Second Share

1 bunch of thyme and oregano
1/2 bag of spinach
4 garlic scapes
1 bunch hakurei turnips
1 bunch radishes
2 heads of lettuce
1 bunch of mustard greens
1 bunch of swiss chard or collards or kale
1 bunch of arugula

Kale Soup

Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew from Cook's Illustrated March & April 2008

made with Calypso beans from Baer's Best in South Hamilton and kale from the CSA. Everything else is organic, but not local.

This soup is unbelievably good!

Shift in Perspectives

"When you really consider how monumental the ecological crises are, and how much they are an outgrowth of firmly rooted ways of being in the world, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed. And while fear is an appropriate response to crisis, it matters what we do with it. Fear may be inevitable, but despair is a choice." p.17 Break Through, Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger

I've been reading, which generally means I've been thinking. More and more I am seeing a change in perspectives; a shift in the way we as a culture see issues, not as insurmountable problems, but as opportunities for growth. In the same way I seek feedback to improve at work, we should hear the call from the doom-and-gloom people as a way to improve. We need focused attention on a goal. What is our dream? What should our mission be? We are a good people when we have the security that we need to survive. We should not live in fear. We should be the agents of change we want in order to achieve the mission we strive for. We have a dream. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

A shift in perspective toward what we can achieve. It is a thousand small actions, baby steps. A network of peoples who will get us there. We as a society are ready. We need inspiration to motivate us to right action. A small change every day, every week adding month after month until we arrive. It will not be the same path for everyone but eventually the patterns of the world will shift.

I am looking into my own life and my own ideas which leads me to feel connected again. It is different this time than when I concentrated on art therapy as an individual. This is not through art, this is through living my life itself. I am questioning: where do I want to go? What is my mission statement? It will be a journey of increments. Now I keep it private. Possibly in the future it will be a public journey, but in the seclusion of my backyard, sunlight, bird song and earthly scents keep me company.

I wonder if everyone who becomes an activist knows where they are heading when they start. My sense is that it happens for them gradually by building up to a mission from an urge unsatisfied in only changing their own immediate world. My world has been changing over the past six months of living simply. I see others who are doing the same. I worry about my motivations sometimes. Is it to keep up or be better than those around me? Am I more noble because I don't spend and accumulate debt? The reasons really don't matter it's the behavior that is critical.

A woodpecker has landed on the tree beside me and is patterning out his tapping song while butterflies and bees circle the unnamed flowering bush beside me. My actions are just as small and part of the whole. I am one single piece and my drumming, much like the tiny woodpecker, has an impact on those around me. I need to keep my ego and judgement out of it and concentrate on shifting my actions as well as my thoughts. Quiet the questioning and follow those behaviors that lead me to increased happiness, joy and simplicity.

"There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is being superior to your previous self." - Hindu proverb

Chard Pie

Micah's Yummy Chard Pie

from From Asparagus to Zucchini

made with whole wheat pie crust from KA Whole Wheat Baking

First Share

Week 1:
1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch of collards or kale
1 bunch swiss chard
1 head of lettuce
1 bunch arugula
2/3 bag of poc choi or mustard greens
1/2 bag spinach
1 quart PYO sugar snap peas
1 bunch each PYO thyme & oregano