The Future of Hope

Last night, when we heard Robert Siegel of NPR say it for the first time, we hung this second banner next to our Hope banner that's been up for a while now. We hung the banner as we cried tears of joy, as we laughed with disbelief, as we made a champagne toast to the future, as we hung blue crepe paper throughout the kitchen and the deck. We woke up Sprout and Bird, and carried our sleepy eyed children down as we turned on the TV and watched President Elect Barack Obama take the stage in Grant Park, and tell us that our hope has NOT been in vain. We watched over and over again this video, and sang along, and laughed and cried some more. Thank you voters. Thank you America, for standing up to make your voice heard. Thank you for believing, for hoping, for dreaming, and making a better tomorrow, a reality. I am so hopeful, so proud, and I stand with you today and share the dreams for the future, that now seem brighter than ever! YES WE CAN!!!

Things We Don't See on The News

Spread the word...

The Apron Strings

The introduction of Sarah Palin into the current political mess has sparked a flood of talk about feminism in America. Frankly, I haven't heard a single political comment about Palin and feminism that I agree with. I heard an article on NPR about Palin a few months ago, and she struck me as a strong, powerful woman. Still, I was shocked at McCain's choice of a running mate with so little experience. I cringed at what seemed obvious: He was gunning for Clinton supporters. There have been so many cringe-worthy moments since that initial announcement.
One thing that's driving me crazy is the people saying that they are going to vote for Palin because the "talking heads" are saying she shouldn't run for Vice President because she's a mom. Moms are great, they say. Moms can do anything. Well trust me, I know that most Moms are superheroes. Even Palin has donned this pitbull-with-lipstick-hockey-mom image with pride. But frankly, I have a real problem with the "I'm a mom just like you." line of thought. I want an individual who isn't all that much like me, frankly. I have some major ideas about government, but do I think I'm qualified to run the country? Heck no. And frankly I cringe at the fact that these self professed "feminists" say they are voting for Palin because the powers-that-be say she can't do it, or because Palin is a Mom. Shouldn't we empowered women be intelligent enough to realize when someone is chosen based on their gender? Palin may be a strong woman, but the idea that she is qualified for VP is outrageous. Shouldn't we expect more from our politicians than this?

Amidst all of the gender talk, I keep hearing the term "Apron Strings". They say Palin is tying on the apron strings with pride. (Some say this against Palin, some for Palin.) They play clips of conservative analysts accusing Hillary of "hiding behind the apron strings". Outside of politics, people accuse people who stay close to their mother's as "holding on to" the apron strings. I recently became the proud owner of an apron, so maybe that's what made these comments stick out to me. What does that mean, apron strings? In context, people seem to think it represents feminine, stay-at-home, dinner-on-the-table womanhood. Are strong women "hiding" their strength behind femininty? If so, apron strings are the wrong way to go about portraying this. As I was tying on my apron the other day, I realized something. Apron strings are designed to cross in back, and tie in front. Why? Because while we women are going about our business, there is no one standing around waiting to help us out. There is no one there to tie the strings of our aprons so we can keep our dresses clean. No, we tie our apron strings ourselves, and get down to the business of doing all of the hard work that--while behind the scenes--is so crucial to keeping everything running as it should.

My youngest started school last week. I have been a proud stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) for nearly seven years now, so this was a huge change. People kept telling me I would have "so much time" now, but I couldn't believe it. Indeed, I seem just as busy now as I was before. I still have two non-profits to Direct, a gardening business to co-operate, a house to keep, 3 dogs to care for, and 2 kids that now not only need much more of my attention when they are here, but need to be shuttled back and forth to school and have all sorts of new needs because of school. People used to tell me I was a superwoman, and I shook my head. But now I look back and wonder how I managed it all. I don't often pat my own back, but I'm doing it now in hopes that some of my readers will acknowledge their own superhero status as well, and wear their self-tied aprons with pride.

Sweet retro apron by Pretty Industries--ampirlot on Etsy.com.

Catching Up

It has been far too long since I've posted--so long that I don't think I can possibly catch up. So since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is what I did this summer.
Any questions? I hope to be back to normal speed blogging very soon. Hope you all had a wonderful summer!

Swallowtail Caterpillars

Our fennel went nuts last year and ended up dropping seeds all over our herb spiral. I cleaned out the spiral this spring as I was putting in new plants, but even with a few trips back through, we've had dozens of little fennel plants all over the place. Thankfully, I'm not that vicious of a weeder, because all of these plants have attracted the notice of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! We counted 4 big fat 'pillars this evening. Pretty fun since the kids just attended a library presentation about bugs. It was especially nice to see them since at the moment our yard feels like anything but a nature preserve. The flooding that has closed I-94 in Wisconsin is bad enough that we were looking at weeks of closure, so they are building a crossover to get 2 lanes of cross-directional traffic across the "good" bridge. All that is happening directly across from our bedroom window. So the kids have had fun with the construction site right in our backyard, but we got this nice reminder of what progress we've made in building up backyard habitat in the midst of a new subdivision. We're looking forward to watching them develop into beautiful butterflies. Bird turns 5 tomorrow: Happy Birthday, Bird!

A Watery Glimpse of the Future?

Some of my dear readers have been wondering how we're doing here in Wisconsin with all of the flooding. Before I begin, let me say that we are fine. We are 1000 times luckier than the majority of people in our area. Our basement is dry, we can not complain. We have had some major damage to our seed crops and lettuce, and our vegetables that survived are overgrown with weeds in fields so soggy we can't possibly step foot in them without damaging the plants. So. We've done what we could. We did two huge lettuce harvests before hail took the remainder that we couldn't get out in time. The refrigerator was overflowing with lettuce. Think I'm exaggerating? That's where you'd be wrong. I have photographic evidence! So that and a car with a few hail dings is really all we can claim as inconvenience. That--and being relatively stranded. We live very near the Rock River. Most of you know we live right up against I-94. Half of it has been closed because of flooding on the Rock. We basically can't get West with any rhyme or reason. We can't get South either without going way east first. We can go North, but not far, and not to any practical purpose. We can easily go East, we just can't get back. The first picture up above shows the Rock River 3 days before we got the last set of really big storms--3 nights before we spent most of the night in our basement listening to tornado sirens go off. We've seen the Rock flood it's banks a bit at this farm before--the normal path is a few yards to the right of the line of trees on the right of the picture. It's crept into this farmyard a bit before, but nothing like this. If you look at the fenceline, you'll see that it's under about 3 feet of water. Now this picture is of the park directly across the water. There is usually a parking lot in front of that sign. (It's still there, just under a couple of feet of water. Notice the picnic pavilion that's barely above water. Now. Like I said, this was three days before the last big wave of storms hit. The day after the storms hit, we were driving home from the North and the bridge was closed. This pavilion? Was 3 feet deep in water. And then? It rained again. A lot. So we can't even get onto this road anymore but I can only imagine what it looks like now. And the farm on the other side--the water has to be up over the ground floor level of that house now. I'd guess their first floor is under at least a foot of water. The water just keeps coming, and there is nowhere for it to go. It is bizarre to be stranded like this. Events are being canceled left and right, local business is suffering since most people are avoiding the interstate, and you just "can't get from here to there" as someone reminisced is once true again. This is all bad--but nothing compared to what's happening in Iowa. The scariest part is that this may very well be just a glimpse of the future as we experience continued climate change, AKA global warming. In other news Sprout graduated from Kindergarten and our little bird turns 5. The world keeps turning on, regardless of climate change, regardless of the rain. It helps a little to know that hopefully our kids will grow up in a brighter future if we all do our part to stop and reverse the changes that past generations have put into motion. As Beo says, and it is more important than ever now: Be the change.

Close Up of Spring--Baby Robins

Greetings Dear Readers! I am taking the week off from both of my (paid) jobs, so I'm hoping to catch up with all of the blog posts I've had sitting in the hopper! First, I'd like to share the special close up of Spring we had the treat to see this year. A momma robin built her nest under the tiny eaves of the kids' playground in our backyard. We thought for sure she'd give up on it with the kids always running around, but no, soon there were three twee blue eggs, and one day Sprout noticed that one had hatched. I decided to take a picture so that the kids could get a close up view without traumatizing the mama. By the time I got the camera out, there were 2 babies. This was May 17th.

We tried to have the kids avoid the playground as much as possible after that. The momma would get super irritated even if the kids were in the vicinity. We didn't want to bug her, nor did we want the kids to get a pecking. We promised them they'd have their playground back soon, but I didn't look up how soon we could expect that to be. Well a week and a half later, we were outside while I hung out the laundry, and Sprout noticed that one of the babies was on the playground mulch. We got a towel and I went and looked at it. He was pretty sturdy, but I was afraid he'd be dog bait, so I gently scooped him up and climbed up the playground ladder and set him back down on his brothers/sisters. That was May 28th.

Just 3 days later, Bird came running upstairs early in the morning to tell us that the baby robin had come to visit. We wrote it off to her dreamy mind, but when Beo went downstairs, he came up laughing and told me I had to come look. Sure enough, there was a baby robin, right in the bush about 18 inches in front of our living room window. I tried to get some pictures through the screen. Poor momma was going crazy. She kept trying to come bring him food but she was scared to come so close to the house. She mostly sat on the bird feeder out front and squawked like crazy! Later that morning we were out front and had forgotten that the baby was so close. When I saw him I decided to get a closer picture. I got this shot, and then off he flew--right into the road! He just sat there so I walked around him to try to herd him back into the yard. He actually flew right up onto the neighbor's roof, so I wasn't worried about his flying ability then. Momma Robin was much happier taking food to him over there. We got squawked at a bit more that afternoon when we were in the backyard, but by the next day there was no sign of momma or babies. We're hoping that she might come again next year though. It was a really neat experience for all of us.

Fiddlehead Fabulosity

Earlier this week I heard an interview with a local, seasonal, slow-food enthusiast. He was singing the praises of the foods that could be foraged locally in this burst of Spring weather. One of the things he mentioned was fiddlehead ferns, so when I saw a package at Whole Foods last night, I snatched them up. I was a bit intimidated by them, but I took it as a challenge to my culinary ingenuity. I found a recipe published in Mother Earth News, by "A Taste of The Mountains" cooking school. After a thorough cleaning the recipe instructed how to lightly sautee the fern heads in olive and sesame oils, with a touch of freshly ground corriander and honey. (If you use this recipe, I'd recommend going light on the pepper at the end.) They were perfectly delightful served over a bed of linguine tossed with a bit of butter and salt. They reminded me very much of asparagus, but with an undertone of earthier flavor. If you have the chance to try this ephemeral Spring delicacy of the Earth, I'd highly advise you to do so. Bon appetite!

To Go, Green Style

One of my biggest green-smashing vices is take out. Life has gotten a lot busier in the past year with taking on a second job, stepping up the gardening business, and ironically, having Sprout in school. The local coffee shop is the main place we indulge in now and again. They have a divine soup, make a mean veggie sandwich, and have sweets galore. It's all reasonably priced and I like supporting our local, family-owned coffee shop that buys our organically grown produce in the summer. There's just one problem: packaging. We usually eat there, but there's almost always leftovers. I most often eat there with Bird, and she's the only one to get lunch (I eat when I get home), but she always has half a sandwich left over. Yes, the soup comes home in a paper cup, the rest comes home in bulky styrofoam. It finally got to the point where I realized it was time to do something about it, so I went searching, and discovered these items which are some of my favorite new things! The first are Sigg snack boxes, like the blue one pictured at right, and the red one below. These are perfect for putting Bird's leftovers or a sweet treat in. They will also be perfect for when I don't have Sprout's Laptop Lunchbox clean and need to use his regular lunchbox (a soft-sided number). We only use a few plastic baggies a month but I expect these will totally eliminate our need for them. The snack boxes also come in a larger size for people who want to take a big salad to work or otherwise pack a bigger portion. They are lightweight and sturdy, and close securely. The second is a tiffin by To-Go Wear that I first saw on Vegan Lunchbox. It really is divine. I can have soup or a salad in one container, and a half-sandwich or roll in the other. The divider between the two can be used as a little plate. The handle allows you to put in hot foods and not burn yourself walking around. Very handy. So now I can get my take out completely waste free and enjoy my "fast food" with much less guilt. Hooray! I found my new treasures at www.reusablebags.com.

Happy Earth Day 2008

Happy Earth Day! We had a smashing Earth Dinner on Sunday--our 3rd annual Earth Dinner, and it was just wonderful. We had old friends, people from our church, the community--a full house of people talking about food, climate change, and how we can play a part. It was inspirational and heart warming. Wisconsin offered up food that became curried potatoes, chili, corn chips, sourdough and sweet breads, cherry pie, salad, maple popcorn, wine, and more. I got to wear my herbivore "Eat Like You Give a Damn" tee and hang out with eco-friendly friends while eating great food. Yeah, that's pretty much perfection for me. My dolls are helping to spread the message of Earth Day this year, as hundreds of board members access the album that I put together on our Traveling Doll's blog: www.travelingnora.blogspot.com. Check it out for some lighthearted fun. I hope you and yours have a renewing, inspirational Earth Day 2008!

The Branch Will Not Break

Lately life has been quite busy, yet has seemed more balanced at the same time. As I've had this realization, I've found that I'm more susceptible to being touched by poetry. Maybe it's just that it's National Poetry Month. I heard this poem on "To The Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR) last weekend and found it positively delightful:

In a pine tree,
A few yards away from my window sill,
A brilliant blue jay is springing up and down,
up and down,
On a branch.
I laugh, as I see him abandon himself
To entire delight, for he knows as well as I do
That the branch will not break.
--James Wright

I so loved this poem, and actually the entire show was just really excellent. As a matter of fact, you should listen to it if you have the time. You can do so HERE. It sent me chasing to Barnes and Noble for the book "Sightings" by Sam Keen, and I decided to see if I could find the book that the poem was in. It was only $5, so heck yeah, throw it in there. I ordered those two books along with SMITH magazine's "Not Quite What I Was Planning" (a blog for a later date). These books are so good that I sent the exact same order to my sister and her roomie because they needed them. Well, the books came, and the poetry book was just twee! At first I felt like an idiot, but then I realized that it was all poetry in motion,

because Goodreau Privera had just arrived and looked so sweet sitting in her chair, but really needed some reading material. Hello, how cute is this? Ah yes, my doll collecting has branched out a bit since last I mentioned it. I'm more into them now, but into different dolls. Beo surprised me with some mad money from an unexpected bonus, so I got to make the jump and purchase this Beauty. Seriously, isn't she gorgeous? It's silly how happy she makes me.

Balance in the doing,
In the music and the craft.
Creativity and Hard Work,
Challenge and Longing.
Accomplishment and sometimes,
sheer unexpected joy:
A laugh
A smile
A song
And I know that I am blessed.

Happy Poetry Month!

April Just One Thing

April's Just One Thing is the two degrees of separation. Did you know that a difference of just a degree or two in your thermostat setting can make a big difference? This is usually a mild time of year, so now might be a good time to try it. If you're thermostat is set to heat, try turning it down two degrees. Already cooling off? Turn it up two degrees. By doing so, you can save about 2,000 pounds of carbon emissions each year! You probably won't even notice the difference in temperature, but you may notice the average energy cost savings of $100! Thank you!

To learn more:
EPA Individual Emissions
Programmable Thermostats

Spring Craft Time

Bird is getting to the age where she has a bit more interest and patience for "real" crafts. Yesterday, a unique shop on State Street in Madison lured us in again. Anthology, a newer boutique near the Children's Museum end of State Street, combines unique handcrafted art for sale with a few do-it-yourself art projects. The window's bright colors, vintage fabrics, and creativity caught our eye. The shop was filled with bags, cards, magnets, colorful unique quilts, beautiful papers, books, handcrafted toys, jewelry, and other delights. I spotted many items made from salvaged fabrics and papers. I picked up a handmade fabric coffee cozy for when I forget my reusable mugs. A table near the back offered materials and instructions to make your own tissue paper flowers for an insanely reasonable fee. Sprout picked out a "wallet" (change purse) made of an old capri sun juice packet. Bird and I couldn't resist this cute kit from "Artgirlz". We've never been so quick to finish a project! We started on it shortly after getting home yesterday, and finished it up this morning. Bird was more than willing to attempt some sewing as we appliqued a big "E" on the front (yes it's true, "Bird" is not her given name); and happily strung beads despite a frustration here and there. I think the thought of the finished project made it worth it for her. I can't believe we didn't have a single meltdown, as she's been more prone to tantrums lately. There's a little flower garden started on the other side of the bag, but Bird was so overcome with the present success of the bag that she wanted to call it quits for now. I'm totally fine with that. It's nice to have a project that looks so great and was so easy to do. This allowed Bird to be creative and still have an incredible finished piece, so we'll be looking for similar projects. Overall, I think this was a big success, and I hope we'll be doing more crafting like it in the future. Anthology will be a good source. I highly recommend that you check it out if you're in the area!

Spring--I Believe!

Spring, it has sprung. There's no going back now! Every year, I try not to get my hopes up on this, one of my two favorite equinoxes. It's almost impossible though. The sun is shining brightly. I can go outside without a coat and not get frostbite on my way to the mailbox. Bird is bubbling over with enthusiasm and shouting: "Welcome, Spring!" out the window of the car. Now this--an actual flower peeking up out of the bleak gardens of winter, hinting at the transformations just around warmer corners. I am a purple woman at heart, but the radiant sunshine of these blooming bulbs seems simply perfect on a day like today. What's more, Beo and I celebrate our anniversary on March 20th, which adds to the feeling of overall happiness, joy, renewal--even after nine whole years. (Y'all are invited to our 10 year anniversary party next year. I can promise good music and good veggie lasagna!) It's all too much to ignore that the winter doldrums will soon be a thing of the past. So I'm jumping in. I believe! Spring is here! We even get to attend a party tomorrow where we're going to welcome in Spring with good food, drums, and loads of happy kids. Welcome, Spring! Now repeat after me dear readers: "The 7 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow will NOT come..."

Ebullience

My daughter, she is ebullient. Bird has always been a spirited child, but she just never ceases to amaze me. With the spring thaw, her spirits have been rising with each inch of grass that's revealed degree by degree. For days now, she'll point out the window saying "Look, look!" as if there was some incredible wonder out our own back door. When we ask what she sees, she says: "Grass!", and she's truly thrilled, just glowing.

The other day, she heard an NPR DJ say "Obama", and said: "Mommy, they said Obama!" and I said: "Who is Obama?" Bird started singing "Yes-we-can, Yes-we-can, oh Yes-we-can!" So I asked her, "We can what?" She stopped and said she didn't know, so I told her that that song about Obama was saying that Yes, we can make the world a better place. Well that just set her off into her own version:

Yes-we-can make the world a better place! Yes-we-can give food to puppies and kitties! Yes-we-can make the wars stop and the soldiers stop fighting! Yes-we-can see a robin because it's almost spring! Yes-we-can stop global warming! Yes-we-can turn off lights to help!

How can you not just adore this kid? You can't not adore her, that's all there is too it. She is just full of joy and love, and is all about spreading it around. You rarely see this kid without a smile on her face. Just now, I hear her saying: "Wow, this is so amazing! This is just SO beautiful..." so I peek in her room, and she's looking out the window. "What is it, Bird?", I asked. "The world." said she.

We could all learn a lesson from my Bird. I know I'm blessed to have the opportunity every day.

Envirosax

I am a reusable bag freak. I just love all of the different styles and options. I have to be careful not to undo the good of reusing bags by buying too many sustainable bags! We've all seen the string bags, recycled plastic bags, and insulated bags out there. But can reusing bags be chic? Oh yes, yes indeed. If you want to go a bit more chic with your reusable bags than the inside out plastic bag with "Reusable Bag" markered in (which I still love), ehere's another option. I came across these incredible bags at a great little shop in Madison on State Street: Pop Deluxe. These bags are theoretically easy to roll up (I confess, I haven't tried yet) ala those little umbrellas, and stow away in your purse/car/backpack. The material is very much like those lightweight umbrellas--a polyester fabric. Don't want to go polyester? Spend the money on their new Organic line, made from either a bamboo, linen, or hemp blend. The Envirosax Website explains that the company was started by a family in Australia, which lives sustainably on their bit of Queensland. Their green living includes use of a solar water heater, rainwater tanks for their garden and orchard, and recycling sewage system. While the bags are made in China, the company assures that fair trade standards are met at their factories. These little lightweight bags are designed to hold the same amount as two shopping bags. Checking out the site,I found that they have a new line for kids, to encourage them to get into the reusable bag habit as well. Yeah, I can support this company! Sprout would love these cool bags to tote his snowpants back and forth to school, stow his show-and-tell in, and Bird will sock away her many treasures. These are a great way to call attention to the fact that "Green is the new Black". Check them out! Choose your favorite one of save a bit of money and stock up by buying a series. Right now they're even offering a shower timer with full-series orders, so you can have some help saving water too. This is a super fun way to be green.

March Just One Thing

If you can do Just One Thing to help sustainability efforts this month, try washing your clothes in cold water! According to TerraPass, the great majority of energy used in washing our clothes is in heating the water that the washing machine uses. Washing in cold water saves the average household $60 a year in electricity, and keeps 1,281 pounds of CO2 out of the environment each year! Here at the Mia-Beo household, we do virtually all our loads in cold water. I confess that once in a while I let the first run of water on towels or sheets run on warm, but then switch over to cold. I know logically that the heat of the water won't make a difference germ-wise, but it's a mental comfort I have nonetheless. It's silly because when I do use cold-water only, our clothes and linens come out perfectly clean! Plus, it helps keep our energy bill low. Running your wash cycles on cold is a simple thing you can do to make a difference. Thank you!

February Just One Thing

February's Just One Thing is to use a reusable bag! By bringing your own bag, you can be part of reducing the use of 12 million barrels of oil that go into manufacturing plastic bags and the 10 billion paper bags that are used each year. Bringing your own bag also helps cut down on landfill waste, litter, and wildlife injuries. Just by bringing your own bag, you can help reduce climate change and make the world a better place for the future. Thank you!

Some ideas...
Many grocery and department stores are offering inexpensive reusable bags to make this simple for you. (I've purchased them at both Whole Foods and Target but have seen them at normal grocery stores and understand WalMart is offering them too.)

For more ideas, check out:
Haute Reusable Bags
Knit a Bag!
Feeling ambitious? Make a bag from old bags!
Or go ultra simple. I love the idea of using old plastic bags and turning them inside out, labeling them "Reusable Bag", like this blogger!

Yes We Can

Let's start believing, my friends! Tuesday could be the day that marks the start of the change we're all HOPING for.

Making The Choice

It has to be done. A choice must be made. I'm done being undecided. I forgot to mention in my last post that I had taken a web survey a while back, and Obama was the highest match for my value after Kucinich. I took a simpler one today, and it showed Obama on top for me. (You can take the qui) I've been thinking about that today, and about how jaded I've become about politics. I hear person after person saying that they are so inspired by Obama, and I just squirm, but I've been thinking about how much I want to believe Obama, and how sad it is that I've lost so much faith. I hate feeling this way. Right now, on the top of Obama's website, is one of his famous quotes.

"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington, but in yours."

Okay. I'm in. If he has the vision, and he is elected, he will have the power to make that vision a reality. I have to believe in something myself to start directing my energy there. Well let's get a move on. I'm in, Obama, let's make this happen.
P.S. Hey Barack--Edwards for VP!

Edwards Out

It's just been announced that John Edwards is going to be dropping his presidential bid today. I knew it was coming, but it still hurts. I feel like the Democratic party allowed itself to be blinded by the novel possibility of an African American man or a woman in the white house, and forgot about the importance of policy and vision. I know that's not PC of me to say, but I feel as strongly about it today as I have since before the Iowa caucus. So now what? I have to say I'm really undecided. To be perfectly honest, I'm not a Hillary lover. I campaigned in my youth for Mr. Clinton, and was thrilled with his presidency and felt betrayed by later scandal. Hillary has seemed over confident and even flippant to me in the past. On the issues, she seems to have relatively solid plans. I admit that I softened to her when she did her playful You Tube videos, and again when she had her "teary" moment. I was livid that the press jumped all over her for the incident, though I knew immediately that it would be a big issue. Later, when I saw footage of the "incident" I realized it wasn't that big a deal, and seeing her interviewed about it, I was very impressed with the way she described what happened, both brushing it off and acknowledging the emotions, embracing the importance of being human while making it clear that it didn't affect her ability to lead. That said, I still have my reservations about bringing Old Washington back to the White House. I'm not totally sold.

Now Barack Obama had me at "hello" when he spoke at the Democratic Covention a few years back. I became a big fan even though at that time I was not familiar with his politics. He was inspirational and charasmatic, and I believed in his vision. Now, nearly four years later, what his "Audacity of Hope" done? I find it interesting that the American Rhetoric site was the first to come up when I googled for that speech. Of course "rhetoric" is the proper term for the speech, but it also has connotations which I now associate with Obama. To keep with my movie terms, show me the money, Obama. I have a hard time looking at his voting record and seeing "NV" for no vote so many times. Obama is 4th on the list of senators who has missed the most votes. It should be noted that #1 is dear Senator Tim Johnson, who was absent most of his term due to a stroke, #2 is candidate John McCain, and #3 is Joe Biden. Hillary isn't that far behind at #7. I realize that these people are missing a lot of votes because they're campaigning, but c'mon, you have a job to do! Obama missed 178 votes, over 37% of the votes he had a chance on. (Clinton missed 105 for 23%.) So what is he doing there? I hear his incredibly eloquent words, and I want to believe, but where is the action? I like his ideals, I like his diverse background, but it just doesn't feel right.

I've been dissappointed to hear the intense and immature bickering that's gone back and forth between Clinton and Obama, dissapointed in the real estate scandal and WalMart ties that have come forth, and I'm left completely undecided. So why only a picture of Hillary today? Well, I tried to download a picture of Obama, but every time I did, his site locked up my computer. Maybe it's a sign. We'll miss you, John. Keep fighting the good fight.

The Cold

I love living in Wisconsin. Really, I do. Sure, I wish that we lived closer to family, but all in all I really love the little corner of Wisconsin we've found as our home. Right now though? I'm so done with Wisconsin Winter. This winter has been downright bizarre. We got a lot of snow early on, but it all but melted right before Christmas. This past month we had two weeks where it was below freezing (without the windchill) nearly every day. I went to a rare ladies evening a couple of weekends ago, and we sat outside in the hot tub while the -6 degree air blew around us. Ironically, hat's been about the only time I've felt warm in the past couple of months. We actually keep the thermostat at a relatively reasonable spot. The upstairs, where I do most of my work, does get cold since our thermostat is located downstairs in the sunny living room. Rob feels badly for me, and bought me an energy efficient space heater that I keep about 4 inches away from my chair when I'm going to be in my room for a while. I wear layers, thick sweaters usually, but unless I add a hat and a throw, I still feel cold. I bought UGGS in the hope that they would keep my feet warm, but it didn't make a difference. Cold like this is just permeating. It seeps through the windows (literally) and into my mood as well. We had a brief respite this weekend. It crept into the 20s on Sunday, so we went snowshoeing. Monday morning was even warmer so I went for a run. It was only my second of the year. With temperatures what they've been and 6 weeks of pneumonia behind me, I don't want to tempt fate. It felt so good to be able to get outside and get a good run in. I think that will be part of my routine once both Sprout and Bird are in school. This morning it was over 40! It wasn't to last though, we are supposed to drop below zero by this evening. School was called off early with the nasty weather approaching. Apparently people who watch TV knew that, so Sprout was only one of a few kids who was still there when I got the call that I should have picked him up a half hour before. Talk about one of those "bad mom" feelings. Poor guy. I couldn't figure out how people were supposed to know until Rob reminded me of TVs. Oh yeah... Anyway, my sister has been updating me on their temps in Fairbanks. They have been dealing with -30+ without windchill. She says when it drops to -50, brakes stop working. So I will take Wisconsin as cheerfully as I can manage, even with all of the crazy weather that global climate change is bringing the badger state. It's nothing a good hat, a thick sweater, some capilene baselayers, fleece socks, a space heater, hot tea, a blanket and a steaming bowl of soup won't fix.

More Ways to be Green

The Nature Conservancy is one of my favorite organizations. They have a realistic, dig-in-your-heels, practical approach to-you guesssed it-conserving nature. Back when I visited my sister in Door County, she was doing scientific work with endangered dragonflies, in part on Nature Conservancy land. Now The Nature Conservancy has a new way to protect nature--encouraging "Everyday Environmentalism". Check out this new page, which gives some tried and true ways to be green, and other ways that you may not have thought of or heard of before. Have you thought about taking the stairs instead of elevators as an environmental choice? Do you clean your boots after you hike to prevent the spread of invasices? These ideas come from TNC's own staff as well as some of the top eco-bloggers out there. What's even better is that they want your ideas too. So check out the page and get some new ideas for ways to go even greener than you already are, then echo your own back to TNC.

The Fast Report

9:00: 14 hours of "fast". The morning hasn't been too bad. I've had a mug of black tea and another of warm water. I usually wait to eat until the kids have been fed and Sprout is off to school. So there wasn't a lot of temptation and I wasn't too hungry. I'm suddenly very cold though. That's not abnormal for me, but this feels worse. Maybe it's a blood sugar issue. This feels very do-able.

12:00: 17 hours in. 2/3 of the way there! Another mug of warm water--probably should have been more. I had a two hour conference call which helped distract me. Bird offered me some of her cashews and didn't like that I wasn't eating. It's hard to explain to a 4 year old. Serving her lunch was difficult. All of the cues to eat were there, at the fridge, the pantry--even just being in the kitchen. I didn't stay with her while she ate. It made me a bit more emotional as I became increasingly more hungry, just trying to contemplate the uncountable number of people--and children--who are hungrier than I, with no end in site. My stomach does feel crampish now, and I just feel a little light headed. 7 hours more will be interesting.

3:00: This really isn't so bad. The weirdest part is fighting my brain, which seems to be quite confused about why I don't just go eat something! I noticed around this time that water started to taste sweet. That continued through the rest of the fast.

5:00: With dinner time drawing near, I'm starting to feel a bit more anxious, and the 2 hours seems like a long time. On the other hand, I'm surprised at how much easier this has been than I expected. I realize at this point that I'm not going to break my fast lightly, and we resolve to hold off dinner until 7:00 and all eat a meal together.

7:00: Cheese pizza for dinner! I am really hungry and it feels good to eat, but it also feels a bit sacrilegious. I definitely want to break my fast with a cleaner, healthier food next time. My stomach did cramp just a bit a few minutes after eating, but it wasn't terrible.

Overall, the 24 hour fast was much easier than I expected it to be. It's definitely something I want to continue doing. It was so interesting to break my normal (sometimes mindless) eating habits, and in a much different way than doing Weight Watchers did that. I felt more mindful throughout the day, able to focus as my instincts rose up and I consciously had to suppress them. Of course I can't tell if I came out technically any "healthier", but I don't think that I did any damage. I do feel, just inherently, that it was a cleansing experience for me. I'd love to hear about your own experiences if you fasted with me or have fasted on your own.

The First Fast

So today is my first attempt at the 24-hour fast. I'm nervous, excited, and yes...hungry. It really is putting some perspective on things. I have had a couple of moments while focusing on work where my mind has wandered and I've thought: "Hmmmm, I'm hungry. I'll go eat something." It's a bit of shock to realize I "can't". Then of course, as I mentioned before, I think of how many people are far hungrier than I am, without a choice. Even looking out the window and watching the birds, seeing the rabbit tracks around the feeder, I think of how grateful they are for an easy meal. Life is good for me. Still, I can't eat for 24 hours, and I'm hoping it's for a good reason. So I decided to spend some time looking for more articles about the benefits of partial fasting. The original NPR article that got me thinking about this cites Dr. Mark Mattson. Searching for information about his studies brought me mostly to articles from every source about his studies in 2003 that focused on fasting in mice. Here's the most comprehensive one:
NIA/NIMH: Fasting Forestalls Huntington's Disease in Mice. Finding more information from the other researcher cited by NPR was more difficult. She focuses mainly on pediatric diets, and discourages "fast" food. The articles I did find about her work with the American College of Endocrinology on fasting was so technical that I had trouble discerning exactly what the results of the studies were. This quote from the NPR article seems to sum it up for the lay person though: "You re-tune the body, suppress insulin secretion, reduce the taste for sugar, so sugar becomes something you're less fond of taking".

It's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a good resource out there for the everyday person who wants to do a 24 hour fast for health. There are a lot of individual organizations that have different recommendations, but they all have their own take on why their fasting, and how it should be done. Can you drink coffee and tea? Do you really only fast for 24 hours, or do they mean 36--no meals waking to sleeping plus an entire night? How do I prepare myself for a fast? How do I break my fast? I've tried to put it all together and have come to a few conclusions, to be taken with a big grain of I'm-not-an-expert salt.

1. 24 hours is a sufficient period of time to allow for cleansing and stress the cells to a point that gives them a "work out". Dr. Mattson recommends simply skipping meals as one method of benefiting from calorie reduction. Any longer than 24 hours and you can start to have issues with muscle break down, etc. I am doing mine from 7PM-7PM.

2. Coffee? Tea? I don't know. Definitely not anything sweetened, including juice. Your pancreas is getting a break here and any sugars you consume have to be processed. I chose to have a cup of black tea this morning so as not to add a wicked caffeine headache to my hunger, but I will forgo anything but water for the rest of the period.

3. Fasting isn't about weight loss. There are lots of studies out there that show that fasting doesn't help weight loss, and can even screw things up. However--and this entirely my speculation--it seems to me that it can help if you are following a program where you are already regulating your food intake. That means that you won't binge when you break your fast, and you are going to go back to a healthy method of eating--possibly with your taste for sugar reduced, which can be very beneficial. I know one of my biggest challenges in losing weight is that craving for sweets.

4. Break your fast sensibly. Different methods call for different ways of resuming eating. My own common sense tells me that eating a full meal after depriving my body of food for 24 hours could throw a wrench in the system. I plan to start with a small amount of fresh fruit, then vegetables, and possibly wait until tomorrow morning to eat a normal meal.

So those are my thoughts for now. I will check back in to share more about my experiences once I complete the full 24 hours. Bright Blessings!

The 24-Hour Fast

When I was perusing NPR's top 2007 stories, I came across a piece abour 24 hour fasting. Fasting is something that I've always found fascinating and mystical. Growing up as a catholic, even the brief fast before communion on Sundays seemed very cleansing to me. As an adult, I've been loathe to try it myself. I've made plenty of excuses, but when I saw it come up on NPR...well c'mon, it's NPR! According to the story, fasting for 24 hours retunes the body. It cleans out your pancreas and basically resets your insulin baseline. Other benefits mentioned included: reducing your taste for sugar, lowering blood pressure, and possibly reducing the risk of cancer. Some researchers say it may extend lifespan in general because it stresses cells in a way that basically gives them a workout. Still more research shows that "partial" (24 hour) fasts may be beneficial for the brain and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This was the clincher for me. CADASIL, the genetic disease that is causing my father's stroke--the one that I have a 50% chance of having, it a disease that affects the brain and shares many characteristics of Parkinsons, and causes dementia. If I have it, I have it, there's no getting around it. All I can do is work at keeping my body and brain as healthy as possible, so that when the disease begings to progress, I'm at the best starting place I can be. So, I've committed to fasting 24 hours at least once a month this year, with hopes to move up to once a week.

I did a trial run today. Things have been busy and the family has been sick, so there hasn't been a good time. Today I am recovering from the nasty cold we've all had, but I just had a moment this morning where it seemed like I could try a mini-fast of sorts. I made it seven hours, and it wasn't too bad. I know this is going to sound corny or "out there", but I must admit, it felt very empowering to acknowledge my body's urges, and choose to deny them. There was something ascetic there that I hadn't taken into account. What's more, after a couple hours of actually feeling genuinely hungry, I began to think about how incredible it is that when I'm hungry I can just walk a few feet, grab some food, and satisfy my craving. I started thinking about how much is involved in getting my food to me (something I contemplate regularly, but it threw it into sharp perspective.) I thought about how many people in the world get by on a bowl of rice a day--if they're lucky. For me, fasting is a complete luxury. It's something I'm committed to doing though. Now I realize that it will also give me the chance to retune my mind as well as my body. I believe it will improve my long term physical, mental, and spiritual health. I plan to do my first complete fast this Friday, January 18th. No food, just plenty of water and thought. I'd love to have you join me.

For the original NPR story, visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16513299.

I Can Has Al Gore?

If you are not familiar with lolcats or similar macros, and you need to lighten up, check out icanhascheezburger.com. For the macro newbie, you may want to read the "About Us" before anything else. You'll get used to the weird chatspeak/bad grammar after a while. I guess it's that cats don't type so well. There are also a lot of insidish jokes, that you'll start getting if you check back in regularly. I try to check it once a week to get a good laugh. (How sad is that picture though?)

Just One Thing

Anyone who considers themselves an environmentalist has seen the “Gee-Whiz” factoids of how many small things can make a big difference. “If every household in the U.S. replaced just one package of 20 count drawstring tall kitchen bags made from virgin plastic with 65% recycled ones, we could save: 45,100 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 2,500 U.S. homes for a year; 824,800 cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 1,200 full garbage trucks; and avoid 16,800 tons of pollution!” “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars.” These small changes add up in big ways. What if every household in America really did these steps? With today’s “Us vs. Them” mentality, that seems almost impossible.

“Doing my part” for the environment has always come easily to me. I was one of the “granolas” in high school, and wore my earthy t-shirts with pride. As an adult, I’ve been passionate about making our household an environmentally responsible one. We eat local, organic, and vegetarian. We shop with a mind to reduce packaging, we use all natural household cleaners, compost, drive a hybrid. Yes, I admit, I often go through the garbage at work to rescue paper and cans for the recycling bin. I am “That Crazy Environmentalist”. The many other folks out there, who like me are passionate about the environment, continue to inspire me to do even more. Sometimes it’s overwhelming for me. How must it look to someone who is just thinking about taking the first steps to being a bit more Green?

I’ve been thinking about how some extremes keep people from taking that first step. Someone who is thinking about reducing the amount of meat in their diet might walk away from the whole idea if they are given a vegan meal plan. It was when I was watching “Who Killed the Electric Car?” that I realized that this applies to environmentalism. One of the gentlemen in the movie said that there are people out there who think that to make a difference they have to keep their house frigid, drive a tiny car—basically make big lifestyle changes that they’re just not willing to make. I wondered, how many people out there might do just one or two small things, but don’t want to be an “Environmentalist”? How many of those people would be willing to make a change if a different approach were taken?

For us guerilla recycling, do-it-all Environmentalist types, we so often can’t stop with just recommending the compact fluorescent, the natural cleaner, the one step that if “every household in America” would do would create those Gee-Whiz impacts. We feel compelled to tell them about the 20 other “small changes” they could make. I’ve caught myself doing it so many times. “Just start with organic milk, you can find it anywhere these days. You’ll hardly notice the difference in cost, and it makes a big difference for the environment.” That should be enough, but I don’t stop there. “Next you can switch to organic yogurt and cheese, then switch all your veggies and fruits, then go to pantry products. Before you know it, you’ll be 100% organic!” At this point my listener is picturing their grocery bill skyrocketing and having to shop at one of those “weird” stores, and I’ve lost my audience. If Green Explorers feel they have to sell their car, reject new clothes, overhaul their diet, and more, they may choose to turn away completely.

I believe that many people want to do “the right thing”, but the fact is that Americans are a busy lot and we all have our own priorities. So let’s start with just one thing a month. No scary facts about our current energy supplies running out, rising sea levels, or even pollution. We could have a catchy tagline, like “Today, you made a difference.” Pair that with a simple fact, like “You changed just one light bulb in your house to a compact fluorescent, which means that this year you’ll use 2/3 less energy on that bulb, and keep more carbon dioxide out of the environment. Thank you.” That’s it-stop! Don’t tell them anything else; don’t ask even one thing more! It’s hard I know, but I really think that slow, steady, and reasonable approach will give us a far better chance of inspiring people to “be the change”. What’s more, this approach might change the mind of those who think that their small actions don’t really make a difference. Next month the “One Thing” might be dropping the thermostat one degree. The next could be using one recycled paper product. They’re all simple, easy to do things, without asking anything more.

I’m not the first to propose this. I’ve seen the simple ads in magazines that just ask the reader to drop the ‘zine in the recycling bin. Energy companies ask their customers to consider using more compact fluorescents. My fear is that we passionate environmentalists often scorn these small efforts as “slacktivism”, and snub these little steps as not making enough of a difference. The truth is these small steps are our chance to reach out to “Unlikely Environmentalists”. “Just One Thing” might seem doable where our 20-step plans are unthinkable. It may be that when people see that their small steps make a difference, they’ll take more steps. “I changed one light bulb; that was easy enough, why not do them all?” Maybe they’ll even be inspired to find out what else they can do. The point is that even if they only do that “Just One Thing”, it really does matter. That one thing is one step closer to getting those “every household in America” statistics into play. We can all take this approach with our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and see a real difference. I’ll be starting the monthly “Just One Thing” on my blog, and I invite you to do the same. For now, let’s start small. Reach out to one person, and ask them to do just one small thing. Tell them they make a difference.

January Just One Thing: Switch one incandescent bulb to a Compact Fluorescent. That's it. You'll keep 300 pounds of carbon dioxide our of the environment! Just one thing--thanks!

A shout out to David Roberts, who inspired this idea for me last year with this article, which I adore.

Looking Forward-2008

I start this post and I take a deep breath. This year holds so much in it. I read last year's new year post, and I try to think about what has changed. My many blessings are for the most part still in place. My Dad is healthy, we have the luxury to live a sustainable lifestlye in our community, and I have a wonderful family. I've lost a dog, added a job, and let's face it, a few of those lost pounds back. Well, nothing stays the same.

2008 is going to be back to basics for me. Someday Gardens took a lot of time last year, and it's bound to take even more this year. My workload with my paid job has doubled, and it's going to be a rather big year with lots of responsibilities there. If I weren't so passionate about interfaith volunteer caregiving, I would quit, and find a way to do without that income. As it stands, I feel called to continue my work. Somehow though, I need to be able to balance those responsibilities with the other things that matter.

I want to get back to cooking more often. Yes, there's convenience food out there that's organic, but with all of the extra packaging, expense and the added fat and calories, there are lots of drawbacks there. It will still be around as an occasional fall-back, but cooking has to take priority again.

I want to spend more time just doing little things with the kids--reading, playing, gardening, hiking, but giving them my full attention. Bird will start school this year, and it's going to be such a huge change. I want to give her my time while I still have so much more with her, and make sure I take advantage of the time I'll have with Sprout this summer. Public school is as hard as we thought it would be, and if I want to continue to have them hold our values dear, I need to exemplify that and be there with them to drive it home.

With the extra income from my second job, our budget got a little loose. Everyone gets one new outfit a season, tops. Material accumulation needs to get checked. We cut the kids off from their occasional new toy in early Fall, and it made their holiday gifts a lot more exciting. I want to stick with that this year. We need to cut back on eating out and coffee out and focus on saving up for our Someday.

I have to take time for me too, but healthy time. Knitting, reading, gardening, have all fallen by the wayside as I find myself stressed out with work-related tasks. With the elections coming up, I know I'll want to get involved with politics again, and I want to make time for that. I did get a lot of canning done in '07, but I hope to shoot for even more this year.

It's a lot, and it's rather nebulous, but I don't find it overwhelming. I think I'll be happier once I feel that I'm back on track. Right now I tend to just get overwhelmed with work and zonk out from things like relaxing with the kids, knitting, cooking. Yes, those things take time, but they're the things that I value, the things that make me happy, and I think I'll feel clearer once I refocus. I wish you and yours peace of mind and happiness in the year to come.

John Who?

Who is this handsome guy with the winning smile? That's right, dear readers, it's my favorite presidential candidate, John Edwards. Don't tell anyone, but he won second place in the Iowa caucuses last night. Shhh, don't tell, it's a secret! Clearly it is--look at these lead paragraphs from the media:

Chicago Tribune - Young voters and independents flooded gyms and church basements in record numbers Thursday night, delivering a historic and decisive victory in the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Barack Obama, as he vanquished Sen. Hillary Clinton and certified his standing as her principal challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Salon-There are many rivers to cross before Obama is greeted with "Hail to the Chief." But this is the moment to marvel at what the first-term Illinois senator -- virtually unknown in the nation before his epic speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention -- has already achieved. A semireluctant candidate just a year ago, Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and the politics of inevitability in a state that destroyed anti-establishment candidates like Howard Dean and Bill Bradley.

I could go on, I saw plenty this morning. Do they get around to mentioning the candidate that beat Hillary anywhere? Well yes, later in the articles they go on to mention our dear silver medalist, but quickly sweep him into the corner because he has only spent a measly 3 million dollars on campaign ads, whereas Barack and Hillary have spent 7 and 10 million. Let's not forget that he's not exciting on TV either, just a white guy with strong experience, good plans, and one of the most solid characters I've ever ecountered. So does it matter that he got the second highest number of votes? No, good readers, no! Let's remember what our country is about: money and television. I encourage you all to count the number of ads for each candidate and research how much money they've poured into their campaign in our country where people are starving and going without basic medical care. That's what it's about: money and televsion, money and televsion. ([/sarcasm]) Don't get me wrong, if Barack gets the nomination, I'll be behind him. But let's not discount the individual who I think has the best chance of truly changing our country. Time is short my friends.



P.S.--Happy New Year, all! The standard, inspirational new beginning post will be forthcoming. Bright Blessings--M