Understanding the land you live on
A Sense of Place: Microclimates in Your Backyard
In the Intermountain West climate varies – by elevation, aspect, within valleys and even within backyards.
In natural landscapes, the varieties of plants (and where they grow) offer clues to microclimates. But man-made landscapes (like wheat fields and blue grass lawns) “mask” the diversity of climate within. The mask leads landowners to assume that the climate on their property is all the same. They discover their mistake when their plantings fail.
Natural features like elevation, aspect, and wind affect local climate, and therefore your backyard is a microclimate.
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guest column
Building a New and Sustainable Residential Model
About a year ago, a client of mine came to me and asked me to design a house that would have no energy bill -- a "Net Zero House," producing as much energy as it used. During the same year, I found that my energy bill for my own house was beginning to become much more of a burden on our family budget. These two events led me to research energy costs and how those costs are impacting the average American household. It was immediately clear from the research that energy prices are outpacing income and our current way of building houses will create energy bills that will not be sustainable for the average household. [more]
NewWest.Net Conferences
Designing the New West
The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation.
A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing.
Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Lessons from Lino
Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Rome’s Lino Miele at a workshop in Bozeman, Montana. Lino is a senior Ashtanga yoga teacher who has been studying the practice for more than 20 years—yet you wouldn’t know it at first glance. He’s as humble as a novice and as excited about the practice as if it were a recent discovery.
The following highlights, based around his teaching of the Full Vinyasa System, can inform and lend context to all students of yoga, Ashtanga or otherwise.
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Missoula Notebook
Going to the Dogs in MissoulaI don’t know why so many dog owners believe that leash laws apply only to someone else, although I guess most of us have at least a law or two we choose to disregard, even if it’s only a speed limit. Arguably one good reason to disobey leash laws is to be able to give your dog more exercise than you’d otherwise have time for, if you don’t live next door to Jacobs Island Park, although another way of looking at this situation would be that, if you don’t have time to drive to Jacobs Island Park on a regular basis, maybe you don’t have time to own a dog. [more]
Yoga On & Off the Mat
Setting the Stage for a Home Practice
Considering last week’s “Inspiring Reasons to Practice Yoga at Home,” it’s fair to say that a personal practice is worth exploring. Rolling out your mat at home, on your own schedule and in a way that supports your body/mind, bolsters all aspects of your yoga practice.
Now, it’s just a matter of preparing a place.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Inspiring Reasons to Practice Yoga at Home
I cherish my home practice. My body, my energy, my wall clock call the shots. Also, at home the teacher-student ratio shifts, and my monkey mind and body become my primary instructors. Sure, it shouldn’t take a home practice to fully focus on how I feel, but in a studio—where collective energy is paramount and wonderfully powerful—breath and body may move in ways other than what comes most naturally. Other than what flows when I’m flying solo.
With that, I deem a home practice a good, no great, idea because...
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Crème de la crème in Missoula
515 Chef Paul Myers a Finalist for National Honor
Paul Myers, executive chef at 515 on the Hip Strip in Missoula, is a semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for culinary professionals.
Thousands of entries were received but Myers made it into the top 20 for Best Chef Northwest. The top five finalists will be announced March 24 and flown to New York City to be honored at the Lincoln Center.
“I’m really honored to be in the listing,” says Myers, 37, a native of Billings. “I feel like what we’re doing is on point with those guys [in bigger cities], but I didn’t expect to get the nod out here because there’s just not as much exposure in an area like this versus a Portland or Seattle market.”
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Guru Guidance: Teaching is a Fundamental Aspect of Yoga
Yoga has always has been a student-teacher affair. And though many modern yogis practice at home sans guidance, they have likely gleaned some part of their practice, at some point in their life, from a mentor.
This week I consider the role of guru in yoga under the tutelage of modern scholars and modern mother/teacher/fashionista extraordinaire Tane Talalotou.
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