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February 2008 archive

The Bus Tribe - Adventures in Mass Transit

It's the not-knowing aspect of bus travel that I find most difficult. At what time will the bus arrive? No one knows. How long will I wait? Can't say. Today I stood waiting on Lake Park Avenue so long that remaining in the patch of sunlight shining through the gap between two highrises required my moving three times. I was there so long I could witness the earth rotating.

The wind blew. I was alone. A bus came toward me, but it was the wrong number. I shook my head regretfully at the driver and he kept going. Another five minutes, another shift in position. A second bus approached, the same route number as before. I wanted so badly to get on. Never mind that this bus would take me not north but west, into neighborhoods where I have no reason to travel. I didn't want to be out here anymore alone and vulnerable in the wind. I wanted to be part of the bus tribe, warm and possibly seated.

Posted on Feb. 26, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. Discuss (8 comments)

Freeze, Thaw, Decompose

Compost thawed enough to turn it today.

This is the first winter I've kept up with the compost. At some point in every previous year, I've given up. I didn't have enough fall leaves saved up to provide the brown matter so important to achieving the right balance, or the snow got deep that I stopped going out for a while, then altogether.

But the fact is, once the thaw comes, all that frozen, intact food does turn into a satisfying mush very rapidly. There's something about freezing the waste first that makes the decomposition, once it starts, seem more rapid. (Has anyone else experienced this?)

Posted on Feb. 24, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. by Jill. Discuss (3 comments)

What's the most important food to buy organic?

SUSAN IN INDIANA COMMENTED, ON JANUARY 24, 2008 AT 9:16 A.M.:
What are the most important foods to buy organic? Are some worse than others?

I stand in the produce dept. at a health food store and see the organic avocados next to the regular kind and honest to God I just can't bring myself to spend $4 more for the exact same amount of fruit. Sometimes I go to Krogers just so I don't have to see the organic ones and feel bad.

Posted on Feb. 22, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. Discuss (5 comments)

How did you think outside of the 'big box' for Valentine's Day?

A long time ago, Valentine's day had nothing to do with large stores full of candy, roses, or silly cards. The true history of its celebration is mixed up with fact and rumor...something about a priest named Valentine who (by one legend) supposedly helped young lovers marry during a time in which a mad Emporer believed single men made better soldiers and therefore banned marriage of young men! And way back in ancient Rome, there was a pagan festival of the fertility and purification, Lupercalia, which marked the time of spring and so occurred around the Ides of February......
But today, we don't typically hear about this fascinating history (fact or fiction); all we hear and see are the mounds of stereotypical junk associated with cupids and sweetness. And, so we go to the store, buy flowers, chocolates, candies, whatever else and present them to our loved ones. All the ooos and ahhhs follow and perhaps even a smooch! And that's it. Done. Seems very cookie-cutter and almost sterile to me...
So, how about you? What creative, outside of the box ideas were a great success this Valentine's day for you?

I say out with the standard store-bought card and unidentifiable chocolates... and in with...
Apple Pie! (Homemade and organic, of course :} ) And a history lesson.
Right, that's what I said. Apple Pie. It's his favorite dessert, especially homemade. Upon his arrival home from work the house will be filled with the delicious smell of fresh baked apples...mmmm... much better than the aroma of pesticide-laden flowers! And he loves history, so I am creating a page of links (here's one: http://www.history.com/minisites/valentine/viewPage?pageId=882) for him to search through on the PC to learn about Valentine's day while enjoying his pie.

Posted on Feb. 12, 2008 at 4:36 p.m. by Stephenie. Discuss (2 comments)