- Writing and updating the Contra Costa Clean Water Program Stormwater C.3 Guidebook, 6th Edition. The 6th Edition includes implementation of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Municipal Regional Permit requirements to infiltrate, evapotranspirate or harvest/reuse runoff from new development sites.
- Stormwater Control Plan Template to go with the Guidebook
- Participation with the San Francisco Estuary Project, San Francisco Estuary Institute, and others in an application for a Proposition 84 Low Impact Development Planning and Monitoring Grant.
- Preparing an additional Proposition 84 Planning and Monitoring Grant application for the Contra Costa Clean Water Program.
- Exploring a possible Proposition 84 Implementation Grant application for Low Impact Development projects on publicly owned facilities in Contra Costa County.
- Planning for workshops for municipal construction inspectors.
Home for Lunch
My new lunchtime habit is to hop on my bike and ride the 8 blocks or so home. There, I can do a little yoga, wash up the breakfast dishes, and still make it back to the office in an hour or so. Or maybe a little more. And OK, I’ve done it twice, but I’d like it to become a habit.
Rosy Outlook for 2012
Returning from New Years Day on the beach at the mouth of the Gualala R.
2011 was a hella good year, when I stop to think about it. I did a lot of things right and a few things wrong, and by that accounting I’m happy to be in the black.
Most of the wrong things had to do with not taking care of myself physically. I didn’t do enough yoga, and I’m noticably stiffer than I was a year ago. I also struggled with my cycling fitness—I forced myself to train while being too short on sleep and often with a nagging cold. In December I fell off a ladder at home, bruising my ribs and aggravating a rotator cuff already overstretched from carrying around the toddler.
Most of the right things had to do with connecting, and reconnecting, with people. Many of my favorite memories of the year are of when I squeezed in time to spend with close friends—a couple hours for a beer, or a whole day for cycling or skiing, or a few days for backpacking. Throughout the year I corresponded or got together with people I hadn’t seen in 10 or 25 or even 40 years, and I feel much the richer for each encounter.
At home, it’s been damned difficult at times. Right now it’s good. Zoe, now two-and-a-half, is growing and thriving and becoming more Zoe-like each day, which is what counts most.
At work, I continue to be blessed with work that inspires me. As the year turns, I’ve got projects at various stages of development—some to wrap up, some to nurture into full flower, others just trying to get off the ground.
A lot of joy, and enough difficulty to keep it interesting. Who could ask for more?
New Beginnings
America, the land of second chances.
About four years ago, the web service Blogger (owned by Google) stopped supporting blogs hosted anywhere except on their own site.
Around the same time, I got divorced and —for some time during and after —lost my blogging voice. I’d start to write, and the words on the screen in front of me would just glare back accusingly.
I made a couple of attempts to revamp the site, but I was intimidated by the work required to find, install, and configure new blogging software. Besides, there’s a lot of new features and functionality that have been developed since I taught myself basic HTML.
Now, with some help, I’m back up and running. And looking forward to having some things to say in 2012.