Truffula Tuft

The Peace of Wild Things

This poem keeps appearing in my life. So beautiful:

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, 
    and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

I've seen the herons perching on rocks in the wide brown French Broad River, waiting for a fish dinner. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place.

This photo is a busy bee with heavy laden orange pollen sacks on her hips, drinking nectar from a Mullien flower in my herb garden.

A Kick in the Pants from Derrick

It's good to get a kick in the pants now and then. Some friends have been discussing Derrick Jensens's recent article "Taking Shorter Showers Doesn't Cut It: Why Personal Change Does Not Equal Political Change". It's pissing a lot of people off, take a look at the comments.

He addresses the need for EFFECTIVE change in the disasterous course humanity is on: taking shorter showers, bringing our bags to the store, using CFLs etc. doesn't add up to much compared with the gigantic polluting and resource wasting power of globalization. Making more ethical personal choices do not directly create justice:

Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?

Those of us attached to our personal solutions don't like our efforts to be dismissed as "utterly insufficient". I don't think it's either/or. He's right - we can't just stop buying the bad stuff, try to drive less, and turn off lights. We still have to speak up about injustice. I especially like Jensen's point about living as citizens not consumers. Consumers have two basic choices - to consume or not. A citizen has many choices, including voting, lobbying, protesting and even revolting. Want to dump some tea in Boston Harbor? (I hate that the right thinks they own that bit of political theater now).

There are a couple of timely opportunities to act like a citizen at the end of this post.

Speaking of consuming, Derrick Jensen would probably put supporting indie craft artists in the "utterly insufficient" category. But since we haven't gotten to the massive power down, seas rising, police state stage of TEOTWAWKI yet, why not buy some cool crafts made by real artists who need to pay their bills?

 
We went to The Big Crafty this weekend in Asheville. All handmade and local goodies by mostly young, hip artists. Very crowded. I saw a lot of money and crafts changing hands. I think people have less to spend but they are making the effort to spend it on handmade stuff.

Fun felt hats by Wendy of Miss Fitt

Loved these paintings by Gabriel Shaffer

and some great T-shirt designs & comic books by Spagetti Kiss (top of post)
 

Action Alerts:
Support healthcare reform that allows individual Americans to choose either a universally available public healthcare option like Medicare or for-profit private insurance. A public option is the only way to guarantee healthcare for all Americans and its inclusion is non-negotiable.

Hundreds of prisoners have been tortured in U.S. custody. The torture policies were devised and developed at the highest levels of the Bush administration -- yet there remains debate on whether or not the government will hold those who authorized torture accountable. Demand that the Justice Department appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate.

Peace,
Jennifer

Yellow Plum Haiku

Some newer pics of the garden.

Our first yellow plum
never made it to the fridge
sweet juice drips down chin

(apologies to William Carlos Williams)

 

Elderberry flowers. We hope to be making Elderberry cough syrup by autumn.

 

The Comfrey is very happy. Got a pair of 2" plants in March and now they are approaching 3'. The leaves are good for skin salve, the roots have been used traditionally for broken bones (it's also called Knitbone or Boneset). It makes a great green manure and compost tea ingredient as well.

 

Our lawn is now about 50% "weeds", many of them edible. This is Narrow-leaf Plantain. We've been juicing it and eating it in salads. The bees like it too. Supposedly if you chew one and put it on a mosquito bite, it takes the itch away. I need to try that on my 47 mosquito bites.

 Another edible weed - Lambsquarters. Tastes like Spinach. I'm transplanting them as I find them in the lawn, over to one spot in the herb garden.

And here's a link to an artist that I recently discovered and love - Sarah Applebaum. She makes wildly colorful environments out of recycled afghans, knitting, felting and weird needlepoint projects from thrift stores.

 

Peace,
Jennifer