La bellissima esperienza della bolognese Leila mostra come sia valida l’idea di uno spazio che raccoglie oggetti (proprio come fanno le biblioteche con i libri) #riciclo #riuso #greenplanner

https://www.greenplanner.it/2025/12/12/oggettoteca-riuso-attrezzi-oggetti/

i'm trying to curb my time on social and visit blogs more regularly.

Local photographer and friend Deni Stanev shared this on her blog, and I found a lot of inspiration in it-

https://www.denistanevphotography.com/blog/creativity-without-approval-connecting-with-the-child-in-you

Piantare un albero è metà del lavoro: finché non è abbastanza grande per essere autosufficiente (e anche lì, ogni tanto una mano non guasta) occorre fare MANUTENZIONE. 🌳🛠️

La manutenzione, quest'abitudine assai poco instagrammabile che però è il valore fondante della civiltà. Dove non c'è manutenzione - per totale disinteresse ma anche per il suo omologo, ovvero il consumismo del lascia-che-muoia-e-ricompra - non ci può essere civiltà e, quindi, benessere per le persone.

When I moved in three winters ago I noticed a pattern during snowstorms: everyone would shovel their own section of walkway and nothing else -- sometimes just from the door to the street and not the public crossway or they'd just shovel their driveway and nothing else. This lead to there being a 20 foot section of sidewalk that was clear, then 20 foot not clear, then maybe another clear section down and on and off again all the way down the street, forever. The sections that were not cleared would freeze and become impassable, school kids would wipe out on them, the mail carrier would have to navigate through yards, etc. And through all of this I was watching some people clear their short sections of walkways with gas powered, self-propelled blowers.

So I started shoveling the entire block each and every snow. Sometimes my idiot self would use an actual shovel so I could be a total dork and do it while partialing (gets lots of car honks, cheers, and photographs. I apparently made the village Facebook group a few times with people thanking whoever it was doing this anonymous work), other times I'd use a handheld electric snow thrower thing and just wear my tail so that anyone viewing security cam footage to see who did the work was a weirdo. But I always went from one corner all the way to the other. Then last winter I started doing both sides of the street as well as the block south of mine because I expanded my arsenal of batteries to two. I did this over and over again regardless of how much snow or time or took - sometimes it needed several clearings in a day/night - because it was a decent replacement for my gym and actually resulted in something tangible I could see -- a clear path three blocks long with no interruptions. A thing of beauty. Each time I'd be sore as hell but feeling wonderfully accomplished.

Now and then my neighbor would see me doing his portion and would tell me that I didn't have to do that, he'd handle it later, etc. Did it anyway. And then it started to click for others. Last winter I noticed someone up the street from me began clearing half of the block to widen the path I'd created. Then my neighbor began to clear the south side of my block to complete it. Across the street someone now widens my path for a row of five houses. With the storm yesterday I did my paths and then returned home to find someone had cleared the south block after more snow accumulated. This morning, I did it again. A few hours later: engine noises. Four snow blowers out there making sure the path was completely clear block to block, end to end including cross streets. Someone has taken to start clearing up to some people's doors as well. It's incredible.

I did this because some people don't care but also I know some people simply can't due to age or physical ability and it's cool as hell because now I feel like we have an secret, unspoken group of Guardians of the Neighborhood thing going. I freaking love it.

Hey everyone else: 3200-3300 Maple Ave blocks are putting you all to shame. Step up.