everything old is new again in more ways than one

Our harnessing of the sun to provide some of the juice that runs our household has attracted the attention of more than just our neighbors.

Our long-time and well-respected congresscritter, Marty Meehan, has resigned, ostensibly to take a new job but, rumor has it, really to spend more time with his family (what a concept). This has generated a rather heated special election for his seat, including one contender, Niki Tsongas. Ms. Tsongas was the wife of Paul Tsongas, who was once our senator and then presidential aspirant.

Ms. T has already garnered an endorsement from Barney Frank ("an old friend") and Emily's list. She's been speaking out against the war in Iraq and for marriage equality. This week, she announced a theme of energy independence during Independence week. As part of that effort, she and our solar hot water installer (along with three of her staff members and one of his) visited the house for a quick tour of the installation.

Having grown up in Washington, I don't usually get flustery around political celebs. But Ms. Tsongas is one of my heroes. I can't imagine that she lived through the joys of politics as a wife, went through the death of her husband, and now actually wants to go to Washington herself. More power to her!

Anyways, the visit was a delight, and she's just as charming and gracious as I'd hoped. In a later phone call, she said that she was inspired by the visit and woke up in the middle of the night thinking about where she could put solar panels on her own house.

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And on a completely different everything-is-old tack, I rearranged my week to have a five-day weekend. I spent the better part of two days researching new cameras. I'm not much of a gadget hound, but in the last 25 years, I've owned one serious film camera, two point-and-shoot film cameras, and two digital cameras. I also once had the opportunity to borrow a fairly high-end film camera for a trip about eight years ago.

I finally decided to get what looks to be an entry-level, but still fairly powerful Digital SLR camera, the Nikon D40, with a lens that allows up to 7.5x zoom, along with a couple of refresher books about exposure (all that f-stop, shutter-speed, and ISO stuff that I once knew and have now forgotten).

Although I've been loving working with digital photography both in and out of the camera, I've been frustrated by the time it takes to turn many cameras on and then by shutter lag (the time it takes to focus and actually snap a shot). One of the promises of DSLRs is that both these times are significantly reduced. However, I'm amused that with this purchase, I'll be going back to a more manual style of picture taking.

This camera does allow for some automation, but also allows for a great deal of manual control, prompting one reviewer to muse about whether this is a point-and-shoot with DSLR features or whether it's a DSLR with point-and-shoot features. I'm looking forward to working with this camera and to learning and relearning how to use it.

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And in the domestic goddess department, for some reason, I've been a jamming demon this year. For a few years, I made jam every year, but then I had a disappointing batch and dropped it for a long time. I'm not sure why I started again this year, perhaps hanging out on our CSA farm, or knowing other people who make jam. I've discovered that it's easiest for me to make it one batch at a time, and it's fairly quick, too. I feel like a little squirrel, storing up for the cold winter to come. I'm thinking about reliving those sweet tastes of summer while watching the snow tumble down.