Let the light shine! It's daylight savings time. And maybe, just maybe, the snow will melt by April and the morning temperature will be above zero. In this Green New Deal, Part 2, I get real about our energy conservation at home. And since we're talking about light, I thought I'd explore windows. Fun, right? We have lots of them - 67 in fact - that are essential sources of light and stunning ways to frame views of our garden and Vermont. But in terms of energy, even our 15 year old double-paned 'new' windows leak heat. Over the years, we have slowly added insulated and other shades to help keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. Some are even color coordinated, while others are thin, cheap roll-ups. We even have plastic in the livingroom... Clearly, we have a hodge-podge. Of course, my favorites are the ones I made when first married in 1992 and the re-used ones from my grandmother's house that I found in her attic when she died and then hung in our living room a decade ago - - just to try the colors... This week I've been thinking about the idea of 'window dressing,' of giving a superficial, but misleading impression. Most of the 1930's New Deal murals I studied in college (see last week's blog post, My Green New Deal, Part 1) were colorful celebrations of the American Dream, a dream that for millions of people at that time was a broken promise. Sometimes, I feel surrounded by broken promises - - The dream of a house, but no one tells you how much money it takes to maintain it; The dream of filling the house with things you need and love, but no advertisement reveals the true cost and impact of those objects. So now we have ten years to adapt to the realities caused by our own behavior... Ok. That is way too heavy and way too guilt-ridden for my tastes. So let's go back to light, color, texture and the glorious convergence of creativity and climate action. I love this time of year. It's still cold and inside projects still beckon, like making the curtains in my studio warmer by sewing old linen napkins onto them... So I'm
excited about our family's Green New Deal. We have a decade to make the rest of our 67 windows as energy efficient as they can be. To achieve that goal, we will take stock of what needs to be done, prioritize and make a plan. For now, though, I will continue to appreciate this crazy mix of window 'dressings' that continue to keep us warm and I will keep noticing the afternoon play of light. |
Lyn Swett Miller
reframing the narrative, one day, one image at a time Let's ReFrame: By Degrees
A place where photographer Lyn Swett Miller considers wonder, joy and transformation in a complex world. Archive
September 2021
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