Consider Gardening, Lately?

I just found the greatest website: http://www.phoenixpermaculture.org/. This site is local to the Phoenix area, but is an amazing resource on sustainable agriculture. From their homepage:

"The Phoenix Permaculture Guild is a local 501c3 education organization with a mission to create in the ground green living solutions. Our community based learning model utilizes the skills of our community to deliver unique opportunities for us all to learn new skills."

Way cool. I am hooked to this website (I set up an identity and everything the first day I found this!).

What excites and inspire me the most is how they make gardening seem doable.

As I heard on the radio this morning that the FDA has approved irradiation on certain raw produce to eliminate salmonella, my heart sank. What do we have left if even our raw food is no longer raw?

Last winter I felt the pull to garden. My husband and I felt certain we could get our green act together in time for fall, but as of yet, it's only been a lot of talk.

With the latest from the FDA and the encouragement of the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, I feel called to garden. I am beginning to think anyone who takes their life and well-being seriously may want to do the same. Let's not allow the FDA to determine the course our life will take.

P.S.
I never thought I would become the extremist that I think I now am. I am beginning to wonder, though, if it isn't me as much as them (the FDA, the lobbyists, the brand-powered companies, etc.). Something to ponder at least...

The Tyranny of the Urgent

This title came from an essay I read in college. It described how our constant need to go, go, go accomplishes less and less and distracts us from what is really important. I can't remember all of the essay right now (and hope I am remembering this part accurately), but it beautifully and effectively described how we are losing our lives to "busy-ness."

I see that no where better than with the SAD. Our need to hurry here and there slowly and steadily edged out family meals--breakfast and dinner. We can now get breakfast in a single bar and eat it in our car or at our desk. We drive thru dinner and eat out of paper wrap in the car on our way to this thing or the next. Lunch, well, I don't know one person in my office who actually takes a lunch break on a regular basis. They often opt for some variation of the breakfast bar or drive thru.

These options do deliver: We do get there faster. We do stay at our desks that much longer.

But at what cost?

Rising above the tyrannical urgencies of life has been a struggle. But I'd rather fight a known evil than blindly allow everything else in my life to rule me.

Kudos

I did so much better on this trip than all the others. I packed my veggies. Picked up the extra sprouted lentils my girlfriend said I could have. Stayed hydrated. Ate meals of just greens. At Johnny Rockets, they had Boca burgers in stock. And although cooked and between two enriched white buns, it was the best vegan option I could think of. (Their salads of iceberg lettuce and KRAFT packaged italian high fructose corn syrup dressing sprinkled with cheddar cheese represented so much the antithesis of living food that I couldn't have ordered it with a straight face.)

I saw summer vacation evident in kids on the street with ice cream and my own sisters sharing a chocolate shake. But when I walked into the Whole Foods off of Ocean Ave, my summer vacation in Orange County finally became fun.

I think back to all my other vacations. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Hot dogs. Mexican food. Cocktails on the pier. A salad from Johnny Rockets would have instilled a strong sense of healthy balance back then. I might have been a little wider around my mid-section, but nothing to worry about.

Then today when we went kayaking and I rowed my heart out (which was admittedly pathetic next to my husband), I enjoyed myself so much. Even under the sun and physically strained, I had fun. When we got back to the harbor and drove to lunch, I had no headache. Felt the strain, obviously, but not at all the exhaustion and pain I expected. Everyone was so exhasuted that lunch was the quietest meal we had ever had--except for all my chattering. I just wasn't tired.

Then, with some pleading and begging, I managed to finagle a stop into the Whole Foods just walking distance from the car. It was like walking home--but in a good way. I found my raw cacao and then my sister showed me a local company's raw food line. I bought their raw vegan cherry cheesecake and finished it before I made it back the car. I even savored the few licks I got from my messy fingers. Earth Cafe, Where Food Lives packed a great slice of home for me.

For all it's commercialism and "regular" SAD food, Whole Foods really deserves kudos. Not so many would be so daring. But then again, not so many would have my appreciation.

Vacations are a great escape. But there's nothing better than keeping what you know and love while enjoying the sun and surf of California. With cherry cheesecakes and farmers markets, my vacations are becoming a perfect balance of home and away.