Stump burning, Autumn weather, The double-edged sword of technology.

 So, today is my designated "do a bunch of small quick tasks to get them off my "to do" list. One of those tasks is by blog backlog. Looks like I've got about six, so I'm not going to do all of that at once, but maybe I'll do 2.

First off, it's finally getting cooler here. Amazing that it took till mid October for that. But I'm happy with this time of year. Not too hot, not too cold, but cool enough that the bugs are dying down.

Suzanna just tried burning a tree stump last night and it was pretty cool, it really worked, and kept smoldering overnight. We saturated the soil around it in a circle to make sure it didn't spread, and it had rained recently, and in fact rained last night, but not enough to put it out. In fact, I'm going to check on it right now... Yeah, still smoldering. It kind of reminds me of an incense stick, with the coals just slowly burning through the wood. In a dryer, more loamy soil, or with dry plant material on top, I'd be more worried, but we have green grass and clay soil, so the risk seems very low. And it tool a lot less energy and todo than using a big noisy stump grinder. Just a bit more time.

I feel like that is often the case: you can do things faster, with more advanced technology and more energy. But you can do it sustainably, if you're just willing to go slower.

I've been thinking recently, about how technology keeps promising to give us more time, by doing things for us automatically or faster, but then we just fill up our time with other stuff, some of which is generated by the technology itself. AI is not new, in this respect. I wonder if there is a way to make use of the technology that is truly helpful, without getting caught up in all the stuff that takes away much of the time it is supposed to give you back.

And some of the stuff it takes away is physical activity, which is not necessarily what you want to be doing less of. Being sedentary is not good for us physically, mentally, or emotionally. Same for being cut off from nature. I think it's possible to take the good and leave the bad, but it requires a lot more discipline, you end up fighting against your environment, rather than letting it shape your behavior naturally in a healthy way. Maybe this is an area for future jobs: designing technology and modern life in such a way that it encourages healthy behavior, rather than encouraging unhealthy behavior and disconnection.

OK, I'll end here and start another one.