Wanderlife: A new project for the next phase

I've wandered over to Substack and I hope you'll check it out! Substack is a place to enjoy big ideas, great writing, and a supportive, generous community of creatives.

Wanderlife is a project I launched on my 49th birthday to liberate the spirit and light up the brain. My spirit, my brain, but yours, too, if you join me!

Explore Substack online or download the app. You can find me at this direct link. Subscribe to get everything I write sent to your email inbox. I'll be sharing travel postcards, Doll Dinner cooking adventures, photos from past and present, and some other tidbits.

See you there,

In Appreciation of our Educators

McPike Park was dedicated in April 2018 in honor of of Milton McPike, former principal of East High School.

My guess is that most of us don't remember our school principals, or at least not nearly as well as we remember our teachers. But principals can make a big impression. As a parent, I understand that they set the tone for the school and model leadership.  

The naming of a central park in our city seems like a fitting honor for Principal McPike's exceptional role in this east-side community.

I was impressed when a friend told me she applied for a transfer to East High School while he was in charge. She left her own neighborhood school in order to be part of a school that valued diversity and inclusion under Principal McPike's leadership. She remembers him well, saying he really took time to build personal relationships with his students. 

Tammy Thompson Kapp was the first principal I got to know as a parent. When my daughter started kindergarten at Lapham Elementary School, she welcomed my family. We got to know each other and worked together on several projects. I especially appreciated her ongoing advocacy for a crossing guard at the corner of Ingersoll and Dayton Street. Principal TK worked really hard to make this important safety measure a reality.

On the first day of school this year, Principal TK's legacy was solidified for my family when I greeted the brand new crossing guard. 

Principal TK has moved on now and Lapham Elementary School has a new principal. Her name is Cathy Prozanski and I'm excited to share some of her ideas and interests so we can get to know her and welcome her to the community. 

The new crossing guard at the corner of East Dayton and Ingersoll on a busy first day of school.

Meet the new principal of Lapham Elementary School, Cathy Prozanski!

Me: Where are you from and what are you most excited about in Madison? 

Cathy: I am originally from Edgar, WI which is a small town west of Wausau. I grew up on a farm there. I am the oldest of four kids, and have three younger brothers. I went to college at UW-Eau Claire where I received my B.S. in Elementary and Special Education. I received my Master's Degree in Ed Leadership from Viterbo University. My husband and I have five children, four boys and one girl. We moved to Madison because we wanted to be in a larger city with more diversity and more fun things to do. We love the Badgers and the excitement of living in a bigger city, where there are always things to do.

Me: What do you find most interesting or exciting about Lapham School? What excites you about this first school year?

Cathy: I love that Lapham is a 4K-2 building. The learners at this age have unique needs and when the building is only this age group, many things can be tailored to early learners. I am also excited about the growing diversity of the school. First years are always a bit anxious but I am looking forward to getting to know everyone. I love change but I also love the familiarity that grows from change.

Me: What is the most interesting and inspiring trend in education you see right now?

Cathy: The focus on the cultural components of education. Trying to meet the needs of our under served populations. I truly believe that all students can learn at high levels and strive that we can meet that goal at Lapham. I also like the trend of partnering with parents on a level that involves learning. Home visits and daily communications that involve exchanges of information that allow parents to support their child through the educational process.

And a few more questions from my kids...

Kids: Where do you hide the donuts and coffee?

Cathy: Sorry I don't drink coffee and try to not eat donuts. lol

Kids: What is your favorite snack?

Cathy: Chips. I love chips. 

Kids: When kids hear you making announcements on the loud speakers in the classrooms, where are you talking from and how does it work?

Cathy: I use the phone in my office. I dial a special number and it goes through the speakers. 

Kids: What are some of your pet peeves?

Cathy: When people are unkind. Everyone is going through their own growing and learning. Sometimes that journey is more difficult. Everyone deserves empathy.

A huge thanks to Cathy, and welcome to the Lapham family!

Cathy and her family

This is one way to make our neighborhood more welcoming

What makes a neighborhood great? 

There are lots of people out there writing and thinking about that question. One important thing shows up on the lists from think-tanks and civic engineers: Neighborhoods are great when they are shaped by, and an inspiration to, the people who live there.

Bottom-up rather than top-down strategies tend to work best. That is because the people who live in a neighborhood are the world's experts on that particular place. Any project to improve things should be guided at least in part by community wisdom.

And that is why Tenney-Lapham neighborhood will not be ordering a professionally produced 'wayfinding' sign from a company like called something like "Signature Street Signs." Our new neighborhood sign will be designed by us!

Anne Katz is helping to organize the effort. She is an arts advocate professionally and a neighbor whose energy and inspiration over the years has contributed to making Tenney-Lapham neighborhood a wonderful place. I asked her to tell me why she believes this sign matters. 

Anne: I grew up in the New York City suburbs and although our family was friendly with many of our neighbors, we didn't know most of them very well.  I've lived in the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood since I moved to Madison in 1984.  In those 34 years, I've lived in three different houses within a ten-house radius on North Few and Jean Streets. We know many of our neighbors very well. Our son had a community watching over him as he grew up and we get to watch over our neighbors' kids now.  We are so happy to help keep the neighborhood vibrant and welcoming. A welcome sign does just that...it welcomes friends, family, visitors, and neighbors to the community.  It helps strengthen the sense of place that makes this a special place to live. The design contest gives people a chance to share their ideas about the community in a creative way.  The sign lets people know where they are and opens the door to our special place.

Send your ideas! Due date = August 10th, 2018

You can submit up to three designs for consideration. Send a jpeg of the design, as well a description of yourself and the materials you envision using, to annedave@chorus.net. The winning design will be unveiled on September 9th and the winner will receive $100. Learn more about what your friendly neighborhood judges are hoping to see in the full Call For Proposals.

Why take a tour of the landfill?

This week I took my kids and some of their friends to the landfill. Every year around Earth Day we collect garbage that is revealed after the spring melt. Without fail we've had a wonderful time in the woods, surrounded by ephemeral woodland flowers, on a focused treasure hunt for plastic. It is fun, but it is also pretty gross. And it always gets me thinking about our culture of trash-making. 

 

The trip to the landfill was a kind of local tourism. It was a way to know this place better. And like any good trip, it has inspired me and helped me to better understand my place in the world.

  
Abdullah Younes is a Civil Engineer at the Dane County Landfill. He is a very nice man who is happy to talk with kids about trash.

Mr. Younes graduated from UW-Madison in 1985, when the current state-of-the-art landfill opened. As he nears retirement, he is clearly proud of the care he and his team take to divert trash to other uses and protect the groundwater we drink. For example, they send a full semi-truck of tires to be recycled into energy every week. And the stink you smell when driving by on Highway 12? That is the gas that is released from the decomposing trash, which is captured and added to the MG&E grid to provide 5,000 homes with energy. They also set aside bottles of useful cleaner and paint for a 'free store' open to the public. 

This landfill receives 1/3 of all of Dane County’s trash. Eight hundred tons of trash comes through their doors daily. A ton equals 2,000 pounds, so that is 1,600,000 pounds, or 133 medium-sized elephants at this one landfill. Multiply that by three and Dane County sends 2,400 tons of trash to the landfill every day.

The landfill is actually a collection of deep bathtub-shaped holes that are filled up until they are small mountains. These heaps of trash are contained within layer upon layer of protective materials: 4 feet of clay, a layer of plastic, a layer of cloth, then rocks, then dirt, then grass, until they resemble the gentle slopes of Quann and Demetral Parks. 

This landfill will be totally full in 6-8 years, when my kids are 12 or 14 years old. Mr. Younes said that finding the 200 or more acres needed for a new landfill in Dane County is a political problem.

When asked what can be done, he responded with what we all know, the only answer there is and yet one we culturally have no sense of how to do: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Cultural Shift

Robin Wall Kimmerer tells the story of the legendary monster of the Anishinaabe people named Windigo in her book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.  

"Cautionary Windigo tales arose in a commons-based society where sharing was essential to survival and greed made an individual a danger to the whole. In the old times, individuals who endangered the community by taking too much for themselves were first counseled, then ostracized, and if the greed continued, they were eventually banished...Indulgent self-interest that our people once held to be monstrous is now celebrated as success. We are asked to admire what our people viewed as unforgivable. The consumption-driven mindset masquerades as "quality of life" but eats us from within...We have unleashed a monster."

The story of the Crying Indian ad campaign

I read the story of the Keep America Beautiful ad campaign many years back. It left me disheartened. Here are the basics from a recent Chicago Tribune piece:

Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953 by the American Can Co. and the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., who were later joined by the likes of Coca-Cola and the Dixie Cup Co. During the 1960s, Keep America Beautiful anti-litter campaigns featured Susan Spotless, a white girl who wore a spotless white dress and pointed her accusatory finger at pieces of trash heedlessly dropped by her parents. The campaign used the wagging finger of a child to condemn individuals for being bad parents, irresponsible citizens and unpatriotic Americans. But by 1971, Susan Spotless no longer captured the zeitgeist of the burgeoning environmental movement and rising concerns about pollution.

The shift from Keep America Beautiful’s bland admonishments about litter to the Crying Indian did not represent an embrace of ecological values but instead indicated industry’s fear of them. In the time leading up to the first Earth Day in 1970, environmental demonstrations across the United States focused on the issue of throwaway containers. All these protests held industry — not consumers — responsible for the proliferation of disposable items that depleted natural resources and created a solid waste crisis. Enter the Crying Indian, a new public relations effort that incorporated ecological values but deflected attention from beverage and packaging industry practices.

[A little more salt in the wound: the actor who played the Crying Indian was an Italian-American who used an Indian-sounding name in Hollywood.]

This "ad that fooled the environmental movement" really soured me to the responsibility corporate America had placed on me, and all individuals, to solve the problem while the big players continue making the big messes. 

But now I know it is about me, but it is more than my shorter shower or my cold-water laundry loads. It is about me making a cultural shift.

Because cultural shifts, like #MeToo, happen when individuals change. When we teach our children a different cultural norm. When our friends and neighbors see us modeling different values. And when we start expecting different priorities of our cities.

So this is what I’m trying to do: 

Cleaning out my mailbox: I have a love/hate relationship with the mailbox. I love getting mail but I hate dropping most of my mail directly into the recycling bin. The landfill tour made me realize I need to do the work it takes to get off the mailing lists to end the onslaught of mail-I-don’t-need. 

NOTE: This is easy to do for most catalogs. Simply go to the company website and start a live chat. Explain you want to be removed from the mailing list and they take care of it!

Eating at home or packing a picnic: All that trash that comes with a carry-out or food cart meal makes me feel glutonous. But there are such great restaurants and food carts in Madison! True. My husband eats at the library mall food carts several times a week, and even brings food home for us for dinner sometimes. He plans ahead and takes his containers. The vendors love it and generally give him bigger portions.

• Read this: By 2050there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, and that includes a lot of straws
  
   

Switching back to cloth napkins: We got into the habit of using a lot of paper towels while the kids were little and I was doing tons of laundry. My kids are older now, slightly less messy, and much more a part of setting the table. I want them to grow up remembering cloth napkins for every meal, not just holidays. 

Investing in utilitarian bikes for the kids: This isn’t about trash, but petroleum. Now that the kids are old enough to be trusted navigating streets, we got them off their toy bikes and onto bikes they can use for all our family commutes. 

Using a bamboo toothbrush: This one feels silly, but apparently toothbrushes end up in the ocean and are a part of the problem. I've also been making some things like deodorant, hand cream and cough syrup. While keeping a few more little plastic containers out of the landfill is great, I'm also finding these homemade versions work at least as well as the branded chemical concoctions.

• Read this: The environmental footprints of five items you used before breakfast
   

Refreshing my understanding of our local recycling program: I was just tossing everything in the recycling can like everybody else. I guess that is really not working. Read these:

• Six things you are recycling wrong
• Your recycling gets recycled, right? Maybe, maybe not.
• Madison Recycling Fact Sheet

Pausing before clicking: I think the option to buy stuff that you need online is an improvement from spending lots of my time shopping, going from store-to-store, buying stuff I don’t need while I’m there to save myself another trip or because it looks shiny and fun. However, it’s SO easy to click-and-buy, I hate the image that gives my kids: You need it, we’ll find it on the porch like a present in the morning. So I’m trying to at least take the time to look on Craig’s List before I click-and-buy. 

Traveling less: This one is really hard for me. We have family all over the country who wish we visited more often. But we are finding a balance. I am getting on a plane less frequently and, with my kids as my guide, remembering the beauty there is to explore in my own neighborhood, city, state, and Great Lakes Region. Sometimes we even intentionally have a “cabin weekend” at home and do the things we’d do on holiday, like wander around with curiosity, say no to social invitations, play family games and read, and generally relax.  

This is hard, too, because I truly love traveling, meeting people, experiencing different cultures, learning languages, and shifting my perspective. And I believe travel is a really big way that as individuals we have eye-opening experiences that shift us personally, which is part of the cultural shift that I think needs to happen.  

I remember very clearly traveling in Guatemala in my early twenties and walking along the shore of Lake Atitlán. Rows of corn were planted right up to the water’s edge, where each stalk seemed be growing out of a bed of trash instead of soil. Without a garbage collection system, what ended up in the lake or in jungle ravines washed right into this corn field. I was stunned and haven’t forgotten it. I think of it almost every time I see a garbage truck and say a small Thank You for the fact we have a functional civic infrastructure that picks up trash and takes it to the landfill. 


Saying Thank You more often: In a consumer society and capitalist economy, contentment is a radical act. Contentment comes for me when I feel gratitude. This is where making-less-trash connects with my spiritual practice. In my best moments as a parent, my intentions, words, and actions are imparting a culture of gratitude. Content with and grateful for the abundance of gifts around us, I hope my kids grow up to be more interested in the spring ephemeral flowers than the shiny plastic ephemerals that fill up garbage bags.