7 Quick Takes Friday - Again

1

So at least this way I post once a week, which is probably better than my average for the past year. There's a lot brewing inside, but most of it is fairly inarticulate mishmash right now, so I'll spare you that. It's been in the 80's here this week (apologies to those of you who are freezing to death and/or buried under feet of snow), so the new season that's beginning to emerge in my heart is feeling a lot like spring. A lot of people look to the fall as the time to launch new things, but I find the fall is usually a season of burnout (tried to launch too many things, usually), and January can often be a time of new beginnings for me. It's looking like one of those years.

2

My kids had their annual Winter Sing at school this week (which I kept calling Spring Sing). In honor of Martin Luther King, they sang a bunch of songs I would have sung at their age -- "If I had a hammer" and "This land is your land." I suppose elementary school programs don't change that much over time. A couple of 6th graders read the "I have a dream" speech between the different grades. (Sadly, the kids were out of the room during the reading -- though I can understand why having 70 first graders squirming through a 5-minute reading might not be good thing.) It struck me how those songs must have had a different ring in my school days, so much closer to MLK's original proclamation. I'm reminded of how far we've come as a society to be standing on the eve of inaugurating the first African-American president, and yet how far we still have to go to see "justice roll down like waters."

3

Now that we're back in the routine of picking up veggies at the farm every week, I'm remembering just how many leafy greens can be in one CSA share! Seriously, this week we got bok choy, napa cabbage (most of those went into a big stir fry last night), collard greens (always a challenge for this Yankee girl -- but they were great with the two big leeks in our share), and spinach. And I left the turnip greens for the compost pile there.

I remember doing a cooking badge in Girl Scouts. At the end of the session we had to put together a whole meal. The Girl Scout book called for a leafy green vegetable, but the Mom who was teaching us substituted broccoli or something else because, as she explained it, "The only leafy green vegetable I could think of was spinach, and I figured most kids wouldn't like it." Much later in life I did discover that spinach and my digestive system do not get along, so I do avoid the stuff. Still, how did we survive a childhood of frozen green beens and canned corn?

4

Speaking of seasons, Christine Sine is already thinking ahead toward Lent and Easter (Easter as a season goes all the way to Pentecost). She's putting together a Lenten guide with suggested activities for making the season more meaningful than simply giving up chocolate.

So here is where I would like your help. I would like to conduct a synchroblog during Lent and Easter to focus on the meaning of Lent and the celebration of Easter in this practical way. Would you consider being a part of this? I realize that it involves far more than a simple blog post as each person involved would need to engage in at least one of the activities listed. You may like to just use the guide for a single week. The most popular activity last time was the Mutunga $2 Challenge to restrict one’s food budget to $2 per person per day for a week.

Let Christine know if you'd like to be involved, and check out her post today on What is Lent Anyway?

5

Six-year-old Doe has a metabolism much like mine, which is to say that once her blood sugar level hits a certain low point, she melts down into a whining mess. We went exploring in the butterfly preserve the other day, and predictably, Doe lost it on the way home. We were driving past a lemon orchard near our house when she started asking whether people could pick the lemons. No, the trees belong to someone, I explained. Why can't we have an orchard? I want a big orchard. On it went, with the pitch and intensity of the whining escalating.

She kept on in this vein for what seemed like hours, despite my efforts to either get some food into her or talk her down from the edge of insanity. Amazingly, her vision of her future (or imminent) agricultural career evolved from moment to moment. I want to be a farmer. I want to have a big farm. I kept proposing reasonable alternative -- we have friends who manage orchards, our CSA farm has summer camp programs for kids. No! I want a big farm now. With animals. I want to take care of the animals -- and not just chickens and goats; I want horses and cows. I want a horse.

So is my budding astronaut/vulcanologist going to trade it in for overalls and a straw hat? Who knows. From what I've been learning about our food system, I'm beginning to understand the need for some smart young people to dedicate themselves to the hard work of feeding us in healthy, sustainable ways. I'm grateful that she's growing up 1) knowing what a leafy green vegetable is (and eating them!) and 2) having the chance to see something of farm life up close.

6

Meanwhile, I'm overwhelmed by the thought of planning our garden/landscape. It's the right time to be planting fruit trees and roses, and there are certainly early crops that could go in any time now. I can't seem to get one foot in front of the other to designate a spot for the compost pile!

7

Finally, I'd like to ask for your prayers for my father-in-law. He's facing surgery on Tuesday morning to clear a blocked carotid artery. It's a delicate job, and his overall health isn't very good.