Photo credit: clobsSometimes life just gets too busy. Work, eat, bills, sleep, exercise, relax (for a moment) work, run errands. It just seems to go on and on. Even for someone like me who tries to keep their life simple, it doesn't always work. When I am home I seem to keep myself too busy, and fall behind on all the things I want to do. Making an hour to just sit with a book never seems to happen, no matter how little is on my plate.

Quite honestly, as my girlfriend has correctly pointed out to me, I think a lot of my time disappears into the Internets. Keeping up with my RSS feeds, following Tweeters, checking the news, the weather, brainstorming ideas for my website, following links that follow links... You get the idea. In fairness though, I enjoy it, and I do also find time for other things like working in the garden, doing yoga, and watching a little guilty pleasure TV. And also, all that time spent online does keep me up to date with the world, as I seem to just devour all types of media, from blogs to news to real paper publications, but have found myself all to often starting sentences with "I read this article the other day" or "This guy whose blog I follow" and it makes me feel a little too dorky.

So when your time just seems to disappear and you can't seem to find time for the simple things, what better than a weekend camping in the mountains?


Photo credit: °FlorianSure, more than one night would be great, but when you're on a tight schedule, taking 24 hours away from the distractions of home can be a miracle cure. Just this weekend I drove out to the mountains east of San Diego on Saturday afternoon, and returned Sunday afternoon, and getting away like that worked great. The relaxation factor is much higher than if the same time had been spent at home. There are no temptations from the computer, none from the TV, and best of all there are no bills to look over and no cleaning to be done. Only the most simple tasks need to be tended to; setting up camp and preparing food. And when you drive back into town already you notice how the pace of life is moving too fast.

After a simple night like that spent relaxing -- having a few cocktails by the fire, sleeping under the stars, and reading a book -- you can return home recharged and feel like you escaped life for just a bit.

Related Links:
How to find the job you love
Simplify and De-clutter

Labels: camping, how-to, lifestyle, outdoors, random, San Diego, simple living, tips

Due to the high popularity of a post titled "Organic garden by default" over at my old and somewhat obsolete and rarely updated blog, I would like to share some of what was in that post over here at Idealist Cafe.

I had been inspired to initially write the post by a trip back to Connecticut to visit my mother last year. She has a nice size yard, just a little over 3 acres, and over the years has had some very nice gardens. While she does still grow some vegetables, many of the areas of garden has just sort of taken on a life of their own. By this I mean they are plants that were planted many years ago, and now require very little upkeep. Also, she doesn't use any fertilizers, pesticides, or chemicals, if anything at all she just amends the soil using compost.

In a yard like this she has so many possibilities, now seen even more so through the eyes of someone who has lived in tiny little apartments with little or no yard here in San Diego. She has an apple tree that is probably 15 years old, and never gets watered and hasn't been pruned in at least 10 years. But it grows apples by the dozen, though they are not of the greatest quality. However with a little work it could probably supply organic apples for the neighborhood for the entire summer.

Along the side of the driveway there are wild grapes growing all over, as well as wild blueberries. The grapes are sub par, but could probably be used for something with a little bit of work. The blueberries on the other hand are amazing.

Here is a photo of a basil plant that she rarely touches, yet has somehow grown to a size I have never been able to achieve at my own hand. This plant also is completely organic. I am just amazed at the potential of a yard like this. While most of these are perennial plants, the others she just plants and then leaves unattended for the most part until the time of harvest. She grows tomatoes, pumpkins, and squash, and all without any attention on her part, just plants them, then leaves them. No watering except for the potted plants, no fertilizers except all the old stuff that has been left from previous years and has naturally been composted. Some days I wish I could just reign in that potential, creating a little lucrative side business selling grapes for wine making, fresh blueberries, pumpkins, salsas, apples, and the list goes on!

Here are a few more photos to enjoy...
  

Labels: garden, organic, simple living

The one thing I want have always wanted in my life is simplicity. I have learned over the years that clutter only confuses things, not to mention keeps my mind spinning about all the things I want or have to do. I know that when I sit at my desk, if I have junk all over it, my mind somehow picks up that clutter. I don't seem to have the skill that some people have that allows them to relax their mind when they have a to-do list a mile long. So I have learned that a simple and uncluttered life leads to a simple and uncluttered mind. As much as I try to keep this under control, somehow things seem to "re-clutter". Perhaps it is because I don't have the discipline to filter the incoming items that work their way into my apartment.

I was over at Zen Habits this morning, and thought I would share with you some interesting advice regarding simplifying and de-cluttering. I am going to attempt to put some of this into practice tonight, so wish me luck!

Oh yea, as a little side note, the more I de-clutter the less my crazy cat has to play around with and make noise with when I am trying to sleep in the morning.

Here is the first link, outlining four simple rules of simplicity and how to apply them to your life, and if you are more ambitious, here is another link with 21 easy hacks to simplify your life.

Labels: de-clutter, how-to, lifestyle, simple living