The older I get, the more I want to stay connected to the rhythm of the earth around me. In many ways, this feels like a return to childhood. I remember being 5 years old, lying in bed, angry at my mother -- because it was mid-summer and still light out. I could hear the older children on my street playing outside, but my early bedtime meant I was supposed to be going to sleep. I felt out of rhythm.

When I was a student, especially in college, there was no escaping the natural world in my day-to-day life. I was in the weather every day, walking to class, to meetings, to the college newspaper office where I spent most of my free time. My schedule was based on the time of year -- certain classes in the spring, different ones in the fall, a break in summer and another in winter.

For almost 14 years now, though, I've worked in an 11-story office building. My work is sometimes cyclical, but never seasonal. I sit by a huge window, but it doesn't open to the outside. I park under a carport at home, and in an underground garage at work. Maybe I need a jacket during part of the year, but my daily life has little to do with the natural world.

But even as I feel more disconnected from the outside world, I've felt the need to purposefully re-create some of those ties. I think it helps me function better as a human being. Here are some of the ways I'm trying to do that:

• Eating seasonally -- Enjoying the fresh fruits and vegetables of the season


• Getting outside -- With a busy family that needs shuttling around, I can't do this as much as I'd like. Even in the winter, I think it's important to spend some time outside each day. And especially this time of year, when it's so beautiful!


• Gardening -- I live right smack in the middle of the city, and my back yard is pretty small. Still, I find that even small-scale gardening ties you inextricably to the rhythms of the season.

I'm just now getting around to really playing with Photoshop Express, but I'm already a fan.

Let me qualify my statements by saying -- I've used Photoshop daily for about 12 years, and I use about 10 menu items with any regularity. I learn new things all the time, but I basically know how to do what I need to do, and that's it. I need something a little more than a basic image editor, but I rarely scratch the surface of the massive arsenal that Photoshop provides.

I used to have a copy of Photoshop Elements on my home computer, but over time, its updates overwhelmed my several-year-old Mac, and it took more than 15 minutes to start up, if it didn't freeze the computer. So I got rid of it. Magically, right about the time iPhoto came out.

iPhoto offers limited photo editing capabilities, but with easy access to Photoshop, I've used it more for cataloging my photos and making those fun photo books and Christmas cards.

Oh, and--I'm a huge fan of Skitch. I use this almost daily now, as well -- it's great for marking up photos and screen grabs to share comments back and forth. Lots faster than cracking open Photoshop for the same thing.

With at least three photo editing tools at my disposal, do I really need a new one?

Photoshop Express is going to make the cut.

It's easy and quick to add photos, and the editing is intuitive for someone who's used any image editor before. And fear not--if you're a novice, they're providing some really great Photoshop Express tutorial screencasts that take you step by step through any editing job.

See how the red pops out?

Even the basic editing tools are great. I can see a lot of bloggers using this, and I would think it's a great, helpful program for anyone who just needs to crop and downsize an image to email it to a friend.

Downsides: Express is slower than I wish it were, even on my massive broadband connection at work. It does require Flash, which may still be a downside for some users.

And here's my big one...that will keep me using Photoshop. You can't size images to any size you want. When you share an image, you're given three options on size, all proportionate to the original. Need to crop to exactly 300x420 pixels, 72 resolution? Crack that Photoshop back open, my friend.