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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.108

Electric bicycles are all the rage these days. Plenty of fully articulated models are on the market, as are kits that allow you to transform your trusty steed into an effortless speed demon. The GeoOrbital Wheel has gone through six iterations thus far, and the newest model is their best yet. It doesn't get any easier than this.

GEOORBITAL WHEEL (video)

Books owe a lot to trees, especially being made from them, but it's the trees in books that caught our attention. Here are seven contenders for the best tree in literature. Have one of your own? Nominate it in the comments!

FAVORITE TREES IN LITERATURE (photo essay)

Rumor has it that The Chapel Oak is as old as France itself. It has witnessed some amazing moments in history and has been visited by the likes of Charlemagne and William the Conqueror. This incredible tree is home to two chapels and is whimsical in appearance. Read more about this incredible specimen at the link below.

THE CHAPEL OAK (photo essay)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.72

A movement is underway to put the Oak back in Oakland, which is perhaps the largest city in the US named after a tree. Read all about efforts to reconnect the city's current residents to its forested past. 

PUTTING THE OAK IN OAKLAND (article)

Remember when we posted about Solaroad, the solar-power producing bicycle path in The Netherlands? Well, it's been up and running for a while now, and the results are in: Solaroad is generating more power than expected. We certainly hope that its amazing success leads to a rapid spread of this technology across the globe.

UPDATE: DUTCH SOLAROAD WORKING BETTER THAN EXPECTED (video/photo essay)

We all know books come from trees, right? Well now, trees come from books! Pequeño Editor, a small publishing company in Argentina, created a book that teaches children about paper production and can be planted once it's been read. The book puts back into nature that which it took out, eventually growing into a mature Jacaranda. They even display germinated books in stores. What a great gift for young ones.

THE BOOK THAT GROWS INTO A TREE (video)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.57

This Sunday, we thought it fitting to start off with photos of a very unique construction: a majestic Gothic cathedral comprised of living hornbeam trees. The framework, completed in 2010 and laid in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, will eventually rot away, replaced by pillars of trunks with a canopy of meshed together branches forming a vaulted ceiling.

TREE CATHEDRAL (photos)

Next, a fun PSA from the UK that urges drivers to pay attention to their mirrors. You never know what you'll see! Potentially NSFW.

NOW YOU SEE ME (video)

Looking for a good book to read this holiday season? If you enjoy nonfiction, we recommend "American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation," by Eric Rutkow.

As listed on Amazon, "Rutkow's 'deeply fascinating' (The Boston Globe) work shows how trees were essential to the early years of the republic and indivisible from the country's rise as both an empire and a civilization. Among American Canopy's many captivating stories: the Liberty Trees, where colonists gathered to plot rebellion again the British; Henry David Thoreau's famous retreat into the woods; the creation of New York City's Central Park; the great fire of 1871 that killed a thousand people in the lumber town Peshtigo, Wisconsin; the fevered attempts to save the American chestnut and the American elm from extinction; and the controversy over spotted owls and the old-growth forests they inhabited. Rutkow also explains how trees were of deep interest to such figures as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, who oversaw the planting of some three billion trees nationally in his time as president."

Pickup a copy of this great book online at AmazonSmile using the link below and support RETREET with your purchase!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION (link to AmazonSmile)

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SUNDAY SHOW & TELL
vol.53

The Netherlands once again leads the pack in bicycle infrastructure design, installing the first solar-powered bike lane. Dubbed the SolaRoad, the 230ft stretch is a pilot project that will eventually lead to energy collection to power street lights, traffic systems, electric cars, and even houses.

The Giving Tree turned 50 this week! Do you have childhood memories of this classic? What are your thoughts on its meaning? Click the link below to watch an animated film version produced in 1973 and featuring the voice of the author, Shel Silverstein. One of our favorites.

And finally, the Rodafonio! This Chilean cycling band contraption needs to join us on RETREET sometime, don't you think? Awesome!

SOLAR-POWERED BIKE LANE (article)

THE GIVING TREE (video)

RODAFONIO (video)