Transition: Becoming Indigenous to a Place

During the Transition Training we watched a lot of images and videos of Transition Initiatives, and at first I watched them with mixed feelings of joy and anxiousness. My heart sank because I inevitably thought: “I can’t make that happen.” That sinking feeling stems from the fact that, though I arrived here over 11 years …

Place: A Review of Home Ground, edited by Barry Lopes

Here’s one of the reviews I wrote for Suite101.com. The copyright recently passed to me, so I can share it with you here. It’s of Home Ground, a book that deals with the concept that is most on my mind these days: place. The more I think about place, the more it amazes me that …

Maps: Return to the Map Book

I found Amie’s Map Book. It had gone missing in the move.  The Map Book, or Place Book, is a collection of maps, pasted in or drawn, of where we have been living and traveling (you can see some more scans here), with anecdotes and journal entries addressed to Amie. Amie became very interested in …

Riot for Austerity Month 3: An Average Winter Month

Gasoline: 25% After our road trip splurge last month, we did better this month: we used 31.1 gallons between the three of us, which makes for 25% of the US national average, but more than our first month Rioting (19%). The reason was the schedule changes that necessitated DH to take the car into school …

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

A new law will be coming into effect on 10 February, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It demands that all products for children aged 12 and younger be tested for lead and phthalates, and that those that haven’t been tested yet are considered hazardous and may not be sold. It’s about time …

Seed Order 2009 Season: Vegetables, Herbs and some Flowers

Is it normal to go crazy when ordering seeds for the first time? This is my order – with Fedco Seeds only (choosing just from them was difficult enough: I didn’t dare add the selection from any other gorgeous catalog). Provider Bush Green Bean OG (A=2oz) Maxibel Bush Haricots Verts OG (B=2oz) Cannellini Bean (A=2oz) …

Carcassonne (boardgame) for Toddlers

A lifetime time ago, when we were still kidless, we used to get together with friends and spend the evening eating a home-cooked meal, drinking homemade wine, chatting and, eventually, playing Carcassonne. I know, you thought I was going to write “passing out” or some such, but nope, we just played this nerdy board game. …

The Letter Box

Letters A couple of months ago, Amie started showing interest in letters. It was rather unavoidable, as we have wooden alphabet puzzles and alphabet fridge magnets. And she sees us reading, of course, and writing on paper (Mama) and on the computer (Baba and Mama). She now also pretends to read her books,  some of which she knows …

One Local Summer – Week… lost count (week 8!)

We’ve been away on several trips, one after the other, and have had numerous Local Summer meals en route and when staying with friends. None of which I was able to photograph (well enough), and few of which I remember in detail (as in ingredients, let alone mileage!). I do have a picture of today’s mostly local …