Check out Outside Magazine

Okay, unrelated to Billy, please pick up a copy of September's Outside Magazine (not August--this cover has a picture of Emile Hirsch and a cover story about the movie Into the Wild). On page 32, there 's a story by our very own Ace titled "Shut Up About My Truck." I bet Daddy likes that headline.

Basically, Ace makes the point that some of us have to drive trucks because of our rural lifestyle, and that we make up for the environmental impact of truck driving in other ways--namely, Ace and I have a freezer full of food we grew in our backyard instead of getting it shipped from Chile or wherever. By the time he's 2, I know a certain young man who will be sick to death of squash.

There wasn't enough space for everything, but when Ace wrote the piece, it got me thinking about the way we live pretty simply here. We don't have a lot of high-tech toys (our TV was born around the time my little sister Julia was), most of our furniture is either antique or stuff we have repurposed (the best of which is the solid wood table Ace rescued from a campus trash heap that is now gorgeous and seats eight), we use a clothesline when the weather's right, we cook most of our meals instead of going out (Ace is a great cook!) and we don't buy a lot of crap--mostly because we hate crap, but you see my point.

I'm not sure if that makes up for not driving a Prius, but it's a start. How about this--we promise to get a BioDiesel truck one day. In the meantime, buy the September issue and check it out.