Dozen Poppies... for a friend

36" X 48"

Mixed medium; acrylic on Canvas with origami paper.

Peak Oil-Transition Initiative - Pipestone, AB

Transition towns, as they were formerly called, now Transition Initiatives, was the subject of our gathering. The main subject is how to transition from oil dependency to local resilience. I had stumbled upon the website for * Transition Culture , and was both shocked at the enlightened viewpoint, and grateful that there is some direction, some idea of how to surge ahead, in an otherwise **dismal-looking future. I'd ordered the film and wanted to see how well it would be received in my own community.

I waited to see how many and which people came to my small, living room gathering. I'd invited several people from my community, Pipestone, AB, knowing full well that lives are busy. I hoped that if they all showed up, that some wouldn't mind standing. My living room is small. As it turned out, the perfect number came; 5. With my daughter (15), husband and I, that made 8.

In our group, we enjoyed the company of a farmer who's husband works @ an fuel producing/distribution plant, a pastor with a strong desire to build community, a teen who is considering whether to stay in the community or go when she becomes of age, a construction worker (my husband) who works at an energy producing plant a long commute away, a former teacher/greenhouse worker who's spouse drives a water truck supplying the oil industry, a  musician who's family has been and is farming in this community for generations, a greenhouse owner/school bus driver and myself, an artist/Permaculture designer/art teacher/local food producer.

The gathering was heartening. There were people who'd recently moved here (in a rural community, that can mean up to 6 or 7 years ago), and people who'd been here for generations. Each of us, as we chimed in, stated somewhat the same feelings; we're curious, worried, wanting solutions. There were strong indications that 1) we see the problem and 2) we'd like to tackle it from home, from our community. That we are not alone is in itself comforting.

We broke into groups of 2 (important community building exercise) and answered a couple questions.
#1) What are some serious concerns/challenges that Pipestone faces in the even of Peak Oil crisis?
Some of the answers
Travel is necessity.
Farm fuels/ pesticides/ herbicides- cost prohibitive
Winter costs ie: heating, can't grow food, clothing
Physiologically- hermit syndrom w/no travel, not as involved with other people.
Food storeage- personal livelihood ie: bus drivers, truck drivers, almost anyone
Sports and rec- not available locally
Climate change

#2) What are some of the things that are very doable right now within Pipestone (as community, families and individuals) that could make positive change?
Alternative fuels for electricity/heating
Community transportation eg: every Wednesday, grocery shop day
Unused land/gardens shared by others
Market gardens in PIPESTONE, not outside community
People can become closer to their food
Educational Gardens for students in schools
More community building usage- not heating empty buildings
Increasing community fellowship


And #3) How will each of these things affect Pipestone positively?
A fairly unanimous; Community!!!
Shared purpose = meaningful life.
Time; time NOT running around, away from community will create time home, time to gather, time to celebrate.
Security- knowing neighbours and them us, means we watch out for one another.
Control over future.

Where do we go from here? is the final question that we answered as a group. It's fairly simple to brainstorm what could be done, but what we are actually capable of doing is another subject altogether. People's lives are busy, but there is another concern; how to approach the idea of reducing considerably our community's oil consumption when a good portion of those people are either in the oil industry, so they are very dependent on it's survival, and many are heavily dependent on the consumption ie: farming? We agreed that we'd like to remain sensitive to these facts. Smaller viewings, hosted by each of the members of what I like to think of is the pilot group, is our plan. As well, we will be screening the 2nd film as the original group. These small steps are a good start.

*This link is directly to a post on their site that is a video between Rob Hopkins (the mover and groover of Transition Culture) and Edmonton's The Way We Green initiative. Edmonton is my place of birth and where I grew up. It's 30 minutes from my current home, and is where most of my family lives.

**Peak Oil is a very large subject, both emotionally and intellectually. There is a large amount of data out there, educate yourself. Wiki has some good basic info, and you can check out Transition Culture's  web sidebar, which has reading and viewing info. There's lots out there.

Staying-up-stupidly

I am p.u.m.p.e.d!  I'd like to make a more concerted effort at posting what went on at our first Pipestone In Transition gathering. For the time being, though, suffice it to say I'm very, very happy.

Now, I sit, nye on midnight, with a fresh breeze blowing in the open window, the dishes done, a cup of tea at my elbow, belly and mind full. The temperature today was supposed to reach into the 30s (celcius).  My house was hot. And I cleaned all day. It's good to be off my feet.

As a bonus, I am listening to the tappity tap of the rain on my tin roof, and the loud, incessant voices of the frogs. Yep, very happy.

Blog Award!!! (trumpets here)

Here, I tell something of a secret: I fall apart at the mere thought of public speaking, let alone actually doing it. All the cliche things happen to me, I freeze, go blank, get all sweaty and mushy in the knees and belly. Just to add insult to injury, if it's reading I have to do, I have some freak thing in me that keeps on reading, despite the fact that the words aren't registering, so I end up feeling like I have read garbled gobbledeegook.

There. That being said, I am thrilled to win this blog award, from Amy Nicols Thank you Amy!
I will not stand at a virtual podium, if you don't mind. I have discovered that it suits me fine to visualize a cup of tea in my hands, and in those of whom are here to witness, and a comfy small circle of chairs in a brightly lit room----scratch that, if it's my visualization, we're in the woods, with dappled brilliant green light, the smell of fresh rain and the sounds of a couple bees doing their scrumptious job of collecting pollen on the dandelions, which have just popped their heads up and the frogs singing their hearts out in the distance. (I will not be winning an award for the lack of run-on sentences, thank you). You and I can chat about meaningful things during this award ceremony, and we will all leave feeling full, and sweet, having spent that time together.

I had not seen nor heard of blog awards before winning one, so it has taken me a couple of days to sort it out. The idea of winning something is of course lovely (the name of the award is "Lovely Blog Award for my Favourite Bloggers" by Heather) and the rules are here

But the best thing about it is that it has helped me to continue a thought-stream that sprung up, out of the soil and has been burbling along with copious amounts of input ever since. It seems that everywhere my internet travels take me, I find people who support the idea (inadvertently or not) that in order to receive the most pleasure from life, one must give of themselves. They seem to know and express freely that in order to live well in this world, they must contribute wholeheartedly themselves.

So, in the spirit of this wonderful, lovely blog award, and in following the rules set for winning, I introduce to you 14 of my favourite bloggers (not all, but a good sampling):

I am new to following Alicia's  blog, but can't wait to see more. The first post I read was one about how to brighten people's day. That she sells her handmade cards is not at the forefront of her blog, although she has cleverly intrigued me with them. It's apparent that her intent is to share good things with people. Heartfelt and catchy, are these lovely cards. And to top it off, she readily supports the work of other artists (as seen in this picture of a handmade journal).

Another new one, and keeping the same strain, is Michael's blog. He writes smart advice about finding your creativity. Fun and challenging all wrapped up in 20 minutes. 

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Chris Zidel , the sexy mamma has so much inspiring, intentional, beautiful stuff on her blog and site it blew me away. I love looking at her ideas, and one day, ONE DAY, I will go down to one of her workshops. Much LOVE.

Connie is great. She is currently calling me, pulling me, sharing with me her funny, charming, exciting, and sometimes scary walk thru this life of being daringly creative. I value her lessons learned on life, womanhood and being an artist in this day. Good job, Hon.

 

Lisa's take on how to live your life productively as a Creative has shone some pretty incredible aurora borealis-type lights on my life. I am inspired. Truly. 

Jo Lynch is pretty clever. She's figured out a way to quench the thirst of a person's eyes. Very cool, creative work.  Not sure that this is really a blog, but she tells stories with her art.

There is a calm coolness to Emerson's posts. Being visual, I love her photos. At one point she claimed that she disliked the title of her blog, An Apple a day but I think it speaks of the old-worldiness about what she writes.

Bumisehat Haiti is an organization that I did a little (very little) volunteer work for last winter. Their mission is so good. My daughter wishes to be a mid-wife, so I am particularly interested in their efforts. 

Wow! Creative. Giving. Prolific. Awesomeness! Dose of Creativity. Scroll down Melanie's memory lane near the bottom on the left and see how much she's put into this blog. 

Ever wonder where strange stories from deep deep in the forest came from? Rima Staines ' back pocket! I feel like a child again, soaking up every image, every word in her blog. Check out her clock gallery too. The tic-tocking will have you in the room with the clocks 

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This man's wisdom is amazing. It's also the first stuff I guzzle with my morning coffee every day. Greedily. (and he doesn't even have pictures)

And since we're talking about famous guys, lookee here . Michael Pollan sings to my choir. We are both about local food production. I love that he travels N. America for me and then reports back to me on the most important issues. Thanks, Michael.

 I appreciate the newsletters, personally addressed to me, in my mailbox periodically.Rhodale Institute 

has been around for a long time, fighting the good fight, educating, and pumping out excellent information. Thank you.

here , check out Twilight Calls the Dream of Art. Maria has gobsmacked me. This art is so delicious. Page after page of yummy, steampunk-esque, art nouveau-ish, lovely images. Enjoy.

The Art of Non-Conformity. I like it. Chris Guilabeau is a guy who's makin' his way in the world in an entrepreneurial manner, yet without scratching and clawing his way to the top. He travels excessively, and likes to keep his business small.  He's got some class, this fella. 

Sandy Dempsey  is an amazing woman. I gather so many flowers of wisdom from her blog every time I read it. She's candid, a wealth of information and REAL. Her journey through a transition between the corporate world and being her own woman is shared generously. 

Well, that's it. My take on award-worthy blogs. Enjoy.

P.S. Oh! and thank you again, Amy!

Big Babies, small space OR I have a sickness

In April, when the seeds in my hand were a mere thought, an idea, an exciting prediction, I looked at my seedling rack with it's 3 shelves and thought "aw heck, just plant all the seeds, some won't germinate, right?".  I thought I'd have room. Rather, I really didn't think much about the room they'd need.

This might seem like a small oversight for the average new tomato grower. But I'm not average, or new to tomato growing. I have grown enough tomatoes for multiple families. The Community Shared Agriculture, for which this blog was started and named, and that I owned and operated held 25 memberships 3 years ago. So, you see, growing over 100 tomato plants for a shrinking family is INSANE (*sniff* my second boy is moving out this summer) . 

My only excuse is that growing tomatoes feels a lot like the essence of parenting to me. Starting small, nourishing, coaxing, watering... Some days it feels like all a person does is chase after them, nipping at the bits you don't want to grow, admiring their shape and colour, being eternally grateful when it's time for them to sleep, and watching, hopefully for them to bare fruit (NOT YET, please!). 

 

K, I think the tomatoes/babies metaphor has been stretched to the limit. Now I want to talk about the cool idea I had (borrowed from some article read years ago) of using tin cans to pot them up. When growing tomatoes from seed it's a good idea to take the little seedlings at the 2-4 leaf stage, out of the seed tray and put them in a little pot that will let their roots spread out. When they get too big for that pot, it's time to bury them up to their necks in soil in a bigger-yet pot. It was at this stage that I realized I had a big space issue (in actuality, I saw it coming, I just didn't know how to deal with it). 

Using pots with a bigger foot print meant that I was going to have to find space elsewhere in my house. The window they're in is East-facing and the shelf they're on has fluorescent bulbs to add just that much more light (otherwise they'd go leggy). The only South-facing windows we have are in the basement, one of which is a kid's bedroom.... doable, but a little invasive for the kid. 

 Digging through all the containers I have stockpiled in the shed and my house, wracking my brain for ones that are smaller on the bottom but have enough room to wind the longer stems of these bigger plants finally found a solution; recycle box!  The tin cans are perfect.

Smugness: I had washed them out well to put them in recycle so that task was done, plus they even painted the insides of the cans for me, so that rust isn't an issue. All potted up plants fit on the shelf. 

Now, if they'd only stay the same size! (only 2 weeks left 'til planting time).

Yummy, mucky, delicious clay

The lovely mask is Lindsay's work. The little dragon is mine.

I collect wiggly things.

These little gaffers are personally responsible for the beautiful green growth of my tomato babies. Good poop from the worm compost bin.... Poop>>>seeds >>>tomato babies  

My collection grows.

All those itty bitty seeds germinated. And now I have a bigger collection. There's over 100 tomato babies here. 

I collect things.

  Too many tomato seeds.  Tommy Toes Yellow, Tumbler, Ox Heart, Eva Purple Ball, Whipper Snapper and Sophie's Choice. 

Lists, lists, lists

I run them through my head all day. I'm convinced I sleep with them because I wake up with a list yelling at me in my head before a coherent thought can form. It's like a little train, "gotta do, gotta make, gotta call, gotta find, gotta clean..." Sigh.

For the most part, I find the best solution is if ya can't beat 'em join 'em. The things on the lists aren't going to go away, nor are the OCD-like repeated reminders all day. They poke and prod, and cajole and even ridicule "Why aren't you better at remembering to do that task? Weren't you supposed to do that last week? You've passed by that item 8 times, isn't it time you put it away?". The only way to win is to have a louder voice, more control.

That's not bad for starters, but where's the plan? How to formulate what to do? Ha ha, very funny. Make a list. Now to organize which stuff goes on which list.  There's To Do lists ie: daily grind, LIFE PLAN lists ie: health, family, work etc, wish lists, reading lists... then there's sub lists and prioritizing said lists, and finding the darned list that you need to go do the tasks you listed!

I could get into how I've discovered new ways to make lists, but perhaps this is looking a little like a list in itself already. Just for a giggle, I will share the list that inspired this post:

One thing on today's To Do list: Start (late) the English and Psych distance learning courses I've chosen to do as a precursor to taking Art Therapy.

New List: Things I get to do on my breaks every ten minutes (it's been so long since going to school, I thought I'd start slow).

water baby tomatoes
laundry
vacuum
order pictures
walk on the land with the dogs (erm. check this off already)
write this post (oh dear, caught me)

playing with acrylic based inks

May 4th, 2010