Veggie VW

It's another change. My little veggie car needs to have an onboard mechanic... I attended an important conference on Early Environmental Exposures put on by the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Centers and was in the Bay Area for three days. At noon on Friday I left for home in a rain storm after various misadventures with the car, like having to cruise 10 gas stations before I could find diesel and then having to have a very nice homeless man help me get the car the last few feet to the pump. Also, some switching thing came apart so the car was on diesel when it was supposed to be on veggie which didn't help. I almost lost my life stalling out in traffic. The tow truck driver was a very interesting person from the Punjab so that made it seem more or less graced to spend some time learning about his life. Michael had to come down to Vallejo and diagnose and repair the fuel line clog.

This was more the sunny side of things, being at Fort Baker for the conference. Fort Baker is right inside the land mass of the Marin Headlands, a gorgeous place that looks out on the Golden Gate Bridge and across to S.F. It was military until it was converted to civilian uses in 2002. These are some views:

The information from the conference was far less tranquil. We are poisoning our children and wiping out wildlife by not banning carcinogenic products such as Bisphenol-A, Phthalates and dioxins, all of which are endocrine disruptors, which is to say nothing about the multiple halogenated flame retardant chemicals that are especially bad in California. While unregulated chemical exposure is concurrent with higher body fat and earlier puberty the breast cancer risks will continue to rise along with other disease states. To me the science is clear. Some things, like AB 1879, the California Green Chemistry Initiative, may help but how that will be implemented remains to be seen. In the meantime it is buyer beware.

For me, the meantime also means running my car on diesel until the warm weather of springtime and I feel bad about that even if it does have "good mileage.'

I should never complain. Look where I used to live! This is Stinson Beach. I was young then and relied in those days on hitch hiking.

The world is so beautiful! For me it just resonates my gratefulness to see sights such as these. A Thanksgiving through and through to and for you.