It's Mother's Day.

By now most people have heard that even the woman who started mother's day ended up hating the commercialization of it. In fact, she was arrested for protesting the holiday. Commercialization of holidays pisses me off as much as anyone. The idea that any bit of celebration or remembrance quickly becomes a day we spend in stores, trying to find just the right bit of nonsense to show our love really annoys me. We know that those bits aren't love and yet, we find ourselves falling into the trappings of cultural commodification.

Just the concept of setting aside one day to celebrate mothers - the women who, if nothing else, have given birth to the entire human race - is a source of sadness and frustration. Why can't we constantly remember what our mothers have give us? And why can't we be trusted to let them know that their love and support has carried all of us throughout history? The truth is that we can't. Our lives are so full and busy, our world is so dynamic and complicated that it is easy to let days, weeks, months pass by without telling any of the people who have loved us, who have shaped us, who have picked us up when we fell down that we appreciate them....it's easy to forget to say thanks.

We forget that the earth is our home and that we need to care for her just as much as she cares for us and every April 22 I hope that this Earth day will be the one where really remember...but we always go back to our lives and forget. We forget that this country was built on the sweat and tears of slaves, that black people have made incredible contributions in every field of study and industry and every February children sit in classrooms and read African folk tales and I hope that this will be the generation that grows up and remembers the lessons of tolerance, acceptance, and respect that Black History Month has to offer. But our fears and prejudices are alive and well, even in our children. I could go on and on...June should not be the only time we feel gay pride, March isn't the only time we should address issues of nutrition,  our library system certainly should have more than one week dedicated to appreciating the work they do to give all people access to books and periodicals...the list goes on forever.

Do we need these reminders? Do we need holidays to give us an excuse to take a breath, slow down, and show our gratitude?

I want to bring more gratitude into my life, I want to remember more often than I do that I am but a small part of a big picture. I want the people in my life to know that I love them, to know that i appreciate every act of friendship, of kindness, and of love that they have shown me.

And I want my mom to know that she is one of my best friends. She is a pillar that holds me up and gives me the foundation I need to embark on every new adventure. She is funny and kind. She taught me the parts of speech, that girls can do anything, and what it means to be a daughter.

Today, and every day, I love you, Mom. I hope that I always remember to show you how much you mean to me.

Here are some flowers I grew...I hope you like them.

Tonight Brenden made dinner - killer hummus from (a(ll organic ingredients, yogurt sauce from homemade yogurt from local raw milk, ground up basil, parsley, and dill that I grew and froze, falafel from my favorite mix, and pita bread from the local cooperative bakery. So brilliant, I don't even know the words.

Tomorrow is May Pole and potluck at Birdsfoot so I made focaccia with garlic puree and the same herb mix.

It still seems weird sometimes how much of the food I eat is stuff I grew. I'm a farmer, eh?

Yum, yum, yum. 

What can you say about a dog like Coach?

I remember when we brought him home, we were playing with him in the house and it ended up getting a little bit rough. My mom hadn't met him yet so when she came home she was prepared for him to jump up on her as she walked in the door. Instead, he walked over, sat down, and put his head on her leg. She said,"I love this dog." That was a smart move and got him years of extra treats from her.

My dad trained him when he was a puppy and it wasn't long before he didn't need to be on a leash. If you had to bring one with you he'd carry it himself. On command, he would heel, sit,  or lay down. My dad taught him that "lay down" meant to come and lay down at his feet but "bang!" (imagine gun-shaped fingers pointing at the dog) meant to drop where he was. When my dad's best friend Jack would come over Coach would go get his bag, which had his stuff for adventures, and go wait by the door. He didn't want his favorite person to leave without him. A few years ago my dad told me he was taking Coach to obedience school. My response, "Why? Is he teaching a class?" Dad said,"no. I just thought it would be fun for us, a good way to spend some time together."

He could identify his toys by name, differentiate the orange frisbee from the green one. He could play catch with my mom in the living room, passing her the ball after she passed it to him. When I was sad he would lick away my tears. When Brooke was scared he would lay in her room by her side. When my dad was sick he would sleep all day just to be near him. He loved us the way only a dog can. And we loved him the best we knew how.

My mom said that in the end, when he wasn't doing well, he would rally whenever I would come home. After being barely able to walk for a week, he'd go out with me for an hour. He was so excited to be with me. It reminded me of when I left school and it was too hard to be around people - Coach and I would go out for hours, down to the creek and all around the section - and he would keep me company, keep me sane, keep his eye on me.

There is no way to adequately express all he gave to our family.

When people like me appear on television, they appear as fools. It's really frustrating. Whenever they show small town america, farmers, anarchists, non-consumers they are stupid, bumbling, fringe, crazy, thoughtless, narrow-minded....

I don't know what it's like to be an average american. I don't know what it's like to be the target audience for ads and television shows. I don't know what it's like to not be me.

But I'm looking around and seeing that people up here, the farmers, that are making their living by feeding people, they are barely making it. They start their seasons with nothing, they scrimp and save just to buy the seeds they need to get started in the spring. I look around and see my friends that hitchhike and dumpster dive and reuse in ways that are inventive and surprising and I marvel at how far they will go to walk a little softer on this earth, to respect the place we all call home. I look around and see my town as a place where people help each other, care about their neighbors, smile at you in the street, and pick you up when you put your thumb out.

I don't know...

What am I trying to say?

People are just people and some of us look at the big picture and worry not about global markets but local economies, not about international relations but interpersonal ones, and not about the biggest, newest, brightest gadget but about meeting our needs as directly as possible. And I don't think ti's something to be ashamed of, to make fun of.

I'm tired of being ridiculed.

I planted the first peas today...it feels a little late but then again it snowed last week and we were sick and...well now they're in so there you go. It was gently raining so although a little bit wet and cold for me, great for the peas. I would post a picture but I forgot my camera so you'll have to check the archives for last April and I'm sure there's something  there. I did eight rows, mostly snap but one of snow and two of shell. Yay peas!

Harry Kalas passed away this week. For those of you who didn't grow up in Philly or didn't live in a baseball family maybe you don't know him. But for those of us who did, he was the voice and spirit of the Phillies. He called every game, he was in the booth getting ready for Monday's game when he collapsed and was taken to the hopsital. He was beloved among the fans, other announcers, the city in general. The Phillies had something at the stadium for the fans today, his casket was laid in state there and people spoke - his sons, players, friends. It was sweet. it's nice when someone has touched people's lives in a positive way and you get to see it. So much time is spent on the horrors of the world, maybe we should be spending more time appreciating the simple things, the sound of Harry's voice.

The sunchokes are all out of the ground. We had stored a manure pile on the end of the field for a year so we were excited to dig there and see if the tubers were huge. They were big and plentiful which made for some pretty fun digging. Which is good because I'm sick and it was hard to stay motivated in the field. If you don't know anything about sunchokes...here's a pic:

                      

They are one of the few tubers native to North America. They are related to the sunflower and have flowers that look very similar. They grow to be very tall and then die down in the fall. Dulli mows them down with the tractor and we fork up the ground and grub with our hands to collect them in buckets. Then we wash them, which is what I'm doing in the picture, bag them up, and ship them out through the Finger Lake Organic Growers.

They're like a weed, now that we have two fields full of them we can't really get rid of them. It's all we can do to keep them from spreading, really. But we don't have to water them or weed them or really spend any time on them at all through the height of the season and it gives us a cash crop late in the fall when everything else is done.

And they're definitely earthy, as all tubers are, but they're a little sweet and juicy and crunchy. They are starchy but their starch is inulin which breaks down into fructose, not glucose, in the body. So, they're good for diabetics. And all people. You can roast them or cook them and puree them into a thick potato-like soup, or you can eat them raw. We grate them up into our winter carrot beet salad.

Thus endeth the lesson.

love love
-N

1. Feeling misunderstood.

2. Snow in April.

3. Not seeing my Grandmom anymore.

4. Saying goodbye.

5. Being tired but not sleepy.

6. Missing so many people so much of the time.

7. Worrying I won't find a place I belong.

8. My green cords wore out.

9. Hormonal imbalance.

10. Not dancing

11. Being too busy to do what I really want.

1. The winter is over and I can ride my bike again.

2. My home feels warm and nurturing.

3. Living with someone else means that I have an audience for my antics.

4. Doing crossword puzzles with Brenden.

5. I recently reconnected with a close friend.

6. The sound of Becky laughing.
 
7, Dancing.

8. Hearing my phone ring and knowing it's Elizabeth.

9. Purple pens.

10. Sunrises and sunsets.

11. Odd numbers.

A friend's dad posted this picture of an albino robin...it's wonderful.