Nervy Girl!

My 9-year-old niece Alexa is coming to visit me this month from Iowa, and I couldn�t be more thrilled. As her arrival approaches, I find myself thinking more about what this post-9/11 world looks like through her eyes compared to my 1970s childhood. Is it better or worse? Who knows. More commercial? Definitely. More woman/girl friendly? In some ways, yes; others, no. More frightening? Probably.

While I realize it�s not my purview to teach her anything � she has parents, after all � I still think about the things I�d like to impart to her in my small way. I�d like her to know that she can be anything � a doctor, a mountain climber, an artist, the president � and do anything that she puts her mind to. None of this is very original, I realize. So I ask myself, if I could instill one value in her above all others, what would it be? Ideally, it would be a value that made anything possible for her and protected her from our culture�s obsession with materialism and feminine perfection. A value that would make people say, despite the difficulties life threw her, �She�s going to make it.� A value like self-reliance. Self-sufficiency. Independence.

I�d like to think that my parents, in their mingling of working class

and professional values, created four independent children. In my twenties, I moved often. Eager to keep searching for new experiences and new people, I thrived on change. I�m sure some people thought I was flaky, or lost, or unsure of what I was looking for. I can�t say with certainty that they were wrong, but I don�t regret my meanderings. They created the person I am today. Nearly four years ago, I moved from Iowa City to Portland sight unseen, no job and with just a few friends in Oregon. My family, all stable Mid-westerners, had mixed feelings. My brothers Marty and Tim said �You�re crazy!� (At least they were honest.) I�m not sure what the rest of my family thought, but I hope that after I left, they said, �She�s going to make it.� The great thing about the word �independence� is that it means different things to different people, but it�s rarely negative. In this issue, we explore independence as it relates to sustainable living. We also get to joyride with women who find independence as they whip down the highway on a hog without their boyfriends.

By the time this issue hits the street, Alexa and I (along with my mother, who�s escorting her) will be vigorously exploring Portland, Seattle, and the Oregon Coast with a vengeance. Three carefree gals who can go wherever we�d like, shop as long as we want, search for seashells on the beach for hours, or just stay home and hang out. This �showing a girl the meaning of independence� stuff is going to be fun!

Stay Nervy,

Kristin Schuchman, Editor-in-chief