State of the Garden
Green beans, basil, and garlic chives variation approximately number 17: red lentil pasta and green beans with pesto and garlic chive blossoms
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Healing (and the Garden)
After sitting for meditation and writing in my journal this morning, I went out in the garden in my slippers to see what opened after yesterday’s juicy rains. My journal-writing is feeling lonely because that was one of the times Becky (and Henrietta before her) and I always sat together. Once I was in the garden, though, my heart lightened. The beans and snow peas I planted a couple of weeks ago finally have started germinating. Some of the seedlings I planted on Saturday have already doubled in size. There are a few buds on the peppers that were not there Sunday and twice as many leaves on the basil. The clematis seems to be a foot taller; is that possible? (The okra still has not germinated; will it ever appear? I do not know, not having tried okra from seed in a container in my yard before.)
Though, as my sister said to me on Sunday, I will always miss Becky and Henrietta, I appreciate that my grieving is in the time of renewal, new life, and expanding light, and that I can spend the morning time that I used to devote to Becky and Henrietta nurturing the garden and myself in the process.
- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Found Exhortation
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Flowers Around Town (December?)
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Letter from FCNL on How You Can Help Shape the Budget
I just received this letter and wanted to pass it on to those who have senators and members of Congress (those of us in DC still do not):
Dear Elizabeth Goodman,One of our lobbyists just reported to me that some members of the supercommittee are telling us they are open to cutting Pentagon spending. “We need to hear what the folks back home in our state have to say about this,” we heard.The most important voice in this budget debate is your voices as constituents. As they make their decision, your members of Congress need to hear your side of this story. They need to hear about the consequences in your communities when money isn’t invested in schools, roads, jobs, and other local priorities.Today, will you write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper? Refer to your members of Congress by name and point out the needs in your local community.Communities around the country are being squeezed. More people are relying on food banks; local governments are copying with both the neighborhood and family stress of foreclosure; schools are increasing class sizes and shortening the school year; and critical maintenance on bridges and roadways. Police and firefighters are losing their jobs. Yet, the Pentagon budget continues to grow.Congress will take action to reduce the deficit, which means budget cuts. But if Congress doesn’t act to cut at Pentagon spending by a significant amount — FCNL and others believe that number is $1 trillion over the next ten years — then the cuts to other programs will be much deeper. Cutting the Pentagon budget and potentially making more funds available to meet the needs of state and local communities. There is an opportunity to make this change.Thank you for your action.Sincerely,Diane RandallExecutive Secretary P.S. If you want to know more about how much Pentagon spending is slated to rise, or more on FCNL’s views on the debt, deficit and supercommittee, visit our website.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
“Meet and Greet” with Tommy Wells
On Friday night, I went to a neighbor’s house for a “meet and greet” with Tommy Wells, who is running for reelection for the Ward 6 Member of the DC Council. I had received an email invitation and was thinking about going. Then on Friday morning, a neighbor who is just around the corner stopped by to give me an invite in case I hadn’t gotten the email. I decided it was important to go to connect with neighbors I already know and like, to meet new neighbors, to clarify my thoughts further about the upcoming primaries (don’t forget to vote!), and to get a chance to talk to my council member.
I walked the two blocks to the party with nothing in my pockets but my keys. Even though I did not know the hosts, I knew or recognized from the neighborhood at least half the people who were there. Given the purpose of the gathering, much if the discussion about what changes we would like to see in the neighborhood and the city to make our lives better (and, of course, I gave information about installing solar panels to a couple more neighbors).
Tommy Wells speaks to my condition, because he takes action in connection with his campaign slogan: “a livable, walkable city.” After we all had time to catch up with each other, Tommy’s campaign manager gave a solid introduction, talking about key accomplishments in the past four years. Tommy then talked about what he wanted to do next and fielded questions, including ones about the disposable bag 5 cent fee, which has cut down pollution in the river significantly) and what is going on with the community gardeners at Virginia Avenue v. the marines.
I, like the others, came with a specific question, but I did not ask it in the group. I was not sure that everyone present would be in agreement with me, and I did not want to cause controversy. I asked about it afterwards, when people went back to connecting and enjoying the food. Tommy recognized me, probably from my three-year stint as a member of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Market Preservation and Development Corporation, which coincided with the time when Tommy was getting noticeably serious about his engagement in politics as a way to make some visions actual.
“I gave up my car for the war,” I started. “That’s great,” replied Tommy, “thank you.” We followed up a little on living without a car in the neighborhood. Then I got to my point.
“Every time I walk to work, it feels like I am taking my life in my hands,” I continued, after thanking the District for having put a four-way stop and zebra crossings at the intersection of Constitution Ave. and 10th St., NE. “I did not want to bring this up in the group, because I was not sure how everyone would feel, but I have a few locations where I think it would be great to have a traffic camera.” I then described the intersections I had in mind. He told me that he has a task force on pedestrian issues, and that if I went to his website, I could contact Ann Phelps, who would be interested in hearing the suggestions for particular intersections. He left me know that the District is getting more cameras and the cameras are mobile, so it would not be hard to try the different intersections suggested.
“Wow, that’s wonderfully more responsive than I’d dreamed,” I thought. I thanked him and left to talk to other friends and to give other people time to ask their own questions.
These are the times when I truly love being part of a neighborhood. It is not just about being able to walk to a party two blocks from your house hosted by someone you have never met and know or recognize at least a few people and find all sorts of connections and commonalities. It is not just about sharing a way of life that holds a similar commitment to the city, even if politics, religion, work, and lifestyle in other ways are diverse. It is also about meeting people who care and have depth and out of a true calling for service truly give of themselves to make things better for all of us.
