The Obligatory Earth Day Post ;)

I'm definitely in the camp that thinks "Earth Day should be everyday!"  The physical Earth will endure until the universe itself decides to swallow her up.  We're more apt to destroy ourselves than the whole Earth.  I was always very moved by this poem by Sara Teasdale.  It captures something of the truth of Nature.

There Will Come Soft Rains 

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,

And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pool singing at night,

And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire,

Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one

Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,

If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself when she woke at dawn

Would scarcely know that we were gone.

What I, as an environmentalist, am most worried about is the life of *everything else* we share the Earth with.  It's not fair for us to destroy the planet when we aren't the only ones here.  There are a lot of resilient species out there who can take a lot of garbage - literally and figuratively!  There are also many more species that are very sensitive to change.  We're finding golf balls in whale stomachs now.  That's just disturbing.

  I also worry about our spiritual relationship with the spirits of the Earth and the land Goddesses many of us cherish so as our spiritual mothers.  Does the Earth coddle us?  No.  She can eat us if she wants.  But she is our home - our beautiful, beautiful home - and our source of life.  I try to honor and respect that. To me, Earth Day is not just one day.  Earth Day itself forces me to stop and think about why I do what I do and, then, continue doing it.



**I apologize if this was crap.  I'm exhausted and should really be in bed now...

Remember Earth Hour!

Just a reminder to everyone that tonight is Earth Hour!  Wherever you are, at 8:30-9:30, please consider turning off your lights and unplugging all unnecessary electronic equipment.  Show support for global change in how we use Mama Earth's resources!

Eating local means eating within season.

A couple years ago I was attending a Wicca 101 class lead by my good friend Katrina. At this time I had already left Wicca for Druidism, but I felt the desire to attend her class for various reasons: friendship, a hope to learn something different, a new perspective, and an excuse to practice my meditation skills. One of the biggest things I got out of the class was a newfound understanding of the Wheel of the Year and its connection to the land and agriculture. Intellectually I realized that certain foods were connected with the seasons and were therefore symbolic of the holidays. It wasn't until her discussion on food and the High Days that it dawned on me - eating, especially to someone on an Earth-centered path, is an incredibly spiritual act!

That lesson, combined with my desire to be more sustainable and ecologically responsible, has lead me to seek out different ways of eating and cooking. My husband and I have cut out most of the HFC in our diet. We're now trying to limit the amount of corn we have. Basically, if we don't expect corn to be in the product but it shows up on the list, we don't buy it. This means no more Kraft Mac and Cheese or Smuckers jam! In other words, we're attempting to avoid processed foods while simultaneously starting to boycott big business farms/monocultures . We still buy veggie burgers but we don't eat them often and I'm moving more towards making my own out of lentil, nuts, and bread crumbs. We've been religiously buying organic, naturally sweetened cereals. Our snacks are pickled veggies, fruit, nuts, and dries berries from the Mennonites and Amish. (I like to keep a dish full of nuts on the coffee table for snack attacks.) Trying to wean myself off the Veggie Bootie... I loves it... I may make it a weekend treat. Hubby still likes his chocolate syrup too... Baby steps, right?

Anyway, I was thinking more about our desire to be more supportive of our local farmers' market and how that means, for the most part, eating within season. What's available at the market right now? Eggs, preserves, onions, squash, and potatoes, potatoes, potatoes! We already have tons from a future in-law.

So eating in the winter means eating potatoes. Who ate a lot of potatoes? My Irish ancestors, of course! In fact, our rotund starchy friends have been a staple of the British Isles as a whole for decades. It only makes sense to look to them for inspiration. During my lunch break today I started to collect different potato recipes - Irish, British, and "Newish."

Tonight I'm trying my hand at Cornish pasties. I remember loving them when in Penzance. I only had a couple, but I've always meant to try making them myself. My first batch isn't really anything spectacular, but if I continue to practice I'm sure I'll get better at the construction. Next on the list is vegetarian shepherds pie.

Oh, and my hubby makes some pretty mean homemade French fries.