Found Exhortation
Found yesterday. Today, I managed to stay inside working.

Found yesterday. Today, I managed to stay inside working.

I think during World War II, backyard gardens supplied something on the order of 40 percent (don’t quote me on this) of the nation’s produce. Were we to do that, how much it might contribute to alleviating any shortages–with so much of our food from beyond closing borders.
How might it help shift our growing climate imbalance and social inequality and the hideous chaos it unleashes? Wouldn’t growing some of your own food be a healthy strategy?
The generous harvest from today’s garden all came up from prior year plantings. I may joke about how many variations of greens and grains and pulses I can come up with, but the greens are from my back garden, bursting with nutrients, and everything else is a long storage pantry item (including in recent years, dried beans, for having grown enough of them). Most anything else is a luxury. I can go a long time between trips to the grocery store and still have well-flavored, healthy, and inexpensive meals.

This morning Maitri and I participated in Quaker silent worship with Friends Meeting of Washington via Zoom. I have friends offering for the first time, or expanding their offerings through various on-line platforms, of both meditation and asana practices.
For those of us able to do so, it is critical to stay home to slow contagion and alleviate burden on our already stressed by poor and inequitable policies health care system. It is also critical to reach out to elected officials and into our own means to help others be able to stay home and get any needed care.
What capacities for adaptability and generosity might we find in this situation?

I have not much been one for hand sanitizer, though I have long washed my hands well and frequently and avoided touching directly door knobs and elevator buttons, etc, and appropriate social isolation when I am sick.
In the present moment, it seemed like a nice idea to try and make hand sanitizer at home and then share it. I already had the alcohol for making tinctures and the tea tree oil, but mixing this combination of things all together will be a new thing. I would have done better with aloe vera gel than juice and a good deal less, but this was the smallest size. As long as it’s more than 60%alcohol, it should both sanitize and keep.
The remaining ingredients are meant to add moisturizing and/or antiseptic properties. Both tea tree and lemongrass oil can be irritating, so that will only be a few drops.

I was grateful to be able to walk to my comfortable home with plenty of food and to notice the beauty, but still engage in discussion and action to address the current situation. I choose as my role models those who inspire me to think and work and engage more fully. What are the responsibilities that come with privilege–as much as one has (at this point I have more than most,whatever it took to be where I am)?

Today, again, at the Supreme Court.

Yesterday afternoon at the Supreme Court, these dedicated people were speaking out for our rights. How is your practice supporting those who are out there supporting you?
