An acre of lawn takes a lot of mowing, and my sweetheart of a new neighbor decided to help.

He didn’t notice the cable/phone cord that ran across the lawn, though, and before I knew it, he had cut off my contact with the world.

So I went a week without and realized that this lovely man deserves yet another homemade strawberry rhubarb pie, and not just for his insistence on finishing the mowing.

He gave me a break from the interruption of phone calls and Internet surfing, let alone from ubiquitous e-mails.

How can one stay in contact with the outside world without a phone or the Internet?

That was a question I pondered at first, too.

Alas, I discovered that if you walk through any municipal or community building anywhere at any time you will stumble upon a meeting so deliciously ripe and rich with information that you can’t help but walk away with news just dripping down your chin.

But, like that basket full of fat and fuzzy peaches waiting for you to consider, you wonder, “Which one should I choose, when all are equally luscious?”

Easy answer, if you wished to see both brilliance and democracy in action.

It was the hearing before the Shorelines Hearings Board held last Tuesday at the Long Lake Community Center where Becca McCoy petitioned the board, on behalf of her family, Tim and Carey Ensign and Harper residents, to review the Kitsap County commissioners’ approval of the plan to widen Southworth Drive.

There aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe the 36-year-old Harper resident and scientist, a biochemist by training, regarding her competence and poise, as well as her grasp of the Shoreline Management Act.

She questioned witness after witness, meeting the burden of proof required to show that county and state officials ignored their own laws in approving the road plan as it stood.

She made the case that while the road is dangerous and in urgent need of repair, there are other options that were dismissed that would have made the road safer and would not allow as much pollution to run off into Puget Sound.

She showed how Department of Ecology supervisor Jeff Talent ignored the recommendations of colleagues, like that of Sandra Lange, who found problems with the design.

Ms. McCoy did it by writing her own briefs, opening statements and questions, all without the benefit of a law degree.

The quality of her questioning was so exceptional that she was repeatedly asked by DOE lawyers, who were not nearly as well prepared, “Who is helping you? Who have you retained?”

While waiting for word from the Shorelines Hearings Board, which has three months to consider Ms. McCoy’s arguments, taking a quick jaunt across town would find you in another meeting, this one more raucous and profanity-filled.

The meeting of the Port of Bremerton commissioners, city of Bremerton and Port Orchard officials to consider the South Kitsap Industrial Area (SKIA) infrastructure and annexation by the city of Bremerton generated laughter, flashes of anger and not a few curse words.

It was impressive to watch our city officials and mayor outline how the existing sewer system (West Sound) has the capacity to provide for the SKIA area.

When David Overton, owner of property adjacent to the Port of Bremerton land ardently disagreed and tossed out angry curse words, our own Linda Fischer, a resident of Port Orchard, took him to task for his language and attitude and elicited surprised chuckles when she said, “Young man, you may be young, but that language is inappropriate.”

When she spoke, Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola shot me a grin, and I had to chuckle.

Still and all, you have to wonder why annexation is necessary. Does it make sense for the city of Bremerton to annex the SKIA property when 8,000 acres of forest and watershed stand between Bremerton’s boundaries and SKIA?

The Overtons argue that the county is impossible to work with and they have been unable to develop their property in the manner they see fit, but you have to wonder how much they have tried and who they have solicited besides ISC/NASCAR.

You get the impression that the Overtons are used to bullying to get their way since they approached Bremerton first to appeal for annexation and have pushed for it to go through.

The Overtons had previously succeeded in having the property rezoned by the same impossible county they can’t work with, but are now angry because their solicitation of NASCAR did not work in their favor.

It makes me wonder why their 1,000-plus acres carry more weight with port officials than my little acre of lawn. Do I get less of a voice than Mr. Overton, since I don’t swear quite as loudly in public?

I’m grateful we had our Port Orchard delegates at this disastrous meeting.

It’s important that we sit at the table with Port and Bremerton officials.

It’s important that South Kitsap shows how we can also provide for infrastructure to the SKIA site. And, it’s imperative that we be able to take part in the benefits of the future businesses that will establish there.

Whether we doubt it or not, a new economy is coming, and along with it new jobs.

It must.

We saw evidence at another meeting we attended, which was in reality a tour — the National Solar Energy Tour held this past Saturday in Port Townsend. Eleven homes powered by solar energy were showcased.

Each of the homes had been retrofitted with photovoltaic solar panels and were generating electricity back to the grid.

Van Jones, the founder of the national organization Green for All spoke of the need for thousands, millions of homes to be retrofitted, generating thousands of jobs for solar panel installers.

The company sponsoring the tour, Power Energy, confirmed the need.

They have retrofitted more than 100 homes in recent years and demand is up everywhere.

Judging from the number of Port Orchard people willing to make the trek across the water to attend the tour and learn of solar power, that seems truthful.

However, Hans Frederickson, a solar panel installer and electrician with Frederickson’s Electric, told us that research and development haven’t kept pace with demand and need.

He said that the existing solar panels are only 16 percent efficient and that it took 20 years to get those out of the laboratory and onto homes.

The hold-up? Lack of investment in renewable energy technology, which brings me to one last meeting — a future one organized by Microsoft executive, Stace Nolan, to encourage young people to become eco-entrepreneurs and take advantage of the increased demand for green development.

He would like to offer a day’s worth of training to 10 to 20 teens, who are interested in pursuing a career in solar panel installation and more.

If you know of any who might be interested, please let me know. I should have phone and Internet service again some day.

Mary Colborn is a Port Orchard resident.