The boys were excited to plant vegetables and herbs in the garden for Earth Day. I hope they are just as excited to eat them this summer. My older one will be for sure. If you are wondering which one is older, look for the blue stripes and boss-man brow. More and more people are asking me if they are twins, much to their chagrin. One thing about my younger son, though he be picky he is still growing like a weed. Or it might be better to say, growing like a misunderstood wild herb. Little dandy lions.
Tag: Earth Day
Happy Earth Day
I love this time of year when the plum tree outside our bedroom window blooms. In the summer when we sleep with the window open I often am awoken by rustling in that very tree, and when I peer out I find bright raccoon eyes peering back at me. We share the plums. Actually, they get the lion’s share because picking the tree requires a ladder or sharp claws, and simplicity wins every time.
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This is what’s blooming in the front yard, along with lavender, rosemary, and some rogue tulips.
Earth day is celebrated in over 192 countries now, according to Wikipedia, but I wish it were more. More countries and more celebration. I asked my boys when they got home from school if they discussed Earth Day and both said nothing was mentioned. Sad. They have a captive audience at schools, surely someone cares enough to explain what Earth day is…? My older son told me this weekend that I was an “Earth Helper” so he must have gotten that from somewhere~ I had assumed school, but maybe not.
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I had a strange thought today that I’m not even sure how to put into words, but I was thinking about Earth Day and the Earth and just how insanely we take it for granted, and I wondered, if just maybe humans had started off as Earth worshipers instead of Sun worshipers if perhaps we would have evolved with a greater respect for the Earth. I realize there was a time when people did worship the earth in ways, Gaia and all that, but we seem, as a species, to always be looking up and out, as though there has to be something bigger and brighter out there…
And we forget to look under our own feet, where amazing things are happening.
I guess I just thought if religions got involved in being conscious of how we treat the earth, something good might happen. People might listen more, and if all religions started working towards the same goal, maybe there wouldn’t be so much to fight over. I’m not saying we should replace all religions with Earth centered gods or anything, but it’s something all religions could get behind and it would be a good thing, for many reasons. A shared, concrete mission instead of endless squabbles over this and that. Not that being a conscious earthling requires religion at all, it’s just a thought I had…that maybe when the future species of the future world look at our human limitations, they will see our tragic flaw as our first instinct was to look at the glory of the sun instead of the soil between our toes.
Absence and Gluten Free products
There are a couple of reasons I haven’t been blogging much lately. One is that Spring Break hit with such a flurry of activity that I’m now nervous for what summer will bring. Kids need so much stimulation! At least mine do~ they also need a reason to be outside, which I kind of understand considering we don’t live in the sunniest part of the world, but it still bothers me that when it is sunny they aren’t rushing out the door right away. Yesterday when they got home all they wanted was to sit and read and write instead of go to a park, which I can’t really argue with except it was gorgeous outside, so I put out a blanket and let them read and write in the backyard at least. My younger son ended up helping me put new soil in our garden and clean up the yard a bit, but my older son is writing his umpteenth book and when his creative juices are flowing, there’s no stopping him. And that leads to the other reason I haven’t been blogging much lately, I too am in the midst of another writing project (like mother like son) and have been putting the finishing touches on it lately. It is something I’m passionate about, and the best part is I’m working with my very talented friend who is doing the art work. Hopefully I will have some more info and pics next week. But in the meantime, I do have a couple of gluten-free product recommendations. The first I found at Trader Joe’s about a month ago and it seems like a new product:
It is in the refrigerated section and comes in a two pack. It’s very tasty as a pizza crust or garlic bread which is how I ate it last night~ put some pressed garlic into a tablespoon of olive oil and added some Tuscan Salt and oregano, mixed it all together and spread it on the bread then baked in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. Very good.
Another item I have always passed over because it looked too expensive was Manini’s gluten-free bread mix. The other day I realized each bag is enough for 7 or 8 loaves~ that changes the price equation quite a bit! I am very happy I tried it because it is delicious bread and easy to make, all of which is quite good news since I still have five or six loaves to bake up from the bag! The directions call for a loaf pan but I used a pizza pan instead because I wanted as much hard crust as possible, and that worked out fabulously. I definitely recommend trying the mixes, plus they have several to choose from so you can suit different tastes.
One last thought, Earth Day is Monday~ does anyone have any traditions?
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