Holiday Preparations

While I do most of my Christmas shopping starting in September, Christmas doesn't begin for me until after December. Well, it's December now! Here are some things I like to do to invoke the feelings of Christmas and bring the spirit of the season.

1. Listen to Christmas music. Time to set up those holiday playlists!
Favorite Christmas albums are those by the King's Singers, Chieftains, David Arkenstone, Steve McDonald, Loreena McKennitt, and Cusco. To save money, first check your local library for Christmas music and place holds early. Also consider buying the CDs used (Amazon or eBay).

2. Sing carols at the piano!
One year my mother made photo copies of the lyrics for a bunch of favorite Christmas songs, so the pianist (or mandolinist or guitarist) can play from the music but everyone isn't trying to read from the same spot. A necessity for large gatherings!

My sister plays the mandolin, and I've created some accompaniment on the piano to play along. So have your family members bring out their instruments—it's time for a jam session!

3. Decorate.
Since we go to our parents' house for Christmas, my sister and I don't buy a tree. That's kind of sad. So sometimes we buy a little Rosemary tree (from Sprouts or Whole Foods). It smells wonderful, gives us that festivity, and adds a little bit of nature to the house. In the past we have decorated it with light ornaments made of foam-like material. (Plus, homemade Rosemary bread is delicious.)

One year I glued old CDs to a craft wheel to make a shiny wreath. It was fun while it lasted.

4. Eat special food.
I'm rooting for Baked Bree. Buy a wheel of Bree at Costco, cook it in the oven, top it with apples and nuts, and eat with bread. Yum.

5. Say hello to friends you know, and everyone you meet.
Smiles are infectious! (So are yawns but you can hold on to those.)

Good luck and Happy Holidays everyone!

Why are residential neighborhoods 25mph?

To many, driving at 25mph it seems like you may as well get out and walk. But while speeds have been raised elsewhere (recently on our freeways), residential roads remain at 25mph. Why so slow? It turns out there are several very good reasons for the limit.

• In residential neighborhoods, it is much more likely people and pets will be walking, wandering, or playing in the streets. You need enough time to be able to come to a stop to avoid hitting them.

• If you DO hit a person going at 20mph, that person is likely to be ok. 25mph, they are likely to be injured. Up that speed, and obviously the likelihood of injury (and death) increases.
(There are various sources that talk about this, here’s a basic one http://humantransport.org/sidewalks/SpeedKills.htm and here’s a full study looking at speeds and age etc. of the person hit https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/2011PedestrianRiskVsSpeed.pdf)

http://www.radarsign.com/traffic-calming-applications/neighborhood-speed-control/

(footnote is for this article http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/pedspeed/PEDSPEED.PDF)

• Lower speeds = lower emissions. Make a difference by driving cautiously through neighborhoods.

• Because it’s important to keep this speed limit, cops watch speeds in neighborhoods more strictly than elsewhere. Where on the freeway 70mph may mean 80mph for a lot of people, in neighborhoods 5mph over can easily get you a ticket, and 10mph over could be considered reckless driving.

(Read more about Reckless Driving http://www.schatzanderson.com/serious-driving-offenses/reckless-driving/)

Do you know the traffic laws in your state?
Read more about Ticket Fines and Penalties in Utah from the DMV http://www.dmv.org/ut-utah/traffic-ticket-fines-and-penalties.php

(— There may be some more on there you’ve forgotten—yes, tailgating and failing to signal are also on the list!)

• Finally, ask yourself, How fast IS 25mph? In a car it might seem slow, but consider for a moment cycling and pedestrian speeds. Hint: typically, people walk around 3mph. 

A car coming around a curvy road doesn’t have time to stop, and people walking, working, or playing in the street might not have time to get out of the way, even at 25 MPH, let alone faster speeds. 

So… take it slow.

(Also see How Not to Hurry http://zenhabits.net/no-hurry/)