Saturday Share - Why does the sun hide from me? And other life updates

I have never been more aware of the sad, sad fact that it gets dark early in the North. Last weekend was day light savings which is a time change that never much mattered to me in Texas! In Washington, the sun starts it's rise about 5:30 - 6:00am. Around 2:30pm there are looong shadows on the ground. By 3:30 the sun has officially set. By 5:00pm it is as dark as night time in the city gets which completely messes with my sense of time. And this awful scenario is a day with sunshine!

If it is cloudy all day, then the sunrise is grey, day time is light grey, and night time is extra dark because the clouds block out the moon & stars! I could have been told every single day of my childhood that this is what it was going to be like to live in WA and I never would have been able to wrap my mind around this experience without living it. Why does the sun hide from me? Is this a punishment!?

For many people, the weather directly affects their mood but when you live in a cloudy place like Seattle, you just can't be that type of person. Luckily, I don't think the weather heavily influences my moods (although the lack of sun does make me feel a little extra crazy) but I am positive that it influences my cooking and baking.

Now that the temperature is pretty regularly in the 40's I find myself craving hot foods and beverages more often that not. Baked sweets are making regular appearances in my kitchen crazes - homemade cinnamon rolls, baked apples, sweet potato muffins, banana bread. I am unsure if I am baking to warm the apartment or so that I can eat comfort foods because I am secretly upset about the lack of sunshine, but either way, it is delicious and Matt has requested that it continues!

Today at the store I bought anjou pears, pomegranates, gala apples and Wisconsin cranberries and it felt so nice to be buying seasonal produce. Hopefully we will soon become a part of the community supported agriculture movement here in the area. Maybe we could visit local farms and have farm fresh produce delivered to us! This a hope for the near future so I should probably do more research...

Anyway, work has been very work-like for both of us. We had a Veteran's Day special yesterday at Olga's so we were busy and things were hectic on my 2nd first day waiting tables. I forgot how exhausting it is to run around a restaurant but I am happy to be working! Matt's company is preparing for the Black Friday crush of patrons. Oh consumerist culture, how I dislike you yet desperately need you for my family's livelihood.

Since we only have one car for the two of us, I created a car sharing calendar to keep us organized that we have posted on our cork board wall. We both have varying weekly schedules, so I make it at the beginning of each week and plan out with Matt how to share the car. Neither of our work places are far from where we live - both are between 3 & 5 miles. The difference lies in the fact that there is a bus route directly from our apartment complex to Matt's work. Unfortunately, there isn't a bus route to my work - I would have to catch a second bus and still walk 1/2 a mile to the building.

Fairly often, I am able to drop Matt off and pick him up from work after my shift ends. Sometimes our schedules don't mix and he has to take the bus to or from work (which isn't a very cheap option - it's $2.25 a ride on the route Matt takes). Sometimes I feel guilty because I am sure one or both of us could ride our bikes to work and that would be more eco-friendly than car sharing. Call me a pansy if you like, but it is freaking cold and wet outside. I might try my bike it if it was only one or the other of those ugly weather conditions but together they make riding a no go. So far, we haven't had any glitches with this system of sharing and I hope it stays that way!
 

What we're into this week:

• Matt is playing Skyrim and enjoying most every second.
• I'm reading Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb the second in a series called the Rain Wild Chronicles. It's a pretty decent fantasy novel. Nothing to make my inner fangirl squee but I look forward to the sequel, City of Dragons, which doesn't come out until February 2012.

Well, that's what I have to share today. Keep your eyes peeled for a post celebrating our 6 month wedding anniversary soon! Much love to you all.

Divorcing Car #1

As of five days ago, Matt and I can officially call ourselves a one-car family. After a good cleaning, we handed off the car (and the monthly payments) to Matt’s parents who were looking to get another vehicle. These past few days with only one car have been easy-peasy, principally because only one of us is working.

Matt and I have been considering going down to one car for several months now, particularly as I delved more deeply into the eco-friendly, minimalist lifestyle. These were our main considerations in why we decided to slim down to one car – feel free to chime in with a comment below.

1. Saving money. Giving up one car means saving money on car payments, insurance and gas. The cost of gasoline is going to continue to rise and I want to get out of the habit of paying exorbitant prices as soon as possible. Not to mention the effort and time required for the maintenance on a car – oil changes, flat tires, windshield wipers and other painfully expensive repairs.
   
   
2. Living green. In an effort to reduce our impact on the environment, we want to stop polluting the air we breathe as much as possible. Our daily action to do this is to limit the amount we drive our car and to lessen our dependence on this mode of transportation.
   
   
3. Sticking it to the man. Our culture is obsessed with commercialism and consumption. I want to reduce this tendency by consuming less and exhibiting better habits with the things I do choose to own.

Sharing a car requires planning and patience. Matt and I have accepted the challenge to live in suburban America with only one car. In many ways, not owning my own vehicle feels like I am sacrificing some of my freedom. (But has that feeling only been planted by car companies? Screw you advertising.)

I cannot just run off for a weekend getaway with the girls without considering how that would leave Matt stranded. And Matt cannot drive off for a snow cone when I have to attend meetings. Instances like this might be a nuisance, but the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages for us.

I expect that once we move to Seattle, we will undergo sticky situations with our car-lite life; however, I anticipate Seattle will have better and more accessible public transportation than what we have access to here in Texas. I hope to find that living in a smaller state will enable us to get around more readily with even less reliance on our car than what we currently foresee. Utilizing multiple modes of transportation will be a great solution and save us a lot of strife.

There are a myriad of difficult situations that we may chance upon. For instance, what if our work schedules clash? What if we both need to commute a significant distance to work in opposite directions? What if one person desperately needs the car and the other person has it? What if the car ends up in the shop and we have no back up transportation? What if the bus makes us late to work? What if it rains or the roads are icy when we are supposed to be riding our bike? Etc.

These are very real questions that I am sure we can problem solve if/when they occur. My hope is that because we are going to Seattle with only one car, we will learn to utilize alternative transportation more readily because we will not have a vehicle to act as a crutch. The limits of owning one car will encourage us to search for jobs within shorter commute times and schedules that we can coordinate. How these tentative hopes play out will have to be another update. Until then, wish us luck!

Car-lite definition: Either a person or place that is not completely car-free, but uses or allows for a variety of alternative transport modes in addition to the car. 

World Car-Free Network - A informational website about going Car-Free for any questions I can't answer

How to Live Well Without Owning a Car - An E-Book with tips on how to live without a car - most of it is available without having to pay for the book