Do we have to talk about politics?

Lately I've been involved in a few conversations about politics with people of different ages and backgrounds.  Inevitably, someone will sigh or throw up their hands and voice their disgust/frustration/mistrust of the entire system.  And who can blame them? So many poor (partisan) decisions are made, and so many people are completely alienated from and disenfranchised by our political systems, be they local or provincial or national.

At the same time, standing on the sidelines does nothing to improve the state of things - in fact, it makes it worse.     The young people I talked to at a local pub felt completely uniformed on political issues.  Some of them, well into their twenties, with degrees in hand, have never voted in a single election.  The retired man I talked to at church today told me the story of how quickly a local MLA became disgusted with politics after he was elected.  How can you get involved in politics and be successful in 'playing the game' without getting your hands dirty?  Good question.

I've been interested in politics since I was a kid. My parents used to be card-carrying Liberals. People like my folks used to be the party rank-and-file, who played some role in bringing leaders to power.  And inevitably, decisions about policy will be made, either with the participation of citizens or not.  Mostly it seems that that power has been abdicated to large corporations and power-brokers, who understand the stakes and have their representatives trained and ready.

How do we re-ignite a conversation about the common good?  How do we convince people (and particularly young people) to get involved in decision-making that affects their community?

My personal opinion is "without pressure, nothing changes."  And that pressure can only be created when people work together to achieve specific changes that they feel will improve the community in which they live.
And sooner or later, in some form or another, that means politics.

Living on muscle, guts and luck

So much food, so little time...here's a little round up of what I am learning lately.  First of all, I've had a pretty much 180 degree change of opinion about animal fat. It feels strange after a decade of vegetarianism to be so into meat, but I think the evidence is in favour of high quality organic meat.  I am not talking about feedlot beef here, or claustrophobically caged chickens.  Or fast food.

I am realizing that my health in the future will be largely dependent on two things: exercise and managing my blood sugar.  I have diabetics on both sides of the family so it's a major concern for me.  Plus obesity/diabetes are the number one health problem in our society right now.

I just finished reading a book called "Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food" which was so fascinating.  The author shows how beauty and health are connected, how siblings appearances differ because of the nutrients available to them in utero, and how cholesterol is good for you. It's sugar and vegetable oils that cause illness. Yes, you read that right.  Sugar and veg oil.  Eat the butter, it's good for you.

She also says that we are losing the genetic nutritional advantage that our ancestors gave us, in part because they ate the whole animal - guts, livers, eyeballs and everything.  I know that may not entice you but we aren't living longer anymore, we're aging faster and our children are less healthy.  Shanahan thinks this is one of the reasons why - our food is no longer as nourishing.

Also, here is a podcast with Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved."  He talks about lesser-known aspects of the 'green revolution' (ie. industrial farming) such as authoritarianism, overpopulation, the Cold War and more.  Patel says we currently produce enough food to feed the entire world, it's just not distributed to people who need it.  He says when capitalism controls food it actually leads to more hunger, because people without money can't eat.

Dark times we live in now.   But we still have a choice, and the more I go to the grocery store, the more I don't want to go there anymore.  So I am slowly working out a way of eating that is best for me and for my loved ones, and that doesn't involve an industrial outlook on life.

Sabbatical: Month 10, Time's Up!

This time last year I felt grumpy and worn out.  So I took a break from RiVA, cut back on my work schedule and made an effort to do less.  It was the right choice and after nearly a year I feel re-charged and ready to go again.

Since New Year's I have also made some major revisions to my diet - adding (quality local, mostly organic) meat to my diet after a decade of vegetarianism and eliminating almost all grain and sugar (except fruit of course).  I feel great and after the sugar binge that is Christmas it's a huge difference. I never realized how much the fluctuations in blood sugar made me anxious (sometimes to the point of hostility) and how much more satisfied and energized I feel now that my diet is higher in fat and protein, and lower in carbohydrates.

For anyone who feels worn down by life, I would highly recommend taking some time to re-evaluate your life and take some time to deliberately be unproductive.  Taking the pressure off myself and being able to put my needs first was very empowering.  In seven more years I fully intend to do it again.

More time for plays

The New Year has arrived and with it, many changes and cause for excitement.  Nick and I have made a goal to see 30 plays this year - yes!  This is the kind of 'work' we can get excited about.  So far we have attended "Screwjob," a new play by Step Taylor and "Chicken Hearts and Baby Onions" which was put on by Theatre St. Thomas.

Step's play was originally slated for last summer's Dooryard Arts Festival but was delayed until January.  This was Valley Young Company's first production at the Charlotte St. Arts Centre in Fredericton.  The TST production was helmed by Woodstock native Ryan Griffith, who gave an outstanding performance as the Croatian trucker Jan.  It was so refreshing to see working people portrayed on the stage, dealing with the drama inherent in politics, family, class and friendship.  Thanks gang, for encouraging us toward our goal.

Upcoming, we will be seeing "Oh What a Lovely War" (also at TST) and then the TNB redux of "The Dollar Woman" by Alden Nowlan and Walter Learning.  This was TNB's first original production and I am looking forward to this slice of New Brunswickana.  Nowlan has been a very inspirational figure for me personally so it will be great to hear his words spoken aloud.

We're also planning to read 20 plays and are currently reading Harold Bloom's commentaries on various Shakespeare plays.  That man is an encyclopedia, in case you didn't know.  So, our play is work and our work is play.  Exciting stuff for those of us who find human stories endlessly fascinating.  If you'd like to be apart of this play reading - which will be done out loud in the living room, beverage optional, feel free to drop me a line.

Cheerio!

My Industrial Education

On Saturday we drove back from Fredericton.  I hate being in the car for long periods of time - it makes me so stiff and irritated.  When we got home, Nick and I took a walk near our house, in the industrial park.  It's a short walk and has a good hill to climb so it's a good way to unwind your muscles after being caged in a car.

All this week I've been busy and decided to do a little something for myself - get some exercise.  So I bundled up and headed out to retrace the route we walked on Saturday.  I huffed my way up the hill and began the flat section that leads downhill and back home.  I could hear a flatbed transport coming along behind me - it's an industrial park, after all.

I have a lots of truckers in my family, both current and retired and I have taken a number of free trips to Montreal and Toronto courtesy of truckers.  So I'm not trashing truckers but this guy really freaked me out.

I was approaching an intersection and kept to my side of the road.  I heard a voice and the driver (whose door said "Levasseur") motioned to me.  I thought maybe he needed directions or he was concerned for my safety, walking in an industrial park.  But at the same time, the Paul Bernardo alarm bells went off in my head and I took only one step closer, to see if he would speak to me.

He didn't.

Instead he motioned again for me to come closer.  I was very confused - I do speak some French and could have understood any basic questions he wanted to ask.  I took one more step and he opened the door to his truck.  Then it hit me that he was trying to a.) solicit me or b.) abduct me.  We didn't debrief so I can't be entirely certain.

I don't know who you are M. Levasseur, or if that's even your name.  But if there's a Mme. Levasseur, I hope she knows who she's married to and what he could be bringing home.

Pretty bad for 9am on a Thursday in a small New Brunswick town.  The whole thing makes me feel a little bit sick.  It makes me wonder how many women this guy has picked up, whether it's consensual or whether he's another violent creep on the loose, and why he would think it's okay to approach a random woman out for a walk.

And it makes me sad for all the wonderful men in my life who would never dream of doing this.  Men like Levasseur give good men a bad name.

Back to the Heart of Things

One of the final projects of this sabbatical is a group undertaking, where five friends and I will be creating works of art based on six photographs by another friend.  Some of the photographer's other work is here.

So now I am attempting (with fear in tow) to write 6 poems, and realizing I want these to be much better than my skill level will allow.  Hence, research.

Here is a great little article about blank verse, what it is and how it is "at the heart" of much good English poetry.  I like the idea of putting words on paper with 'a minimum of excess.'

We'll see how this goes.  At some point after the visuals, words, music, stories and drama are created, I will post some of them for you to consider.  I am not expecting perfection from myself on this, but I am looking forward to 99% perspiration.

Maybe, baby

I was just reading a post about women pictured on television and how far those female characters have (and in some cases haven't) come in the past 40 years.  I am not a regular tv watcher, but I found it interesting nonetheless.


It concluded with the thought that "the realities of rape, women's ability to choose abortion without shame; the fact that not all women are hungry for marriage and babies; and women's genuine experiences of having passion for their work" are still not comfortable scenarios for writers/broadcast networks/corporate advertisers/audiences -or whoever controls these televised situations.


I read that and I thought "that's true," because I know so many ambitious, talented, caring and capable women in their twenties and thirties who could be wonderful moms, but are deeply ambivalent about whether they should or will ever have children someday.


For some women, it's partner issues - they haven't met a good man (mostly) or they can't see themselves parenting with the person they are with (value conflicts) or they like their lives as-is and are not sure if they are ready for the lifetime commitment that parenthood entails or they can't afford to have kids because of their financial situation. Lots of varied reasons, a spectrum of doubt.


So, I just wanted to put it out there that there are lots of fine ladies on the 'maybe, baby' train.  And I don't see that stopping anytime soon.

My exceptional friend

It's not often I dedicate a post to singing the praises of an individual, but after getting our local paper today and finding out that one of my wonderful friends is going to China in an attempt to break a few Guinness World records involving a frisbee, I think it's time.

His blog is here, I will be adding it to my links (which you should check out if you're into the 'best of local' around these parts).

Let me tell you a little story about this guy.  He was on the high school hockey team but hung out with the rest of us nerds and misfits.  Fittingly, his blog is called "Odd and Misunderstood."  Boy, can I ever relate to that some days.  Instead of being a standard-issue jock, he once told me he liked listening to Gregorian Chant before hockey games because it helped get him pumped up.  Now he says that throwing a frisbee is "his favourite form of mediation,"  and I believe it!

Hats off to you Rob, for listening to your inner voice on a slightly 'odd and misunderstood' journey that involves an immense amount of practice and perseverance.  World records or not, I am astounded at what you've accomplished and I know the best is yet to come.

An endlessly varied recombination of age-old components

How's that for a headline?  Yowzers.

I am reading Carl Jung's 'memoir,' which is called " Memories, Dreams, Reflections."  Rather than recalling chronologically the events in his life, Jung recalls how he came to understand the psyche, the unconscious and the formation of human personality.

Here is an excerpt which I find totally fascinating:

Our souls as well as our bodies are composed of individual elements which were all already present in the ranks of our ancestors.  The 'newness' in the individual psyche is an endlessly varied recombination of age-old components.  Body and soul therefore have an intensely historical character and find no proper place in what is new, in things that have just come into being.  That is to say, our ancestral components are only partly at home in such things.  We are very far from having finished completely with the Middle Ages, classical antiquity, and primitivity, as our modern psyches pretend.

Nevertheless, we have been plunged down a cataract of progress which sweeps us on into the future with ever wilder violence the farther it takes us from our roots.  Once the past has been breached, it is usually annihilated, and there is no stopping the forward motion. But it is precisely the loss of connection with the past, our uprootedness, which has given rise to the 'discontents' of civilization and to such a flurry and haste that we live more in the future and its chimerical promised of a golden age than in the present, with which our whole evolutionary background has not yet caught up.  

We rush impetuously into novelty, driven by a mounting sense of insufficiency, dissatisfaction, and restlessness. We no longer live on what we have but on promises, no longer in the light of the present day, but in the darkness of the future, which, we expect, will at last bring the proper sunrise. 

We refuse to recognize that everything better is purchased at the price of something worse; that, for example, the hope of greater freedom is cancelled out by increased enslavement to the state, not to speak of the terrible perils to which the most brilliant discoveries of science expose us.  The less we understand of what our fathers and forefather sought, the less we understand ourselves, and thus we help with all our might to rob the individual of his roots and his guiding instincts, so that he becomes a particle in the mass, ruled only by what Nietzsche called the spirit of gravity.

Reforms by advances, this is, by new methods or gadgets. are of course impressive at first, but in the long run they are dubious and in any case dearly paid for.  They by no means increase the contentment or happiness of people on the whole.  Mostly, they are deceptive sweetenings of existence, like speedier communications which unpleasantly accelerate the tempo of life and leave us with less time than ever before.  Omnis festinatio ex parte diaboli est - all haste is of the devil, as the old masters used to say.

Reforms by retrogressions, on the other hand, are as a rule less expensive and in addition more lasting, for the return to the simpler, tried and tested ways of the past and make the sparsest use of newspapers, radio, television and all supposedly timesaving innovations.

In this book I have devoted considerable space to my subjective view of the world, which, however, is not a product of rational thinking.  It is rather a vision such as will come to one who undertakes, deliberately, with half-closed eyes and somewhat closed ears to see and hear the form and voice of being.  If our impressions are too distinct, we are held to the hour and minute of the present and have no way of knowing how our ancestral psyches listen to and understand the present - in other words, how our unconscious is responding to it.  Thus we remain ignorant of whether our ancestral components find an elementary gratification in our lives, or whether they are repelled.  Inner peace and contentment depend in large measure upon whether or not the historical family which is inherent in the individual can be harmonized with the ephemeral living conditions of the present.

A lesson from someone else's 90 years

Sometimes I am tempted to think I am a pretty hip person - I've been to 'free school,' I helped start a mixed arts festival with my friends, I like the idea of open-source everything, and I am not afraid to eat sushi or spicy food or dance in public.

But then there are other days when I am pretty sure I was born in the wrong generation, and that I am secretly an old lady inside.  Case in point:  I love stationary and letters, I know how to make bread and baked beans from scratch, I don't have a cellphone, I sew on buttons and mend clothes that aren't ruined, I like to read actual books, sing hymns and play the piano. I realize this much of this is tragically unhip but I can't be bothered to hide it.  And I don't put pictures of myself doing these things on facebook.

Today after church we had a 90th birthday party for a lady in our congregation - you only turn 90 once and she is a lively lady despite the year on her birth certificate.  What a lovely time: lots of small tables set up, a nice bowl of unpretentious soup for everyone, cake and ice cream.  Conversation, smiling.  Kids, old people and everyone in between.  Another lady played the piano intermittently while we ate.  We all sang happy birthday together, whether we felt we were excellent singers or not.

Which brings me to the point:  this generation (the one that lived through the Depression and WWII) knows how it's done.  They can enjoy the simple pleasures that truly matter: a meal with friends, lighthearted music, kind words spoken and time well spent.  Nothing flashy, no pressure to participate by buying stuff (who really needs more stuff now anyway!!).  What a nice change from the emotional ambiguity of text messages, the narcissism of the online world and the lack of human contact that makes us all retreat too far into our own heads.

Thank you elders for reminding me what really makes life wonderful.

Meat or no meat: still a big question (for me)

We live in a consumer society, there's no escaping it.  Even after ten years of consciously attempting to avoid giving my money to multi-national corporations (as much as I can in this economy), I have to admit, I still get a little thrill out of buying things.  I don't imagine this will ever go away - whether it's the Mad Men and their effect on me, on the evolutionary thrill of getting something new, I am not certain.

But today our household signed up for a food box delivery from Speerville Farms (Stu Fleishaker and Nancy Cantafio and their lovely girls).  Every two weeks we will get bread, eggs, cheese, meat, and veggies delivered to our door.  The price is excellent and everything is organic.

About ten years ago, I quit eating meat.  Lots of people ask me why.  They also ask me how I get my protein, which really bugs me, but that's another story.  Here is a handy reference chart, in case you were wondering:

Food                  Amount of protein (grams)
Dried Parsley    1 cup       31
Lentils, cooked 1 cup       18
Black Beans, cooked 1 cup15
Tofu, firm 4 oz               11
Quinoa, cooked 1 cup     9
Peanut Butter 2 tbsp      8
Almonds 1/4 cup            8
Sun-dried Tomato 1 cup  8
Brown rice, cooked 1 cup 5
Broccoli, cooked 1 cup   4
Potato 1 med.               4
Lambsquarters 1 cup     4

I quit eating meat because I didn't trust where it was coming from - this is the system that gave us listeria, mad cow, swine flu and has increased antibiotic resistance.  I don't have a beef with farmers, but I didn't want to give my money to the corporations who have made it impossible for small pork farmers to make a living.  I also think ten years as a vegetarian has allowed me time to really think about killing and take responsibility for my ethical decisions.

However, in the past year I have noticed an increase in local meat offerings, and I have also noticed that soybeans - which I consume in the soymilk I drink - are driving the destruction of the Amazon rainforests.  So, although I am not ready to go hog-wild just yet, when the food box comes on Monday I will see if I am ready to take on a bit of animal protein.

So, buying feels good.  But buying something that helps a local family make a living feels better.  We live in one of the most food insecure provinces in Canada.  I think we would see a big change in our families, our schools and our economy if more people supported local food.

Word of the day: mendacity

Until today, I had no idea who Chris Hedges is.  My bad.  You can find his bio here but you should really watch this interview with him in Times Square. He is talking about the similarities between the Occupy movement and the people's movements that brought down totalitarian governments in Eastern Europe.  Hedges was a war correspondant for 20 years overseas so he brings a lot of experience to the table.

Mendacity: unthruthfulness; the act or process of lying.

Hedges makes lots of insightful comments about this movement but it's his remarks about the consensus decision-making process that I think most people don't understand.  In our working lives (and in our school experiences) we are told what to do by a 'superior' and we do it, or else.  This is how governments and corporations exert control over massive numbers of people.

In the case of the Occupy movement, the decisions are taken by consensus, where everyone is informed, the terms of engagement are completely transparent, people have the power to amend, support or block motions, and the discussion can't be shut down at will by the chair (or any other party).  It's slow, it can be very frustrating but it is also rock solid when the group finally reaches consensus.

Hedges says that he has written about why the corporations that control the global economy need to be taken out, but never thought about how.  When ordinary people reach a consensus about what to do - whether withdraw their money from mainline banks and put it into credit unions, or something else - that solidarity will be real.

Here's a great video of the people's mic in action.  Blogger won't let me format the link so here's the address to put in your search bar: vimeo.com/30513599

Global Women

I'm halfway through this great podcast about how women are in the process of claiming their rights and standing together for greater equality all over the globe.  It's hard to hear their suffering, but it's so uplifting to know that half the world's population - nearly 3.5 billion people - stand a better chance than ever of being healthy, equal and productive citizens.  It's well past time that happened, and we owe our thanks to all the women and men who struggled to make this happen.

One interesting point they make in this podcast is that policy makers, economists and politicians all around the world have concluded that to make progress on poverty, health, violence and the economy, you have to give women an equal place in society. 

In New Brunswick, we all know our economy could use some improvement (so could our health, not to mention poverty).  This makes me wonder what we are and aren't doing to include girls and women and to ensure that they flourish.  Neglecting to deal with women's issues here only serves to put us a greater disadvantage.

The past is never entirely over

If you're interested in the history of New Brunswick, or forestry or the Irving Companies, you really should go to the CBC.ca/nb site and read the story - and the comments - about the closing of the Deersdale sawmill and the debate about wood from Crown Land vs. private woodlots.

It encapsulates so much of the issues we are facing (and have faced) here in New Brunswick.

The 'Crown Lands' are a creation of the British colonial government - part of the empire of the 1700's and 1800's.  The private woodlots are predominantly in Western NB, which was settled by American Loyalists after the war of independence from the British, and in Miramichi, where more prominent Irish and Scottish immigrants were able to buy or be granted large tracts of land.

I often think about how NB is like a developing country - very concentrated wealth and land ownership in the hands of a few - brain drain - largely disfunctional government - bright people but lacking education.

It's all there on the comment boards, if you're interested.  As for me, I say history lives.

Back to the Forest

I wrote about the opening shots here and here.  This week JDI announced that it is closing the Deersdale sawmill due to lack of wood supply. Deersdale is in the middle of NB, east of Juniper.  Here is a handy dandy map of where the Crown Land is in our fine province.

The Supreme Court of Canad holds that New Brunswick's Crown lands are held by the Province of New Brunswick for the benefit of the people of New Brunswick, not as their owner but as their trustee.  The "public trust doctrine" handed down to us through English Common Law says that resourced of the commons are "gifts of nature's bounty" to benefit present and future generations."

Here is a handy dandy map from JDI's website about their operations.

The NB Federation of Woodlot Owners, which represents 30,000 people in New Brunswick, says that the price JDI is willing to pay from private woodlots is too low.  The Federation says its members are harvesting 72% less wood and revenues have fallen from a combined $100 million to a combined $30 million.

Here's what Ken Hardie has to say about Crown Lands and private woodlots in NB.

"Essentially Crown land is our biggest competitor in the marketplace, which fundamentally has been our fight for many years, is the fact that we're in competition with our own land, pubicly-owned land," he said, noting that they have been in discussion with the Department of Natural Resources on the issue.

"At this time there is some positive.  The department seems to be recognizing that in order for private woodlots to survive, maybe some Crown land needs to come off the market."

You Deserve Good Things

Once I had a conversation with a very wise woman whom I respect very much.  We were talking about why people who are in bad relationships stay there.  She said that it's because they don't feel they have options, or because they are attached to the people who are mistreating them, or because they're not ready to leave. 

I related a conversation I'd had with one of my extended family members, who always seemed to blame himself when someone else treating him poorly.  I asked him if he thought he deserved good things in life.  He avoided the question.  So I asked him again, if he thought he deserved good things.  You mean like, nice stuff, he asked me.  No, I said, like being happy, and being treated with love and kindness by the people around you.  He did not want to answer this question.

The lady looked me squarely in the eye and she said "many people - most people - do not believe that they deserve good things in life.  They don't feel they are worthy." 

I didn't grow up in a Jungian family where my parents told me I was entitled to good things.  But I did grow up in a family where people (inevitably) screwed up, owned up, made it right, and moved on.  I think this was an important lesson that there can be justice in families and relationships, even if it is difficult.

Now that I'm older, and I've seen so many people in bad relationships - and I don't just mean romantic relationships.  I mean with their friends, or siblings, or co-workers, bosses or whomever.  And I see them stick around and I think back to the conversation I had with that woman. 

I wish I could tell people that they deserve good things in life, and I wish they would believe me.  Overall, I think people are much tougher and resilient than they think they are, and when fear keeps them from moving forward I wish they could sense that better things await, and that they are worthy.

Sabbatical: Month 7

Somehow, time crawls by so slowly and I look away - only to look back and find it's been weeks.  A friend of mine mentions she's been reading my blog and I think to myself "my blog?! there's nothing on there to read..."  Which may or may not be true, depending on your perspective.

All around me, I can sense that people's relationships are struggling - word of breakup after breakup reaches me, and other people who normally seem so together seem a little unhinged.  Personally, I feel okay, I feel like things have settled down tremendously after a turbulent and financially stressful summer.  But almost every day I see evidence of how people are equally capable of hurting or supporting each other.  Sometimes it seems like a fine line and I wonder how anyone survives into old age with a positive outlook.  Maybe it's willful ignorance, or wishful thinking, or luck or grace, depending on how you look at it.  I'm not sure. 

The elegy of fall is hard to bear sometimes, and this year since I've been on 'sabbatical' I feel wasteful.  I feel like normally I would be working harder, investing time and energy in projects and seeing them come (hopefully) to fruition.  This year I am not investing in anything, I am watching the time pass. I feel idle sometimes, and guilty as a result.  At the same time, I can feel my inner battery re-charging and I feel much more resilient and joyful than I have in the past few years.


We also have less money in the household, which has been a very interesting process. Since the spring, we are eating a lot of stored food that previously would have gone to waste, altering or repairing clothes that would have gone unworn, visiting people and generally just slowing down the pace of life.  It's been good.

Sometime I wonder about human generations in years past - without the iPhone, with less 'options' but more time for making bread and visiting family, less 'wordly' but more connected to the earth.  I think everything in life is a trade-off and this sabbatical has really made me wonder what I am trading.  Overall, I feel immensely thankful for the gentle and kind people we seem to have in abundance here in New Brunswick.  I realize without a doubt that human relationships are so complicated and difficult, yet so rewarding, and I am thankful for my tiny place in the midst of this great cosmos.

Happy or not, here life comes

Time and time again, I hear people talk about being happy - as in "he makes me so happy" or "I just don't feel happy" or the ubiquitous "do whatever makes you happy."  And then, of course, there is the infamous reference to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the US Declaration of Independence.

Lately happiness has become a major topic of discussion around here - with some projects completed we have time to reflect on what might be next.  As I work further into my adult years (indeed, the big 30 is just around the corner) I can see why people get worn down and start to lose touch with the joy in their lives. Being an adult is tough and sometimes I wonder if my generation is prepared for the realities of adulthood - the necessity of working, whether it be for financial gain or in relationships with those around us, and the realization that bad things often happen to good people.

In any case, here is a great podcast called "Just Say No to Happiness."  It begins with an interview with the author of "The Happiness Project," which has been on best-seller lists since 2009, and concludes with great discussions about suffering, the psychology of morality, the necessity of faith and how ultimately, depth and meaning are more important than 'happiness.'  So if you're wondering if you'll ever be happy, check this out.  It may re-assure that there is much more to human existence than yellow smiley faces. 

What to do with two gigantic zucchinis

It's the most wonderful vegetable time of the year!  Late August and September are when I revel in being a vegetarian - so much to eat, so little time.  This year our garden hasn't been the greatest but I have been getting some local produce from George at Uphill Garden and also bought a decent supply of winter garlic from my friend RW.  Delicious!!

My mom also gave me two gigantic zucchinis - so now everyday we are trying to eat it so it won't go to waste.  Below are a couple of recipes I've been using.  Maybe you are also faced with a glut of zucchini and don't know what to do with it.  Enjoy and happy Labour Day weekend.

Zucchini Bruschetta

Make or buy a pizza dough. 

If you make it from scratch (which I like to with 50% Speerville Red Fife Flour), pre-cook it about 15 minutes so it will crisp up better.

In the meantime, thinly slice 2 cups of zucchini and grill them in the oven to eliminate some of the water (big zucchinis are bad this way).

In a bowl, mix:  fresh or dried basil, (1/4c fresh or 1 tbsp dry), 1 tsp. dried oregano, 2 tbsp. dried parsley, 1-3 cloves of garlic depending on your love of garlic, 1/4 cup diced onion, 1/2 cup chopped tomato, the zucchini from the oven, 2-3 tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix well so oil and spices coat toppings.

When the bread comes out of the oven (or if you bought the dough) cover with toppings and spread out evenly.  Add feta or mozzerella cheese to taste.  Bake in oven for 15-20 mins. @ 375 degrees.  Cool and slice.  Great as a group appetizer (makes enough for a 14-16" dough) or with a meal.

Zucchini Muffins - today's project

•2/3 cup vegetable oil

•2 large eggs
•2/3 cup granulated sugar (I will use less)
•1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•2 cups all-purpose flour (I will use 50% Red Fife)
•1/2 teaspoon baking soda
•1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•1 1/2 cups finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
•1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
I will also add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. Heat oven to 375°.


In a mixing bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract.

Combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; add to the wet ingredients; stirring until blended. Fold in the shredded zucchini and carrots.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or granulated sugar, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes.  Makes 12.

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If all else fails and my zucchini are still around on Monday, I will make a big veg lasagna and could freeze it for later.  Enjoy!

A Learning Farm

This interview on CBC's Shift tells the story of a 114-acre farm near Woodstock that will become a learning centre for marginalized people.  Very exciting, especially considering all the problems I was reading about yesterday.  Thank goodness for practical people who actually attempt to solve problems.  What a debt we owe these guys. 

Never forget that a farmer wrote the Declaration of Independence.