Mehndi Heart in Hand: FREE DOWNLOAD Bookmarks

On 3/22/11, I decorated myself with mehndi designs (henna) as a way to mark an important rite of passage. I knew that by the time it faded I would be well on my way to better things.

Today, I celebrate the return of spring and a return to health after 4 months of difficulty, culminating in surgery and a brief hospitalization. (Nothing life threatening, just one of those things.) Most of all, with a deep sense of gratitude, I celebrate the broad circle of friendship that has made the Divine more tangible to me through many thoughtful acts of kindness. I'm convinced that the compassion that surrounded me during this time was the best medicine of all.

In celebration and as an expression of my gratitude, I decided to use this occasion to share my first FREE PDF DOWNLOADs. There are no strings attached except for your solemn promise, on the honor system, NOT use them for your own or anyone else's monetary gain.*

At the bottom of this post, you will find links to click to download or print the files and instructions to follow. You will need Adobe Acrobat or some other program for viewing PDFs. These will enable you to make the bookmarks shown above, another of similar design with a more secular theme, or both. Your choice!

They are arranged 5 per page for each design. I recommend printing on card stock or cover stock.

I've designed these bookmarks to be an affirmation that each of us can make a difference for good through our simple, personal acts of kindness.

I created these to send out as a "thank you" to the many friends who were there for me during my recovery. Some provided home cooked meals, others shared DVDs, several stopped by for a chat and helped out when my husband was unavoidably away for a couple of days just a week after my return home. These are equally my way of saying "thank you" to friends and family far away who sent messages of encouragement.

I have friends and family members from many different belief systems and a wide range of religious traditions: Christians of every denomination, Jews, hindus, Buddhists, unitarians, pagans, wiccans, mystics, humanists, atheists, agnostics, and Hare Krishnas. I have learned much from each one. All have in common a desire to make the world a better place through the use of their unique skills and talents. The power of love is their unifying belief.

That's why I chose to include two separate designs.

Yes, I attend a Christian church. That's the path of belief I've chosen for myself, the community I've joined for the work of building lasting relationships, for experiencing and wrestling with the Divine, and doing the work of Love that can't be done by one alone. Still, I don't believe that Truth can be contained in one book or one building.

The "Heart in Hand" Bookmark, the one on the right above with a spiral on the index finger, is the more secular of the two. Since many of my friends are active in the arts, I chose the following quote:

"In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

FREE DOWNLOAD: Heart in Hand Bookmark

The "God's Love Letter" Bookmark, the one on the left above with a cross on the index finger, was intended to have special meaning for my church friends. Its text reads:

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world" ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta

FREE DOWNLOAD: God's Love Letter Bookmark

INSTRUCTIONS

(also also included on each sheet)

1. Select a bookmark PDF, save and/or print it on card stock in your choice of color(s). I used beige. You may need to adjust your print settings for scale and centering. These images were set up for 8 1/2 x 11 inch with very narrow margins.
2. Using scissors, cut just inside the guidelines to make arm shaped bookmarks. Feel free to adjust the shape to your liking as you cut. Punch hole for attaching tassel at location marked.
3. Cut 10-12 inch lengths of ribbon, yarn, of raffia in your choice of color(s). Fold each in half and tie or loop through the punched hole to attach. Then, if you choose, separate the strands of yarn or fray the raffia to make a fuller tassel.
4. Sit down with a cup of tea and a good book! Or pencil personalized notes to friends on the back of each bookmark and give as gifts.

(c)Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

*These are copyrighted images. PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED to duplicate for personal use, to give as gifts, or to raise funds for non-profits supporting social justice and the environment. NOT to be sold for personal or commercial monetary gain. Contact Kay Pere for additional information.

ECO ACTION: An American Eco-Radical?

Last month, my friend, Catherine, from New Zealand responded to my blog post about my decision to start air drying more of my clothes by saying:

• "No criticism of you intended, but I'm always amazed at the things we think are normal in New Zealand that seem eco-radical to Americans!"

Eco-radical?

I don't think I've ever framed my choices as "eco-radical", but perhaps they're coming across that way. It's taken me a month since my last post to find a reasoned way to explain.

Let me clarify.

I realize that most of the world, by choice or circumstance, lives in a way that has far less environmental impact than the "American" lifestyle. We are the world's largest consumers of resources. We have greatest per-capita responsibility for greenhouse gases, pollution, and waste on the planet. And while I'm proud of my country and it's people for many different reasons, THIS is not one of them.

The ECO ACTION blog posts I write here are simply accounts of my efforts to reverse old habits in my own life--habits shared by most Americans--that unnecessarily consume precious resources and adversely impact our environment without, in my opinion, improving anyone's quality of life in a way that justifies the environmental costs.

That's it.

Personal change. Not eco-radicalism, unless you want to call it that.

I visualize an Eco-Radical as someone who lives entirely off the grid AND actively draws attention to themselves in the manner of Green Peace. These are the mavens of the environmental movement. Mavens provide a nexus for change. At one extreme end of the continuum, they showing us what is possible with extreme commitment and effort. Important, but rare.

I'm radical only in the sense that I'm swimming upstream within my own culture, a culture largely shaped by corporate advertising over the past 60-70 years.

Fortunately, the numbers of those swimming in the same contrary direction is steadily increasing.

My parents came of age in Southern California of the 1940's and 50's when science and capitalism (also incorrectly equated with democracy) promised to solve the problems of generations past--disease, poverty, hunger, long work hours, little opportunity, housing insecurity, over population, tyranny, etc.--along with their own.

Advertising in magazines, on TV, billboards, etc. showed smiling families with shiny new washers and dryers, bigger cars, convenience foods, ... and an ever increasing standard of living for them or their children. More free time, large private homes with big green lawns and shady trees, safe streets where children could play, greater health and longer lives...more possessions and more time to enjoy them, that was the promise. Science would solve any unforeseen negative consequences of all this progress, just as it had everything else.

We believed it. And, largely, that promise was delivered for white middle class America. Not without negative consequences. And not fulfilled equally across racial groups, geographical regions, or economic groups.

I'm all for greater food and housing security, living without fear of violence or disease, and having enough free time to fulfill ones intellectual and spiritual potential--but our American consumer culture doesn't focus on these essentials. It's all about a search for happiness in the stuff.

I heard recently that if everyone on the planet lived the American lifestyle, the one we're trying to sell to them, we would need 6 planet earths to support the current population.

We are a country with a frontier mentality. It's an indelible part of our national identity.

During the first 300 years of our history we learned to expand our borders, expand our manufacturing and agricultural production capacity, expand our population and personal wealth. We came to believe that limitless expansion was a divine right, one granted to us by "our" God as a reward for our form of government and our "Christian" society that pleased the Creator.

How often in advertising do we hear phrases reinforcing the "right" to "buy the best" because we "deserve it." The premise is that we "work hard" and we are "good people," so we deserve all the things we can buy.

There are those who continue to believe that science will save us in the end from all the negative consequences of our limitless consumption, that we can continue on this same path without worry.

Or that environmental conditions really aren't so bad; the concept of global warming and irreversible depletion of resources is a conspiracy concocted by a atheistic scientists to frighten us.

Or that this earth is only our temporary home before we're taken up to heaven, so we shouldn't concern ourselves with its problems.

While I don't consider myself an "eco-radical", my experiences of this culture are somewhat that of an outsider.

When I was growing up my parents subscribed to "Organic Gardening" magazine. I read it from cover to cover. They grew and preserved most of the fruits and vegetables we ate in a garden and orchard irrigated in part with "gray water" from the washing machine where my mother used biodegradable soaps, and fertilized with our own composted food scraps and yard waste. They did this not so much for environmental reasons, but because they were both children during the Great Depression. For the same reason they bought nothing on credit including their house and car, they saved a large portion of my father's income for retirement, and most of our clothes were homemade.

But this was far from the norm in suburban Southern California.

My own environmental awareness began when, in 1970's Southern California, there were many days I couldn't go outside to play. The smog generated by suburban sprawl, power plants and manufacturing was so bad that my lungs ached when I did more than sit quietly on the floor. And I was a healthy child, not one with asthma or allergies. I learned from our monthly National Geographic magazines that this sort of thing was happening all around the world, and had been for decades.

I remember when they outlawed leaded gas and worked to make stricter auto emissions standards. And the air began to clear. I remember hearing about "Love Canal", and "Silent Spring", and the clean-up of Boston Harbor. At that time, when the movement to start recycling our bottles and cans was in it's infancy, manufacturers complained that it would cost too much and they'd have to pass the increased costs along to consumers. The usual threat. Voters had the courage to pass the recycling bill in California anyway.

And I remember the first Earth Day. And the hope I felt for the future.

So, yes, our family has a washer and dryer, a dishwasher and other modern "conveniences"; two cars (though both about 10 years old); a house with a big green lawn and shady trees; safe streets where our children played; more free time, better health care and longer lives than my great-grandparents could expect...more possessions and more time to enjoy them.

But what shall I do with all this? Shall I continue to buy and waste and consume because that's what my culture says is OK, because they say it is my "right" to do so? Should I feel guilty about all this.

Or should I begin to change what I can. Use less. Consume less. Buy less. Enjoy the simple things and relationships with people more.

The things things we have are blessings, not rights. When the founders of this country were talking about our rights the pursuit of unlimited consumer goods is not what they meant by "the pursuit of happiness". But that's another discussion.

If this sort of thinking makes me an eco-radical, then go ahead and label me as such. But only within the context of my own culture. A culture that is desperately in need of change, for the good of all.

And to my New Zealand friend, though you "certainly don't worry about whether [your] undergarments are 'suitable' for drying outside", I will continue to hide mine away from view. Would you hang out your undergarments where your boss or customers could see them? This is not only my home, but also my place of business. I'm not eager to subject my students, their parents, or my recording clients to such a sight. And I'm certain they would agree.

ECO ACTION: Lines in the Sand

Over at the No Impact Man Blog today, Colin Beavan asked: "Do you have any eco-living lines in the sand?"

Here's my reply.

LINES IN SAND: If something passes through my hands once or for a short period of time and is then thrown away, don't use it. Eat locally grown or make my own as much as possible. If we're not using it turn it off. Walk or bus if possible.

Changes I've made just in the past three months (on top of many others in the past) include:

• Got my first ever bus pass a few weeks ago ( I live in a suburban area)
  
• Using cloth handkerchiefs instead of tissues (found at a yard sale, lacy antique cotton, not noticeably used)
  
• Using cloth napkins for meals at home instead of paper (another yard sale purchase)
  
• Refusing plastic straws when eating out
  
• Trying to take food from home with me in reusable containers when I'm traveling, so I don't have to purchase fast food in disposables
  
• Joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and started getting my half-share pick-ups of very fresh locally grown produce.
  
• Carrying a large purse with room for purchases in case I've forgotten my cloth bags
  
• Bought (dollar store) and started using reusable mesh bags for fruits, veggies and bagels from the grocery store, instead of plastic produce bags (though I reuse those, too, when I can)
  
• Making the switch to pre-owned cast-iron cookware (yard sale) to phase out my battered non-stick pans (non-stick coating lasts only a few years and may be dangerous, cast-iron is practically forever)
  
• Phasing out my use of my #7 plastic Nalgene water bottles, will keep them for occasional use, not throw them out. Instead, at home I'm using a drinking glass for water (duh!), and a pint canning jar with a lid for when I'm out and about.
  

This looks like a lot for just three months, but it really hasn't been a big deal. It's just happening naturally a little at a time.

ECO ACTION: Cast-Iron Skillet

Yesterday, I scored a sturdy 10-inch cast-iron skillet at a yard sale for only $2.

I'm planning to replace all my current non-stick pans (the coating is a kind of plastic) with well seasoned, previously own cast-iron ones.  Non-stick coatings have been shown end up in the food we cook, then stored in the body where they potentially can have undesirable health effects.  You can read more here and also here.

When I got the new-to-me skillet home yesterday, B commented that it still had a crusty layer of 20-year-old eggs cooked onto the bottom.  I think he's right.  Someone probably got frustrated with the necessity of hand washing the pan, gave up and put it away unwashed.

For a savings of $16 over the cost of a new cast-iron skillet, I could put the time into reclaiming this one.  So this morning I set about cleaning and re-seasoning it.

First, I used a forbidden Brillo pad and some scouring powder to remove the offending eggs and who knows what else.  Followed this with a paste of baking soda and dish soap allowed to sit for a while, then much rinsing, wiping, scraping, and rewashing.  Maybe 30 minutes total, hands on.  By the time I was done no trace of the original funky smells or sticky, greasy scum layer remained.

Once the pan is seasoned again I'll wash it much more gently, using only hot water to rinse and a towel to wipe, scraping if necessary, but no abrasives and no soap.

Next, I used the skillet to cooked some bacon.  Bacon grease is supposed to be the best for seasoning a cast-iron pan.  I rarely cook bacon, but when I do used a teflon coated, non-stick pan.  And I always burn the bacon.  This was the first time I'd cooked with cast-iron.  What a difference!  It heated very evenly.  The bacon turned out just like in the picture books.

I used the bacon drippings, as instructed, to rub over the surface of the skillet before placing it in a 300F oven (for 2 hours).  The goal is to form a naturally baked on non-stick black coating.

The skillet is in the oven now.

I think it's time to assemble some BLTs.

ECO ACTION: 2nd Farm Share & More Tag Saling

I'm a big fan of abundance on a shoestring.

Another armload of gorgeous vegetables today from Studio Farm.

I didn't make it to the farmers market to pick them up.  I thought the market was 10-1 today as it had been during the winter.  Spring and summer hours are actually 9-Noon.  Also, I'd stopped at every tag sale along the way between home and the market.  When I arrived the park was empty.

So, I arranged to go out to the Stonyledge Farm this afternoon to pick them up instead.  I was greeted by several happy free-range chickens as I got out of the car.  Belinda and Ed were very accommodating.

This week's CSA half-share included (photo above, clockwise from top left): a very large head of tatsoi, a generous helping of mustard greens, 2 heads of kale (I think), chard, 3 small heads of loose-leaf lettuce (red and green), spinach, a bunch of fragrant mint, chives, mixed greens with flowers, half-dozen very large eggs, and several long rhubarb stalks.

And the fate of last week's veggies was as follows:

• Tatsoi stir fry with garlic scapes, onions, sesame oil, brown basmati rice, scrambled egg, and 5 chinese seasoning.
• Eggs: used 2 in stir fry, 2 in tapioca pudding, and 2 hard boiled.  They turned the tapioca pudding a wonderful shade of yellow that just can't be matched by grocery store eggs.
• Spinach, kale (or was that mustard greens?), and broccoli rabe all steamed and eaten.
• Lettuce used for several salads, shredded for black bean burritos, and in sandwiches

All delicious!

As of this morning, I only had a little lettuce, a few garlic scapes, the 2 hard boiled eggs, and some rhubarb remaining.  Because it was so fresh when brought home last Saturday the lettuce is none the worse for a spending a week in the refrigerator.  Much, much better than store bought.  The remaining lettuce and eggs will become a salad for dinner this evening, with rhubarb crisp for dessert.

In spite of the doubts I expressed last Saturday we ate our way through the vegetables quite easily. If I hadn't gotten involved in a project, lost track of time, and ended up skipping lunch a couple of times this week we would have completely emptied the vegetable drawer in time for today's pick up.

One of the reasons I signed up for this CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share was to learn.

I wanted to learn about new foods, new ways of cooking familiar foods, new insights for my own garden, and to experience the feeling of enjoying an abundance of fresh healthy food on a regular basis.

I wouldn't have chosen to put all these greens in my grocery cart if I'd been buying them at the super market, but I've learned that what looked like a lot of fresh spinach and kale turned out to be just enough to accompany several meals when steamed.

Just right, not too much.

Tatsoi stir fry was also a first for me and it turned out great.  I wouldn't have taken a chance on this at the grocery store, not knowing in advance what it would taste like or how to cook it.  At the farmer's market, though, Dot Wingate gave me simple verbal instructions for cooking it when I picked up my share.  It couldn't have been easier or tastier.

I figure that nature has a wisdom of its own.  The abundance of fresh greens available in spring is probably just what our bodies need to restore themselves at the end of winter and get ready for summer's active season.  These greens were loaded with flavor and probably lots of good healthy stuff never find on a food label.

I know that I can't remember ever feeling healthier.  Looking forward to more.

__________________________________________________

Here are this weekend's fabulous tag sale finds (photo above, clockwise from top left):

For a GRAND TOTAL of $27

• 3 variagated solomon's seal plants
• 7 antique hand-painted china dessert plates, signed by a (locally) well-known local artist
• 8 Books: "Lectures and Biographical Sketches" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier," "Little Songs of Long Ago", "Drawing with the Right Side of the Brain," "A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative" by Roger von Oech, "Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook" (to give), "The Food-Lover's Garden," "Neal's Yard Natural Remedies"
• A small, 1 page-per-day diary for writing down little daily happy things
• 2 pocket charts (teaching tools)
• Kitchen Stuff: a pastry knife, a blue-green resealable glass jar, a garlic press (actually I'll use this for extruding clay, not garlic), a cookie press, AND a sturdy 10 inch cast-iron skillet--I'd been looking for one for a long time (favorite find of the day).
• Misc: 1 new package of binder tabs, 2 new plastic pocket folders, an awl, a very basic digital camera with cable and software (tested and works on PC), two pair small sharp scissors (I keep losing my nail scissor, not good for one who plays piano and works with clay), an artist's paintbrush, a small hot plate, two colorful coin purses, a set of magnetic words (for songwriting play), and 9 new tennis balls (to turn into teaching toys).

Here's close-up of the hand-painted china plates.

Do I really need any of this?  Probably not.  Is it truly frugal to buy things I don't need?  Again, no.

On the other hand, these things will be used and enjoyed.  No additional resources were consumed to make them.  Each piece has a story and a connection to others.  I'm giving a good home to things that others no longer wanted, like bringing home abandoned puppies.

And I had a good time in the process.  I like the experiencing of happening upon things unexpectedly.  I like the feeling of discovery.

Now, I probably need to go through our house and liberate a few of my unused possessions so they can move on to homes where they'll be appreciated.

ECO ACTION: Frugal AND Organic

I wrote the following in response to a post today on the No Impact Man blog about production processes that improve the environment:

This morning on my Yahoo! homepage one of the lead stories was "7 Things You're Wasting Money On". 

#5 on their list was "Organic Produce"!

Of course, a person who needs to cut their expenses, but still wants to eat healthy, might choose buy regular produce instead of organic.  That's not what bothered me about this article.

What troubled me was the way this article reduced the decision to an argument that "Fruits and vegetables like kiwis, sweet corn and broccoli require very little pesticide to grow. Others -- like avocados, onions and pineapples -- have thick or peelable skins that reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals."

In other words, it's only a little poison and it's not going to hurt YOU anyway, so don't waste your money.

The premise that growing corn uses little pesticide is faulty. The premise that it doesn't matter what these chemicals do to the environment, as long as YOU don't ingest them, is faulty.

What rankled the most was their choice of the word "waste" to describe buying organic.

It's possible to be frugal and still buy organic.

I'm a long way from being the perfect organic maven, but even on a very limited budget I've found ways to do without certain things so I can increasingly make purchasing decisions based on how and where those things are produced.  Granted, I'm not in the position where I'm choosing between buying organic food and being about to afford rent or transportation. 

Still, I worry what will happen to the current resurgence in environmental awareness if the economy worsens and such arguments about "waste" continue.  Or when the economy recovers and people return to their old mindless spending habits.

SACRED SHARDS: Body Wisdom Displayed

My first ever torso sculpture, "Body Wisdom" above, was fired in the first load in my new kiln.

Last Saturday morning I put "Body Wisdom" into the Hygienic Art Gallery's thirtieth annual Salon des Independants Show.  This is a sort of art free-for-all whose motto is "No Judge, No Jury, No Fees, No Censorship."  What better place to break some rules and break new artistic ground for myself.

It was the first time I'd shown my work simply to make a statement, as opposed to displaying work with potential customers in mind.

I designed a display card using Photoshop to place with the sculpture.

The display card repeats the words encircling the top and bottom of the vessel.  Between these it adds words taken from my song "El Dia de los Muertos" for a reflection on the relationship between body and spirit.

Beneath the title the card reads:

STRENGTH       WISDOM      PATIENCE

Doctors diagnose

with speculum and stethoscope

take blood in vials

make patient files

Look within!

I'm more than these.

BALANCE      PASSION       HEALING         JOY

"El Dia de los Muertos" was written several years ago, but I feel the linking of its sentiments to an earthen vessel made by hand just a few months ago to be grounding, healing, hopeful.  The words in bold type stand guard between my own physical vessel of Self and the practiced guesswork of MDs.

Other elements of the display are equally emblematic.

The pink scarf is wrapped around the display box as an expression of solidarity with women engaged in the fight against breast cancer.  By extension, it is also symbolic of the power of a caring embrace to ease human physical suffering.

[Lest some worry about my health, let me say that I'm generally in good repair.]

The brown wooden box the sculpture rests upon represents the sturdy structure of medical knowledge, a structure left empty inside to reflect the medical community's traditional neglect of the things beyond the physical.

We are not simply body or spirit.  We are both.  We are an integrated whole.

Health and illness are equally mysterious.

I am more than these.

We each are.

Look within!

(c)2009 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

RECIPE: No-Knead Honey Oatmeal Batter Bread

Just out of the oven.  Another original recipe from Kay's Kreative Kitchen. 

This bread requires no kneading and can be made without getting out the mixer.  Makes a sweet, moist, chewy flavorful loaf.  For a crunchier crust, mist the oven with water just before putting bread in to bake.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 pkgs Active Dry Yeast (equals 4 1/2 tsp)
• 5 cups All-Purpose Flour, divided (I use unbleached all-purpose flour)
• 1 cup Apple Juice*
• 1 1/2 cups Water*
• 1 cup Quick Cooking Oats, Uncooked
• 1/2 cup Honey**
• 1 Tbs Butter (plus additional to grease pans)
• 2 Tbs Sesame Seeds (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together salt, yeast and 2 cups flour.
2. In 2-quart saucepan with spoon mix water, apple juice, oats, butter and honey over low heat.  Heat until very warm (120-130F)
3. Gradually add liquid mixture into dry ingredients and whisk together until blended.  Whisk an additional 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.  (This can be done by hand or using an electric mixer)  Beat in an additional 1/2 cup of flour to make a thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes.  Stir in about 2 1/2 cups additional flour, enough to make a stiff, sticky dough that leaves the side of the bowl.
4. Cover bowl with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place (85-95F) about 1 hour, until doubled.
5. Stir down dough; divide in two and turn out into 2 greased 5x9 inch rectangular bread pans.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).  Let rise in a warm place about 45 minutes, until doubled.
6. Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake 40 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.  Remove from pans immediately to cool on a wire rack.

* May use 2 1/2 cups of water in place of water and apple juice for a bread that's slightly less sweet.

** May use either honey, maple syrup or molasses to sweeten.

(c)2009 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

ECO ACTION: 2009 Green Goals

The Crunchy Domestic Goddess Blog  has encouraged readers to share their Green Goals for 2009.  Here, I've included my 2009 ECO ACTION goals as well as 2008 accomplishments.

As I write this out, it looks like a lot, but I realize how much I was able to comfortably do in 2008 even though I was quite sick for about 4 out of 12 months.

I hope this inspires others to try a few things.

Winter Energy Saving - 2009 GOALS:

• Use humidifiers more consistently to make the house feel warmer (even though it's cooler)
• Reduce heat loss by using window drapes and insulation kits (in addition to mini-blinds), and door draft stoppers
• Decide on a place to put up clothes drying rack indoors in cold months to air dry more loads of laundry
• Continue to do the things started in previous years
• Use or preserve all the winter veggies root cellared in the basement
• Go get a lap blanket and a cup of hot tea, rather than turning on a heater, if I get cold while doing sedentary work in my studio

Winter Energy Saving - 2008 DONE:

• Replaced the thermostat with a programmable one and set it to lower temps
• Dressed more warmly, even indoors, to tolerate lower thermostat settings
• Brought out extra blankets and quilts
• Used the woodstove only as needed, wood cut sustainably from our own property
• On sunny days used box-fan to pump warm air from the sunroom into living areas
• Kept doors to unused rooms closed
• Shifted sleeping and waking hours to maximize use of daylight for illumination, and let the house cool off during darker, colder hours
• Learned and used root cellaring techniques to store fruits and veggies in our unheated basement

Food and Household - 2009 GOALS:

• Select, buy and use a solar rechargeable reading lamp
• More food and goods purchased from local producers, at farmers markets, etc.
• Set up and use rain barrel to catch water for veggie garden
• Mulch garden early to minimize water loss and weed growth, using leaf/grass mulch from our property
• Learn about simple cleaning solutions to make and use at home
• Reduce the amount of non-recyclable packaging that comes into our house
• Go to the town's toxic waste day to dispose of non-rechargeable batteries, and other items safely
• Use rechargeable batteries from now on when ever possible
• Establish routines for taking out the compostables (If it sits inside for too long, yuck!
• Take cloth bags into all stores, not just for groceries
• Phase out use of Britta Filter system (non-recyclable unless the company changes its policy) and find a way to make drinking tape water more palatable  (Allowing a pitcher to sit so chlorine taste evaporates?  Adding lemon?  Or just getting used to it?)
• Use a glass for water around the house rather than a Nalgene bottle.  Use Nalgene bottle only for time away from the house or work outdoors.
• Maybe get a stainless steel water bottle to replace my old plastic Nalgene bottles.  Water that sits in them over night acquires a taste that makes me uneasy.
• Find my grandmothers handkerchiefs and cloth napkins and start using them.

Food and Household - 2008 DONE:

• Replaced all light bulbs in the house with energy savers
• Continued to compost most of our food scraps
• Learned to grow veggies from seed started indoors and set out when the weather warmed
• Reduced standby power consumption by rewiring studio with all equipment grouped on outlet strips to be turned off when not in use
• Dried some loads of laundry on large wooden rack (want to do more but lack privacy)
• Cooked most food from scratch using non-processed ingredients
• Started using 7th Generation cleaning products and other eco-friendly cleaning products
• Used the library more or bought used books, fewer new book purchases
• Almost all new-to-me clothes purchases were gently used, second hand (Except undergarments.  Ick!)

Transportation - 2009 GOALS:

• Run more local errands (1-2 miles from house) on foot or by bicycle
• Modify a used stroller with large wheels or get a "granny cart" to transport groceries home on foot
• Use bicycle more, have seat post adjusted for a better fit, find the most comfortable way to carry purchases or library books
• Learn to use regional bus lines for errands and outings as possible
• Get comfortable using trains for trips to cities 1-3 hours distant, instead of driving
• Remove unnecessary junk from my car to improve mileage

Transportation - 2008 DONE:

• Took a summer vacation without air travel, patronizing mostly locally owned restaurants and more local lodging
• Combined errands on single outings to reduced driving
• Drove at or slightly below the speed limit in the slow lane on the highway
• Used cruise control more
• Kept to a leisurely pace on surface streets
• Ignored the hotheads who wanted to speed around me
• Did better about leaving early for appointments so I could drive more efficiently
• Opened car windows in warm weather at speeds below 45 MPH rather than using air conditioning

Time Between Years

Each year for the past several I've taken the week between Christmas and New Years to dive into the process of cleaning and reorganizing my studio, and other parts of the house, with an eye toward what I envision accomplishing in the coming year.

It's always a time of reflection, a shifting of energy from past ways of being and doing toward ways that are a better fit for where the new year finds me and where I hope it will take me.

This is one of the few times of year when I don't have music students coming and going on a daily basis, or weekly rehearsals in our home with the 20 or more kids in our ensemble.  I'm able to shift my focus from helping others define and achieve their goals toward looking at and working toward my own, without distractions.

It's always a relaxed, playful and intense time.

Here are some of the results from previous years:

Little New Year's Things - JAN 2006

Time Between Years - DEC 2006

Don't know what I did between Christmas and New Years last year at this time (12/07-1/08). Maybe I'll dig back and see if I can figure that out.

This past year has been a bit of a bumpy ride, with the bumpy bits that I hope will not repeat in the year ahead, or any other for that matter.  4 months of less than optimal health, plus another encounter with the darker side of the human condition, are things to be left in the past, if at all possible.

We don't always get to choose what happens to us, but we can choose to continue making plans and working to make them real.  I'm actively choosing to move forward into the coming year, making my plans based on the likely assumption that these difficult things won't repeat in 2009.

And even if they do, or some other challenges come along, well ... here I am anyway.  And here are the ones I love and the life we have together.

Here's to making life simpler.  

Here's to enjoying what is.

Started last night disassembling all the recording and audio equipment in my studio, to be simplified and rearranged.

I've removed the things I no longer use (maybe never used) and the things that have worn out or broken from frequent use (an old amplifier, a CD changer/player and a cassette tape deck), and have  begun to arrange the few things needed for my new set up in a way that will make for easier work flow.  And maybe some actual recordings.

Between each thing that gets moved or removed there's pausing, looking, thinking, wiping up dust and grime, imagining whether this is the best way.  

It's hard work to rearrange.

I'm trying to keep in mind that "good enough" and done is far better than the perpetual struggle for an ideal "best" that's forever incomplete.  (Same goes for the editing/re-editing of this blog post.)

Now, back to it.  

Powering down.  Disconnecting.

Reconnecting in a new way.  Powering back up again.

ECO ACTION: Sustainable Happiness

The pursuit of happiness has been transformed into the pursuit of consumer goods and energy hungry lifestyles that damage our planet.

Visit HERE to browse a large selection of articles about pursuing lasting happiness while consuming fewer resources and reducing your environmental impact.

It's a lot more fun than it sounds!

I hear the politicians talk a lot about "getting our economy moving again."  Does a "healthy economy" automatically mean, by definition, that they expect us to resume our old habits of consumption?  If so, we need to rewrite the definitions.  We need a new vision.

We've grown used to a world bulked up on the steroids of excess consumption.  Like a weight lifter who's steroid built muscles are damaging his liver and heart, we can't expect to keep this up over the long term.

Someone needs to rewrite the economics textbooks and redefine the tools by which we measure the health of our economy to take into account the long view of things.

I wonder:  Can we find a way to shifting our world economy and our individual lives toward a more sustainable and equitable model?

What would that look like?

RECIPE: Toasted Almond Butter-NO SALT

"Training is everything.  

The peach was once a bitter almond; 

cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education." 

~Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)

I made nut butter from scratch for the first time today.  Very easy and yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb Whole Almonds

2 Tbs Almond Oil (or other oil) as needed

1)   Toast almonds in 350F oven for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to toast evenly.  Allow to cool.

2)  Add almonds to food processor, stopping and scraping sides frequently, until paste forms.  If the nut butter is too firm, add oil one tablespoon at a time while continuing to process.  Length of processing time depends on the processor power/speed and oil content of the nuts.

Other nuts or mixtures of nuts can be substituted using the same method.

COMMENTS:

• I've stored mine in a repurposed 16 oz glass peanut butter jar.  
• One pound of nuts filled the jar exactly.  
• Processing was done in an 11-cup Cuisinart I got at a yard sale for $15.  
• The nuts were purchased on sale from the grocery store, at a savings of several dollars over the cost of a store-bought jar of almond butter, and without the salt.  

All very simple and the house now smells like roasted almonds.

GAIA LUNA: Harvesting What Isn't

Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub;

It is the centre hole that makes it useful.

Shape clay into a vessel;

It is the space within that makes it useful.

Cut doors and windows for a room;

It is the holes that make it useful.

Therefore profit comes from what is there;

Usefulness from what is not there

~ Lao Tsu, From Tao-Te Ching

Health brings life filled with activity.  Illness empties time to its barest essence.

Health allows forward motion.  Illness stops the wheel in mid-rotation.

It was the emptying, the resting, that brought clarity about the perpetual motion of my healthy life.  This was the useful outcome of two months of illness;  once I was able to get past the first heat of frustration and anger (at not being able to do everything I'd planned for myself), I began to see with vividness and gratitude the small things that could happen.

Back before I got sick, I'd planted corn from seed for the first time, started indoors before the soil had warmed, then planted out in early June.  When the corn went untended, with little rain for many weeks, I gave up hope of growing anything more than bare stalks.

Even so, in late August I harvested a dozen perfectly formed ears of corn.  The stalks where spindly and short, but they had overcome adverse conditions to fulfill their potential.

The lesson learned: Plant the seeds.

Don't worry.  Just do it.

Within each seed is a powerful will to become.

Even if you're unable to tend it something will still come of it.  If nothing else, you'll learn that you can plant a seed and watch it grow.  You'll get the joy of experience.  And you'll either learn what it takes to make it produce, or what can stunt it.  

Knowledge is the most valuable harvest.  It's yours to keep no matter what the outcome.

Ideas are an artist's seeds. An artists plants ideas by beginning the process of realization.

Even when the process of realization is interrupted,  the artist may return to find the idea has produced something useful.

It's up to me to begin.  It's up to me to do what I can.  And I've also seen clearly that things can become what they're meant to be even without my direct involvement.  

I can let go and my dreams won't fall apart.

At times, my role in the creative process must be simply to sit still and watch the seeds of planted ideas unfold and grow as they will.

GAIA LUNA: Fall Harvest 08

Happy Autumnal Equinox, to those in the Northern Hemisphere.  It's a day to celebrate our creative harvest.

The picture above is the last big harvest from Gaia Luna: one spaghetti squash, half-a-dozen each sweet italian banana peppers and bell peppers (red and green), a few jalapeno peppers, several acorn squash, and an arm-load of under-sized delicata squash, all topped by a bunch of pink cosmos.

This is far more than I thought the garden would produce with so little water and weeding during the height of summer.  It falls far short of what I had envisioned last spring, but vastly exceeds my most desperate hopes during the many weeks I was confined to the house.

The only credit I can take for this harvest is in minimally preparing the soil, planting the seeds and erecting a fence to protect them from deer, all prior to the first weeks of June.  Everything else, quite literally, was done by the sun and the wind and the rain.  At the end of it all, I simply walked out with my clippers and gathered what the plants chose to supply.

Other things didn't go so well.

The zucchini, yellow crook-neck, and patty pan squash plants I'd grown from seed were stunted when I mistakenly pealed off their paper pots before planting, damaging their tiny new roots.  This and the lack of water yielded only a handful of summer squash.  This was a blessing in disguise.  They produced just the amount I could deal with.

I planted three kinds of cucumbers.  Because I couldn't get the rabbit fencing up, groundhogs and rabbits got into the garden and ate the growth tips off each.  Two varieties died from this and lack of water.  The third, the lemon cucumbers, produced prolifically enough for many salads plus a large jar of refrigerator dill pickles.

I planted tomatoes, too, but didn't get nets over them.  Bluejays and crows carried away each tomato before it had ripened.

A large net was thrown over the blueberry bushes, but it had unnoticed holes in it this year.I hadn't the strength to fix it.  Catbirds got in and ate all the blueberries.  There will be no frozen blueberries from the garden for my breakfast cereal this winter, no blueberry jam.  Very sad, but ...

There was another solution.  Once I was feeling better again I went to a pick-your-own orchard and brought home fruit to freeze and can.  I brought peaches, to eat fresh and preserve, home from vacation and from a local farm stand.  I made friends with someone who had more zucchini than she knew what to do with so I could make bread-and-butter pickles.

More soon about the meaning all this has communicated to me, in the world of gardening as metaphor.

HEALTHY: Cup Much More Than Half Full

Cup says:

The Way I See It #291:

"In a world where celebrity equals talent, and where make-believe is called reality, it is most important to have real love, truth and stability in your life." 

~ Bernie Brillstein

Film and television producer.

Tiny print at the bottom says (ironically):

"This is the author's opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks.  To read more or respond, go to www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit."

Though I'm not a big fan of Starbuck's as a corporate entity and would rather patronize a locally owned establishment, this is what's available.  After exercising several times this week (yeah!) I've stopped in for a cup of Tazo herbal tea (very cool website) and some writing time away from the distractions of home.  Somehow, writing in a public place has allowed me to dive deeper on the page, saying and hearing things that I might not have gotten to otherwise.

Cup quote, above, relates directly to one of the life's lessons brought into sharp focus this summer.  Real love, truth and stability really are the most important things in life.  Everything else is frosting.

As an artist/musician, when I'm working on a project I can become highly focused and goal oriented, to the exclusion of other things, like eating and getting enough rest.  Being sick this summer forced me to stop everything completely, to let it all go and realize that I wasn't really falling behind.  There is no behind or ahead, only now.

All we really have is the way we treat each other.  Money is a useful illusion, necessary, but temporary.  Accomplishment, the same.  Even health will sooner or later fail each of us.

What we ultimately leave behind us are the small ways our lives have touched each other's, for the better or not.  Even trying to do good for another may have unintended consequences.  We can only do the best we know how.  The rest is up to Someone greater than ourselves.

Think of it this way:  when you're not feeling well you may long to get back to doing the things you enjoy, the things that give a sense of accomplishment and offer a chance to make a useful contribution to others through your skills, but mostly you long for kindness and tender companionship, you long for someone who will share their strength with you until yours is restored.

It all gets whittled down to this--the way we treat each other.

Kindness is the most lasting and most needed form of art we can create.

PS-If you visit the Tazo website, try out "Consult the Tea Leaves".   Fun!

HEALTHY: Best Foot Forward

I'm back.  Dipping my toes back into the pool.  Toes painted with hearts (I did this myself) in celebration of health restored.

What a summer it was!

Didn't go at all as planned.  I planned and planted, but fate had other designs.

I won't go into details here.  Enough to say I was very sick for over two months.  Couldn't garden.  Couldn't do much of anything but read, sleep, teach my lessons, stay out of the heat, and try to figure out how to get well.

In both the literal and figurative sense, weeds overtook the garden while I was dealing with this extended illness. 

My greatest emotion now is gratitude.  Gratitude that I'm well again and able to do the ordinary things of life, like laundry and grocery shopping, without a struggle.

My heart goes out to those who live with chronic illness.  My struggles are just a shadow by comparison.

Coincidentally (or maybe not) an artist friend, Sarah, recently had something to say about both weeds and illness on her Art Calling blog, in two separate, lovely articles/reflections on these topics.  

After reading what she had written, I thought it might be of value to jump back in here and, over time, share some of the things I've discovered during this recent detour.

It's easy to post when things are going well.  Not so comfortable to write for public view when all my best intentions and efforts are lost in a tangle of weeds.  

The choices I make for many years to come are likely to be influenced by the lessons learned from this difficult time, now past.

Not going to say it all today.  Just glad to be back.

Peace!

Kay