I just found out that my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) has scheduled their first pick up date on May 5. This is so exciting! I have NO IDEA what they’ll be offering, but I figure it’ll be some of the early spring lettuces, perhaps spinach, as well. These are things that grow well early on. I

If you have no idea what a CSA is, here’s a description of the program that I’ve joined this year.  In a nutshell, it’s a pay-in-advance program that gives the farmers much-needed funds early on when they are planting, and in return for this, you get a monthly or semi-monthly allotment of fresh veggies (and fruits).  My CSA also offers fresh dairy and eggs to order.

Because we want to support local agriculture, and because we like to eat fresh, healthy, organic food, joining a CSA seemed like a good match for us.  I don’t yet know how this will affect my weekly cycle of food shopping, nor how it will affect our family’s menu.

I do know that in spite of my life under a rock (cozy down here!) I have heard tell of a number of food shortages across the globe.  A quick search on good using the terms “food shortage” will open your eyes quickly to the fact that shortages have been on the radar and the seem to be likely to continue. One story I heard concerned a plague of rats that attacked mass quantities of grain in India — other stories involve the US growing corn for ethanol instead of growing food. Climate change related weather problems have caused a shortage: and prices are soaring. Food pantries are at a thirty-year low.

And waiting for me at a designated pickup on May 5th will be my family’s first box of fresh produce that we’ve already paid for. I wasn’t expecting our CSA participation to have any effect on my personally, other than a good feeling to be helping local farmers– and a nice assortment of fresh produce on our table. In addition, though, I feel like we’ve managed to do something smart to help our own family through what could be a summer of highly expensive fruits and veggies.

In the height of summer harvest, I am planning (for the first time in my life) to start canning things. I have never done it before, but now seems like a good time to do it.  I have friends who’ve done this before who have said they’ll be delighted to help me do it.  With a food shortage on the horizon, it seems really smart to get local food, and save it. Doing it now when we want to, will be a big help for someday — when we may have to.

(Artemisia: You asked for it, you got it!)

I was reading ConsciousMom.net, a personal blog that also discusses environmental and political issues (among other things) and from there, followed this link. It’s an interactive survey that lets you get an idea for how your personal lifestyle affects the planet.

I consider myself somewhat green — I recycle as much as I can (with the systems available to me), buy local and organic stuff (though not always),  and I don’t drive all that far. But I was surprised to learn that even my organic-fair-trade coffee is still having a negative impact on the environment.

A big surprise, though, was finding out that adding another person to my household (Cammy) seemed to have a good impact environmentally. This makes sense. If you are sharing your home with more people, then you are sharing resources that would other have to be duplicated elsewhere. If Cammy lived on her own, there would be an apartment, say, that needed to be heated and maintained for the benefit of only one person. Instead, we’re housing more of us for the same amount of heating resources.

So it’s another way that Cammy is having a good impact on the world.

I keep thinking, as I read the blogs of other people, that life is harder for families in which  parents are living isolated from the support of relatives. When people live more communally, they can share resources, and pool their energy. Helping one another eases stress, uses fewer resources, and grows greater family bonding.

Yet many people that I’ve talked to about this have expressed surprise that our situation is so much to our liking. I’ve heard from more than one mom I know that it’s hard for them to imagine having to share their personal space with anyone else than they already do. I suppose this is a part of our culture, and each individual’s personality.

In my community, I am also part of a couple of parenting networks, which provide a sense of this connection. In a big way, I’ve seen how different families coordinating their efforts (for events, potlucks, and babysitting) can really enrich family life. Having someone living in your home with you is really like an extension of that.

I’m starting to really appreciate how nice it must be for those living in “intentional communities”, communes, and kibbutzes. On the other hand, wasn’t it Sartre who wrote that Hell is other people? When I think about how many people out there I dislike (snob that I am!) I also realize that the other side of the communal living coin is that getting along isn’t always easy.

As time goes by, and our planets resources continue to be abused, there will be less to go around. Perhaps now might be a good time for families to seek out other families that they can at least tolerate, and forge friendships and alliances that will aid in the group’s survival. I would love to think that by sharing my home, I’m not only helping myself and Cammy (while she’s helping us!) but also helping the planet.

It’s a good feeling.

In case you’re not familiar with winter driving in Philadelphia, let me just tell you this: it is absolutely ridiculous. First of all, our city doesn’t get a lot of horrible winter weather, but when we do, it’s not often a big snowfall. No, what we get is ICE - ice falling from the sky, rain that turns to ice upon hitting the windshield, ice that forms along the wet streets, and snow that starts out as slush and then melts and freezes, and becomes ice once again.

And because this only happens once or twice a year, it seems that drivers around here are completely CLUELESS about what to do about icy roads.

Last night, after about an inch of powdery snow accumulated, a steady pelting of ice began around 4 PM. This ice continued to fall, mixed with rain, until about 7, at which point it was mostly rain. Rain on top of snow, on top of ice.

Where was I from 4 to 8 PM, last night, gentle readers? Why, in my car, of course! Cammy’s plane was scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia at 4:48 PM though of course it was delayed due to the icy weather.  She got to fly around and around Philadelphia in a holding pattern for about an hour or so while we inched along the evil Schuylkill Expressway  (har, har, expressway to fender benders).

Long story short? Read the title of this post.

Long story long? Well, my kids and I got to play “count the car accidents” while thanking our lucky stars that we were not #13 in the 12 car pile up that we witnessed directly in front of us.  After we got to drive around the bus full of weeping girls from Liverpool who just wanted to get to the airport to fly home, and all the others who were delayed by crashing on the bridge to I-95, we counted another 11 vehicles, including a school bus that all had slid on the ice and crash into guardrails and one another.

We didn’t crash.

I credit my dad with having taught me well how to use the gears of the car to navigate snow and ice without using the brakes. A single touch to the brakes on that bridge and I’d be blogging today about how we crashed on the bridge on our way to I-95.

When the weather is icy, I usually stay home. I was not happy to be taking my kids on such a harrowing journey, but I didn’t want them to be nervous so I made light of all the accidents. Luckily, the accidents really were all just fender benders– we did not see anyone who was seriously injured. Good thing for seatbelts, huh!

All the way to the airport, and while we sat idleing (illegally!) in the should near the airport (just under the huge flashing sign that said, NO P RK NG ON SHOULD R)  waiting for Cammy’s plane to come down, I clumsily (but excitingly!) recounted the story of Abdullah and the Magic Castle, hastily stolen from the book Castle in the Air. It kept the kids happy, as did the snacks I had brought.

Today is my first day of work - and I am exhausted.

In spite of all the ICE of yesterday, today it’s mostly soupy slushy mush, and not as dangerous. Although this morning a SEPTA bus crashed on our block. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either: school is OPEN today. And that means AFTER SCHOOL is open, too.

And that means I have to work, too! But I don’t mind too much - because Cammy is here and all is well. I kept Annie home from pre-school  so that Cammy won’t have to try to navigate an unfamiliar neighborhood in the ice. And because it’s freaking INSANE that school is not closed today, in my opinion.

Then again, I am just kind of traumatized. I’ll get over it soon.

Now, for a hot a shower and another cup of coffee!

It is hard to wait for the results of anything important, isn’t it? Elections, primaries, pregnancy tests, adoption referrals, job interviews…. ( my recent visitor from Option Adoption will agree, as will the expectant mom over at The Creamery–  two interesting blogs I’ve just started following.) I don’t even know when the staff will decide on who the next American Idol After School Teacher will be.
So let’s just talk about my recent visit to Manatee Park, shall we?

I was so lucky to have these two to assist me at all times. 

My girls and I saw so many manatees, and so close up. We rented a double kayak, and with Carla in the seat behind me, and Annie sitting in front of me, I paddled us around the Orange River somehow managing to steer the kayak, not capsize, and also take a bunch of pictures.

The red and black mangroves are a fascinating part of the ecosystem. 

Though manatees are very hard to photograph, I managed to capture a few bits and pieces. It was a beautiful experience.

Above: Can you spot the manatee’s nose poking up just to the side of the kayak?

And here’s the tail, just under our kayak. Curious little thing! 

I captured this tail flapping up out of the water using the zoom lens. 

While we were at the park, I was able to sit and listen to a park employee discuss facts about manatees, their habits and their ecosystem.  Manatees, also called sea cows, eat lots of different kinds of underwater grasses.  Like cows on the land, they have a specialized digestive system that is designed to break down the grasses.  Their digestive system works by employing a particular bacteria that can only break down the grasses at 68 degrees farenheit or warmer; if the manatee is in water that is colder than that, it will starve, even if its rumen is full of grass. These creatures have truly specific habitat requirements.

Annie, kickin’ back and enjoying the ride. 

I have been thinking a lot about cows and a farm’s ecosystem, because I’m still working my way through Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. 

There are quite a few words devoted to describing a way of farming that is sometimes known as “grass farming.”  Polyface Farm is described in detail as an example of this.  The grass takes in energy from the sun, and that is what fuels this kind of farm — grass which is then the food for the cows.  Chickens are the cleanup crew for the cows, as they wander the cow patty-studded grass eating up bugs that would otherwise be harmful.  The chickens leave just enough poop on the grasses to help fertilize the grass. The cows, who graze the grass in a careful pattern that does not chew it down so far that the grass dies, actually HELP the grass be healthy rather than harm it.

Photo credit: my very own seven year old. Thanks, C! 

There’s much more to the this farm’s careful use of the land, and there are many more animals that contribute to the farm’s fertility.  What kept coming back to my mind as I considered the graceful sea cows was how the grass farmers are trying to mimic nature and its cycles.  I thought about this as I listened to the naturalist speak of the sea cows and how they have no natural predators, and how man was the their only threat to survival. Nature doesn’t just place an animal into a system without making it pay its way.

Cute little lizards are all over the place in Florida. 

I was certain that the sea cows must be serving some purpose there in the waters.  They are mowing the sea grass, keeping it healthy. But if humans continue to limit their habitat, I imagine that the manatees are in danger of over-grazing the grasses that they need to survive on.  In fact, much of the rivers where the manatee would graze no longer have healthy grasses for the manatee to enjoy, even as watercraft make those waters perilous for these gentle and slow mammals of the sea.

Humans have also messed up farmlands, using energy from fossil fuels to buy fertility and then use it up at a rate much faster than can be replenished.  Even natural grasslands get overgrazed and turned into deadlands.

Who are our natural predators? I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that we share something in common with the manatee: our biggest enemy is mankind, ourselves as we seem to be making our own habitat increasingly unsustainable. This makes me unbelievably sad.

Do you ever get overwhelmed by the crises and miseries and war that are going on all around the world?  I do and I am.

I’m overwhelmed thinking what life will be like in 10, 20, 30 years. I fear the worst and feel very grim about it. How will my children get by? When will the great oil shortages begin? When will the climate change cause catastrophes akin to Katrina and worse? I am far past “what if” and am now onto “When” and I’m getting really freaked out.

Will there be rioting? Starvation? Lack of clean water, basic health services and food? What will happen to me, to us, to our friends? Will we need to grow all our own food? There are already so many people in the world who are actually starving; when will it be happening here too?

It is much easier to just go on with life, doing the laundry, making the meals, doing what we can for now than to contemplate all this Woe. I am amazed at my own pessimism. Are these anti-depressants failing to work all of a sudden?  Sadly, I don’t think these fears of my have anything to do with my own brain chemistry and they have everything to do with my having just spent a while searching the internet to try to catch up on what is going on in the world.

Most of the time, I live in a fairly media-sheltered way, by choice. Because you know, I get overwhelmed by reality and avoid it like the plague.  Then I go and dip into CNN and MoveOn.Org and Michael Moore and more and more and then shrink back again, feeling like I’ve just stuck my emotions into a pot of boiling water.

I think we’ll have turkey burgers for dinner with swiss chard on the side.

I saw a man walking down the street holding up a sign that said “Global Warming Will Kill Everyone!”

I was annoyed at him. I was driving along, in my car, with the kids in the back seat and he was walking the opposite direction along the sidewalk on the other side of the street. I rolled down my window. I wanted to yell at him; but I couldn’t get together what I wanted to say. I was having an emotional reaction to his sign; probably what he wanted.

But it really annoyed me because while Global Warming is certainly a bad thing, and will probably end up causing many deaths, that’s not really how I’d like the problem to be framed. Plus, it makes the guy look like a whacko and by extension, all concerned people who worry about global warming to be whackos too. And will that help us to avert the impending disaster?

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