Hiking in the Green Mountains {A photo Earthship}

by eKos

Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.

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Tonight, we're doing something a little different. I'm going to share some photos of my weekend on a section of the Long Trail in beautiful Vermont. This of course will be accompanied by our usual eco-diary roundup.

Peruse the eKos Library to find previously listed diaries. You can also follow eKos on Twitter.

Tonight's editor: patrick

All views expressed by today's editor do not necessarily represent those of eKos or eKos listed diarists.

continued at Daily Kos....

Mental Gymnastics: The "Going Green" Year Long Project

by webranding

Not sure where I got that phrase mental gymnastics from, but I've used it for decades to describe doing something just to do it. Not cause you have to. Not cause you are forced to. Maybe not even because you think it will be fun. But to do it to think, learn, and maybe expand your horizons.

I've been a liberal for as long as I can recall. Coming here I don't know how many years ago has not changed my views much. This site has instead reinforced them. Educated me endlessly. And maybe most important of all, given me the ability to express my views to others in a much more persuasive manner.

But it has changed me in one major way!

For most of my life I was the cheerleader on the sidelines. Somebody could tell me they were going to "save the world" I'd cheer them on endlessly. Offer support. And then say something like, "hey when you are done saving the world I'll be here when you get back." Before I came here I had never worked on a political campaign (well once). I had never given money to a campaign. I'd been to marches and rallies, but mainly cause I figured they'd be a train-wreck and I wanted to watch it.

The community here has changed all of that. Which is why if you follow me below the fold I'll explain why I'm going "green" in the next year.

continued at Daily Kos....

Solitude

by jamess

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

 ~ Henry David Thoreau, 1854

Loneliness can be conquered only by those who can bear solitude.

 ~ Paul Tillich

Solitude ...

it's one of my prime motivators.

take a few moments to journey through some snapshots
from my own personal explorations,

in search of that elusive space,

otherwise known as Solitude ...

continued at Daily Kos...

Mojo' hikin' / A Capitol Reef Photo Journal

by delmardougster

Capitol Reef? What is that? Is it in the south seas somewhere? I thought  you guys were going to take a road trip to go hiking? I know Capitol Reef is not well known but some of the responses I get are downright comical. I guess that is part of the allure - it's far enough of the beaten path that fewer know about it's existence and fewer still make the effort to go. I hope this helps put CRNP on your radar. Tucked away in south central Utah off Highway 24, Capitol Reef National Park is part of an awesome geological feature - a one hundred mile long warped and folded terrain called a Waterpocket Fold. Jutting out of the surrounding landscape, it is visible from miles away. CRNP has miles of trails and countless ravines and mesas to explore. Massive, colorful, and full of life, this is a national park you must make the effort to visit. Get your pack...

continued at Daily Kos....