other areas of my life. Beyond my husband, health, and keeping up with house chores, I really want to spend time writing. When I get too busy this priority and enjoyment is set aside. If I allow myself to focus my energy on what I believe to be most important first, I feel rejuvenated for the rest of the day, having felt I have taken care of my creative efforts first. By allowing the proper time (and practicing time efficiency) for everything in the day I need to, I feel like a whole person, a well-rounded person, taking full advantage of this beautiful life.

About Me

A Healthy Lifestyle

Deepak and Oprah offered a 21-day meditation experience this spring. One day Deepak introduced 7 ways to apportion the day, as studied by Dr. Dan Siegel at UCLA. The healthy mind platter involves spending time in the following ways: Sleep time, Physical time, Focus time: time alone to concentrate and be, Time In: reflection or prayer, Time Out or rest, Playtime: fun in a carefree mood, and Connecting time: private time with those you love.

Times in my life where I’ve listened to my body and natural rhythms have been during travel or in unconstrained work without distractions. I think the key is being focused on whatever it is you are doing. Seven things to divide a day seem like a lot to handle working a 40-hour week in an office environment, but I’m going to explore the challenge.

Environmental

Voluntary Simplicity ~ Enjoy where you are

Post author By kmarieclark
Post date April 7, 2015
No Comments on Voluntary Simplicity ~ Enjoy where you are

Stay Close.

The ‘make the most of where you are movement’ is intriguing. What would I do if I allowed myself only to do things within a certain radius of home? What about a 15-mile radius for two months, a 40-mile radius for three more months, a 75-mile radius for four and a 200-mile radius for the remaining three months? The idea is that I would be limiting the resources I use in travel.

What could I do in 15 miles? I can run and race, hike in the Coopers Rock state forest, cross-country ski, bike the rail trail, kayak the Monongahela, attend concerts, movies and lectures. Poetry events exist often. I can go to art galleries, libraries, eat at fifty plus restaurants, have friends over, go to work, roller and ice skate, play on recreational sports teams, take classes and participate in workshops. Expanding to a 40-mile radius allows me more opportunities to eat, recreate and take class at a second university nearby. I can then visit my in-laws. A 75-mile radius expands my area to include more work opportunities. Ohiopyle and Pittsburgh offer skiing entertainment, competitive running races, Laurel Highlands recreation and architecture. More white-water rafting adventures, biking and hiking trails exist at Wisp and Deep Creek. I can stay with more family members and host dinner for those I miss. More places exist in a 200-mile radius to do what I enjoy but now with the added value to include all of my relatives. The Appalachian Mountains, the Potomac River, and the GAP to the C&O trail allows plenty of movement by foot, bike and boat from Pittsburgh to DC. West Virginia offers spectacular peaks and creeks throughout at places like Marlington, Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob and Dolly Sods. These places have adventures in every season. I can read a book anywhere and try local food restaurants by the plenty. It’s amazing what I realize I can do when I begin to limit the possibilities by only a few miles. Perhaps focusing is the only way to ever initiate the belief it takes to get something done. —

Others who have produced books and films about their sustainable choices are:

No Impact Man is a documentary on a family living in NY who went one year without electricity, without waste of materials, and was an inspiration film to start a project as I am proposing above.

Animal Vegetable Miracle is a book by Barbara Kingsolver who wrote about eating off of her and nearby farmers’ products for one year in Appalachia.

What can you do close to home?

About Me Gift Giving

How to Progress when we need to Regress

Post author By kmarieclark
Post date April 6, 2015
No Comments on How to Progress when we need to Regress

Simplify Life

Get rid of stuff. Let the thoughts go. It’s time for spring cleaning.

I began writing this last December:

As my husband and I fill up the car for the third time this season we pack the freshly baked bread and the wrapping papered gifts (with bows that fall off into the snow) into the backseat. We ask each other one question. Is this right? ‘Pathological consumption has become so normalised that we scarcely notice it.’

George Monbiot’s article published in December of 2010 The Gift of Death, here, published just before Christmas that year received a lot of attention from me and my sustainable friends.

Just after Christmas this year as I was combing the house for things to purge my husband pointed out that my reaction to the end of the season every year is the same -get rid of stuff! It’s easier said than done. Accumulating everything is easier than getting rid of anything. Cleaning is my way of keeping calm and maintaining the sense that I have control over my household things. I can clear my mind while cleaning my physical environment. I’m always looking for ways of an improved lifestyle, and the less is more mentality has always served me. As I ask myself about an optimum work/life balance this spring I start with this lesson number 1: Simplify Life, Get rid of Stuff.

I’ve started meditating lately. Deepak has teamed with Oprah to offer free 21-day meditations throughout the year and this series has focused on true success. From allowing life to lead with it’s own rhythm to reflection on personal balance, the time I’ve invested to practice with Deepak’s centering thoughts has proven to be rewarding.

Man has always had the reaction ‘I want it all.’ Life is too hectic to believe we should continue down this path. Stick with me over the next few days as I explore a journey to discover my own work/life balance.

Travel

Mt. Lafayette, Summer Hiking in New England

Post author By kmarieclark
Post date March 27, 2015
No Comments on Mt. Lafayette, Summer Hiking in New England

In the summer of 2013 my husband and I took a few hikes in New England. The hike to Mt. Lafayette along the Appalachian Trail stands out as one of the most beautiful. With mileage just over 8 miles, we give it an 8 in difficulty.

We spend the night in Lincoln, New Hampshire at an Inn and brewery called The Woodstock Station and Brewery. From here the White Mountains beckon. We began our day at the parking lot off of Falling Water Trail. The trail for the first hour was sandy with large sunken rocks. We hiked along the many falls up a comfortable grade before the tree roots of the spruce forest created natural stairs. We crossed rocky streams of clear water and then the forest receded, thinning out as the sky became big, blue and unobstructed.

-Map from 4000 Footers

We summited Haystack and then Lincoln, realizing that Lafayette was beyond another 1.8 miles. Species of low growth plants were blooming with the rock outcroppings. The climbing up and down wasn’t easy, and one must be sure-footed at all times. Mounting Lafayette proved to be amazing after waiting 15 minutes for the grey windy clouds of midst to pass. The trip down was the most difficult as large rocks were loose along the trail.

The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hosts hikers at the Green Leaf Hut, though it is a significant amount of mileage off of the AT. It was nice to sit there to take rest within view of the Franconia Ridge.

–Backpacker Image

A well-stocked hiking book bookstore in Lincoln provided us with an idea of what to hike the next day. Check out Mountain Wanderer in person or online. We hiked Mt. Chocura the following day.

I’ve been working on a poem to pull together a few hikes from that summer. We were caught in a storm the day before hiking Mt. Lafayette while attempting to summit the Beaver Creek trail nearby.

Mt. Lafayette

The Appalachian range takes the sky to see

it was known to my ancestors, taller

before feet and storms crossed the spine and half the range crumbled

so unlike the stability it promises to hikers.

In my blood, my body aware, is drawn

ten hours from home

I travel far to find something of myself

a new life in New England

where the Presidentials are laid out

the White Mountains –Washington, Mt. Adams, Jefferson.

I’ve come to climb the peaks at Mt. Lafayette where

I follow many footsteps

those that link Georgia to Maine

And what did I find–

the wind

A storm came quickly, shaking the magnetic rock

waterfalls began to pool together

to make streams of clear water

over the faces of flat-paved rock.

At haystack, the base

the trees claw and stretch their legs like a relaxing spider–

the earth is soft between them. The fingers

drying after the morning storm.

An accomplishment of the 3,800 feet at the top, the exhaustion

a New Hampshire day in view of the distant mountains hiding their heads above the clouds

standing through the rain

letting the juice seep into the bones and nourish the desperate feeling of necessity when it is given.

This is what enters the mind at fatigue

the importance of simple food drink exercise

and at the root of it–

determination of the self

this is what enters the mind at fatigue

the things that don’t matter are driven away

allowing more important things to enter.

Tags Mt. Lafayette NH Hiking

Food & Exercise

Morgantown Marathon

Morgantown, West Virginia is hosting it’s first Marathon! View the site here. The course, which promised to include all of the neighborhoods of Morgantown before being published in March, is certainly not to be taken lightly. With over 1600 feet in elevation gain, the language of the site warns the competitive person against trying to achieve a personal record. It’s close to home for many seasoned and new runners in the area. Begin training from Mile 1 as late as May and still have time to participate in the Half Marathon. Other races that weekend include the Mountain Mama 8k and the Inaugural Mile. My husband and I look forward to being a part of the inaugural Half Marathon race September 20th!

Tags Morgantown Marathon