Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Monday, November 14, 2005

A week ago today, I had the great good fortune to be invited to be the guest speaker at Dr. David Trauger’s graduate class in Natural Resources at the Virginia Tech-Alexandria campus. Dr. Trauger had a gracious and enthusiastic graduate assistant named Margie Burks meet me at Reagan National Airport and squire me around that day. What a luxury!

Margie drove me to the hotel to check in, then drove me to Capitol Hill, where I met with U.S. Senator Richard Burr about our SIMPLE LIVING series. My trip was padded with cushions of time on the front and back ends, so I could check into my hotel, settle in, review my notes for the evening’s presentation and get a leisurely walk around Alexandria before dinner.

That evening, about eight students, Dr. Trauger, Margie and I had dinner at a restaurant near campus in Alexandria and exchanged stories about modern life and the need for a sustainable, environmentally friendly, time-rich life. One student, a man named Gene, told me that he’d read Frank’s and my book years ago in Chicago and it turned his life around. The presentation around a long table was equally rewarding, with students asking questions about “simple living” and suggesting ideas for season 3 of the series. We showed clips from the second season, including the segment from show #201 on health and simplicity and the segment from show #209 on alternative energy. Dr. Trauger told me it was an inspiring evening. I was terribly impressed with how he’s built up his program in just a few short years and how kind and gracious he is with his students. He may not have realized how much his work and his students inspired me.