I’ve bought a car! Well, half of one, to be exact. No, nothing like that! I don’t do shop work. I did buy a low-miles, ‘99 red VW Jetta from a reputable shop, and I’m quite excited about it. He’s going to tune it up and replace several parts as part of the bargain. I’ll pick it up Wednesday, and finally have a solution to my commute woes. However, It’s a change in our planned lifestyle that I had hoped to avoid.

There’s more I want to write about our shift from a low-consumption lifestyle to, well, a more wasteful, time-consuming, and gas-guzzling one. We tried to avoid it; we’ve been a one-car family as much as possible. I’ve biked to work, worked from home, and walked my kids to school. Now, Trinity goes to Columbia Christian, which is great - but it means a 20-minute drive Eastward. I took a job 20 minutes Westward two years ago with the Luis Palau Association, which was compelling enough for me to leave freelancing and work from an office (I had previously sworn I’d not work on the West Side).

I ride my bike some days (15 miles round-trip; 30 min. bike, 30 min. MAX light rail), but it’s so time-consuming and difficult in the Winter. The days Kristi has driven me in to work can sometimes mean she drives for 4 hours back & forth between Columbia and my office. Stressful, inefficient, and frustrating.

So, short of quitting my job or getting a personal helicopter, this is the best I can do. I try to walk or bike for short trips as much as I can (hauling kids makes that hard, though). The worst part is eating crow - I took sinful pride in making some piddling progress in an urban, lower-consumption lifestyle—and now I feel the sting of prideful materialism. I have two nice cars in my driveway, almost too nice. That, and gas is near an all-time high. Every start of my engine I feel the trees dying… (sarcasm!)

There’s lots more eco-savvy topics left to explore: composting (Portland has no way to recycle food scraps); improving our home’s efficiency; working from home more; and walking & biking more. There’s a lot of renovation and improvement that needs to take place in the inner man, too.

Posted in Life