Laila Yasmine Jones and Trig Paxson Van Palin

Laila Yasmine Jones, 3

Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin is a lucky lady, she's the one we'll turn to if the president kicks the bucket, she's the one that will have to deal with the hot-heads in a fight and authorize 'pressing the button'.....a woman with kids is a better bet than anyone, to want to save the planet and human lives. Her Down Syndrome baby is also more of an asset to the future of this country than anyone without a DS child could possibly know. Anyone with a DS child knows what I mean.

What, what do I mean?
DS children are naive, at least the standard Trisomy 21 translocation children, those with Mosaicism are prone to be closer to typically developing children in physiology and mental ability. But most DS children are naive in the nicest sense, naive in the sense that they love everyone. Smile at a person with DS and you will receive a big hug, a kiss and more warmth than many of us get to feel in our entire adult lives. They are simply adoring and adorable. They seem to bring a light into any dark corner of a day and brighten the worst moments of life with love and sweetness.

They simply don't drag around bad memories like we do, they do have memory, but they don't keep grudges to the same extent that we do. They'd rather turn on the music and dance, enjoy life and goof about, make jokes, have fun. My children say they wish they were DS, they would love to be rid of the responsibilities associated with growing up. And therein lies the dichotomy, DS children do need more chaperoning than the average child, they just are too apt to trust and like people in general. It's an enviable state of mind, you have to admit, permanent innocence....wow.

My 3 year old daughter Laila is beautiful, her soul, her psyche, her very being. She gets sad and cries tears when in pain or frustrated or tired, she has dislikes and likes and habits and weaknesses and strengths. She is like us, but she is not. We teach her more, we wait for her speech to emerge more, we coax her along more, we expect the same, though. That's the trick, she should feel like she has the chance to achieve the same as everyone around her.

I'm taking God out of the equation because we had Laila from a simple respect for any life.....no God needed for that one! I made the mistake of a termination once, and cherish the life I took away, I feel the loss daily, and wonder how the child would have learned to hold a fork and spoon and to tie a lace, there isn't a moment that thinking of that madness does not make me want to go and join that child. But here I am, with 4 children and Laila is a beautiful angel, a DS gift.

So, be happy we have the opportunity to bestow the button pushing job on a woman who has a DS child. If she is a true mother, someone who does not wish to let the important moments slip away, she will know what is right and what is wrong, and she will always have a sense of the sweet angel child she has brought to our world, in any life or death decision she makes, that child will guide her, more than any of the others, from his pure and unconditional love, simply having had a DS child love you is enough to turn you into a different person.

Good Luck to Trig Palin, your direct connection to the universes pure love and light will be a help to the entire world, wonder if he knows what he's letting himself in for?

25 Minutes on SE 5th Street

JOINING THE FISH IN THIS PART OF THE OCEAN
A citizenship interview today? 08-08-08! Many people in China were having c-sections and getting married because of it. In the end it was a lucky day for me, but a day that the great sufi poet, Maulana Jalaludin Rumi, may have had something to say about, like; 'people meet to share lessons, conflict helps open hearts, lessons happen because we need them.'

I think that's sort of what he would have said about this day, a day anticipated for 2 months, one that was almost completely forgotten, despite my organizational abilities and supreme confidence.

This was the day I was going to ask to become an American after 12 years of meandering through bureucratic forms and hating the idea of adopting a 'new' country, or have it adopt me! What's wrong with the one I already have? It's the right thing to do, my father and my husband both tell me.

The night before was a doozy; two tiny children squirming in my bed, I finally stayed awake long enough to realize I had actually been asleep and it was time to get busy with the first last minute preparations for my United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) interview. Namely; getting the youngest munchkin ready and breakfast on the table for everyone else. Meusli this morning, Dr. Mitchell's Austrian Meusli (link to the recipe here, soon!) recipe is a tried and tested winner, no matter who it is that eats it. Bit messy to make wearing the fancy outfit for the interview, grating banana, kiwi and mango is best done with an apron, not a nice shirt.

845am Finalizing arrangements for the day everyone suddenly decides they want to come with me to Miami, in the last shake, it's my Dad, Jena, Mira and me. Alia and Laila stayed with Oma, my Mum to bask on beaches and get sun tans, divide and conquer, this was going to be a breeze. With Dad to drive, Mira scheduled to sleep around the time we arrived, Jena reading, quick run through of the 100 civics questions for the test, I was all relaxed and set for some fun socializing. Can't seem to get the 13 original states in my head and who are the elected officials that represent us in the House and the Senate from Florida? No one in my vehicle seems to know, ironically, the interviewer I had was a draft from California and he didn't either.

The GPS 'TomTom' says we'll be there 7 minutes early, at the rate we're going, in other words, late! We make it, with a low fuel light. I leave my sleeping angel for the first time in someone else's care and run break neck to the door, don't have a clue if my Dad can remember how to find his way back to me again, does he even know how to use that talking map thing? Is his cell phone on, Jena'll remember how to find me, maybe not, oh crap! I start to get tense.

Security at the door steps my way, "Mam," he says in a rough voice, without a smile, "Are you an attorney?" Yeah I do look good don't I, I think to myself, very self-confident, slick and sharp, no one would know I spend every minute of my day cooking, cleaning or wiping bottoms. "No, I am here for a citizenship interview." I take a step to the door, he stops me and says "You got a cell phone with a camera?" I pull it out and show it to him, he says I can't take it in with me, I snap, it takes about 10 seconds to go from attorney look-alike to pyscho-blubber, it hits me; my Dad doesn't know how to get back to me from wherever he is going, he has my sleeping 9 month old and 6 year old in the car and never answers the phone, and this man is asking me to sever what is left of this tenuous connection to my transport, father and my young children.

Stress comes in many packages, but my cell phone is the last place I expected to find it! All the time this voice is saying there is something wrong here, something about these cold and emotionless faces devoid of all humanity. "Where does it say on the documents I have had in my possession for 3 months, 'do not bring camera phones?'" The chorus of overweight grey clad black men with guns and badges pipes up, "It says on the paper, read it." Some woman stops to see what it says and can't find it either, meanwhile the clock is ticking, I am now 1 minute late. I say again, raising my voice and crying tears of total frustration "What do you expect me to do, you are going to block my entrance from my citizenship interview, because there is a camera on my phone? Something that was not written in the letter, and something that is not written anywhere outside the walls of the building where I left my car, where can I put the phone, you won't hold on to it, there is a box there inside, can you put it in there?"

All the response is blank denial. I continue, aware of the precipice upon which I am delicately perched, tottering between stating my case and a refused entry for ruffling their security 'feathers.' "This is insane, it's a joke, government offices don't run like this, this is a joke." They all point to signs on the doorway, saying no camera's. I agree, at least they can all read.

Just then a man seen previously in silent conversation with a security guard steps up and says, "Why don't you take the cell phone to the security at the entrance?" Sounds like a good idea to me, except all I saw was a parking lot attendant. I say, "I have a better idea, why don't you take it for me, I am late!" He shrinks away and attempts to blend with the tarmac, "I can't take it, you have to." So, in a flurry of tears I run, as fast as I can, to the so called 'security,' a young Cuban without a uniform, I hand him the phone and still with tears in my eyes at the pain of severing the only link between my children and the passing moment of my interviews commencement, tell him i'll be back for it. Before I can leave he says "That's $5." Now i'm already primed for a fight so I launch on him; "You are a joke and a crook, there is something wrong here, this is not what the government would do, no sir, you are going to hear about this from someone much higher up than you, yes you are!" He says calmly, "it's not my fault, it's not me, it's them, they do it," with a defensive tone. I can't find the change after a good rummage, he says go, pay me when you get back if your late, on the outside of the cubicle in which he resides there is stuck a paper sign that says "You can pick up your cell phone at the other window." Food for thought I say to myself. This must be a regular occurence around here, it doesn't look like they turn the money in at the end of the day.

How would his security friends react to the knowledge that the Cuban did not charge me for baby-sitting my phone? I remember I am later now and rush through the scanner, fast, take the elevator to the second floor, sobbing, I present my paper work to the woman waiting, she is clad in the same attire as the gentlemen downstairs. She says "You are late," "Yes i'm late," so I let her have the story, the bit that gets her is the Dad doesn't know how to get back and my baby is in the car with him, she stamps me in, says "Go back get your phone and call him."

I run back even faster, past my friends the security guards, past the highly entertained and gapping crowd, and to the security hut at the entrance to the parking lot. My Dad does not answer, that panic, sinking feeling in my stomach is back again. What if he can't find me? What if Mira is crying her 9 month old lungs out for me right now? And Jena? I have no choice, I leave Dad a message and run back to the second floor to "sit and wait!" But soon a rather large and cheerful looking man calls my name, I sing out, "Yessss, here, coming." I picked up a pen I found lying on a seat next to me, for no reason, and run to the door.

Jose, my interviewer, seemed like the nicest person, I asked him if he did this every day of the year, he said not every day! So we started on a jovial foot and it got more raucous from then on, in the most polite possible way. He invited me in to sit and make myself comfortable, I put my pen on the table, he commented that I brought my own pen, I said I found it, he said his were always getting stolen, so I left him the one I found.

Jose was a ten year veteran with USCIS. "The humidity here in Florida sucks, these people suck, they nit pick you like crazy and it slows them down like crazy," we're interrupted by a handsome black man who appears at the door wearing a brown shirt and tie, "Hey Jose, how many you got left?" he asks, "I just have this one," says Jose, "Man, I have three, and they are all 648's too." Jose smiles as the man walks away, I ask what a 648 is. Jose explains it's a medical exemption to gain reprise from the Englilsh language civics test which is accompanied by extensive questioning to confirm the medical condition, a lot more work than a straight forward N400 like mine.

Jose asks me to raise my right hand and swear an oath to tell the truth, then he asks me if I have you ever been arrested, jailed, a prostitute, a member of any fascist regime, falsely acted as a US citizen, would I bear arms to defend the United States? He asks me "Do you want to change your name at this point?" to which I answer yes, "I want to be known as Nada Khalaf-Jones." Just like that, it's done, then he starts on the civics questions; "How many stars are there on the flag?" I answer "50," "and stripes?" "that's 13 original colonies," he goes on, "what is the supreme law of the land? "The constitution," I answer, "what is the constitution?" he asks, "the supreme law of the land," I answer, smiling inwardly, "on the 4th of July, what day do we celebrate Independence Day?" I answer "4th of July?" he asks "What holiday do we celebrate on July 4th?" I answer "Independence Day," then "when do we vote?" finally a meaty question "November, then the electoral college in December." "You got it, Mrs. Jones." Well done, we'll be sending you a swearing in appointment in the mail, it'll take about 3 to 4 months."

But during this interview, his obvious bias in my favor did not damage my understanding of civics that i'd worked hard to remember, despite teh fact that only 7 questions were asked, he never compromised his seriousness, and his obvious professionalism allwoed us to carry on a humorous and interesting conversation that wove in and out of the serious business of becoming American.

Jose's story; he was from San Francisco, he liked his mountain view home, he loved the draft to New York for 6 months to help them clear the backlog there, he had had a $6000 a month apartment and $6000 a month per-diem, his son was green with envy when he saw his Dad's apartment, the younger Jose's crash pad paled by comparison. He did not like his Miami draft, it was too humid, he couldn't sleep for two nights because of a cricket in the room, he was so tired, he thought he was being awoken by an alarm telling him to watch the Olympics! "And you can't kill cricket's it's bad luck. It's not like a mosquito you know!" I laughed, stress peeling away in layers.

After we'd swapped horror stories about how tired we both felt, I admitted I had been shedding tears and wreaking havoc with his colleagues downstairs over my cell phone, he said, "My goodness, a crier huh?" "Yes, and now I have to go apologize to everyone I knocked down on the way in!" "Well Mrs. Jones, if there was a back door i'd show you to it."

At this point we parted company, it took me exactly 25 minutes to loose it, ditch my cell phone, become a citizen, from drop off at the entrance to meeting my smiling Dad, pushing a sleeping Mira and trailed by a happy Jena playing bubble popper on his phone whilst walking along a busy downtown sidewalk. And that is all I have to tell about 08-08-08. Meanwhile Michael Phelps won all the gold's going, swimming for the USA, and Russia got into a fight with Georgia, from here I can see Jalal Rumi laughing. I hear in 3 months when and where the swearing in will be. I'll leave the cell phone at home.

Meanwhile, my husband says, and I agree, there is something not quite above the table about the $5-cell-phone-baby-sitting-charge, and maybe it'll need looking in to. What would Rumi say about that?

Cousteau Still Timely From the Grave

"THE HUMAN THE ORCHID AND THE OCTOPUS, EXPLORING AND CONSERVING OUR NATURAL WORLD."
Jacques Cousteau and Susan Schiefelbein

Book Review

Nada Jones, December 07.

How can 'saccage' have caused the decline of species by destroying mangrove forests, and if we want to feed the world with fish why do we throw so much of it away, and how did our planet avoid vanishing in some cosmic cataclysm, Cousteau likens our evolution to an orchestration of 'lucky accidents' that could have at any time been ceased by a clashing note echoing out of the skies. He says the most complex vertebrates, human beings, the most complex invertebrate, the octopus, and the most complex plant, the orchid are all a result of the evolution of these lucky accidents.

The book sweeps us from the descriptive narratives of the first coral reefs through world-wide destruction of these declining ecosystems, he weaves into his narrative our particularly human need for survival, a tale as wonderful as it is woeful, of supply and demand, a demand that places us in opposition to the world of nature we depend upon and simultaneously destroy; the Maldives, where Islanders cut off coral branches to build homes, and as it erodes away the same coral that keeps their small barrier islands afloat slowly becomes the vehicle of their demise.

We marvel with him at the callously destructive high tech efficiency harnessed by factory fishing boats, growing numbers of which seem to signify that the world can be fed on fish, a fact that Cousteau flatly denies. He balks at the nuclear age, and between the same covers of this book assaults the irresponsible behavior of politicians and scientists that usher in short sighted technology and policies to go with it.

He likes to talk about the dichotomy of our existence, even turns his critique on himself, unsure if, given the destruction to coral for sale and world wide assault on fish in their last hiding places by scuba divers, that he would ever have taken part in the invention of the aqualung at all, and in true Cousteau style admits that if he had not invented it someone else would have.

This man spent most of his life on or beneath the ocean's surface, and when he was land-locked he used his time to document, present and make tracks within an ever-increasing cadre of world leaders and politicians who were increasingly compelled by the facts around them to stop and listen.

From his clash with Charles De Gaulle over France's nuclear program, he recounts Israeli nuclear technician, whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu's revelation of Israel's secret nuclear weapons plant south of Jerusalem in Dimona, to the London Sunday Times, a French villages arrest of it's mayor to prevent the nuclear power station, and the people of Maine who discovered their area was short-listed for a nuclear waste repository where an activist swore, "We have people in Maine who are willing to die to keep the Department of Energy out of here."

Cousteau calls these people the kamikazi's of peace. His solution is the complete removal of all atomic energy from the planet, he hopes that we begin to pursue a new 'dictum,' in this century, forsaking the old one that says 'if you want peace then prepare for war, with 'if you want peace, then prepare for peace.'

The leader that uses the nuclear bomb will destroy the world, but the one who finds a way to rid the world of this energy will rule it, he says, lofty ideals indeed, but his plan says we should reserve the use of these atomic forces to the cosmic realm, where they belong to combat the incoming meteor storm of our own literal Star Wars. Cousteau yearns to escape the inevitability of human constructed disasters, he says human 'saccage' has stripped the world of species faster than any natural disasters could have. He indulges in a fantasy world of the future, where in a few more billion years, human life, which evolves into wizened beings, are busy being stewards of not just our own planet, but the universe beyond as well.

His compassion and humor are never so animated as when he relates personal accounts of the ingenuity of nature beneath the waves; the way simple creatures achieve inexplicably complex acts in order to survive. Lyrical passages about 'shark territory' being wherever the shark 'is' and a little known side of the gentle dolphins that illustrates them as 'hellions' that storm the sea like unruly teenagers, he calls them the punks of the marine world, the sea's enfants terribles.

Anyone mildly interested in what lies beneath the surface of the ocean and why it is a barometer for how badly we are in trouble, whether scientist, Marine Sanctuary Manager, office worker, burger flipper or scuba diver should grab a copy of this book, high school students should be made to study it, chapter by chapter, if for nothing other than his writing style and humor.

Cousteau has an edge that puts him at the top of this game, he even grabs a hold of the role religious dogma has played in educating generations to abuse the earth, and gives it a serious shake, even from the grave, written as it was in 1996, Cousteau's humorous, serious and lyrical environmental warning is still timely, memorable and haunting.

Solar Hot Water - Eating the Solar Elephant

FloridaSolarHotWater.com's 'Skyline' Open Loop System is easily installed on a metal or concrete roof, without the use of a crane, 3 rectangular panels heat the cold water that is pumped through them from the storage tank in the house. The pump action is powered by the small solar photovoltaic panel.


Being the only person on the street with piping hot water after a hurricane might not be something people with solar hot water brag about, besides, having the whole neighborhood lined up outside the bathroom isn't an enviable predicament to be in, but bragging about the reduction in electricity costs, as well as the reduction in fossil fuel emissions equivalent to taking one car off the road, this is something most of them shout loudly from the roof tops.

And one that Florida Sea Grant Marine Agent, County Director UF, Monroe County Extension and board member of the Green Living and Energy Expo (GLEE), Doug Gregory supports, and is confident it is the best step any Keys resident can take.

"Solar Hot Water systems can pay you back in 3 to 6 years, they cost about $3000 to $4000, whereas electric solar photovoltaic (PV) panels start at about $20,000 for a standard residence, and take a long time to recoup the cost, about 30 years. We really need to push the solar hot water heaters, we really have no electricians to install the solar PV panels, it requires a plumber to do the solar hot water," he says.

State and federal incentives help people to do this; with $2500 available, the final cost can be as low as $1500 for a certified plumber installed, new system.

Solar water heaters start life on the roof, they can weigh anything from 19 lb's for the more modern forced circulation system that requires an adjacent small solar power (pv) panel to run it, and up to 500 lb's for the older passive water heaters that contain 40 gallons of water and rely on convection to circulate it, they both resemble skylights.

They are basically aluminum boxes covered in tempered glass that contain coils or fins through which water circulates as the sun heats it. Plumbed down to the household water tank, the water cycles downhill to fill the tank, which, in an average sized home is enough to fill either a 40 or 80 gallon tank. The water can get up to over 160 Fahrenheit, and, nowadays, wind stress being an issue in the Keys, the 150 mile an hour wind-load standards have resulted in increased engineering specifications.

"We thread rod them through the ply wood in to the truss, so if the roof stays on in a storm, chances are your panel will stay there," says Thomas Haskins, of Haskins Plumbing in Key West, even if the glass breaks on the panel, it's tempered glass like in the car wind shield, and as long as the glass is not leaking, then it still supplies hot water.

The more modern systems can easily supply an entire household's hot water needs from the suns energy, and if there are too many cloudy days, heating the water the traditional way is accomplished by the flick of a switch, back to the grid, or a cool shower.

And while people have been known to self-install these lighter weight systems successfully, most start as a first step with a web search, or a call to the power companies to link up with certified installers and plumbers. The first thing they learn is that all of the pieces and parts come from out of town, and locally certified talent is thin.

The biggest boon, despite the relative lack of local solar goods, personnel and technical support, is probably the words of encouragement from some in the community, as well as, increasingly these days, some in the local power industry.

"We do recommend that, especially if your building a new house to put solar water on it, with the increases in fuel prices it's probably more cost effective now, even retrofitting with solar water heaters is part of the equation, more than in the past when that was cost prohibitive. The current environmental issues are in the news all the time, I think you'll see more solar applications in general," says Scott Newberry, Chief Executive of the FKEC.

But, are these actions enough to usher in a truly green era of living in the energy inefficient Keys? It will only be truly in the power companies' interests if they are the ones selling and installing the panels in the first place.

At present the most driven people around the Keys to want solar water heaters are building contractors, but officials and solar water heater suppliers that have dealt with the contractors of the Keys on a weekly basis for years, say they almost all driven by the value of that extra ROGO point, more than environmental consciousness.

"Basically almost everyone that comes into ROGO puts that down, solar hot water, heat recovery, or solar panel, they come in one way and then get their point and then change to a heat recovery system," says Tiffany Stankiewicz, Monroe County Sr. Planning Technician in Marathon. She says the ROGO point will go away when the Tier system takes effect, no one yet knows what will replace it.

In fact the fate awaiting anyone who makes inquiries as to where to buy and how to install a solar water heating system, is still a bit of a self-motivated leap of faith, "just keep swimming," is putting it mildly. The fact is, at this stage the locally contacted power companies aren't much more helpful than suggesting websites where certified solar water heater contractors may be found, or offering to sign alternative energy conscious people on to their new, 'premium' green energy services.

As for certified plumbers that can install the systems, two out of the three listed on the suggested Florida Solar Center website for Monroe County, did not reply to phone calls, but state certified and available by phone, is the solar-man in the Keys, Thomas Haskins.

"I like doing solar, most people don't know this is one of the ways you can save energy, help the environment and it pays you back up to $80 monthly, you are no longer as reliant on City electric. Once you've had the hurricane, you'll still have the power for the hot water, also an option to consider when a traditional water heater goes bad, instead of replacing that energy bighting old system, this is where the future lies," he says.

He installs about a dozen units a year, 3/4 of which he says are ROGO point getters and the rest are the environmentally conscious people who want to save money.

But recently he's been replacing hurricane-damaged panels, which touches a nerve that can stop people in their solar tracks.

"The Ocean Key House Hotel suffered hurricane damage on their panels from roof debris, the glass shattered, but did not leak, we put 6 brand new ones on, they have 18 panels on their roof," he said.

And although solar collectors littered streets around Key West after Wilma, so did mattresses, screen cages and roof top pieces, and, as people did not go without replacing their beds, roofs and screens, similarly, solar water heater owners upgraded and renewed their systems.

"Because they realized the value of what they had," says Dale Gulden, CEO of the Florida based company, Solar Direct, who has seen a 3 or 4 fold increase in installation's in the Keys since Wilma, now there are stricter wind load criteria.

As for the 5 local government offices contacted in the matter of solar water heaters, the permit office was happy to quote the costs of permitting them and these varied wildly from $52 up to $180, the building office read off a list of objections, and none have yet to recommend solar hot water over the older power greedy 'heat recovery' alternative, but one suggestion was to supply people with a standard for installation on all different roof types.

"If someone was putting in one, they would have to supply the engineering information as part of the permitting process. If they can supply a standard engineering form for a concrete roof, metal roof etc, we'd keep a master on file, and if we could make it easier and cheaper for people, then we would do that," says Key Colony Beach's Building Official, Edward Borysiewicz.

Suggestions as forward thinking as this stand alone, the overwhelmingly negative municipal comments say it all; 'people just don't want to go up there on the roof, that's why it isn't popular,' and 'my brother loves his, but I don't think it'll catch on,' and 'we recommend heat recovery systems' and 'this kind of thing will void a roof warranty,' or 'you'd need to pay a certified engineer or architect to go up there and inspect it before we'd be willing to grant the permit.'

It's no surprise there is little interest, add to it the huge discrepancy in permitting regulation and costs that pertain to solar water heaters up and down the Keys.

Beyond this governmental quagmire, a more simple matter is money. If there is nothing financial in it for many people, there is just no interest. Local power magnates only make money out of green energy if customers sign up for their premium 'green,' services, not if people by-pass them and reduce their electric bill by up to 50% with solar hot water. And certainly not if they go the more expensive route to complete energy independence with solar (pv) power, as a small handful have found the rather larger investment resources of an initial $20,000 to do.

But on the start small solar frontier, local's like Haskin's in Key West, whose father and he have been converts for the last 25 years or more, to sun heated showers, may smile knowingly as Governor Charlie Crist becomes the latest Floridian political celebrity to install a solar water heater to warm his pool and a hydrogen fuel cell to power the rest of his magnanimously re-named 'people's mansion' in Tallahassee, but are those that need to be convinced by his acceptance of the greening revolution actually listening?

Stirrings are heard in the halls of power around the Keys community, now notorious for it's energy inefficiency, as energy efficiency action plans and reports are being printed, perhaps even on recycled paper and officials seek alternative energy ideas, it remains to be seen if there will be a concerted effort in getting institutions and individuals away from the use and abuse of nuclear, gas, oil and ethanol as more destructive sources of power, despite the wave of reluctance that awaits those interested in doing so.

Sugarloaf Shores resident Sven Fris Jr. does not hear the detractors, he just loves his solar hot water and will be keeping it, regardless of the potential for damage from hurricanes, cold showers on cloudy days and roof top maintenance or voided roof warranties.

"We installed ours in 1998, the cost then was $2000, and there were no incentives. We had our panel mounted low to the roof to minimize uplift from wind, we have been so pleased with it, and have no complaints," he says it has gone through every hurricane since Georges and the bigger 80 gallon storage tank easily serves himself, his wife and guests, they switch back to electric power when it's cloudy.

Titusville based FloridaSolarHotWater.com sold a 'Skyline' open loop system recently to one commercial airline pilot in Key Largo, made to supply 85% of the hot water needs to a home, in the Florida climate, and pay for itself in 3 to 6 years, it is ample for his 5 person family, even with the smaller 40 gallon storage tank, and he likes the savings.

Key Largo resident and Green Living and Energy Expo steering committee member John Hammerstrom and his FIU Professor wife have enjoyed their 40% solar powered sustainable materials home since 2002, they have a 40 gallon passive Solar Direct PT-40 system like the one their United Airlines friend Ed Yost also has on his roof. It stores the water in the coils within the casing, which makes it weigh a whopping 500lbs, when functioning.

And on Plantation Key, Mike and Gay Purvis plan to replace their on-demand water heater with a solar water heater from Solar Direct, some time this year.

"It's just the last thing we can do to really make this place energy efficient, we are doing this for the little ones, you know, the next generation," says Gay Purvis of her 8 year old son, Ethans' future.

Application forms for incentives: www.energytaxincentives.org. Also at www.dsire.com The Florida Solar Energy Center has a list of qualified installers: http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/solar_electricity/installers.htm

Foam House Quiet as Mouse

Brett Ekblom at home in foam

Walking through 7677 Valencia Drive, Key Largo, the silence is deafening, and no one would notice the aroma when the wind changes direction, from the John Pennekamp State Park sewage plant nearby, if a hurricane were to deliver copious flood waters, this now completed house would stay quieter and drier than it's traditionally constructed neighbors, because it's built with polystyrene foam panels filled with concrete or Insulated Concrete Foam, (ICF).

Polystyrene foam is so good at insulating from heat and resisting moisture that a thin cup made of it will contain a liquid and keep it piping hot or freezing cold while resisting moisture, but shape double 4" thick panels of the stuff into panels, insert between them some poured concrete and shape them into a home, makes for a fast built and highly energy efficient, quiet, place to live.

ICF, just add concrete

Native Construction's recently completed home on Valencia Drive in Key Largo and an already completed one 15 miles South on US1 in Islamorada were built of ICF.

"It was not much cheaper, we broke about even on it, but it took 3 guys 5 days to build it, start to finish, as opposed to two weeks for three guys to build a CBS home," says Brett Ekblom, Owner of the family run construction business based in the Florida Keys.

When local resident and building contractor, Ekblom learned some of the possibilities offered by these ICF's, especially energy efficiency rebates of $2000 and $2000 more as the homeowner, he felt the extra cost of building with ICF panels was worth it, in view of fuel cost increases of late, but in the long run will foams long life outlast these savings over the next 5 generations?

Globally the benefit from this incredibly strong, energy efficient and easy to handle building material has been noted and is being put to work, particularly in earthquakes prone regions in Afghanistan, where the US National Federation of Scientists have a bid in to reconstruct with solid foam core panels.

As more and more of the stuff is used in a wider variety of ways, the issue of bio-degradability becomes a large question. Yes soy and corn foam alternatives are seeing the light of day, with far fewer harmful effects on the environment than the petroleum based product that makes up polystyrene foam, but, they are not yet as widespread in their usage, certainly not enough to outweigh the side effects of polystyrene foam production and it's 500 year biodegrade schedule.

Seeking to lessen the damage to planet and atmosphere, scientists claim to have discovered a bacterium that likes to eat styrene oil, the petroleum based substance that makes polystyrene and the 'exploded' polystyrene foam. This bacterium produce a biodegradable plastic known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) when they 'eat' styrene oil. This PHA has already been re-cycled to make anything from plastic cutlery to vitamins, but the recycling process is costly and far from widespread, a handful of styrofoam centers exist around the US, and none yet offer this new recycling process. Either way, recycling the foam is heavily toxic, as is it's production process and some communities are banning it's use in government facilities as well as legislating it's use be halted in restaurants. Bans exist in Taiwan as well as US states such as Portland, Oregon, Orange County, California and San Francisco and New York is on it's way.

The EPA says this country dumps 2.3 million tons a year into landfills and recycles only 1%, they say Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 polystyrene foam cups a year which, 500 years from now, will still be sitting in a landfill.

Polystyrene foam is composed of Benzene, Styrene, and Ethylene. These three substances are all on the EPA's list of hazardous substances, and according to an EPA report, when joined together in Styrofoam, it's Dow chemical trade name, "can also have serious impacts on human health, wildlife, the aquatic environment, and the economy."

Besides the environmental consequences of using this material in packaging, cups and take-out containers as well as homes like Ekblom's in Islamorada and Key Largo, and the potential increase around the un-developed world, they do pay back the planet because they retain warmth or cool in the internal dwelling climate much more efficiently than traditional concrete and wood homes, this means a reduction in heating and cooling costs.

"The R value is so high that my electric bill will be cut by at least 35%," says Ekblom.

Building with ICF's is comparable in cost to building with 2x6 wall construction, but with a staggering insulation value of R32, this far outstrips other building products and equates to a silent night, with only about one-third as much noise, a consumption of about 43 percent less energy for heating and 32 percent less for cooling. These figures are all from the ICF manufacturers website.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, energy costs for an average family have increased 25% since 1998, and home heating and cooling bills are the largest monthly payment for families after their mortgage, so it's no wonder people are looking for a way around these costs. But at what long term environmental cost?

As for whether or not more of these homes will show up in the Keys, that's another story, Ekblom says once the word gets out, they will catch on, as for our future environment the mind boggles as to what the bacterium that today eats styrene oil will have developed into in 500 years when the coffee cup used for breakfast finally crumbles to dust.

Key Largo Man Fishes the Antarctic

Dunmire in the Antarctic Sunrise

Thor Dunmire keeps busy under water, and when he isn't under the ocean's surface, he’s floating around on top of it, taking care of everyone's health as an EMT aboard a research ship in the Antarctic, that’s no polar bears, lots of penguins.

"Immediately before this trip I was diving for the National Undersea Research Center (NURC) and doing research for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on groupers off of the panhandle of Florida in 200 to 250 feet of water. After getting married in July I am scheduled to go to Puerto Rico for a re-breather diving project with UPR for NURC in August" he says, casually of his marriage, that will take place at the famous Toad Hall in the White Mountain area of New Hampshire, it’s his future wife’s enviable Chocorua Family estate.

Dunmire says "this project is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as is the entire U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) which includes the 3 bases and both research ships. The principle investigator for the grant is Bill Detrich and he is studying reproduction and early development of several species of Antarctic fish. My job title is Marine Tech and I am working for Raytheon which has the current USAP contract. I am also one of 2 EMT's on the ship and operate the ship's hospital," he says following a harrowing crossing from Punta Arenas to Palmer Station, through the Magellan Straits, Dunmire managed to journal whilst holding onto the bolted down items around him, he says, on Saturday, May 31 and 3:22 PM,

"The waves are really big now and it is hard to type because I have to hold on or be thrown across the room. It is kind of like being on a carnival ride that never ever stops. We should be there by Monday night which will make everyone happy.
Sun. June 1, 8:13 AM. Still here bouncing around. It is going to take us at least until Monday night to get to Palmer Station because the rough weather has slowed us down so much. Not anything to see yet except really big waves. Looking out the porthole I see water and then sky, water and then sky. And that is about all that there is to tell you about the last few days and probably the next 2. Sun. June 1, 3:04 PM We made it to the 1st of the islands so it is calmer now. Saw a couple of icebergs. Have been busy treating people for seasickness and one minor head injury. Everyone else is great but everyone was pretty much incapacitated by the rough seas," he writes in his journal.

Bumpy seas and bangged up heads aside, Thor Dunmire has never had an ordinary life. Fictitious characters such as Indiana Jones and Derk Pitt might pale by comparison, where they to move in the same circles, but in this modern day adventurers life there is limited time for moving in circles, at least on land that is.

Mostly Dunmire frequents the ocean, it's benthic depths as a technical diver on deep archaeological or science based dives, or scientific research assistance for Antarctic specimen hunting expedition's, or National Undersea Research Center's (NURC) NASA Aquanaut missions, he is one of the those highly accomplished science savvy-technical 3 dimensional fluid overachievers, dedicated to making good use of what the universe has bestowed upon him by way of a will of iron, a good set of lungs, and several scuba tanks, as well as a body that can keep pace with it all.

On a more drawing room tack, he's a dab hand at painting, his talents betray the side of the man of steel that is deeply rooted in a love for all things that help us shed light and meaning on the world in which we live, portraying nature for all to see with style on rocks he has found around, Dunmire is such a good blend of the right stuff it is amazing to know he is just recently engaged to be married.

Being underwater or out of town most of the time, time out of the ocean or off expedition is spent engaged in some other form of strenuous activity, the kind that would leave most of the population breathless, gasping for air or some kind of stimulant. Dunmire has run marathon's and triathlon's and contents himself with paddling kayak's running and spear fishing for serious soul satisfaction out of his Key Largo home.

In this age of sterile cars, houses, offices and Wii game living in which we increasingly spend our lives, does it not generate deep envy to know someone else makes a living being in non box like structures, galavanting around in nature, frolicking with fishes and cavorting with penguins and killer whales.

Dark locks and hazel-green eyes sit aframe the greek god-like face, and a voice deeper than most. Dunmire is not to be trifled with on any front. Known for his silence and brooding nature, Dunmire's wife to be has him figured out, she thinks he is just perfect the way he is, perhaps a little nudge here and there in the social department on occasion, other than that, they are the archetypal modern earth loving couple; abstemious in their living styles, Dunmire's truck is still working, Cunningham's is new after ten years, the diesel VW gets good gas mileage.

Fond of the movies they enjoy entertaining younger friends, interactive games like Shoots and Ladders, and Sardines, where hiders recruit seekers until one person is left. Watching this brick wall of an adventurer reduce himself down to fit into a small laundry cupboard for the children to find, is quite a sight.