The documentary, as always, is free.

The venue is the Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave., Clearlake.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; there will be 15 minutes of great video/music at 5:45 p.m., with the film to follow at 6 p.m.

Colin Beavan, a young man with a wife and little girl in on Fifth Avenue in New York City – yuppies with the best of them – decided to try to live for a year in a ninth floor apartment, creating a zero carbon footprint.

First, he’s got to convince his wife, Michelle, who has addictions to Starbucks and shopping right up there with the best of them.

This really charming and engaging film documents what happens next.

“The film ended, and I went downstairs to see seven bags of trash in my kitchen. It was at that point, I felt I needed to change my living habits,” said Kevin McCarthy of BDK reviews.

“A bold and astonishing documentary about the daunting and enlightening ecological project of a radical idealist and his family,” said Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice.

The movie also is funny and encouraging, because both Beavan and his wife are confused and sometimes definitely reluctant to take the next step in their experiment – rather like the rest of us.

At the end of their year-long trial, it’s so rewarding to see the many, many gains they’ve made.

To mention just a couple: Michelle Beavan, who was already pre-diabetic, became totally healthy again by eating produce from a local farmers' market in downtown Manhattan. Both of the Beavans became better parents to their little daughter, Bella, when they gave up television.

After the film an expert from the very successful Cool Davis Initiative will share ways to reduce our own carbon footprint, and will stay around for a question and answer session. You also can connect with folks from Transition Lake County.

Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

Rhyming has a way of brightening a poem, and a depressing subject can become quite a bit lighter with well-chosen rhymes. Here’s a sonnet by Mary Meriam, who lives in Missouri. Are there readers among you who have felt like this?

The Romance of Middle Age

Now that I’m fifty, let me take my showers

at night, no light, eyes closed. And let me swim

in cover-ups. My skin’s tattooed with hours

and days and decades, head to foot, and slim

is just a faded photograph. It’s strange

how people look away who once would look.

I didn’t know I’d undergo this change

and be the unseen cover of a book

whose plot, though swift, just keeps on getting thicker.

One reaches for the pleasures of the mind

and heart to counteract the loss of quicker

knowledge. One feels old urgencies unwind,

although I still pluck chin hairs with a tweezer,

in case I might attract another geezer.

Ted Kooser was US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. He is a professor in the English Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He lives on an acreage near the village of Garland, Nebraska, with his wife Kathleen Rutledge, the editor of the Lincoln Journal Star.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2009 by Donal Heffernan, whose most recent book of poetry is “Duets of Motion,” Lone Oak Press, 2001. Poem reprinted by permission of Donal Heffernan.

Introduction copyright ©2010 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

American Life in Poetry ©2006 The Poetry Foundation

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This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Mike Wilhelm will perform at the Tuscan Village on Main St., Lower Lake, on Friday, Aug. 6.

Wilhelm will perform from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The performance is part of the venue's regular series of Friday concerts.

Admission is free.

Tuscan Village is located next to the post office.

The reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Main St. Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

Showing for the first time at the gallery is Dr. Dan with beautifully detailed pastels of wild life. Desiree of Sling Dust Studios is displaying her beautifully crafted and unique gourds, and Chuck Colson is showing a collection of finely wrought jewelry.

Returning to the July show is Bobbie Bridges with her detailed watercolor prints. Bonnie Tringali demonstrates her talent for capturing Lake County scenes in pastels, while Nichol Kriz is hanging new work in watercolor and oils, and Jackie Wilson is showing fine work in pastels and watercolor.

Three artists exhibit their unique expertise with the camera: Terry Rodgers in a versatile composite of photographs, Robert Krones displays vintage photos in black and white and Dan Alexander displays his talent for capturing wildlife.

Jean Landon-Myers shows versatility with her work in acrylics and watercolor. Tom McComber has added new whimsical pieces to his found metal sculptures and Mary McGregor will delight you with her skillfully crafted baskets and work in oils.

Anna Sabalone continues to show her versatility as she presents work in pastels, watercolors and oils, and Jackie Wilson rounds out this talented and versatile show with beautifully executed watercolors.

Adding to the show is Ukrainian exchange student Alice Boji with her work in watercolor, pastels and oils in the Linda Carpenter Student Gallery.

You also can view Japanese brush stroke art which is the work of Jackie Farley’s students in an earlier class at the gallery.

Six Sigma Winery will pour their fine Lake County wines, and Andy Rosoff will delight you as he tickles the ivory and sings some of your favorite songs.

For more information, please call the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-6658.