My continuation of Sharon Astyk’s now-completed “Independence Days” project (June-Aug 2022), which offered a framework for recognising how we’re building resiliency, community, and accountability that will make our lives better now and in the future. Many of Sharon’s categories are (or could be) related to gardening, so it seems to fit here on this blog. Equally, none of them has to do with gardening. They’re all multifaceted.
I’ve modified Sharon’s categories to better match my own life and community; I may continue to tinker with the framework as time goes on.
- Plant something: plant, start something
I started and mostly finished Christmas baking this week. Made dough/batter or baked for 6 hours on Wednesday, 7 hours on Thursday, 2.5 hours on Friday, and 2 hours on Saturday, for a total so far of 17.5 hours. A little more to do next week but that’s the bulk of it and I’m glad it’s done. Most of the recipes, including new ones, turned out fine; one didn’t at all, and I accidentally used baking powder instead of baking soda in another; those cookies were actually fine, if not quite the shape and texture I was expecting, but we’re not giving them out in goody bags to neighbours (I made another batch using baking soda as called for). In all, I’ve made seven kinds of cookies, two kinds of nuts, and one kind of tea bread (8 small loaves).
I also mailed almost all the gifts that needed to be mailed, on Monday and Tuesday, and most have been received. All the cards (70+) have been mailed, too.
- Harvest something: harvest, forage, glean, or bring to fruition
I cut a sprig of sage from the garden — still alive, smelling sagey — to bring to a friend in hospital on Sunday.
- Preserve something: food, local community resources
Local resources: Shopped at local hardware store and local co-op on Monday and at regional co-ops (two stores) on Tuesday. Had a drink (winter white cosmo and microbrew) and snack (garlic Parmesan truffle fries) at local restaurant (inside the bar, at an off-hour) on Tuesday.
On Thursday, I ordered a gift membership for friends to a native plant organisation I support.
- Waste Not: reduce waste, reuse, salvage & repair, give away
I probably mentioned this last year but almost all of our holiday wrapping paper, ribbons, etc., are re-used from year to year. I usually buy a new sheet or two of nice wrapping paper and sometimes a roll of fabric ribbon if we need it (we don’t this year), but otherwise it’s all from past years and often it’s paper and decorations that we removed from gifts that were sent to us. Of course we’re also reusing delivery and moving boxes for mailing as well as Christmas gift bags given to us in the past.
We gave away two loaves of homemade sourdough this week; it wouldn’t have gone to waste otherwise, but it’s better fresh than frozen, I think, and better shared than not.
- Keep Stocked Up: with food and emergency supplies, financial resources, and experiences that make life worth living
Food/Supplies: Stocked up on some hard-to-find items at the regional co-ops on Tuesday. Used an unexpected trip to Vermont on Sunday to buy a Christmas gift at a local community organisation there.
Experiences: We watched the film “Meet Me in St. Louis,” which I’d recorded on the DVR, on Friday night; we’d never seen it and it was fun — and it features my favourite, gloomy Christmas carol, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
I finished the jigsaw puzzle on Monday.
We walked around the lake on Saturday, an unseasonably warm and unwindy day.
A friend and I caught up while taking a 45-minute walk on Saturday, too, which was good.
I hosted Salon this week on Friday. There were only three of us in person and one on Zoom from Oregon but it was a really nice get-together and I served homemade Christmas cookies.
It was fun to get a cocktail and a snack and sit in a fairly empty bar for a little while on Tuesday afternoon. We have rarely done that since the pandemic began — we walked by and noticed that almost no one was parked in the lot.
Still enjoying the Jacquie Lawson Advent calendar! I look forward to it every day. A couple of images from it this week:
- Food Stuff: learn new food skills, try new recipes, use what’s available in the pantry, use what’s grown/made locally and what’s seasonal
I really didn’t cook this week, due to so much baking and other Christmas tasks. It was veggie burgers with sides, premade Indian meals, and Chinese takeout all week.
Sunday we had half of a Spoonful of Comfort meal that a friend gifted to us — garden vegetable soup, rolls, and chocolate chip cookies — and it was just right for the weather and for us. (We’ll have the rest on Monday.)
Husband made three loaves of sourdough on Monday. And crêpes.
- Be Neighbourly: contribute to community support systems, look for ways to help neighbours and others
We were happy to be asked on Tuesday evening to pick up and deliver some friends (mother and daughter) to the bus that goes to the airport in Boston on Wednesday morning. It all worked out perfectly, with weather cooperating and everything on time. I checked in with a neighbour on Tuesday about some medical/veterinary visits.
- Skill up: learn new things, especially skills or knowledge that remind us of our place in the natural world and within the social fabric
I tried a couple of new cookie recipes this week, one of which I really like. I did a Covid test on Friday before hosting Salon and it was one I haven’t seen before in these past almost four years of taking rapid tests, a little different from the several others I’ve used.
I was reminded this week that my intuition is smart and wise and that life turns on a dime.
- Tend & Maintain: maintain our bodies, minds, and relationships to keep us resilient; and do what’s needed in the house, yard, and elsewhere to prevent failure/breaking/hassle down the line
Bodies/Minds: I worked out only twice this week (two hours) due to so much baking, wrapping, etc., but we did manage to get in good town walks on Tuesday and Thursday besides our lake walk and my walk with a friend.
House/Yard: I cleaned the shower nook (tile) and both downstairs toilets twice this week. We vacuumed a couple of times, various rooms. I washed more dishes (bowls, baking sheets, mixer and Cuisinart, etc.) while baking than I can count. I need to do a bunch of tidying this coming week. Husband bought two sink drain strainers this week to replace our gross ones.
Relationships: My sister and I had a couple of phone calls this week, on Monday and Friday, totalling an hour. I caught up with a friend, as mentioned, and my husband and I chatted with a couple of friends while delivering bread. We also got to hang out with our friends for about an hour while we were driving them to (and waiting with them for) the bus on Wed. morning. My Salon group on Friday afternoon was great, and we had eight of us on the permaculture Zoom on Thursday morning to catch up and talk about the book we’re slowly reading (The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl).
I learned on Thursday evening, along with some friends, that a close friend was in a bad car accident (vs. a large deer) on Tuesday night in northern Vermont. I spent the rest of the week emailing and texting with her daughter, and on Sunday my husband and I drove up to visit her and her husband (also a friend) in the hospital. It’s shaken us. The Spoonful of Comfort gifted meal was especially apt on Sunday evening.
- Winter is coming: notice Earth’s seasons and our own seasons of life and daily rhythms, and look ahead to what’s needed now to make life better in the future
I feel like changes are coming. My intuition is really talking to me lately and I’m trying to listen. I’m worried about what’s happening in this country (and on this planet) and what might happen with the next election here in the U.S. I’m trying to prepare myself for the road ahead without knowing where it leads. But none of us does.
When I think about that metaphor — the road ahead — I think about my friend’s car accident, about how you might run out to do a quick errand, a fun errand, a helpful errand, an ordinary errand, not expecting anything extra-ordinary to occur, and then it does, there is something on the road that you’re not expecting, and the pattern of your life changes just like that. Our daily rhythms and activities can be very comforting, if we’re lucky, and they can seem permanent, solid, something we can hold onto, something that lifts us up and holds us together, but actually, our comforting routines and rhythms are fragile, perhaps even deceptive. As Nadia Bolz-Weber wrote recently (I linked to it in another blog post), nothing is granted to us — but we act like it is.
Everything could be otherwise and one day, one moment, it will be. Right now, I’m trying to look ahead while also focusing on what’s in front of me while also eating some Christmas cookies.
And admiring the mossy patio before the snow (hopefully) covers it.
(featured photo at the top was taken on a 25F day at a nearby college)
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