Blog Posts

Channeling Charles Sheeler

2/23/2019

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Exterior, Dartmouth College Co-Generation Facility - - Fuel Storage Tanks, 2019

I love climbing tree limbs and ladders.

I love curves, lines and textures.

Detail, Dartmouth College Co-Generation Plant, 2019

There is something reassuring about light on metal...

Detail, Dartmouth Heating Tunnel, Beneath the Green, 2019

and the reality that even with three inches of insulation, some heat gets lost.

Detail, Home Heating System in Hanover, NH 2019

It's hard to believe
that there are imperfections
with these perfect symmetries and designs.
But there are. Energy can not be created nor destroyed,
but it can be transferred between objects,
creating inefficiencies
along the way.

That is
just the reality of
how things work and why, even
with a relatively upgraded heating system, this vent
on the north side of our living room
doesn't provide much
heat.

Detail, Insulated Hot Water Pipe, Hanover, NH 2019.

Isn't it beautiful
to see the unseen, to honor
what is functional and elegant? That's
what climate action at home
is all about for me.
What about
you?

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Re-imaging Adams - - So Cool

2/11/2019

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Last week I saw
"Ansel Adams in Our Time,"
an exhibit at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
It was totally cool.

It is clear
that Adams witnessed
and understood a whole lot more
about the human condition than his reverent
landscapes had ever revealed to
me on their own.

Check out
this intimate portrait
of a Mexican boy, this stunning
close-up of a fern, and this panoramic
view of human development.

It gave me
the chills. Adams
understood our reciprocal
relationship with the natural world and
the fragility of our co-
dependence.

There I was,
reflected in the glass,
paying attention to these imaginative
re-imagings of Ansel Adams's world. In Abelardo
Morell's exploration of the microcosmos and the macrocosmos
I saw the tenuous balance between individual
rights and collective responsibility
necessary in any
democracy.

And I laughed
when I saw myself in Mitch
Epstein's "Altamont Pass Wind Farm."
So funny how we play games with
each other, with nature and
with ourselves.

And,
I loved Luis
Faglio's reflection about beach
restoration, how it celebrates the "hope
and the irony that we are able
to move sand."

Strange,
to feel at home
in a large, meandering
exhibit in an even larger museum,
but the message of these works was close
to home. Yes, we can move sand. Yes,
lupine does grow after a fire.Yes,
we have the power to renew
not just ourselves, but the
planet as well.
Yes.

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By Degrees - An Artist's Origin Story

2/3/2019

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How did I get here?
Why does it matter?

If you read my
post, "Why By Degrees"
you have some idea. But what's the
real story behind this blog and this site?
If you've known me for any length
of time, you've witnessed
an evolution...

2013:
A blog called
"Ataraxia Gardens"?
It sounded exotic. Ataraxy stands
for "serene calmness." I needed that. For
a bunch of ancient Greeks, Ataraxia was a lucid
state of robust equanimity. Heaven.
That's me. In the garden.
I wanted to share.

2014:
Then I found
Rufus and George.
Why not let them speak for me?
Our global problems are all about consumption
and our need for objects of all kinds. What insights could
a ruffled 50-year-old Steif Chimpanzee and a broken
china pug share about our relationship to all
our belongings, big and small?
So I briefly had a blog
called "Rufus &
George."

2015:
There was
a problem, though.
I had more to say than Rufus &
George understood, about how stuck we seemed,
caught between 20th century expectations and 21st century
realities. It hit me when I forgot to pull up instead of push down when
I peed. It's so confusing, changing a habit I'd had my entire life.
Flush the toilet. Push down. Until now, when everything
was a hybrid. So I created a blog, a business,
and a book, all called "Our
Hybrid Lives."

2016:
But I was stuck.
Why would anyone care?
Who was I behind the blog, book
and business? What was I trying to prove, and to
whom? So I got help. When my new business coach asked
me those same questions, I knew, in my heart, that I
was a photographer. When she asked me what I
loved, I knew -- compost and being outside
and noticing light and texture and
beauty. So I ignored all I had
been doing, got my
camera and
explored.

2017:
I kept exploring,
while taking small steps
forward. A web site. A business card.
A trip to New York City to photograph compost
& a few months later, have a 'pop-up' show where
I stood by my work and told people I was a
photographer and that I was into
compost, which kept inviting
me to go deeper, beyond
the soil, and into
myself.

2018:
I kept diving.
Saboteurs yacked on
my shoulder, but I kept going.
A visit to my sister in Idaho gave me time
to process. Compost, it seems, has the answers for me.
Pay attention. Be patient. Honor micro- dramas.
Allow for the mess and complexity
contained in any story, even
my own. Change "by
degrees."

2019:
Clarity emerges.
My work inspires joy and
new ways of being by celebrating this
magical convergence of creativity and climate action
that I experience every day. Who knew?
Welcome. This is going to be fun.
Maybe we'll meet in person
some day and you can
share your story
with me.

So that's how I got here.
It matters because you matter and your
story matters. Even if, like mine, your journey includes
false starts and stops and takes you this way
and that, it's relevant and of value.
Because, in a democracy,
we all matter.

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Creativity & Climate Action

1/29/2019

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Elias Sime, Detail, Tightrope: Infatuation, 2015 at The Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH

The re-imagined Hood Museum of Art re-opened
last weekend at Dartmouth College.
Among the treasures, I saw
this work by Elias Sime.
Undulating. Pulsing. In motion.
Alive. And yet it's made out of castoff
motherboards, toxic contributors to multitudes of e-waste.

Elias Sime, Detail, Tightrope: Infatuation, 2015 at The Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH

And yet the city he envisions is "a sprawling ecosystem
of form and water." It's a huge work, covering a
wall. Is it a tile mosaic? Is it marble?
No. It's a captivating vision of
what's possible when we see beyond
what appears toxic and allow beauty to emerge. Bliss.

El Anatsui, Hover, 2003 at The Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH

And then, on another wall, in the same gallery, this.
El Anatsui's "shimmering tapestry" evoking
material flowing in a breeze, but no,
it's a carefully constructed compilation of
bottle tops and copper wire. Garbage comes to life.

El Anatsui, Detail, Hover, 2003 at The Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH

So when I got home with this week's buckets full of
compost from Umpleby's Bakery & Cafe,
I was startled when I saw this.
Lemons. Lots of lemons. I hadn't planned
on taking any photographs, but who could resist the vibrancy?

Compost lemons from Umpleby's Bakery & Cafe, Hanover, NH

That's how it is for me. Apparent waste evokes joy. There
is possibility. I wonder if that's what Elias Sime
or El Anatsui were thinking? Or not.
It's just what happens when creativity and
climate action converge at the compost pile or anywhere.

What have you seen or experienced this week
that evokes joy or invites creativity? Let
it happen, when and wherever
it may. It's magical and life-giving and for
me, makes the world a much more interesting place.

Happy January my friends.

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Walt Whitman Inspiration: 2019

1/6/2019

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Happy New Year!

Excerpt from Walt Whitman's Poem "This Compost"

I've never
embroidered before,
but I decided to embroider
excerpts from Walt Whitman's
poem "This Compost." While he may
have written about dead corpses following
the American Civil War, I re-imagined
his words and considered waste
instead, and the power of
the earth to renew
herself again
and again.

Embroidered excerpt from Walt Whitman's Poem "This Compost" by Evelyn R. Swett

We have that
same power. Every
January 1st to begin again.
Whitman's is an optimistic poem
reflecting our innate American optimism.
I celebrate this poem not just because
2019 is the 200th anniversary of
Whitman's birth, but also
because his message
is more important
now than ever.

Embroidered excerpt from Walt Whitman's Poem "This Compost" by Evelyn R. Swett

My individual
stitches might be uneven
and the text written on an old pillowcase
may be awkward, but seen from afar, the colors
are bright, cheerful and make me want
to smile. Optimism is all I know.
So here we come 2019,
on stitch at a time...

Embroidered excerpt from Walt Whitman's Poem "This Compost" by Evelyn R. Swett

I launched
my online climate
'coaching' class and am
petrified. What if no one is
interested or needs what I have
to offer? But I show up,
one week, one stitch
at a time and
know it is
good.

1995 sheepskin fleece washed for the first time in 20 years!

I came home
from Mexico to find
that my anxious dog had
peed all over the sheepskin rug
I stand on to write these blog posts.
Frustrated? You bet. But what's a gal to do?
A few squirts of soap, some aggressive
massaging of the fleece and some
patience while it dried was all
that was needed. This is
what I tell myself.
New Year. New
ventures.
Patience.

Compost, Hanover, NH By Evelyn R. Swett

So here we are.
It's 2019. The UN Climate
Report says we have twelve years.
Our job is to show up, support each other and
get the job done. For me, that involves
persistence and patience and a
whole lot of bravery as
I creatively try new
things. What
about
you?

Embroidered excerpt from Walt Whitman's Poem "This Compost" by Evelyn R. Swett

"Behold this Compost! behold it well!
...What chemistry!"
-Walt Whitman

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Boxing Day Re-imagined

12/23/2018

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Boxing Day.
December 26th.
Celebrated in the UK. For
most people it means a day to hang
out with family, eat leftovers and enjoy gifts
given and received. But historically, it was also a day
to give "Christmas Boxes" to the servants, who would go home
and celebrate Christmas with their own families after
having cared for you on the 25th.

Or, perhaps the
term 'Boxing Day' comes
from the nautical tradition whereby
great sailing ships carried a sealed box of money
for good luck which, upon return, would be given to a priest
who would distribute the money to those in
need on the day after Christmas.

Here in New England,
we get back to work - - there is
no "Bank Holiday" for us. But over the past
decade, I have created my own "Boxing Day" tradition.

Photographs that are labels on Christmas Day, or beautiful holiday cards
become decorations on a box the next. And all that wrapping
paper gets a longer life, glued to a sneaker
box or packing box and used
year after year.

It started with
a desire to save paper and
reduce holiday waste. But over time,
it became something more - - A kind of compulsion
to fix what I had using materials at hand -
not just cards and paper,
but fabric as well.

One year, I redid
our recycling container.
The next, I created boxes to use
for grocery shopping. They were so admired
at our food co-op, I made some as gifts
for the clerks. Apparently one of
the boxes is now the bed
for a very happy cat.

What makes me happiest,
is that my son and daughter love to
find their custom gift boxes under the tree.
No need for labels. And certainly no
need for new wrapping paper.
It's become a tradition - -

Our very
own Boxing Day.
To me, that's what makes our
current time so inspiring. There are opportunities
for the creative re-making of the world as we know it.
As I discovered with a bunch of cards, paper
and fabric, beauty is everywhere.
What might you create or
discover this last
week of
2018?

Sources:
The Spruce: What is Boxing Day?

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Puzzles, Part 2: A Plan

12/19/2018

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I don't know about you, but I love the clarity and
focus of a puzzle. I start with the edges and
move on to specific colors or scenes.

Sometimes I have to change my
perspective or walk away and come back later.
It's amazing how even then, it can be hard
to see what is sitting right
in front of you.

Like these gaps.
I spent hours looking...I sorted the
pieces by shape and color and still had no luck.
Then my husband showed up and in
less than two minutes, these
three holes were filled.

At first, I was mad.
How dare he come along and
make it look so easy?

And then, I remember.
That's what makes a second opinion
or a second set of eyes so valuable. New perspectives
make something seemingly difficult
appear simple and self-evident.
How cool is that?

So in my last post
I talked about Reparations and
Carbon Offsets and how excited I am to
share my family's offsets with our local Advance Transit.

It was easy to go online and set up sustaining monthly
donations. We've amortized what we owe, so we'll
pay off our travel debt over time,
while also supporting
an invaluable local
resource.

When I think
about climate action,
I realize it's all about sharing -
not just the financial resources we may have,
but also our time, ideas and points of view. It turns out that
collaboration is critical, but so is having a plan, like
strategies for a jig-saw puzzle, or methods for
paying carbon debts we didn't even
realize we had.

Will Moses, Butternut Bend 24 x 30 www.willmoses.com

I may be an artist,
but I am also a planner and,
rumor has it, a motivating teacher. So I've
created an online 'class' that inspires people to dive
deep, take control, and find joy as they
participate in guided action
throughout 2019.
Stay tuned...
If you are looking for a climate action plan, I've got one for you.

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Puzzles, Part 1: Reparations

12/6/2018

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Reparations:
the making of amends for a wrong one has done,
by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.

Eiffel Tower at Night, 2012

It's been three years since the Paris Climate
Accord. Apparently one of the reasons the Unites States has
withdrawn is that we do not want to pay our fare share of climate expenses.

It really is a puzzle. There are all these messy pieces, but the parameters are clear.
We have to transition away from carbon-based fuels as quickly as possible.
And as the recent National Climate Assessment Report suggests,
we don't have much time. The warnings have been loud and
clear this year, with enormous fires and storms.
But our leaders ignore the signs...

My left ankle, taped

I get it.
I'm now doing physical therapy for injuries
I received during the summer, but ignored. It was just too
inconvenient. But, if I had acknowledged the irregular pains, and if
I had actually rested it right away, my ankle might have healed a lot faster.
Does this sound familiar? Let's just ignore the problem.
It might go away...

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico 2016

I don't know about you,
but I display this kind of behavior all the time.
In my head, I know one thing. In my heart I know another thing.
And then I act as if none of those understandings or feelings existed!

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico 2016

On a trip to Mexico a few years ago, we had a beachside room that was not very romantic - - Each day, the tide came higher and higher and each night I woke to the sound of
waves crashing beneath me. It was frightening. I vowed to never travel
again. I did not want to be part of the problem...But guess who's
going to Mexico with her extended family this year?
It was just too good to pass up...

Lyn's Lifetime Air Travel Record

What about the climate?
Yes, but what about my extended family?
It's a choice many of us make all the time, especially around
holidays. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, like when I first see all those
puzzle pieces in a pile on the table, I took action by gathering data. I may be an artist,
but I value real information. The facts. So I investigated the climate impact of my traveling. Here's what I discovered: When combining all trips I have taken alone and with my
family, beginning with my first international trip to Ireland & England, in
1974, I have traveled 208,674 miles on 105 different trips. That's the
same distance as flying eight times around the equator.
Total Carbon impact: 141.26 tons.

Lyn in London, 1974

What's a gal to do?
Cross her arms, plant her feet,
and say "so what?" Or, perhaps, get on with it and
take responsibility? I'm tired of ignoring warning signs and not taking
action, so I went online and learned that 'all' I need to do was pay $4,146 to offset
the carbon impact of my family's adventures. (www.myclimate.org).

Florida sunrise, 2007

A carbon offset:
a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases
made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere.

Textiles in Ecuador, 2011

I had been petrified to learn what we might owe for our family's amazing adventures
and it was that fear that had kept me from exploring offsets sooner. But here I
am, still icing my ankle and feeling rather stupid. If we had paid offsets
as we went we would not have this debt for which we had not
budgeted. I wonder if our leaders feel stupid too...

Railway station in Germany, 2012

Sometimes, as hard as it may be, we have to admit
our mistakes and pay our fare share for the privileges we have.
Given the National Climate Assessment's re-evaluation of our current climate
circumstances, it seems appropriate that we pay the carbon debt we owe
as quickly as possible. It's just the right thing to do.
Thank you, President George H.W. Bush.
Country (and planet) before self.
Next week, in part 2, I'll
talk about how.

In my sister's car somewhere in Montana, 2015

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On Becoming with Michelle

11/25/2018

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"It's a process, steps along a path.
Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor.
Becoming is never giving up on the idea
that there's more growing
to be done."
- Michelle Obama from Becoming

Me and Michelle

I've always admired Michelle Obama. It's hard not to. She's honest, intelligent and radiant. She promoted organic gardening and healthy food at the White House and inspired us to get our hands dirty, literally, in the garden (check out American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America). She's my kind of woman.

Like the keys on her piano growing up, mine are chipped too.

Naturally, I bought her latest book, Becoming, the day it came out and, because I had a bad cold, was able to sit on the couch, drink tea and read it from cover to cover. I love that the keys on my piano are chipped, like the one she learned to play on, and that I would probably feel comfortable inviting her to my house for conversation by the fire. She's that real.

Michelle Obama, Becoming, and puzzle strategies

Earlier today, while I was working on my annual 'between-holiday' puzzle, I wondered if Michelle ever does puzzles. And if she does, what is her approach? Does she do the edges first, like me? Does she sort by shape or color? Is she methodical or random? It doesn't really matter, but Becoming was an invitation to consider our commonalities. As she writes at the end of the Epilogue, "Let's invite one another in. Maybe we can begin to fear less, to make fewer assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same."

Thanksgiving compost

Snow and 4 degrees, before Thanksgiving?

It was this spirit that inspired my exploration of compost. To me, it was so much more than necessary nutrients for the garden. It became a metaphor for what it means to be an American. Without diversity of the green and brown stuff (nitrogen and carbon), patience and periodic attention, my compost pile would be an unproductive mess. Since diversity is our strength, why, then, do people fear it?

The News, Compost, and The All of It

A few days ago, I tore up some recent newspapers (The Valley News, our local paper) to offset all the vegetable scraps from Umpleby's Cafe and looked closely at what I saw in the compost pile. The stories covered everything from immigration conflicts along our border with Texas and deadly runaway fires in California to the dangers of E-Cigarettes and a recent shooting. Among these dramatic issues, each of which deserves our attention, there was an invitation to buy skis and yet another Snoopy carton. There are big problems in the world, but we can't solve them ourselves. We have to move beyond fear and ski if we love to and laugh at Snoopy, because it just feels good. These are ways we get out of ourselves.

Voting in Hanover, NH November 2018

"We all play a role in this democracy.
We need to remember the power of every vote.
I continue, too, to keep myself connected to a force
that's larger and more potent than any one election, or
leader, or news story - and that's optimism.
For me, this is a form of faith,
an antidote to fear."
- Michelle Obama from Becoming

Thank you, Michelle Obama, for your optimism.

Thank you, Michelle, for your invitation, your inspiration, and your optimism. You give me confidence to build this blog, By Degrees, and to share practical ways we can become the people are meant to be in a society that celebrates all of us.

Sharing Harvard

Our one true connection is Harvard. You went to law school and I earned my undergraduate degree in Fine Arts there. I wonder what you would think of my degree collage. For each of us, that experience in Cambridge, MA contributed to our capacity to share our stories with others and to have the confidence to put ourselves out there. I'm sorry that I won't be able to hear you speak in person, but I love your Instagram posts. With gratitude, Lyn

"It's not about being perfect.
It's not about where you get yourself in the end.
There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard,
in owning your unique story, in using your authentic
voice. And there's grace in being willing to
know and hear others. This, for me,
is how we become."
- Michelle Obama from Becoming

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Why By Degrees?

10/25/2018

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Why is this blog called By Degrees? Because...

Change happens in increments...until it doesn't;

We need to look at the world from many angles;

More people experience damage to their tissue because of the sun's increased power;

There are many educated people with lots of diplomas,
yet we still can't get along or figure out how to solve our current climate crisis;

There is a difference between 2 and 1.5 degrees celsius.

Maybe it's time to literally 'reframe' the narrative.

Why not have a proverbial 'do-over' and see what emerges?

By Degrees.
We have degrees.
We are separated by just a few degrees.
We can have a 10 degree perspective or a 360 degree perspective.
We feel the heat.