Free home energy workshop

Just saw the story in the Post Journal about the Chautauqua County Home Energy Workshop this Thursday evening from 7 - 8:30 pm at the JCC Carnahan Training & Conference Center. It's free and open to everyone in the county who is interested in saving money on their energy bills, which makes it a very good idea to attend. If you pre-register on the site, you may even be one of the first 100 people to receive a free CFL. Every little bit helps.

A new year

Now that the holidays have come and gone, we're getting settled into winter.  When it's 22 degrees outside, my idea of a good time is getting comfy in a nest of pillows and blankets on the couch, with the dog and a good book. This is also true when it's in the mid-40's and raining, which is supposed to happen tomorrow. Mother Nature seems to be in the throes of an identity crisis right now.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads here, having to decide whether I want to involve myself, again, in the storm of political activism swirling around me, or to stick to creating a microcosm of the world I want to live in, right here, in my house, my garden, my neighborhood, my little community. I know what's more attractive to me at this point in my life. It's a jolt of adrenalin to be around people who are feeling newly empowered to be a force for positive change. But it also has a downside, especially with thin-skinned people inexperienced in activism (and perhaps totally unsuited for it) who allow way too many personal distractions and dramas to get in the way of constructive activity. Why waste my time dealing with that when I could be cleaning the cat's litter box instead?

The film and discussion series that I've been wanting to happen is actually starting to happen this week. We (the social action committee at the Jamestown UU church) will be screening "The Economics of Happiness" this Wednesday at 7 pm, followed by a discussion on the benefits of localization.  It's being offered FREE and open to the public, with representatives from JTNY as our guests, explaining their new loyalty card program that offers discounts to cardholders who support locally owned businesses.

We've also scheduled two more films for next month, "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" on February 1 and "The Power of Community" on February 29. We're hoping for good turnout and good dialogue on these important issues.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Janet Forbes, director of the Creating Healthy Places project five year initiative funded by the New York State Department of Health to prevent obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases.  I had wondered about things like community gardens in Jamestown, and yesterday and I got my answers and then some. Although the program is still in its early stages,  there is already a lot of activity underway to promote the growing, cooking, and eating of healthy foods in neighborhoods where access to these things has been limited. There is also a recreation component to the project, and volunteers are needed and welcomed in whatever capacity they are able to contribute.  Programs are being designed to become a permanent part of the system, so that when the project ends, the programs will continue.  This type of initiative will bring real and positive changes to people's lives.   

As for my own food garden, I'm thinking big for this year. For the future, I'm thinking chickens.

This morning I watched a beautiful sunrise while I was drinking my coffee. Life is good.

I'm dreaming...

Christmas is coming, and I'm trying to get ready for it.   It's a time of year that I used to love, but now I have mixed feelings.  Family traditions have changed or fallen by the wayside, victims of the relentless march of time...kids grow up, people move, people die.  I miss the excitement of the whole family getting together, cooking a big meal to share, even decorating the tree. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm really not much liking what modern lifestyles have evolved into.

Speaking of evolving, I continue to observe and communicate with the occupy movement as it takes two steps forward and one backward, growing, turning on itself, pulling itself together, changing, adapting, growing some more, etc. It's thrilling to see people at long last reaching the end of their tolerance for the corruption that has bought their government out from under them, but it will probably take a painfully long time for them to throw off the binary brainwashing that divides them so they can begin seeing themselves without the divisive labels and the assumptions that go with them, as people of equal worth and members of the human family.



As for our the status of our little home, the construction is done. Sort of. We have a still unfinished --but insulated and heated!-- second story, with temporary access by aluminum ladder (kind of like life in a submarine, if you can imagine). The cat has taught himself to climb up and down the ladder, and we can hear claws scrabbling on metal in the middle of the night.  He has new windows on the world up there.  He especially seems to enjoy sitting at the top of the ladder and looking down on the dog. Eventually, we'll have finished rooms and real stairs.  But for now, it is quiet here again. The invading workers and their muddy boots have retreated.  We're battening down the hatches. Bring on winter.

Just checking in

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We spent Black Friday enjoying the company of family, and we did not buy a thing.

Now it's December and time to kick it up a notch and finish those gifts I started making.

I've been lending support to Occupy Erie, while occupying my house and thinking about what occupiers might eventually do here in Jamestown. I am working with the social justice committee at church to organize a film and discussion series that will be open to the community. It's disappointing that most people get their information from television. They know all about child molesting coaches and Michael Jackson's doctor, but have no idea how their jobs, healthcare, pensions, and homes are being stolen out from under them. They really ought to know.

Still waiting for The Invasion of the Contractors to end. Went a whole afternoon this week without electricity (the candlelight when it started getting dark -- which it does very early these days-- was rather nice actually)--and overnight without internet -- while the electricians came in and did the big upgrade. We're almost finished now. Weather has made this a long, drawn out process, but the gutters are supposed to be hung tomorrow... and that should just about do it for now.

Look out! Here come the holidays

Wow, this month has gone by fast. I can't believe Thanksgiving is less than a week away. We've had snow a couple of times already-- just a teaser, I'm sure, of what's in store for us.  Birds are showing up in droves at the feeders, left alone by squirrels and deer since we switched to the safflower seeds with chili peppers. Gloves and hats have become necessities when walking the dog.  And it's holiday shopping time again, so the predators (and pine scent) are everywhere.

The season "officially" kicks off with "Black Friday,"  the day after Thanksgiving, when the shopping fest pushes retailers' balance sheets into the black.  Some people have been so successfully coerced into believing they MUST HAVE the advertised specials that, not only will they forego sleep for an advantageous position when the doors open at 5 a.m.,  they will trample other shoppers in their frenzy to get their hands on imperative stuff -- while others will refuse to give up their place in line to let the paramedics reach the injured.

(Now some stores like Target are going one better and planning to open at midnight on Thanksgiving, so people can go from sucking down turkey and pumpkin pie to sucking up door buster specials, hardly breaking stride.)

Come on,  people! I know those 42-inch televisions and the Ultimate Optimus Prime are cool stuff, but shouldn't you really ASK yourself their importance in your life?

I guess it's easier to recognize crazy once you've stepped back from the brink of it.  Everyone likes a good deal, but that's not the problem. The crux is that nobody even needs all this stuff we're so deadly keen to acquire.

Now, some of us peasants are wising up and becoming more protective of our assets. I stopped shopping on Black Friday some time ago, because I really don't like being in crowds of frothing at the mouth batshit insane people. I avoid shopping malls like the plague, because the mass produced soullessness of everything is so damned depressing.

I personally like to infuse extra love, care, and meaning into gifts by making them myself, but I realize this takes time, a little skill, and patience that are luxuries not to be found for many people in these hurried, stressful times.

The other really good option is to  spend a Saturday shopping at your local and independently owned business establishments. You will find uniqueness and charm that are missing from all the McStores, and shop owners who conduct business as if people really matter. You will be strengthening your community by building relationships and keeping money circulating within that community. And you just might have a great time while you're at it!

What kind of options does that give you?  A gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant, a pound of fair trade coffee from the local coffee shop (shout out to Labyrinth!), locally produced pure maple syrup and wines, an endless variety of items created by local artists and artisans, tickets to local arts and sporting events, books from the local independent bookseller-- just to name a few. 

Don't rule out secondhand items-- there are treasures to be gleaned from others' discards, found at thrift stores and garage sales (especially if you shop throughout the year and put things aside for future gifts).  You can find brand new (or barely touched by human hands) hardcover books for under $5 (sometimes much cheaper at garage sales), exquisite sweaters and unique jewelry, housewares, toys, games, and puzzles. At 2nd Chances, I recently found (but did not buy because I didn't need it and did not want to ship across country) a beautiful set of 8 vintage midcentury drinking glasses @ 89 cents apiece.

Some cities have started Shop Local organizations to promote local businesses. Jamestown has a fledgling effort underway with JTNY that I hope will blossom. 

Forget about the Lexus with a big red bow on it. Get a bike.

Indian Summer!

November has brought the beautiful fall weather that we got cheated out of last month. We've been enjoying walks (which make the dog very happy) and doing outdoor cleanup. My borders are all trimmed back for the coming winter, outdoor furniture is put away, and Tom has built another raised bed for vegetables. Soon I'll be able to move my dollhouses and crafting materials in from the garage and up to our new second story space. It's going to be unfinished space for a while, but after having NO space for working on projects, I'm not complaining.

It's been easier to get up and moving in the morning since we set our clocks back and gained an hour.  I'm feeling very productive.This morning I did laundry and some yard work, took Conor for a spin around the block, and started dinner slow cooking  in the crock pot -- all before the second pot of coffee. At noon, we packed up lunch and went to the little community park down by the lake for a picnic. About two dozen other people had the same idea! These are definitely "bonus days" to be savored ahead of the long winter.

Too comfortable

We had our first snow this past weekend. It was cold, wet, sloppy, but really not a big deal. Not like the storm that hit further east. Our grandson made his first snowman of the season, though he lives in a part of Massachusetts where the power stayed on.

We stayed in on Saturday until we absolutely HAD to go out, because there was a Halloween party at the church that evening and I was responsible for cupcakes and trivia.

The next day was better. Still cold, but sunny.  We had a special guest speaker at church and plans afterwards to visit the super energy-efficient new "green" home that Ruth Lundin, the Jamestown Audubon president, is having built. Our friend Dick Rose helped design the house, which is being insulated with bales of straw. Volunteers were invited to help out with the installation of the straw bales, compressing them and then fitting them into place. It's a very interesting type of construction, as you can see from the photo.  The house will also have a living roof when it is finished. If you'd like to see more, you can have a look at Ruth's photo gallery here.

But to back up, Sunday was a homecoming of sorts for Brian Willson, a Chautauqua county native and former member of our church, who is currently on a tour promoting his book, Blood on the Tracks. Brian is a Vietnam Vet whose wartime experiences transformed him into a radical peace activist. He lost his legs in 1987 when he sat on the tracks to block a Navy munitions train carrying weapons to Central America. He expected to be arrested for trespassing, but instead was run over and nearly killed.  Since that time, he has been on a mission to try to educate people about the diabolical nature of US imperialism while living a simpler lifestyle that doesn't feed the machine.  This is what a real hero looks like.

Because his talk was during our church service, it was a bit shorter than his normal book talks, but he stayed for a good while after the service to continue the discussion. Simply put, Brian Willson is a truthteller. His epiphany that we are all interconnected came in Vietnam, in the midst of (following orders) destroying villages and killing all of the innocent civilians in them. He understood that the war was immoral and we were murdering part of our human family. This understanding profoundly changed the path of his life.

He speaks of empathy, mutual respect, cooperation, and fairness as ancient archetypes which we humans must recover in order to survive. These are things we instinctively know, but our brains have blocked them out in order that we might adapt to our current culture, which he characterizes as the most dangerous force on the planet. He sees these archetypes now emerging in the Occupy Wall Street movement and this as an "age of consequences" when our monstrously destructive behavior comes home to roost. Because people cannot be repressed forever and the earth will not continue to tolerate our abuses.

During the Q&A, someone suggested that he was "preaching to the choir," because UU's are definitely a sympathetic audience on topics of peace and justice. Without rancor, he calmly replied that although he may be preaching to the choir, it was a very comfortable choir that no doubt uses a lot of energy.

And there it is. Even though we might "get it" and "talk the talk," most of us have not yet progressed to "walking the walk."  We still propel ourselves from place to place in two-ton vehicles as if this is our birthright. We stockpile and then discard useless stuff as if our lives depend on it, when in reality, the opposite is closer to the truth. We consume food that, besides being largely unnatural and unhealthy, is transported great distances to reach our markets and our tables. What are we thinking??

I highly recommend that you google Brian Willson and learn more about him, or listen to his Democracy Now interview with Amy Goodman, or read his book. Especially if you don't understand what the Occupy movement is all about.