Not a great week for news. The war in Ukraine is now in its third year, and people are starting to say that Ukraine should just negotiate an end to the war, which means giving up a huge chunk of their country to Russia. Putin will not stop there, though. As with Russia taking over Crimea, he’ll let everyone think he’s fine with the Donbas region plus other areas, and then attack Ukraine again in a year or two. We all know how authoritarian governments work, and Putin has rewritten Russian history to claim Ukraine has always been Russian.
Then there’s Gaza and the US once again vetoing a UN ceasefire, while aid groups are warning of imminent famine and starvation of a whole people who had nothing to do with the Hamas attack. There’s the farmers protesting across Europe, the Bible quoting Alabama Supreme Court declaring that frozen fertilized eggs used in IVF are people, the death of Nex Benedict, a straight-A transgender high school student in Oklahoma who died after they were beaten in the girl’s bathroom, and Republicans in congress threatening to shutdown the US government unless anti-trans and anti-abortion policies are included in the budget bill. Oh, and then there’s the West Virginia House that passed a bill that would allow for public and school librarians to be criminally prosecuted if a minor should encounter a book that has obscene content in it.
On top of all that, we are about to finish our warmest February on record in Minnesota, and our warmest winter on record (records go back to 1887). I am using the Plum Village meditation app to meditate every day, and also to chime a mindfulness bell every hour during the day to remind me to stop and be present and breathe. It helps.
It also helps that I have pretty great coworkers. Someone knows a professional dancer and on Wednesday last week we had a staff event where we got to learn a line dance based on the Dance the Night scene from the Barbie movie. It was an hour of dancing and good silly stress relieving fun.
It was sunny and 47F/8.3 C today. I spent some time out in the garden without a jacket! I pruned Elderberry, Chokeberry, Professor Plum, Witch Hazel, and Grape. I whispered and hummed to them all while I worked. And the chickens followed me around to make sure I wasn’t doing anything they wanted to get in on. They were extremely hopeful and disappointed every time I changed location.
I still need to do some pruning of Hazelnut and Apple trees, but I made a good start today and couldn’t have been happier spending time in the sunshine with the curious chickens and my slowly awakening woody friends.
The onion sprouts even got to spend time outdoors in an improvised greenhouse. They are doing great! I read that I am supposed to keep them trimmed to about 3 inches tall until I plant them outdoors in late April. So I trimmed the taller ones and James added the trimmings to dinner. The trimmings are mild, kind of like chives. It’s fun to be able to use them—garden produce already! And in a few weeks I’ll get to trim them again.
And so garden fever is beginning to set in. Last year I ordered a couple of Honeyberries and Clove Currant from a Northern Minnesota nursery called Honeyberry USA. A couple days ago I was mourning the death last spring of Red Currant who had begun to leaf out in an early April warm spell only to be killed in a late April cold snap. I’ve been pondering planting a new Red Currant but everywhere I found one they were around $30 or more. Yikes! Then I thought, I wonder what Honeyberry USA has?
Goodness, it turns out they have several varieties of red currants and they are only $15! So I have decided to get one, but I don’t know what variety yet. Of course while I was on their site I had to browse. I discovered they have mulberry trees for half the price I thought I would have to pay for one. And, they have highbush cranberries for a few dollars less than I was planning on paying for one at a local place. So when I order the red currant, I’m also getting a mulberry and a highbush cranberry.
I’m still planning on bringing home a peach tree in May from the Friends School Plant Sale. And probably not much else other than a couple of herbs. Of course the sale catalog doesn’t come out until mid-March and there might be something else I absolutely need. One never knows.
[Updated February 26, 2024: Corrected Alabama Supreme Court ruling from frozen embryos to frozen fertilized eggs.]
Reading
- Book: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. This was a re-read. I first read it back in the late 90s/early 2000s and was blown away. I decided to re-read it now because the book begins in summer of 2024. This time I was struck by the slow build. It’s three years of the walled neighborhood before Lauren has to run for her life. I saw how easy it is to be complacent, to believe everything will be fine and how few pay attention to the gradual crumbling, so that when the disaster happens it’s a great surprise. The first time I read the book I rushed through it. This time I took my time and let it all sink in. I will be re-reading Parable of the Talents eventually, but I’m still sitting with this one for a little while yet.
Listening
- Podcast: Planet Critical: Climate Corruption – Amy Westervelt. Host Rachel Donald interviews independent climate journalist Amy Westervelt about the Atlas Network, a global network of Think Tanks that collaborate and share information and tactics on continuing fossil extraction and squashing climate protest.
- Podcast: Drilled: The Corporate Push to Criminalize Free Speech. This is Amy Westervelt’s podcast and in this episode she delves into all the ways corporations are getting governments to pass laws that crack down on environmental and climate protest.
- Podcast: Tech Won’t Save Us: How the Mirror World Distorts Our Reality – Naomi Klein. I am getting towards the top of the holds queue at the library for Klein’s latest book, Doppelganger, but in the meantime, I have been enjoying listening to interviews with her in various outlets because they all manage to focus on something a little different.
Watching
- Movie: May December (2023). Starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Intense and creepy and messed up in so many ways.
Quote
God is Change, and in the end, God prevails. But God exists to be shaped. It isn’t enough for us to just survive, limping along, playing business as usual while things get worse and worse. If that’s the shape we give God, then someday we must become too weak—too poor, too sick—to defend ourselves. Then we’ll be wiped out.
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, page 76
James’s Kitchen Wizardy
Lots of leftovers this week. But there was also a pizza that had on it what we think was arugula pesto from last year’s garden (it could have been nettle pesto, it didn’t get labeled), along with white button mushrooms, black beans, and homemade vegan mozzarella cheese. Yum.
I’m a great believer in garden therapy for calm and healing. We can’t ignore what’s going on in the world but time spent outside in the fresh air immersed in nature and talking to the plants (or, more importantly, listening to them) is precious medicine. Isn’t it always a good feeling to pick those first little fresh bits and pieces for the kitchen, too? Tonight we will be eating the first handful of purple sprouting broccoli, a treat I look forward to every year ~ it’s a bit early, but that seems to be the way of things here at the moment. Enjoy your plant shopping, always good medicine too! 😊
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Thank you! Yes, tending to living, growing beings is so healing and grounding and I am so blessed to have a little space to do it. The first fresh bits from the garden are indeed wonderful! While we were eating, I told James, we were enjoying our first garden harvest of the year 🙂 I’ve not tried growing broccoli before. I think I’m going to put that on the list for things to try next year.
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Things have been particularly bleak lately, haven’t they? While driving home the other day from work I thought, Well, the aliens can come now anytime and just take over. Because we’ve effed it up all over and we’re done. It was sort of in jest but also sort of not.
So I am also taking refuge and heart in meditation, in the natural world in my yard, in the promise of spring, and in my reading and listening. I know that it’s not hopeless but sometimes I just need reminding. I love hearing about your garden adventures as always! I ordered cucumber seeds despite me saying that I wasn’t going to try and grow food anymore. These are a bush variety – that appeals more to me than the ones that grow long trailing vines. I do love cucumber!
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Heh, Laila, maybe the aliens are already here and that’s the problem 😉
We all need a ways to take care of ourselves, rest and build our energy and meditation and gardens are some of the best in my opinion. I have not heard of bush cucumbers before! I hope they are fantastically productive and you get your fill this summer!
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I hear you! It has seemed particularly stressful lately. Along with everything else, we have a chicken bullying situation that has been disheartening, but I’m slowly figuring out some solutions that don’t involve giving away any chickens. I’m doing a little work day by day in the garden too, although part of my current solution involves letting most of the chickens out in the yard all day, and they are making a HUGE mess of emerging spring plants. Sigh. Oh well, things (usually) grow back. I am finding refuge in books (more fluff than usual), sitting outside during breaks in the rain, and my NEW E-BIKE which I am SO excited about (our favorite bike shop had a massive moving sale, so we took advantage of it and got two pedal-assist bikes for 50% off!). I have pledged that whenever possible, I will be riding my bike to do local errands. Time to build that habit. Keith already commutes to work by bike every day so he’ll be glad to have a little extra assistance when it gets hot and the headwinds pick up. I just needed an excuse to quit using the car for my short daily errands. Exciting!
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Chicken bullying is the worst! It’s not like you can give them a talking to and a time out. I hope you are able to find a way to bring peace the flock soon! Congrats on your new e-bike! How exciting! I hope you love it! I know James loves his e-bike and I love my e-cargo bike. It’s amazing what a little pedal assist can do! Yay for Keith bike commuting! You will need to share some of your adventures 🙂
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It is so sad. I think I am going to have to split the flock (of 10) — we are going to look at a smaller used coop this evening for the bad girls. Hopefully they can figure it out, but it’s not looking good. Oh well — thankfully, I have room for two chicken runs! The e-bike is SO MUCH FUN. I love it so much and am looking forward to running ALL MY ERRANDS on it! Just that little bit of help makes everything easier and more fun. We are going to try to take a couple of longer rides this spring (30+ miles to a nearby town for an overnight adventure!).
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What a shame to have to split the flock! But it’s good you have room to do it so you at least won’t need to re-home anyone. Still 😦
So glad you are enjoying your e-bike so much! Yes to all the errands! You may want to check with your insurance company to find out whether or not your e-bike is covered. If not, Velosurance https://velosurance.com/ is good and not that expensive. We’ve got both our bikes covered for their full value and it covers theft and accidents. Yay for overnight bike adventures! That’s going to be so much fun!
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Look at the chick-chicks! Good you have them to supervise your efforts: where would you be without their guidance. And May December was a LOT to take in, wasn’t it: some really fascinating performances (and performances about performances, sheesh).
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I’m sure the garden would be a disaster if the chickens weren’t around to supervise 😀 May December was a lot to take in. Really fantastic acting.
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I tried to leave a comment earlier… testing again!
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Wah! They ended up in the spam folder for some reason. I have fished them out 🙂
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Thank you!
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When things start popping up in the spring at my house, I’m nearing the end of a semester, so I just watch what happens. There is something fun about that, because we first bought out house when there was snow on the ground. I had no clue what would come up. Since then, I’ve taken wild flowers from out back and moved them into the area that the previous owner had landscapped, and it’s getting a little wild, which I love.
Are you on the look out for some positive news? I keep my ear turned to my home state, Michigan, where Big Gretch and most Michiganders are keeping things free for all in a variety of ways.
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I love that things are getting a little wild! In gardening best practices, when you move into a new place and don’t know what is planted, you are supposed to wait a year before making any big changes since you don’t know what’s going to pop up as you discovered 🙂
I always look for positive news but some days it’s not enough.
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