Saturday, October 30, 2010

Radical Homemaking




Luke was kind of curious about me taking the picture so he was crawling out of the basket as I took this shot.  I could tell you that the dynamic duo  are simply taking a break from all of their hard work on the farm, but in reality they've been lounging there all day.  Of course, they did just get spayed and neutered two days ago, so they may be feeling under the weather. 

I'm reading Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes (the link is to the right) and I'm absolutely enthralled.  There are so many facets to discuss, but I think if you visit Shannon's website, you'll get the basic ideas.  For anybody who is in the rat race and is frustrated with it, but can't see any viable alternatives, you may appreciate this new paradigm (and aside from believing in the four tenets of ecological sustainability, social justice, family and community, the only other commonality of the author's interviewees was that they could cook, so don't go saying that you can't because you don't farm, or you live in a city etc).  The quotation that hits home the most thus far is from Ellen Goodman:  Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.

There have been a couple recent events that have made me question my own involvement in the rat-race.  The current state of our public education system, which really does a disservice to our youth by stymieing their creative and critical thinking skills, continues to bother me (and since I am a teacher, I feel that I condone it).  Also, I just went to hear a local Holocaust survivor share her story.  Coming away from that, the only thing one can think of is, "What the heck are we doing?!"  Let us get back to basics, throw all of the excess out and remind ourselves that we are one human family, and we have to take care of each other. 

My darling husband and I are figuring out how we can "opt out" of the corporate world to which we all seem bound.  This idea has obviously been growing in our heads independently for a while, but it is very scary to leave the supposed security of a job with benefits and retirement (don't worry Mom and Dad, this is not something that is going to happen in the next two years), and I certainly have been more reticent than he to move on. We have been raised to think that being part of the system is the only way to survive well.  Reading through Radical Homemakers and other books has helped me realize that there is another way, and that it really does make sense on many different levels.

On a completely different note, while writing this post I inadvertantly started baking the dough that was rising on the wood stove.  So I made the dough (intended for a loaf) into small flatbreads.  Sadly, the wood stove was so hot, that it broke the pizza stone that the bread was on).  A temporary loss for pizza making, but a gain in realizing that we can use the woodstove for cooking and baking instead of the gas oven we have (pancakes, rolls, pizza, stews are all coming to mind).

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The State of Our Society

Ideas have been swirling around in my head for months now about the state of our materialistic culture.  I fear I could write a book, but my thoughts are nowhere near coherent enough at this point.  The triggers for the following post are, in no particular order:

1.  The incredibly rude behavior brought on by cell phone users in public spaces
2.  The Chilean miner rescue
3.  The inability for today's students to actually think critically about a question and problem solve
4.  The amount of money in big business that looks at profit margins instead of the greater good

I will attempt to connect this all, although I've added a little something to the hot cider I'm drinking, and it is a Tuesday night after all.

I have become disenchanted with education (you know that already if you are a follower of the blog).  I am most severely disenchanted with the way in which our students are conditioned to learn.  Case in point:  I'm having my kids conduct a research project that requires them to develop hypotheses about a certain procedure.  There is really no right answer, because the procedures were done in the past, in some cases, thousands of years ago.  But through lab activities, the kids have learned concepts which provide them with the background knowledge to actually construct a viable hypothesis.  They have struggled with this.  I am sure this age group will be known as the 'Google' generation, because they think they can find any answer by just googling it.  When was the wheel invented?  I'll google it.  How is an arch constructed?  I'll google it.  They are so used to instant answers and instant gratification that they no longer have the attack skills necessary to problem solve.  Furthermore, they also no longer have the patience to struggle through the problem.  Which means, sadly, that they know no longer feel the joy and sense of accomplishment when they finally figure it out.  The passion of learning for the sake of enlightenment seems gone. 

Part of this, perhaps, is just the older generation looking at the younger generation and reminiscing for the "good old days".  But I am convinced there has been a fundamental shift in the way kids learn, and how they expect to learn.   And I think this new way is not necessarily helpful for society at large.

The most detrimental result of this new way of thinking is the lack of true social growth in individuals.  Instead of debating a problem with group members, kids go straight to the computer.  They don't learn how to argue effectively, to respect each other's opinions or to work together as a team.  In fact, with the advent of the cell phone and texting, kids don't even need to physically see each other anymore.  I believe there have been statistics published that a lower percentage of teenagers are actually getting their licences, because there is no need to physically hang out anymore.  As a side note, the amount of cyberbullying that occurs now is disheartening.  Kids don't have to be mean to each other face to face, and thus it's easier to be mean and say hurtful things.  Again, this demonstrates the lack of opportunity to learn and practice much needed social interaction.  Direct eye contact, civility, reading body language, etc.   Plus, if they could, kids would have the cell phone would be out 24/7.  Perhaps it is becoming socially acceptable to text while having a conversation with a real live person out at a restaurant.  Perhaps it is becoming acceptable to always be available to talk by phone; if it rings, you answer it.  Perhaps it is becoming acceptable to let the world know what you are doing every second of every day (Yes, I am a FB user, and I do post my status occasionally).   Where is the line?  Whatever happened to privacy? Whatever happened to downtime? What ever happened to real friends?  

I worry about all of this because from an evolution point of view our bodies and minds are not designed to always be on.  New York may be the city that never sleeps, but our bodies and our brains do need to sleep.  We are not capable of the constant stimulation (or the instant gratification). Something has to give, although I'm not sure what it is.

And yet, as a society, we seem to go on, driven by our need to get more NOW, do more NOW.  Parents are working two or three jobs to maintain the lifestyle they choose (or feel the need) to create for themselves.  There is this outside pressure that chants "More, More, More" incessantly.  Again, it is the children who suffer.  Many kids have very little meaningful contact with parents, but instead are left at home staring at some sort of screen.  We don't know what the long-term effects of this behavior are.  The hand-eye coordination, I'm sure, is much better in this set of kids, but what about their attention spans? Or, their ability to behave appropriately in social circles.  Or the opportunity to learn from older generations (vertical learning) as opposed from their peers (horizontal learning).

The other group that suffers are the millions of workers who are producing the goods that we demand.  I admit, I was glued to my computer screen watching the streaming video of the Chilean miner rescue.  There are no words to describe the strength and perseverance of the miners or all of those individuals and groups who assisted in rescuing them.  It was helpful to see good news (even if it was sensationalized) when we are usually constantly bombarded with stories of violence, sadness, death.  Unfortunately, only a few days later, we got news of a mine collapse in China.   Around the same time, my brother shared the beginning of one recent Simpson's episodes where they portray the darker side of large-scale commodity production (come to think of it, is there a lighter side?).   I am convinced that if we reverted back to local economies the demand for such large mining operations (and other forms of production) where safety and human welfare is sacrificed for money would diminish. 

But of course, my students remind me (after we read "The Sacred Rac" in my class) that at this point it is highly improbably that we could return to local economies.  Our very infrastructure is set up to require transportation to a commercial center, to purchase food that was produced thousands of miles away, to require transportation to go to school, to use energy that was harvested on the other side of the world.   How do we go back?  Never mind that big corporations are going to do their best to keep us wanting more.  After all, it's all about the bottom dollar.   And that, my friends, is the sad conclusion.   We have sacrificed our sense of self, our sense of social responsibility to our fellow human being and to our environment, our sense of creative thought.  All in the name of what?  Progress? Money?  We need to slow down, think about the consequences of our actions and consider this question: Just because we can, does it mean we should?

Addendum:  After drafting this post, my darling husband mentioned Bill McKibben's work to me, which I had heard about, but, unfortunately, I have not read much of.  I look forward to reading his book, Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.

Monday, October 11, 2010

First frost and functioning furnaces

We finally woke up to a frost covered ground Sunday morning.   The NOAA is really good about warning folks if there is going to be a hard freeze so we picked the remainder of the tomatoes Saturday.

I should have taken a picture of our backyard, because it was a gorgeous, sunny morning.  However, there will be far too many of these days to come, and I know I will be sick of cold mornings very shortly.

Our wood burning furnace from Yukon-Eagle has been put to work several times now.  I'm withholding judgement on its efficiency until when it's really cold, but currently, with night time temperatures dipping into the mid-30's and daytime temperatures around 55, inside temperatures have been reaching 75 degrees (the oil furnace is set to come on when the inside temperature dips below 62 degrees).
In any previous year, we kept the house at 60 degrees  (except when my dearest mother came to visit, when we cranked it to 68 degrees) in order to conserve oil, and thus we spent the majority of our time in the kitchen where we have a wood stove that can warm that room up quite well. We never spent much time in the living room (really a family room; certainly not a parlor), which didn't seem to get much heat, although the 1/4 inch gap between the outside door and the frame may have played a role in keeping the room from warming up (I can imagine my brother, who works for a green building company, cringing at that statement).  So, basically, we survived the winters by wearing lots of layers...indoors. 

The change this year is dramatic.  We come home and change into shorts and t-shirts.  I can spend the entire evening comfortably reading on the coach in the living room or playing a lively game of Yahtzee with the family.  It's a veritable heatwave in our farmhouse.

It is hard to predict how much wood we will need for the winter.  Right now, it is obviously much warmer inside than it needs to be and while I know that it is possible to reduce the amount of heat output from the furnace, I haven't invested any time in figuring this out (obviously the novelty of a warm house hasn't worn off yet).  If we can get through the coldest part of the winter burning 10 logs a day, then the 5 cords of wood we have stacked should suffice. 

Odd as it may sound, I have been so used to a cold home in the winter, that my whole worldview on winter and warmth is required to shift.  Whenever someone asked how I was in the winter, my default answer would be "cold".  It's not unlike the feeling I had when the Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004.  As a Red Sox fan, we were so used to the Sox coming in second, and we would curse the Curse and then mutter to ourselves that there was always next year.  Except in 2004 it was next year, and the Curse was reversed and the Sox were no longer in an 87-year drought.  Red Sox fans had to remake themselves, and I will simply have to do the same now that we have our new furnace. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

Turkey Brains Part 2


Again, I ask myself why we raise turkeys.  I tried to upload a video, but my internet connection is too slow or I don't have the technological know-how to figure it out.   I will try to get it uploaded anyway sometime soon.   The back story is that one evening last week the turkeys did not put themselves back into the barn through the door that goes into their pen.  Instead, they went in the front door, and made themselves at home in the barn (but outside their pen).   Naturally, the birds feel safer the higher up they are and, as shown in the photo above, a couple of them found their way on the window sill 30 feet off the ground (this barn is a restored hay barn and is about three stories tall).  After some serious persuasion, we realized that the birds were better off to fend for themselves.  We covered the majority of the hay on the ground (we have a haymow for this year's cutting, but last year's extra was thrown on some pallets on the ground floor) with a tarp so that turkey crap (for lack of a better word) wouldn't fall on it.  The following morning, they are still roaming the barn, but when I returned from work, I found that my darling husband had somehow gotten them all back into their pen (they were probably hungry) where they were safely ensconced.  I don't think we've let them out since.  

The turkeys are growing though, which is the good news.  They have            (un)gracefully passed through their adolescent stage and actually look like turkeys.  The toms are starting to negotiate their alpha status, but everyone seems to be getting along in general.  We will send some off in time for the Thanksgiving rush, although we will probably keep some of the smaller hens around a little longer. 

Have a great week!