Maebius Musing

((Random update: I think the previous post-quiz has some problems, since when I re-took the test fudging my answers to get different results, and even leaving all answers Blank, or “all=agree” I got exactly the same results. Might be a factor with my work’s firewall preventing the script from running properly?! So all statistics below are in all likelyhood completely inaccurate!!…I will update it with results from my home computer once I get an evening free to go online instead of working until sunset outdoors!))

Cross-posted from an email I pondered on the AODA mailing list:
I’ve been wondering about all the talk of porch gardens, permaculture, and such, especially in light of the current trends with food shortages. The thought struck me a few days ago, that with everyone focusing on GM crops, corn/wheat prices, and the like, one option I have not seen is wildcrafting edible ‘weeds’.

The first caveat to this of course is that learning what wild-craftable edible plants and encouraging others to go pick them is NOT entirely sustainable, and just shifting our focus. Edible/medicinal weeds are niche plants that may be growing all around us, but encouraging their cultivation and mass consumption causes the same long-term worries that mass monoculture does with our fields today.

However, on a small-scale personal level, I wonder what some of us druidic-types think about the benefits or problems with expanding our pantries with less ‘mainstream’ food sources. Lambs-quarters (Chenopodium album) are just starting to sprout in the flower gardens, and our family has started using the tender leaves in salads with [soon] larger greens as side-dishes. (lightly steam/boil with a dash of garlic and vinegar = YUM! nutritious as spinach!)

Since these plants, to use them as an example, grow on their own in about every patch of disturbed dirt around the garden or even purchased hanging baskets from commercial greenhouses, they are abundant, hassle-free, and a VERY cheap alternative until the other ‘traditional’ leafy-greens are available locally.

Yet, why don’t I see more mention of local weeds among the ‘green gardener’ sites? It takes only a small effort to toss certain plants into one basket as opposed to the compost pile, and increases the productivity of the garden immensely. It’s a rhetorical question, on my part, but one I wanted to offer up for discussion with this group, and hope generates some thoughtful replies.

Under the edible albums,
-Nate

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As a follow-up to this posting, regarding being mindful of food, here are my thoughts after doing that practice for two months.

Initially, the process of stopping for a brief moment was irritating after the first week. Intellectually, I understood that my process for this experiment was going take a bit of determination, but it still seemed that my “monkey mind” rallied against the effort for a few days there. Interesting….

Eventually, that rebellious nature gave up and I actually started to enjoy the vague challenge of tracing foodstuffs to its’ sources. It became almost second nature, and did not require much effort at all. Towards the end of the month, I didn’t even mentally make the connection in compartmentalized terms of Sandwich >> Bread >>Wheat + Sandwich >> Meatloaf >> Hamburger >> Cow + Garnish >> Gardens. ( alternately, Egg salad or marinated chicken strips for the protein part of the sandwich innards)
It became more of a matter of “Sandwich > process” and even that was not so much words and images as it was a vague sense of feeling “I understand the origins of the meal”.

In retrospect, I am very glad I did this little experiment, and while I no longer mentally rationalize the matter, I think it has helped subtly steer me towards a better eating regime. I still do not got out of my way to be totally organic, free range, and all natural, but when faced with a fried chicken sandwich at work or a salad for lunch (on the Rare times I do not pack leftovers) I am leaning towards the salad instead.

A side benefit of this change has made me not nearly so snacky during work. I used to nibble of sunflower seeds, or a bag of popcorn (bulk from this store, not the microwave kind), or more usually, a bag of candy. More recently, I skip the salty nuts and either grab some gorp I made, or just chew a stick of gum all afternoon to cancel the oral fixation of chewing something.

As part of my next experiment, since this one I consider a success, I will begin setting aside 15 minutes a day at work to sit quietly and meditate on some subject or other. At first, I am thinking I will just concentrate on de-stressing and relaxing while at work. I’ve done it for two days this week mostly to see if I could remember to take time out of my lunch and sit quietly in my car, instead of not leaving my desk and surfing the web. Seems like it will work out.

I’ll check back next new moon, to report on the newest incarnation of mindful moon-musings! See you then!

PS: Since twinkies were referenced in my original musing, and I am still an avid world of Warcraft player…here’s an image I found quite humorous.

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Happy new Year New Moon!

This post is about food. Specifically, the sacred and divine nature of yummy-ness that is consumed to feed our bodies and thus fuel our daily activities, be they mundane or miraculous. Eating is necessary to survive, and most food is taken in to do simply that. but then there is Food. Food with a capitol ‘F’, and is something which is eaten to Nourish us. Things like rich, organic, 80% cocoa, chocolate bars. Things like fresh-baked bread with a drizzle of honey and butter.

But specific things we can eat, even twinkies, can become Food if we are mindful of their consumption, and attach a bit of thought and intent to the process of sticking in in our gut. Granted, some items are better suited for such sacrament, and Twinkies are not really recommended over healthy foods, but they work as periodic treats/rewards if you are so inclined.

Each day, I am trying to be mindful of my eating choices. Instead of grabbing a bowl of Sugary cereal(like Capt’n Crunch) I choose generic Raisin Bran. Instead of a shoveling in a fast-food lunch, I bring leftovers from home, which taste better and are cheaper. Little steps like this, while small, can add up quite well in the long run, and are helping transition my general eating habits. (See prior post regarding salad-craving).

In addition to choosing what I eat, and this choice is by NO means a strict diet, more of a “I’ll skip the soda today and have a tea” type of thing….In addition to that, I am making an effort to really acknowledge my food as I hold it up before my mouth.

The meatloaf leftovers I have…they taste good, and I remind myself this beef is/was part Norman (our cow). The potatoes are from either our garden or my in-laws. The beans, from the store, but once a green living plant.

I know we all realize on an intellectual level that beans are a plant, and beef=bovine, but the sacred part of what I am trying is to Remind yourself that, each and every time you take a nibble on some food. I don’t feel drawn to offering up a prayer and blessing to cows of the world when I eat a burger, but slowly, the more I am reminded that’s where the burger comes from, the more the deep inner bits of my spirit smile. I now am starting to find my food-origin thoughts are becoming a reflex, that the mental this=that connection springs to mind automatically now.

In the case of a Twinkie, I have to stop and think a bit more, realizing in some way, part of the cake was a wheat plant, which has gotten mangled, drowned, and tortured into the current form. It’s not quite as bad as those particular terms, but they sprung to mind when tracing back to the origins of a Twinkie. This process leads me naturally to think, along the lines of “wheat = grain, perhaps a granola bar or actual home-baked cake leftovers would still be yummy and more wholesome than the Twinkie”.

It won’t stop me from treating myself to one from time to time, but it does make the decision be more informed and help avoid mere cravings for sweet and concentrate more on when I’m actually just hungry. (Though actually I have not eaten an actual Twinkie for years, but is a good metaphor for other foods)

As I mentioned before, keeping up this practice for an entire month on something so ‘mundane’ and continually present in my life such as ‘food’, is practice for the habit of meditation.

Referencing what many would consider the more wholesome foods, such as “80% cocoa” or fresh whole-grain bread with local honey, the experience becomes a bit closer to what some might consider a sacred ritual.

Example of today’s meatloaf: we raised the cow which provided the meat in this meal. We dug in the dirt, and grew the spuds which accompany it. Consuming this food completes a circle of life and death. Gifts and effort on our part, returning to us again. Energy sent into the world, to care for and keep healthy a bunch of other living organisms is now providing myself energy and health. Can’t define magick better than that, can we?!

And since magic[k] as I understand it is so intertwined with spirituality, and I do believe that Norman had a spirit of his own, I am reconnecting with the divine Spark of Life by taking in this Food. It’s a subtle thing, and much deeper than my meager words can relate to you, but I hope you readers understand the concept between these words.

What we eat, if it is consumed with a nod to the origins, and with an occasional almost-reverence, is Food. Food nourishes our bodies and spirits. I challenge you folks to try this little practice for one week (or one cycle of the moon if daring). I’d love to see comments about the results.

And to paraphrase Valentine Michael Smith…….May you never Hunger.

-Nate

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Firstly, I’d must say sorry for missing the New Moon musing this month. We had work insanity, family illnesses, and the general bustle of pre-holiday preparations going on. I completely forgot to post something, although I had thought of an idea to muse about. However, that topic will be saved for a later draft, since the article below hits a bit close to home (figuratively speaking).
http://www.newsweek.com/id/76929

In summary:

This is the real world of eating and nutrition in the rural United States. Forget plucking an apple from a tree, or an egg from under a chicken. “The stereotype is everyone in rural America lives on a farm, which is far from the truth,” says Jim Weill, president of the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). New research from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health shows just how unhealthy the country life can be. The study, which examined food-shopping options in Orangeburg County (1,106 square miles, population 91,500), found a dearth of supermarkets and grocery stores. Of the 77 stores that sold food in Orangeburg County in 2004, when the study was done, 57—nearly 75 percent—were convenience stores. Grocery stores, which stock far more fruits and vegetables than convenience stores, are often too far away…

I have periodically worried about the fact that my friend Nettle can walk a block and a half to a farmer’s market and get local produce, organic meats, and such from farmers who live relatively close to the city. Likewise, the urban area she lives in has at least two awesome stores within easy range. Trader Joes (which while not ‘local’ foods, is often organic or FairTrade semi-sustainable food products), and Whole Foods Market which hosts plenty of healthy groceries, albeit for slightly more cost than your average Twinkie[tm].

Where I live, the nearest grocery store is a good six miles away (11 miles if we go to the “big one in town”), and while they lately have improved their organic/Natural/Healthy section over the past two years considerably, I lament the fact that the fruits and veggies there all are shipped from California, Florida, CUBA?!, and other semi-tropical locations. It is only VERY rarely that local products are displayed prominently (sweet corn for example, or pumpkins, even strawberries-in-season are usually found to be imported if you look closely at the packaging!?!)

Luckily, we have been blessed with a bit of land, and do our small part to grow a selection of veggies, but so far have not made a transition to “survival foods” and only grow enough for a nice treat when the various things get ripe. Though we do stock up with making Jelly and cordials/syrups from the Elderberry bushes, jar up pickles using our cucumbers, onions, and garlic, and salsa and “sauce” from the tomatoes/pepper/garlic/etc, or dry herbs (teas mostly). Thus, we do manage to enjoy the “fruits” of our labor over the remainder of each year.

Still, the over-hyped and recently Hip trend to be “Green” is something not really seen in my area. Farmers still struggle to roll out huge tracts of subsidized soybean and feed-corn fields, the local native American tribe buying up land using their nearby casino-corporation and has allowed some land to just sit fallow for a few years now. It is rare to even see road-side wagons with “fresh Produce”. I know of two farms which offer their spoils, and do frequent them for things we are not growing ourselves, but otherwise, this rural area is too caught up in other things and just can’t really offer the same benefits and healthy choices that folks in the city can.

It’s not just the distance to the grocery, or the ease of mass-transit in the cities. There’s something inherently flawed I think in the cultural structure. Not sure what it is, not sure how to start changing it, but I can confirm the basic connotation in the Newsweek story above are based in fact.

We are slowly expanding out knowledge of gardening, and each year brings a few more/different fresh produce to our table, but that knowledge goes no further than my wife and son. with needing to work a daily job to afford the bills currently, there’s no way to turn full-farm and try to get a local producery established. friends I knew started a community co-op, but it faltered due to lack of prospects. The working team got organized, but other than that immediate circle of friends, the outside customers just did not materialize, mainly for the reasons listed in that article. Distance. Time. Hassle. cost?

I have approached our neighbor who raises dairy cows in the thought of getting a quart or two of milk from time to time, fresh, raw, and yummy, but was met with such a look of confusion and fear that I’d even Suggest such a thing, I backed down quickly and have not found any other locals willing to even debate such an idea. The general gestalt seems to run towards selling your goods out for the subsidies, and home-gardening a bit for some nice treats in summer…. “I hear there’s that All-natural store in town that sells that type of thing”…. *sigh*

My musing is…where can I go from here without rallying against the world and being “too hippy-green”? Or is simply doing what we are doing and learning to take care of ourselves the best idea for now?

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Blogging has been a bit quiet lately, due to a slight change in priorities at work, and a new-found obsession at home. (alright, it’s an old obsession, but “World of Warcraft” is now my official Addiction….got pulled into a good guild that needs a healer, so my holy priestess is going through all the higher instances weekly. Just cleared out Zul’Farrak, Sunken Temple, and halfway through Blackrock Depths the past two weeks! never knew I was a raider at heart. But I love the challenge of keeping 4 other folks alive against mobs of elite mobs!)

Ahem.. anyway….

Yesterday was grocery day and Mrs Maebius treated me with a pomegranate for my lunch today. And it is a little known fact that Pomegranates are one of my favorite ‘toy’ foods, and at the same time always make me muse spiritualically (is that a word?).

On the toy aspect of things, there is a certain undeniable charm in ferreting out all the gleaming red jewels from inside them. Each seed [pod?] full of flavour and juicy hand-staining goodness. It takes a bit of effort to eat a pomegranate properly. And the time investment required forces one to be patient and truly Enjoy the experience.

The juice pops in your mouth, there is a slight crunch (if you eat them like I do by gathering a small handful of seeds and chomping them at once) to satisfy the visceral primitive food-brain. *grin*

And as you can see by my waxing a bit poetic and rather epic-sounding for something simple like “eating my snack at work”, there is a much deeper joy and Mystery unlocked by the garnet clusters than simple hunger-abatement.

The deeper spiritual aspect of eating Pomegranates is a bit harder to explain. Perhaps it is my knowledge of the myths involving Persephone? Knowing that winter is here, and recalling the seeds that ‘brought it’ mayhaps forges a deep archetypal connection to the season? Ancestrally, I don’t really have any connection to the culture, but the myth stands firmly in mind as related to this fruit.

Additionally, and perhaps as a correlation to that myth, Pomegranates tend to be internalized by my inner-thoughts as a metaphor for the sorts of personal meditations and musing that are embodied in the post-autumn seasonal spirit.

Each seed pod needs to be dug out from it’s matrix, not so quickly en masse that they burst and juice stains the greater 5-mile area. Just carefully and patiently, each one requiring a brief bit of attention until you get a small handful and the knowledge that your mouth is moments away from a rapturous YUM. Likewise, meditation topics recalling the prior year, or my current situation need to be considered slowly, until a few gems of wisdom are collected and fused into an integrated whole, bringing benefits or removing obstacles I had built up.

So, While Bananas or Oranges may be touted as “the perfect food”…I’d like to take this opportunity to nominate a slightly lesser known item.

Pomegranates.

Not quite local (a minor sticking point perhaps), but exotic and loved!

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