Susiej

I know very little about you; but I can say this with absolute certainty: Out of all the variety of demographic types that visit this Blog each day; all of you have this one thing in common: you’re short on time.

Now, I’m going to take you back in time, in my little world, to the day the polls were open for the last Presidential election; November, 2004. My Mom was still alive, and we were arguing about who to vote for. The day was blustery cold, and I took two of my children to our Middle School to vote with me. The lines were out… the…. door. And it was only 8:30 in the morning.

I left, thinking I would come back around 10, after the work crowd had left.

At 10, the lines were out… the … door.

I hate voting late in the day. By then, the media is already announcing the clear winner, and they’re basically telling you to throw in the towel and call it a day; don’t even think about voting now.

So, I came back to the polls at 10 that morning, and waited. My husband joined me; and we discussed how our votes were just going to cancel each other’s out anyway, so we should just go home and save ourselves the time. Instead, we voted, and spent a delightful 2.5 hours standing in line with our 3 and 4-year-olds.

You may not have toddlers to entertain at the polls. But I know time is important to you. The absentee ballot was made for you: No lines. No worries. I know what you’re thinking; I like the camaraderie of seeing the neighbors on a cold November morning; sticking it out in the lines and doing our patriotic duty.  I’m old-fashioned like that too– I feel like I’m in a Jimmy Stewart movie.

But, let’s get real.  If there’s a slight chance that maybe that line could corrupt your entire day; and heaven forbid, stop you for voting — it’s just not worth it.  Rent the Jimmy  Stewart movie, skip the poles, and vote early.  This election is too crucial to leave to fate.

Each state has different guidelines regarding absentee ballots. Absentee voting by mail is allowed in 28 states, with an excuse in 22. No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 4 states. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. states, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16.

I simply went on-line to request an absentee ballot be mailed to me. (Didn’t even have to talk to someone  and be put on hold!) The ballot is set to arrive in a minimum of 7 days. Then, I vote, and I’ll mail it off, and no worries.

To get your own absentee ballot, simply Google search, “absentee ballot YOUR COUNTY board of elections.” They’ll explain what to do, step by step.

Absentee Ballot: It’s a good thing: A nice little way to pamper yourself this election year.

Filed under: Life, news, try this by SusieJ - 4 Comments →

He told us everything; he left so much unsaid.

I became more intrigued just as he was jetting off to catch a plane, and the group interview with Nicholas Sparks, author of the book, Nights in Rodanthe, (and The Notebook), was coming to its close. The movie, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, opens in theaters September 26, 2008.

Sparks cited Dickens’ famous sentence in literature, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,”  as the epitome of literary efficiency. “I would be considered lightly edited,” Sparks says, because “one of the tenets under which I write is efficiency… efficiency is incredibly important to develop in quality literature.”

He told us everything.
When asked how he is able to write such well-rounded female characters, he said, “I have not the slightest idea.” Although he does have a standard group of answers, all true:  “I had a wonderful mother.  I married very well.  All of the most important people in my life at the present time and throughout my publishing career have been women.”

He also told us how he writes half of a novel, and sends this to his agent, a creating writing major, who does a pretty significant line edit. “She suggests deletions of passages.”  From there, the book goes to his editor, “who fills in story gaps.”  And if you’re wondering about timing, “I could do, for most of the vast majority of my books, a total editing process of less than 24 working hours.” His first book was the same.

He sold pharmaceuticals, but didn’t want to do this for the rest of his life.  He had a wife, kids and a mortgage, and wasn’t interested in climbing the corporate ladder.  “So, I asked, what can I do in my spare time and chase my dream and try to make it? What could I conceivable do?”  He had already written two novels, one at 19 and one at 22. “So when I sat down at 28 I said Okay, I’m going to give myself three chances to write a novel and if I don’t succeed, then I’ll know I’m not cut out to be a writer.”

The first novel, which he wrote over a six month period, was The Notebook.  He says, “It wasn’t as hard, it was more the consistency of putting yourself in the chair and doing it.”  He never missed a day of work, didn’t miss much sleep, and didn’t miss spending time with the family because they were in bed most of the time he worked.  He worked once the kids went to bed at 9, and wrote until 12, and half a day on the weekends.

What He Left Unsaid.
Sparks’ book, Three Weeks with My Brother, was based on his trip around the world, and his twofold struggle.  “I was at a point in my life when I was very, very busy. And the number two, finding a way to enjoy it. And that was really what the journey that I was going through was about.”

“By the time I went it felt almost as it it was a burden to go. And that is a shame because that reflects an imbalance in your life.  And to correct that imbalance took time.”

The answers to the puzzle of how Sparks corrected that imbalance can be found in his book, Three Weeks with My Brother. So, Mr. Sparks, what new revelations can you share with us as the book left your heart? A book that was difficult to write, because of the challenge of  “reliving experiences that I’d rather not get emotionally close to again,” he said. “There were tragedies that struck my family and I needed to go back to those places, to put you back there.”

After he admitted he will take such a trip again, he was asked,  “Has your wife taken a similar trip?”  No, he said.  “Does she plan to?”  Sparks said, “Maybe not three weeks, but without question, she will.”

Will there be a Three Weeks With My Brother Part II? Still, I”m left wondering, why isn’t his wife taking a three week trip, reaping the benefits of the lesson her husband learned about correcting imbalances in one’s life?

Filed under: Life, news, read, reviews by SusieJ - 3 Comments →

While most of us are cautiously holding back and keeping our money close to our chests, the almighty great investor, Warren Buffet, has stepped up like Santa Clause with a $5 billion investment to Goldman Sachs Group. Goldman was a firm that admirably did not report a loss from the credit crisis fallout; but this is a firm that Buffet admires – an admiration that began with Buffet was 10 when he visited the Goldman floor.

Although the market probably has not yet hit rock bottom, there are bargains to be found out there; the world markets have already fallen overall 27% from last year’s peak, according to the WSJ. You certainly wouldn’t invest money you need within the next five years there; but over the next five to ten years, you could make some gains. But only if you have the courage to do this; and are not one of those Nervous Nellies who keep checking and checking and worrying about what the stock is doing today, and what it did yesterday, and wondering what it will do tomorrow.

Here are a few places to start:Vanguard Total World Stock, Oakmark Global, Worldwide High Dividend Yield Value.

Buffet says congress must approve the bailout plan; although details must still be hashed out. This is the plan with a price tag that we wonder how much will affect our grocery budget (and our children’s future grocery budget).

It will be interesting to see who else with deep pockets will pull out cash to give the markets a boost. This is a fascinating time in our country’s history to watch how the wealth in our country has evolved to a point where a single citizen has deep enough reservoirs of cash to bail out long-standing reputable institutions we always thought of as secure and firm.

Filed under: Life, news by SusieJ - 1 Comment →

We were very lucky during our four-day blackout. Still, there were a few moments during those dark days, when my thoughts turned dark too, and I began to wonder, “what will happen if…” One occurred when I was driving to get milk for hungry kids and found the grocery store coolers abandoned like an eerie ghost town. Lack of traffic lights made the ten-minute drive a 35-minute drive, while one kid in the back seat moaned, “I want to go home; I’m so hungry I’m going to be sick.” When you’re responsible for others; your mind starts running more quickly in survival mode.

We were lucky. A neighbor’s generator kept our refrigerator and freezer running. Yet, the generator runs on a lot of gasoline; there were times when my husband couldn’t get gas because of long lines, while the price of gas soared this week. (A recent report in the WSJ found that despite our 60% increase in energy efficient cars, gasoline consumption has increased about 40% since 1981. Another dark thought that tended to creep into my mind while our life seemed to be hanging on the availability of fuel.)

We have a gas water tank, (like most people here) making it possible to take hot showers. It amazed me the amount of people who did not know they wouldn’t run out of hot water; or if they had a gas stove, they could make a can of soup, a cup of tea, or even pancakes.

Once the power comes back on, we quickly forget how rough it was; and how dark our thoughts were. A family disaster plan, I’m beginning to believe is vital today. We live in a world where strong winds can paralyze an entire city; and keep the kids out of school for three days. (When I was a kid, we had to go to school in the wind!) With so many people living close together in such a concentrated area, a run on supplies can spell disaster if you don’t run first.

You can search the Internet to create a family plan tailored to meet your family’s specific needs; and I suggest that you do. They’ll list the amount of water you’ll need, a first aid kit, batteries, and etc. However, there are a few things not covered in those plans that I would never dream were so important. Things like:

• A Generator. Before this storm, I always thought that the people who bought generators were those same crazy paranoid freaks that thought the world would end on Jan 1, 2000. One neighbor has had one for years, and we all laughed at him. That same sweet soul let us run an extension cord out of our basement from our freezer to his generator this past week. When you really need a generator, the store shelves will be empty; so get one while the sun is shining.
• Dry Ice. There is a line in my freezer manual, that I ignored, that clearly states, “Keeping Dry Ice In Your Freezer Will Keep Your Freezer Cold During A Power Outage.” Of course, once the storm hit, there had been a run on dry ice, and there was none left. You can never find ice during an emergency. Never.
• A map of your freezer and fridge: This would have been GREAT. I had food in the freezer to cook; the kids were hungry, but I couldn’t find it. I didn’t want to leave the door standing open while I hunted; still, I found myself poking around lifting and pulling things out, while valuable cold air escaped. I wish I had a map; or had been organized enough to put all the meat on one shelf, veggies on another… you get the idea.
• Forward your phone to your cell phone. We have Vonage phone service; which means we do not have phone service when the power goes out. Fortunately, I set up our Vonage service to “multi-ring” to my cell phone. No calls were missed. If you have traditional phone service, all you need is an old-fashioned plug-into the wall phone and you’re golden.
• Baking Soda: When the drain in your garbage disposal sits unused after awhile, it starts to smell. So does your dishwasher; especially if you had dirty dishes in there before the power went out. Baking Soda will eliminate those odors pretty quickly.
• Take Pictures: Take pictures of the damage to your home, pictures of the contents of your house that you might lose – your insurance company will expect those. If you don’t have them, you could miss out on some benefits.
• Root Beer. I really needed one; and we didn’t have a single drop in the house.
• Electric-charged flashlights. Batteries are fine to keep around the house; but they expire. If you do go out and get that generator; you’ll be able to quickly charge your flashlights with an extension cord without too much trouble.
• Powdered Milk. The uses are endless… you can even make peanut-butter milkshakes for hungry kids. If you’re really adventurous, whip up pancakes, and cook them on your gas stove.
• Lawn and Garden Bags: Believe it or not, there was a run on these too. And we needed them. Trash service stopped; so our bins were full of garbage, and we had no place to put the lawn debris the city promised to pick up for free.
• Be kind; and look for kindness in others.  As I scanned the list of school closings, I also ran across quite a few church and community activities that were cancelled.  This one stood out:

Visit those family disaster recover sites; and be prepared.  And I’m sure, some of those smart chicks that live in the Hurricane belts have even better ideas than the ones I’ve listed here.  I’m off to make some blueberry cobbler for the sweet souls who kept my blueberries alive… if only I could find a store that has eggs. And, while his brothers are at school today, my little guy will be busy playing on his brand new game. Read more, here:

Filed under: boy, news, parenting by SusieJ - 6 Comments →

The boy’s football game just started when the winds came. Seventy miles per hour, later recorded at the airport. We held the little boys close to us on our laps while we sat on the ground to watch the game; we couldn’t let them run off to the playground, the trees made it too dangerous for play.

So we sat there watching the game, putting our heads down every time the wind kicked up because the sand from the baseball diamonds blew into our face. In between football plays, we either turned behind us to watch the wind tear out branches from the trees along the playground, or looked at the trees in front of us, across the road, and watched those limbs come flying off into the streets.

I wish I could say that the wind blew so hard that the football moved across the field when the boys put the ball down to play; but that wouldn’t be quite true. But the wind did knock the players around and off their balance. God Bless the Texans; and the Floridians; and those who live in New Orleans, and every single one of you who lives along the coastal regions where they’re subjected to hurricanes. We sat in awe, spectators to not only the game; but to the power of the winds, knowing this was still just a minor show of the Hurricane’s true force.

For an hour, we watched the game, and the wind. And will wonders ever cease? The football commissioner found it in his soul to call the game, citing “that it’s just too dangerous to let these boys keep playing.” So, it is wind, my friend, not heat exhaustion, that constitutes precarious enough conditions to keep ten-year-olds off the football field.

I was never so happy to see a game end in my entire life. As we drove away, the streets were lined with green leaves, over-sized branches and that stripped yellow trunk where the wind had just sheared off a branch. Everywhere. We dodged tree limbs as we drove. I knew then in my soul it would be days before we’d ever see power again.

Trying to find dinner was hard; Jersey Mike’s subs had power; but required cash only. Cap City Diner had no power, but the Fish House next door did. The kids don’t like fish. Chipotle was overcrowded; but that’s where we ate.

They tell us it will be Wednesday 8 p.m., at the earliest, before we have power. It’s Monday night now, and it’s already been 24 hours. The problem; AEP, sent 70 percent of their utility trucks to Texas to repair damage from Hurricane Ike. They’re on their way back; no one predicted winds like this to happen way up here, 1,200 miles away.

When I went to bed last night, I started scratching my head; it was gritty and grainy. Sand and dirt. Probably from that baseball diamond. Or who knows, maybe it could have been that Texas soil from that hurricane, Ike. Probably not, but it’s more fun to think that it is.

The weather is a pleasant 70 degrees; rain has been minimal, the wind damage to the trees around here has been quite substantial, but fun for the kids. We’re not hot; we’re not cold; we have clean hot running water, and we can flush our toilets. We may loose everything we have stored away in our fridges and freezers, including the blueberries; but this is something we can live with. God bless the victims of the hurricanes. What’s more, the kids may just use up all of their calmity days for the year within the first week of school, and I don’t even have to enforce one rule about that. Life is good.

P.S. Thank God for the one library that has power and wifi… they say we’ll be lucky to see power before Monday. And, we got new boots!

Filed under: Life, memories, news by SusieJ - 8 Comments →

Picture by Mike Esterl, for the WSJ.

As I sit by the light of the computer, with my 12-year-old at my side, who is still laboring over his homework, long after his brothers are asleep, I stumble across the slide show of the fortunate little kindergartners featured on the front page of the April 14, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal (German Tots Learn to Answer Call of Nature.) This kindergarten class (the US-equivalent of preschool) is held in the woods, following the original philosophies of the original kindergarten opened over 150 years ago by Friedrich Fröbel, the German educator. “Playing in nature, rather than focusing on letters or numbers, was best for young children,” he said. That’s a sure-fire antidote to our stressed-out preschoolers.

My favorite line in the WSJ article is this quote from one of the kindergartner’s teachers, Ms. Schnaar, when asked about the children outside, four hours each morning, in 40 degree weather. “There is no bad weather, just bad clothing decisions.” Interestingly, the fresh air seems to keep them from getting sick as often. (The German children wanted to know also, if the American reporter, Esterl, was a cowboy, or an Indian.)

Quite a dichotomy I feel as I watch these young children play in the woods in the slide show, exercising their imaginations, while I worry that the only tree my 12-year-old experiences lately is our wooden kitchen table. As his mother, watching him suffer to keep his eyes open, while the pending doom that he may miss a homework deadline looms. I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach.

But he’s a big kid now. Right? He no longer needs to play, explore and to have enough free time to decide he wants to make a lance out of a stick, and then to make one.

Still, I can’t help but wonder, did I stuff his time with enough moss, tree stumps, and dried leaves in the small allotted time I was given? Or has the onslaught of homework wiped out all the nature that was poured into his soul?

Another time, I will write about the house I left behind, the fairy-tale house in the woods that my two older sons relished in. They’re running here in this photo below. Can you tell this was years before I got my new camera? Can’t help but notice our little lovely Max there, down in the right hand corner.

True, we do have the lake, but I’m starting to wonder if even that’s a “sure thing.” Strange, how we have school vacation in the summer, yet the coaches are already mandating sports schedules that start in July. Don’t these people ever take vacations? Ever heard of them? A three-hour commute may be tough. Will there be a summer at the lake?

Inspired, and a bit “scared straight,” after reading this article about the importance of the outdoors to our children’s emotional well-being, I vow to take the kids to the woods everyday after school. Through sleet, snow, ice and rain. My oldest can do his homework there in the woods, sitting on a tree stump. As if it were real, I can almost hear the pain in my son’s voice as he proclaims how “embarrassing it will be to do that.”

Still, knowing that fresh air and green grass, is so beneficial to the mind, I’m sure that doing homework outside, while his brothers build tee-pees and castles around him, could probably help him get the work done so much faster. This will be a tough sell. Especially if it is sleeting, and his homework does get wet, and ripped, and I have to write nightly notes to his teacher, “I’m sorry, but the homework got beaten up in the hailstorm yesterday afternoon. Again.” I guess, I could just give him a stack of notes, pre-signed, that he could keep in his backpack and whip out whenever needed.

Now, I think about that house we looked at five years ago, just a few blocks away from this one, that sat directly in a woods. We turned that house down. Terrible floor layout. How I wish we had it now. Who cares about the floor plan, when the kids get to spend time outside building sofas out of tree stumps and twigs; what they would call a “wald sofa.” How much happier we’d be. Ahhh, but yes, the kids wouldn’t be able to walk to school from there, like they do here. And, sure, our houses may be piled on top of each other over here; but we have those chicks.

Seriously, about this homework problem. Here’s a story about starting a revolution. There’s a book, The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It, that lays everything out.

Filed under: Life, Science, boy, news by SusieJ - 10 Comments →

Photo from ShowBizSpy

When I look at Nigella Lawson, I think, “how can I put on some extra pounds and get the fat to go in exactly the right places so that I can look as voluptuous as Nigella?” I wouldn’t hesitate to eat fried bacon sandwiches, snickerdoodles and Carmel sundaes everyday if I knew the pounds would miraculously pad my breasts to give me that elusive cleavage I’ve never managed to grow. Sadly, as my past pregnancies have indicated, my extra pounds fill in that most unattractive spot, right above my backside, and stay there, forever hiding that elusive feminine hourglass shape.

She’s adored by men and women alike (is it because she’s NOT thin that we don’t hate her), glorified the-everyday-kind-of-food that we all love to eat, and has authored brilliant books like, How to Eat. (A necessary read for all members of the human race who plan to survive.) Millions of people watch Nigella Lawson cook on the food network, just to watch her, not because they want to learn how to cook. Yet, in another move of the media’s anorexic-laden attraction, there’s a rumor from the New York Post that the Food Network Channel directors are trying to get their cameras to show less of Nigella Lawson’s voluptuous backside. They’re concerned that people don’t think fat is beautiful. Message to the Food Network Directors: Your audience recognizes passion and beauty. We’re starving for it. Perfection is impervious to the very elements you’re trying to hide.

Do I see beauty in Nigella because she’s not afraid to combine the words domestic and goddess in the same sentence? Ahhh, the freedom that combination brings. (Sure, this does involve large doses of chocolate: How to Be a Domestic Goddess.)

When I look into her eyes, I see not just joy… but pleasure. I can’t help but think of her tragedies: Her mother died in her 30s from cancer. Her sister died of breast cancer. And her husband, John Diamond, died of cancer.

Yet, she smiles. She knows what my former neighbor Margie knows. Margie, with her gray hair, always stylishly cut, used to say, “Don’t you just love normal days when nothing happens?” Those days are free of tragedy. Never a drama queen be. Nigella says it perfectly, in her own words:

“I suppose I do think that awful things can happen at any moment, so while they are not happening you may as well be pleased.”

So, eat up.

Filed under: Life, eat, household, news by SusieJ - 13 Comments →

Finally, at 9:30 P.M., the superintendent did call school off for the day. I needed one last good snow day. A day of no rushing; a day of no pushing everyone out of the door, and of no nagging about homework papers done and undone. Today, we’ll be playing in the snow.

The Blizzard of 2008 left us with 20.4 inches of snow piled up, according to our local paper. This storm beat the previous record for a single storm, in this region, at 15.3 inches, on Feb. 16-17, 1910. Yet, my kids don’t even have a snow day to show for it.

The snow did start Friday at 9:30 A.M. in steady, heavy sheets, as if it were rain. While other schools around the city were announcing “early dismissals,” We were braving the elements just to get my half-day kindergartner to school by noon.

I would have kept him home, but he had a “speech” that day and an “open house.” Plus, his brothers were already there. I had visions of the middle school students chanting through the school, “SNOW DAY.” But, later, he said, they did no such thing. My children are sometimes much more civilized than me.

This is not a rural area like the other schools that closed, so yes snowplows can get through (although they didn’t), but most of the kids around here walk to school. The storm made it difficult to see, as the wind beat the snow on your face. Still, the kids survived, no casualties, no accidents, and I did make it to a complete stop, as my car slipped out of control at stop signs, just missing the car in front of me… twice… on the drive to school.

Still, it was a surreal feeling to walk up to the school, barely able to see the door because of all the “white-outs” and everyone just humming through the day as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

As the school day wore on, there was rumors of canceling all the after-school activities, his basketball game, and the SAC kids got worried there would be no after-school day care, so an announcement was made that everyone would be “taken care of.”

As the end of day bell rang, I lost track of my third grader in the mad rush in the hallways, my husband took the four-year-old, (there for the open house and speech) and I took the kindergartner. My third-grader just kept walking until he reached home. He called me, as I was still sitting in traffic at the school, two blocks away. (Listening to Mma Ramotswe.) Ditto for the middle schooler.

Church was canceled, due to an “overwhelming amount of snow angels.” As Daylight Savings Time ate so much of our day, and as I pulled the kids inside from all the fun they were having playing in the snow, I was sad to see it all that snow sitting outside just go to waste. With our new snow day, we’ll use the time to build forts to be, throw snowballs and sled down the hills — or as long as the little ones last.

Easter is just around the corner. I wonder it if will be cold enough to roast peeps?
Best Shot Monday

Filed under: Laugh, Life, best shot, memories, news by SusieJ - 17 Comments →

Here is 18 inches. Six days ago, it was 60 degrees in this very spot.

Filed under: memories, news, wordless wednesday by SusieJ - 14 Comments →

Besides the usual remedies, Oscillococcinum, and Dolivaxil, which always work, I’ve found an even cheaper way to fight the flu and ease an achy tummy.

Peppermint 100% Pure Essential calms an upset stomach. You can drink the tea if you have some… or you can use the oil. Mix one or two drops of peppermint oil with 1/4 cup of olive oil. (The essential oils must be diluted before they touch skin; they are too strong for skin contact.) Rub this on your belly, and you will soon notice an instant feeling of release in your belly. This is GREAT for kids; they want to be touched and cuddled anyway when they’re sick, so they love having you rub their belly with the great smell of peppermint. Peppermint is so soothing, that even the smell alone will calm an upset stomach.

Oregano Oil is a known anti-viral, anti fungicide and anti-bacterial agent. Oregano oil has a bitter, medicinal smell, too harsh for direct contact with the skin, and you only need a tiny bit of this powerful oil. I mix one drop of oregano oil with the olive oil (just add it to your mixture above) and the oil will soak into your belly and kill the bugs that are swarming around your belly. I’ve even used oregano oil to get rid of the effects of a “bad meal,” that left me sick.

Cinnamon oil is a natural anti-viral oil that you can add. The anti-flu formula pre-mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg and thyme is known as the Oil of Thieves. The reference to thieves is not because the oil “steals your sickness,” rather this is related to the legend of the band of thieves who raided houses during the Black Plague during the 17th century. The thieves were stealing from the sick, surrounded by the plague, yet never became sick themselves. The thieves were caught, and appeared before the judge. “How have you escaped the great plague?” he wanted to know. The thieves were actually from a long family of perfumers who knew the power of oils, and covered themselves with the “Oil of Thieves” to protect themselves.

Just a note on essential oils. The bottles are small, and inexpensive. You only use a drop at a time, and they last for years. They are a great investment, and they work so hard.

Filed under: Life, Science, health, news by SusieJ - 3 Comments →

At an early age, I learned to love the parts of our garden with plants that carried the name “volunteer.” These were the plants, my Mom promised, that would come back year after year, without us needing to replant them again. These plants were part of our home now, they would stay with us deep in the soil through Winter’s ice and snow, making their loyal presence known again with the gifts of spring and the first starts of a leaf.

In black dirt I found purity, and there is something clean about dirt. The lines of black and white are distinct and clear when your hands are dirty; it is brilliantly easy to know right from wrong when the lines are so clear. I came to know that here in the soil is where you learn the necessary rules of life. I saw metaphors for every gardening truth. My favorite is this: the more you take from a plant, the more it will give you. Turn this around, and see this from the plant’s perspective: For every tomato blossom it gives up, it has just increased its capacity to bear even more fruit. Kind of like tithing, don’t you think? The more you give, the more that comes back to you. If you want your daisies to give you more daisies — keep deadheading the blooms.

When I brought back wildflower seeds from my trip to Alaska, I remembered the clerk telling me to store them in the freezer. The cold, she said, would give them a fiery, bold color when they bloomed. I thought of those seeds that winter, stuck in the freezer, waiting for spring. The seeds, like humans, need a void of nothingness sometimes to inspire creativity.

I remember my Uncles being pleased about new patented commercial seeds that were especially resistant to disease and pests. These hybrid seeds are also known as ‘Terminator’ or Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURT). The seeds were patented by companies like DuPont and Monsanto. The seeds essentially “commit suicide’ after one harvest.

Skeptical, I was of this “easy-way-out” approach — seeds that didn’t naturally return were suspect, in my mind. It was almost as if the seeds didn’t have a soul — didn’t care to stay around with us until next spring. The volunteer seeds were stronger than my own Mother’s flesh. But these seeds were sterile. I didn’t understand then the excruciatingly painful financial side of farming. You needed to protect yourself from every foreseeable loss.

However, I now see the bigger tragedy: Every year farmers were forced to continue buying from the big seed companies for their seeds. As the Green Movement spread across third-world countries, these struggling farmers were also taught how to farm with these GURT seeds, keeping these newer farmers also dependent upon the seed companies. While there are about 7,000 species of plants that have been used for food, today’s farmers use less than 150 species.

What do you think of when you hear the words DuPont, Monsanto and Dow Chemical? Creators, they are, of dioxin, PCBs, Agent Orange… and our world’s seed supply.

But what harm could a few seeds from a chemical company do? Remember that company Epicyte? They announced in 2001 the development of genetically engineered corn which contained a spermicide which made the semen of men who ate it sterile.

The Svalbard International (Doomsday) Seed Vault opens today in a mountainside on a remote island near the North Pole in Norway. The vault will protect our world’s seed collection of plants from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change. The Norwegian vault is protecting 268,000 different seed samples from around the world. Each sample can include hundreds of seeds, so the vault already has about 10 tons of seeds. It can store more than two billion seeds.

Seed banks began in the 1920s, and Earth now has more than 1,400. Sometimes these banks are destroyed, and other banks help to replenish the supply. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a typhoon in 2006 wiped out a bank in the Philippines are recent casualties.

The site of the Doomsday Seed Vault was chosen carefully, after radiation levels inside the mountain were evaluated, and after forecasting a doomsday climate change 200 years into the future when the ice sheets at the North and South Poles melted. This spot, scientists have calculated, will still be above sea levels. The vault is built inside a mountain so that “the surrounding permafrost would continue to provide natural refrigeration if the mechanical system failed” explained Dr. Fowler. Seeds do best when they’re cold.

Scientists are disappointed that some key crops remain outside the provisions of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The scientists, Simon Linington, Clare Tenner and Roger Smith, are all involved in the development of the Millennium Seed Bank Project at Wakehurst Place, Kew’s country garden in southern England. They say, the need for conservation is stark. At least 34,000 plant species are globally threatened, the authors say, and they cite a 2002 estimate by the eminent US scientist E O Wilson, who said as many as 50% of plant and animal species could be on the brink of extinction by 2100.

Out with the bathwater went the traditional practice of seed saving. Self-pollinating (non-hybrid) plants produce seeds than can be saved. For a daisy, you save the seeds from the flower heads. For a tomato, you cut the fruit open, scrape the seeds and put the keep the seeds and juices around in a container to let them ferment for three days before storing. For more detailed instructions, visit Saving Our Seeds, SOS. Seed companies like Seeds of Change, are working to keep the art of seed saving, and our food supply intact.

As open-pollinated seeds are replaced with consolidation from the seed industry, we are seeing less indigenous agriculture. Diversity is nature’s survival method. It is important in the rainforests, the deserts, the grasslands, and all other ecosystems and creatures. It is also important to us in our food crops. For future generations we must preserve these time-honored varieties that are being lost. The crisis is bigger than any one government or agency can hope to handle

Big, and almost too clean for real gardening, money stands behind the Doomsday Seed Vault. I was going to pass this spring, and not plant a garden this year. Afterall, the boys keep me busy enough all summer. But now, how can I not?

Filed under: Life, memories, news by SusieJ - 8 Comments →

As part of its “Transformation Agenda Communication #8″ Starbucks across the United States will close Tuesday night between 5:30 - 9 p.m. Starbucks is facing some hard times: they’ll shut down 100 slow stores and cut 600 jobs. Tonight’s closing is an internal employee pow-wow,

to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso. And in doing so, we will begin to elevate the Starbucks Experience for our customers.

My husband, now in Orlando, says his Starbuck’s is open. They couldn’t get out of their lease contract that forces them to stay open during normal operations — no matter how bitter things are at Starbucks. In lieu of this shutdown tonight, here’s a recipe for Chai Latte just to hold you over until the storm clears. By the way, the recipe here is much lower in calories than the real thing.

Organic Black Chai Tea (You can buy caffeine free if you want). Available in most grocery stores.
1-2 teaspoons honey or splenda or sugar
2 tablespoon of whipping cream (or half and half). Whipping cream is more fun — and you only need 1 tablespoon.
Low-fat milk (or soy milk is fine)
Cinnamon and or fresh nutmeg (Fresh nutmeg tastes incredible. Buy whole nutmeg. (Available in the spice aisle beside the jar of grated nutmeg.) Store in the freezer, and grate what you need.
Boiling water

1. Put the teabag in your mug, add honey.
2. Pour just enough boiling water to cover the tea bag — no more.
3. Cover and steep.
4. Warm milk in a double boiler, or in the microwave. Add cinnamon and grated nutmeg.
5. Pour into mug — leave a little room for your cream.
6. Cover mug, and continue to let it steep with the milk.
7. Whip whipping cream — 1 tablespoon gives you two tablespoons, once you’ve whipped some air in it. See, it’s half the calories! I use a Cuisinart SmartStick Immersion Hand Blender
8. Scoop the whipped cream into your mug, and sprinkle with cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg. If using half and half, just pour a little bit into your cup.
9. There you are.

Filed under: Life, eat, news by SusieJ - 6 Comments →