ME III: Super busy

· Maine Event

Today was our chilliest day so far with our low at 35° and the high was 54° — tomorrow is expected to be warmer. Work is still super busy which means that leaving here is the furthest from my mind and when I do realize it is just a little more than a week I'm stupified/terrified/excited.

It is fun to read about people who enjoy things so fully. If you've ever enjoyed math you might enjoy this story from The Quanta Newsletter which is about the man behind the different dimensions we live with.

In the good news department, the Port of Oakland is working with Yokohama Forge port in Japan to work on decarbonizing shipping. It is inspiring to see large pieces of our society take off in terms of actually trying to make a difference and possibly make this world habitable in the future. In many ways this announcement is promotional but that they are making a statement is encouraging.

I don't know if you saw in the NYT but Maine made national news because of a bottled water scandal. Here is the article about Poland Springs if you missed it. It's totally outrageous – the lobbyists rewrote the legislation entirely! What the regulation was aimed at was saying you can have a lease for seven years and then come back and talk to us. The water company wants a 45-year lease! The rationale for seven years is that climate change is making it so people in that part of Maine are running out of water and they want the freedom to reassess a little more often. The low regulation of Maine is wonderful for food access and small businesses but also lets corporations get away with way too much. I'm sure you'll be hearing about Blue Triton again. They seem like dangerous folks, they now own all of Nestle's water because the public relations were too difficult for Nestle. That was a campaign I sharpened my teeth on maybe 20 years ago. Maybe we need to up the pressure on Blue Triton. At the very least, let's all stop drinking bottled water - get a small metal one and refill it.

I've been learning about living with less plastic if anyone wants to share notes and strategies I'd love that.

Red room

Have a spooky night and remember to breathe.

Sending love, Tawnia

Bird list for a super busy day - 7 species. White-throated sparrows were in fine feather and very beautiful: