Lauren Neville

I walk my dog Jetty a lot, and most days take him on one big off-leash run to get his daily wiggles out (he's just over a year old). I love walking through my neighborhood and noticing what is blooming, or finding out what the trees are and admiring their leaves or shade, but I felt like we both needed to try a new space. Someone told me about Fernhill Park, on Killingsworth between 37th and 42nd avenues, and so I took Jetty there for his big run.
It was LARGE! I parked on the north side, where there is a hilled forested area and a few walking trails. There is also a small pollinator walk-through with sign about the local flora that I appreciated. There is a track for walking and running, a playground, and a few sports fields. The entire park seemed open to dogs off leash, so I let my guy roam free. At the south end of the park there is another large field of overgrown grasses and small walking paths, with lots of red and purple field flowers, a stark contrast to the north side where tall trees took over.
It was quite tucked away in the north, surrounded by houses, and very quiet. I suggest it to anyone with a little time to roam. We spent an hour walking around and Jetty loved the variety. It was a nice change that I highly suggest.

This week I tried eating all meatless meals, including at my job where I usually have meat (given I work at a salumeria). Although their meat practices are sustainable, I wanted to see if I could get away with changing my habit and change their minds about our staff meal in the process.
I was able to eat almost all my meals without meat this week! I did cave one day when I was feeling a bit iron deficient, but otherwise my coworkers worked with me to separate meat options from the veggie portion so I could opt out of eating meat. Other than at work, I eat vegetarian at home and just avoided any fish, choosing tofu or egg as the protein option.
Eating vegetarian at work is definitely difficult for me because I am burning a lot of energy and need a substantial meal after. They also only make one big meal for everyone, and everyone eats meat, so it feels selfish to alter the entire meal to suit my choice. I was really excited when they chose to cook all vegetarian for me on the two slower days because it felt like a stretch for them in a good way. I think they get used to eating meat for every meal and it was a nice change for them.
I think if I didnt work at the restaurant, I would be able to eat vegetarian pretty easily. When I'm in control of what I eat, I would rather choose veggies with the occasional fish option.

This week I decided to unplug most of my power cords when i went to sleep or work. I say most because I have to leave a light on for my dog when I'm at work at night. I may be imagining this- but my house felt like there was less of a "buzz", especially at night when I'm winding down to go to sleep. I'm going to keep doing it and am interested to see if there is any change in my electric bill next month. As a few days passed, it seemed silly that I hadn't been doing it all along. It takes no time because my apartment is small and I don't have many outlets to begin with, but because of that I have many things plugged into power strips, so it's incredibly easy. I had one small power adapter in the kitchen that I deemed unnecessary to keep everything plugged into, and decided to put it away unless I actually needed to plug multiple things in at once, since most things have been remaining unplugged.

I know this will become more difficult to implement as we go into summer, especially as I will have to keep my house cool for my puppy, but I feel confident that I can consolidate the A/C and light at the same outlet so I can still unplug most when I am at work. Luckily the A/C has an automatic temperature setting so it will be a little regulated when it comes to power.