Let the candles flameSoft against the cutting coldIce and mounting snow. For the fire wakesSoon, and leaps into the sky.Ice will melt; sap, flow. Today, sleet whispersBut deep within the branch androot of Life lurks spring. var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_6205d6730eb8ad489d0dbe808ccc9ee4(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_3a20ee61c1b99e49ba36d2a8b789a031(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_55a99bca0dde2841a359e8fdaff63eb5(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_2746627feca104499169df480229e962(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_928dcc4093c95247a298385da9172d7e(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_762ba011ba70764fb10bf75e80404212(t)... Read more

I am a woman who loves to eat.  This weekend, I had just about the same reaction to salad I used to have to Double Chocolate Mega Death Cake–oddly enough.  Here’s why. (I still eat chocolate, by the way.  You know… in case you had some to spare, and were wondering if I’d eat it.) Read More… var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_2f88e806b64c1e4d84be4d3277ea3767(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_d3ed71fe4c142c47932e61c6cfa27fad(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_2874294c033df54f910df71e75292ae2(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool);... Read more

Can lettuce be sinful?  What if you eat it at a Quaker retreat? I was at Woolman Hill this past weekend, a beautiful antique farmhouse and outbuildings operated by local Quakers for various retreats.  They’re quite eco-conscious, with many reminders about conserving heat and electricity, and carefully planned low-waste meals with vegetarian options on everything. It was a wonderful retreat.  (In between spiritual challenges, I even got in a bit of snowshoeing with friends in the sub-zero cold.)  And as... Read more

I’m starting to feel like the character of the Greek father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding–the one who recommends Windex as a miracle cure.  “Put some Windex on it!” he recommends, for everything from warts to blemishes. My drug of choice, however, is the woods. It has snowed here recently–a lot.  I’m not sure how much is on the ground at the moment… something between 12″ and 24″ at a guess.  And I’ve been grateful for my mom’s gift... Read more

I am an occasional contributor at the Bad Quaker Bible Blog, a site for the exploration of how Biblical passages can speak to us individually.  For me, that book sometimes can speak with the voice of poetry, or through the lives of faithfulness it has inspired. This set of reflections is on how the famous lines from Amos, alluded to by Dr. Martin Luther King in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, echoes through my struggles to uphold the rights... Read more

Over the past few years, I’ve become more and more concerned about the way I am part of a huge problem: the disrespect with which we humans treat the only home we’ll ever have: the earth. Starting this past June, first alone, and then very soon after joined by Peter, I’ve been attempting to live a life as free from plastic waste as I can.  Plastic is not my only concern, but it was the initial spark–along with buying a... Read more

I posted recently about some of our efforts to continue to eat locally over the winter.  We bought shares in a local organic winter CSA in the fall, and I made one last stop at a farmstand, and brought home: eight pounds of beets two or three pounds of turnips, leeks, and rutabagas sixty pounds of potatoes  twenty pounds of onions fifteen or so pounds of butternut squash, and thirty pounds of carrots. We had to work hard and think... Read more

The New Year’s Eve festivities are over, the last of the apple and pumpkin pies have been eaten, and the in-laws have headed home to Ohio again.  My daughter and her fiance will depart tomorrow morning, and on the next day, Peter and I will head back to work. Over the last nine days, six people have feasted, laughed, given and received gifts, and generally enjoyed ourselves in a pretty typical American holiday.  (Though technically, Peter and I are Pagan,... Read more

In which we explore the anti-plastic greening of our family Yule week. var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_e00c4189670a4f488f9f69ffe07f75c7(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } var fctb_tool=null; function FCTB_Init_73f01402a1163c4a8041917eb4d2ad97(t) { fctb_tool=t; start(fctb_tool); } Read more

Our salad garden in October Tally of new plastic waste since our last report: 11 oz. So, a few weeks ago, I posted very optimistically about the possibility of subsisting through the winter on salads from greens I grew myself, on my windowsill.  And a glance at this picture will explain why. With our excellent southern exposure and a couple of self-watering planters, I had big dreams for green leafies. Now, I’m a little wary of any “earth-friendly” project that... Read more