Anyone on the East Coast of the United States knows there was a huge storm system a couple of weeks ago that took out lots of old trees and, subsequently, the power lines in much of the Washington area, and surrounding states.

We were affected at my house, losing power for nearly a full 24 hours, and we were among the lucky ones. This meant trying to sleep on a hot, humid night with no air conditioning, no coffee the next morning and wondering how to re-adjust our Saturday with no power. Sadly, most of the businesses we visit were suffering from the same power outage.

In addition, we were in a bit of shock — we NEVER lose power during these events — whether caused by thunderstorm or snow. Our street is an evacuation route, and we have been fairly well protected, so we really kept expecting the power to come right back on.

Lesson learned. We had a bit of an emergency kit, but after about one hour, we realized we were ill prepared. So did, apparently, much of our surrounding neighborhood, based on the run on D-batteries at local stores. (They were totally sold out at the Target and the CVS.) Lines at gas stations were blocks down the street when folks realized not all stations had power. So, time to get prepped. Not like ‘Doomsday Preppers,’ but reasonably prepared in case a very likely thunderstorm system comes through again, or we will have it ready for the next Snowmageddon.

Step 1 – Check out the Red Cross preparedness lists. These are reasonable targets. Their ‘Be Red Cross Ready’ General Preparedness list looks like a good model to me. State Farm insurance also has some good advice, under Disaster Preparedness.

Step 2 – Make our own readiness plans. We realized we actually have a lot of what we need in the house, but the frustration of having no air conditioning and no access to TV news or the Internet really threw us off.

Step 3 – Go shopping. There are definitely some things missing from our emergency kit, and one of those things is a real ‘KIT.’ Time to take these things seriously.

Here’s my shopping/packing list:

• Hand-crank/solar-powered NOAA radio
• Candles, a lighter and matches.
• Box of easy-burn logs for the fire place. These don’t keep us super warm, but they do help take the chill off when the furnace isn’t working. Hard to prioritize this when it’s 90 degrees outside, but they ought to be cheap right now.
• Bottled water — we have a water filter in our refrigerator, but it’s easy to keep a case of water bottles in the basement.
• Dry goods — cereal/oatmeal for a no-electricity breakfast, canned soup for lunch, other foods with long shelf life we can store for a year or two. Shelf-stable rice milk.
• Contact numbers for family and utilities — these were all on my mobile phone, and my reception died, and so did my phone batteries. That said, we do have a land-line phone that works in our house. Points for that.
• Solar-power cell phone charger (I have this, but it wasn’t where I needed it!)
• Fresh 6-volt battery for our large camping-type flashlight. This is the light we relied on most, and we definitely should have a backup battery for it.
• AA, AAA, C, D batteries – Everyone seems to want them when the power goes out. If we don’t use them, I suppose under dire circumstances we could barter them.

I’d love to get your suggestions and hear your power-out stories. My fingers are crossed that we don’t see another week without power around here this summer. We’ve paid our dues.

I admit it.

I saw that bag sitting there.

I asked around, as intructed by the omni-present WMATA ad campaign, “Is that your bag?” and all nearby Metro riders responded in the negative.

So what next?

The ads say to alert a Metro employee or the police. I’ve got the Metro police phone number plugged into my iPhone. But the train was moving, it was Friday evening, and this was a rarely-seen available seat on the Orange line.

I picked up the bag, carefully set it on the floor, and sat down next to the window. A woman sat next to me, between me and the mystery bag. She had seen the whole thing, yet had no fear.

She didn’t call the a Metro employee or the police.

Thoughts raced through my head:

• I can’t tell my friend who works at Homeland Security I did this.
• I can’t call Metro because I get no reception down here.
• If I call the driver from the call box at the end of the car, it will surely cause a panic and screw up my commute (as well as the Friday night commute for a lot of other people).
• That’s a nice lunch bag. It’s really something that should go in the lost-and-found. Do they have that any more?
• What if I just threw it out a door at a random station, in case it is a bomb?
• I guess if I threw a bomb out of a train I would get arrested at some point…

Luckily it never blew up. I got home safely, though full of guilt.

These Metro ad campaigns have me convinced that every lonely bag should be treated as a suspicious package. But this was not a suspicious package, according to common sense, and according to Metro’s definition. It was a small insulated lunch bag, with room for a drink, and it seemed obvious to me that someone had forgotten it. If it had been truly suspicious I would not have touched it or moved it.

What would you do?

Hopping on the Meatless Monday bandwagon? Or going even further? Here are some great places where you can get your grub on without slicing into a bit of meat. You’ll still leave with a full belly!

1. Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant — This is my all-time favorite vegetarian place. They also provide vegan meals. The flavors tend towards Asian favorites. You’ll find sweet & sour, General Tso, won-ton soup, and even a sort of sushi, all 100% vegetarian. In addition, there are many more creative vegetarian creations that I encourage you to try. The Seven Corners location is newer and more formal than the original location in Vienna, which is a bit cozier. But they are both equally tasty!
2. Java Green — When in downtown D.C., this is the best vegetarian sandwich available for miles. Their barbeque sauce is unbelievably tasty. It’s a small shop, but when the weather is nice, they have some nice outdoor seating available too. I very much recommend this for the doubting Thomas that doesn’t believe meatless can be filling.
3. Amma Vegetarian — There is a location in Vienna (the Georgetown location sadly closed recently) with carry-out available. It provides very tasty southern Indian cooking, all vegetarian and VERY spicy. If you like it hot, stop by and give this a whirl. Yum!

If you’ve got some other ideas, please share in the comments!

I just wrapped up my first year as a volunteer with GirlsRock! DC, and what an experience!

About 70 campers from all over the District, Maryland and Virginia put on an unforgettable showcase on Saturday morning at the 9:30 Club. As a girl, I had recitals for flute, violin and voice. I performed in plays and musicals. But nothing I ever did before college was like this.

These girls were so confident on stage, all performing original songs or DJ sets. It was really overwhelming, especially after spending two days with them earlier in the week as a workshop teacher. I’d seen them just learning to get along, just meeting each other, and here are all these great cohesive bands up on stage looking just as good as any college band. (Sometimes better…)

If you didn’t get the chance to attend the show on Saturday, I encourage you to click around the GirlsRock! DC website. See what they’ve done and check out some of the stories that have been written on them. (Donations would be appreciated, I might add!) This is really a super opportunity for families that rock to take in together, and for girls 8-18 to take part in.

For older girls like me, I encourage you to follow my lead and volunteer some time. It is all kinds of inspirational and FUN!

If you have been wondering why I’ve been so quiet lately, it’s because I found this great volunteer organization to donate some time to.

On August 14th at 11:00am, more than 70 Washington area girls will take to the stage at the 9:30 Club, just as many legendary rock stars have done before them. Girls Rock! DC (GR!DC), a volunteer-run, non-profit organization, is launching its third annual, week long rock camp for girls ages 8-18.

During the week of August 9th – 13th, a volunteer staff of female educators, musicians and community organizers provide campers instruction on electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals and turntables. The campers form bands and are coached by counselors to write, collaborate and perform original songs and DJ sets before a live audience at the 9:30 Club.

The aim of Girls Rock! DC is to create a supportive, inclusive and creative space for girls to build community, stand up and rock out! With a base in music education, the camp will focus on building girls’ self-confidence, leadership and cooperation skills.

Campers also attend workshops on team building, performance and body confidence, songwriting and other skills young women need to take over the world of rock. I’m on the media literacy team. Whee!

I encourage you to join us (bring your kids!) at the showcase on Saturday to see these girls rock out. I can’t wait!

The girls will showcase their original works at Washington’s 9:30 Club on Saturday, August 14th at 11:00 am.
The showcase is open to the public.
Tickets are $10 at the door.
Free admission for youth 12 and under.
More information is available at the Girls Rock! DC website: www.girlsrockdc.org.

Girls Rock! DC is part of a national Girls Rock Camp Alliance. There are Girls Rock camps all over the world.

UPDATE: We got some coverage from NPR’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show (check out the video)

After all the digging and seeding and planting and weeding and watering and weeding and fencing and weeding, it sure is nice to see some fruits of my labor. That’s right, I got some actual vegetables growing in my garden. And last night, I ATE one!

To be truthful, this little cherry tomato was slightly green, but it tasted oh SOOOO good, just because I nurtured it!

I can’t wait for more!

Not too long ago, there was talk about drilling off the coast of Virginia. I was not happy. After the BP incident in the Gulf of Mexico, I was frightened. Every year I look forward to visiting the beaches of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, and I’d be devastated if MY beaches looked like the beaches in the Gulf.

Luckily we haven’t started drilling in the Atlantic yet. And our beaches still look awesome. We still have challenges with pollution from runoff to our rivers and to the Chesapeake Bay, but we’re working on it. Let’s keep it that way!

I just took a trip to Chincoteague, Virginia. I really enjoyed seeing the wildlife refuge there and all of the coastal and wetland creatures, including pelicans similar to the ones we’re seeing covered in oil down in Louisiana.

Let’s cut our losses. Damage like we’re seeing in the Gulf, like we saw from the Exxon Valdez, can’t happen if the oil rigs aren’t there.