Kayaking on the Potomac River!

Had another trip yesterday to kayak in the Potomac River with my dad. What a treat! It was sunny, warm, not a cloud in the sky, and the colors were just brilliant. Take a look:

Kayaking on the Potomac

Weekend field trips

Day trip to Harper's Ferry

Fall is likely my favorite season. The crisp cool air and brilliantly colored leaves falling from a blue sky invigorates and inspires me in a way that's hard to describe. It's the one time of year that I actually crave things folksy and country - hay barrels, apple picking, baking, scented candles, listening to Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, wearing cozy sweaters and...um...sporting plaid shirts.

Everyone should take at least one road trip, big or small, in the fall. One of the most memorable days from college was when Ally and I spontaneously decided to leave our college stress behind and hop in the yellow convertible Miata for a little trip to an orchard stand 30 minutes from Carlisle.  I was having both research and writer's block and the trip loosened me up just the right amount I needed to complete the paper in an A-earning way. 

Just last weekend I got awesomely lucky because work let me take of Friday so I could drive up to Emma Willard (where I taught Spanish and coached volleyball) and surprise the volleyball team at their last home game. Pulled out on my house at 5:30am, listened to all of NPR's morning edition (which never happens!), jammed to Ray LaMontagne, Solas, Nickel Creek, Kate Rusby, among others, munched on some fresh apples and 7 hours later I was in Troy, NY. Fall colors were about at their peak, so needless to say it was a worthwhile 7 hours.

Just today mom and I decided to make our way northwest to the quaint little river town of Brunswick, MD, the revolutionary and civil war town called Shepherdstown, WV, and tiny and hilly historic town of Harper's Ferry where revolutionary and abolitionist John Brown tried to start a slave uprising, but this lead to his capturing and death by hanging. 

In Brunswick, we found a coffee shop housed in an old church. How awesome is that!? It's called Beans in the Belfry. Everything in it is mismatched and funky. All but two pews are removed and the food and register are located on the altar. Walls are a creamy pastel green and the main source of light comes through the yellow tinted stain glass windows. Decor is old and antiqueish. Small and large tables scatter the room and clunky and cozy couches and love seats line the walls and some corners. One corner has a mirror and box full of dress-up clothes and toys for the children.

We found a great boutique shop in Shepherdstown where I discovered a $200+ long green, large buttoned boiled wool coat. It was gorgeous and perfect to wear with work clothes in the cooling temperatures. Unfortunately, not in my budget :(

It felt like we stepped back in time while in Harper's Ferry. It's hidden in the hills, by the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and has the cutest little stone cottages, shops and even gas lamps. A perfect place for a historic ghost tour, which they have, and would be a wonderful visit covered in snow in the winter.

How exciting it is to discover such havens of beauty, culture, and history that are just within one hour of my home!

Cruisin' on Lake Anna

IMG_3305.jpg
Originally uploaded by andyghatch

I haven't posted in a while because I've just been busy having way too much fun! Labor Day weekend as well as last weekend was spent at Lake Anna, the Hatch/Morris family compound, with family and a great group of friends.

Thankfully, I've got a brother not only with a high tech camera, but with the skills to go with it too!

Take a look at his flickr page!

Another fun event was the 1/2 marathon I did up in Plymouth, MA about two weekends ago. Pouring rain and good company - seriously couldn't have been any better!

Not me, WE

My mom and I, along with many others who'd replied to an e-mail announcement and received free tickets from MoveOn.org, showed up downtown for a major speech on global climate change by Nobel winner and former vice president Al Gore . I spent a swelteringly hot hour yesterday waiting outside the DAR (the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution) in a blob of progressives (along with some right wingers who think global warming is a hoax) surrounding the building and in the streets, many of whom don't know how to form lines and proceeded to get rude and yell at each other about who was actually at the front of the line. Where's the unity, change, and hope for us in that kind of behavior!? Ugh. It would have been a much more pleasant wait had my kindergarten teacher been there to straighten everyone out.

But we got in and the auditorium was air conditioned - hallelujah!



Essentially the speech was Gore's challenge to the nation to be 100% energy independent using renewable energy and carbon-free sources. Quite an ambitious goal, I think, but he did a spectacular job explaining the premise for his challenge and presenting the reasons why such a goal is attainable. Being the dork that I am, I actually took notes throughout and I would just love to share them with you. But then again, why reinvent the wheel? I just received this e-mail from MoveOn.org with the key quotes from the speech

"Like a lot of people, it seems to me that all these problems are bigger than any of the solutions that have thus far been proposed for them, and that's been worrying me...

Yet when we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them, deeply ironic in its simplicity: our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges—the economic, environmental and national security crises.

We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change...

But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand.

The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.

Can we really get all our electricity from sources like solar and wind in 10 short years?

Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses.

And enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of US electricity demand.

And of course, all this means more good jobs to re-power our economy:

When we send money to foreign countries to buy nearly 70 percent of the oil we use every day, they build new skyscrapers and we lose jobs. When we spend that money building solar arrays and windmills, we build competitive industries and gain jobs here at home.

With all the political posturing on high gas prices and drilling, it's amazing to hear someone being so honest:

It is only a truly dysfunctional system that would buy into the perverse logic that the short-term answer to high gasoline prices is drilling for more oil ten years from now.

Am I the only one who finds it strange that our government so often adopts a so-called solution that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem it is supposed to address? When people rightly complain about higher gasoline prices, we propose to give more money to the oil companies and pretend that they're going to bring gasoline prices down. It will do nothing of the sort, and everyone knows it...

However, there actually is one extremely effective way to bring the costs of driving a car way down within a few short years. The way to bring gas prices down is to end our dependence on oil and use the renewable sources that can give us the equivalent of $1 per gallon gasoline."

If you'd like to see the entire speech, check it out on the link below:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3945&id=13269-7914041-TAFNyXx&t=

Gore's goals are further explained in the "we campaign," also known as We Can Solve It, which is working to promote awareness of the threat to our global and national climate, government, and economy, and to mobilize the American people to take action.

I've got some commentary of my own on the event, but I'll share that in another post later.

Lessons from a little black squirrel

I've become especially appreciative of still moments I've had even while working in the city. During my daily walks I discovered the Spanish steps. Now I go there almost daily, retreating into a haven from the noisy traffic, construction and chatty lunching business folk on Connecticut Ave.

So yesterday during my 30 minute lunch break, my mind was filled with needless thoughts and worries as I sat down on the wall next to the fountain. I quickly pulled out my homemade hummus sandwich from my L.L. Bean lunch bag, knowing that now, I only had about 15 minutes to eat before I had to get back to the desk and phones. Just as I was about to chomp down I saw a little black squirrel inching its way across the steps below me. Every few seconds it stopped and look up at me. It eventually made its way to a tree not too far from me on the left. Again, it inched its way up the tree about 4 feet and it stopped and sat down, its long fluffy dark tail cascading off a branch. And then, it turned its gaze toward me. Eery, right?

It sounds bizarre, but my busy mind calmed down instantly and I couldn't help but return the gaze. I think our acknowledgment of one another (if that's what it was) lasted about 10 minutes. I thought it so strange that this squirrel was all alone and not playing or moving rapidly through the trees. Has anyone else ever seen a squirrel so calm and focused?

This odd, but pleasant incidence fits into my spiritual exploration at this time of life. I just bought the newest issue of Ode titled the Silence Issue, which presents articles relating to peace and quiet and the need to lessen the world's noise pollution. I'm also reminded of what I've learned from reading Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love (in which she describes her experience in complete silence at an Indian ashram), my meditation lessons in Thailand last summer, and also the practice of "being present" as explained by Eckhart Tolle in his book A New Earth.

That little squirrel gave me a wake up call alerting me to the fact that even though I was in quiet and peaceful place, I had let my mind keep me from really appreciating and enjoying where I was. It was a good reminder to fully be with the space of wherever I am, not dwelling in my thoughts.

I have a pretty cool brother

Summit
Originally uploaded by andyghatch

Just a few weeks ago my twin brother Andy took a 3 week solo trip in South Africa. I really admire the sense of spontaneity and adventure that impelled him to go. He also has a good eye for photographic composition. Take a look at the photos and video from his trip!

Morgan's bench

At the end of my stay in San Diego, I was fortunate to get to La Jolla for a visit to Morgan's bench. Morgan is my first cousin who passed on too early and last September my Aunt Laura and her kids used donated money to install a bench overlooking the La Jolla coast, Morgan's favorite location. My friend Charissa, her brother Nate and his wife Suzanne (in picture) were very kind and generous with their time and drove me up there. The bench is located just below the Torrey Pines Gliderport where many come to para-sail of the cliffs over the ocean. The location couldn't be more beautiful.

When I first approached the bench, there was an attractive young man (about my age) sitting there studying intently his Spanish textbook (a bit serendipitous, I'd say;). I told him that he was sitting on my cousin's bench - which, thinking of it now, could have sounded a little odd. I pointed out the plaque in front of the bench and introduced myself as Morgan's cousin. To my surprise, he didn't get up and leave. It was really great though because I showed him the Tupperware box with the journal and pictures that are under the bench and he was really curious. He'd thought someone had left it there by accident. He respectively sat there and listened as I talked about my memories of Morgan, the memorial service, and comments about our family in general. He also wanted to see the pictures. We both commented on how there are benches like these all over the place but there is rarely any story provided about the person's life. He and the others walked down to the cliff so I could sit and write in the journal.

Afterwards, Nate and Suzanne (who live in the San Diego area) expressed how grateful they were to not only know of the bench but also to discover the opportunity to para-sail, something they've always wanted to do, but never knew about this site. They said they're excited to go back and also to visit the bench again. So, I'm really grateful for my Aunt Laura (Morgan's mom) and others who got this idea put into reality. I believe it is in the perfect place and very much appreciated.

Turtle wurtle