Tag: struggles

Struggling

There is nothing more I can do today that will change the election results. I’ve voted, I’ve texted, I’ve sent letters, and I’ve written checks. I’m prepared to send more checks if, as expected, there is an extended legal battle. So now I’m going to turn my attention in another direction, while feeling somehow guilty that I can’t do more.

One of the things getting us through this pandemic is our new happy-hour-at home-tradition. We’ve focused happily on three-ingredient cocktails mostly featuring gin and bourbon, but now I want to learn more about traditional low ABV apertifs, including sherry. I have added Tio Pepe Palomino Fino to our pre-dinner menu.

Another life-saver has been the garden and the many sunny days we’ve enjoyed this fall. After a summer during which it was devastated by wall repair, I’ve re-planted my front garden and am hopeful that it will again be beautiful in the spring, especially the thymes and lavenders I’ve added.

Uncertainty and powerlessness. Not a good combination.

Independence Day Struggles

I used to look down on people who shopped through Amazon. I considered it unethical to spend money without trying to keep at least some of it close to home. That’s not an attitude I can afford to take any more. I still have localist leanings, but the pile of boxes in my entryway gives it away. I want things that aren’t available in local stores, and I like the convenience of tracking them down online. Isn’t it ironic, on Independence Day, to be so dependent on Jeff Bezos?

I’m still a localist, though, when it comes to food and my garden. My garden is not particularly colorful, but it is beautiful, and I gladly share it with the birds and the pollinators. No poisons, both for reasons of ethics and to protect myself and my family. Less gladly, I occasionally share with the deer. Ethics didn’t stop me from being grateful when the herd was culled. Along with occasional hired help, I maintain my garden and am eternally grateful to the guys who helped build it many years ago, Tom Schoen and Craig Wilkowski. When I spend time weeding, I know I’ll be achy and stiff for days, but sometimes I need to feel virtuous and hard-working.

My yard is too shady to grow vegetables, but my Shared Legacy Farms CSA provides seasonal organic ingredients. We eat a lot of meat free meals and I buy responsibly raised meats. I cultivate a range of herbs that make it into most meals. This year I’m particularly enjoying chervil. There’s milkweed for the monarchs, and the birds love perching in the fig tree.

“Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.” Albert Schweitzer

As an American, I am ashamed of my country, but I am trying to be an ethical individual.