it is never easy to change

after reading this book, i am more and more convinced that i am just lazy & value convenience over a multitude of things. (this is merely a personal observation, not a commentary on anyone else)

first, i have always loved barbara kingsolver's writing. she is not easy to digest, especially when she critiques missionaries simply because it embarrasses me that some of her critiques are true (posionwood bible). but, i love her language, her imagery, her organic connection to the land that flows eloquently from her writings.

here, in her piece of non-fiction, she again connects me to a way of life so extremely foreign and mysterious that i am compelled to read on. her goal: to eat local for an entire year. she and her family take this journey subsequently taking me along. from march to march, through the overrun kitchen with zucchini, to the canning of pounds of tomatoes in august, to the thanksgiving that really explains why we eat pumpkin, to the use of frozen pesto in february, and back to the hatching of eggs and the fresh shoots of asparagus marking the beginnings of harvest.

there are recipes, politics, friendships, anecdotes, and humor.
we'll see how this changes us, me, our family, our dinner table. i guess it will be a slow progression as i learn, fail, and investigate.
can we really survive without bananas?

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/

her reference guide is simply to vast for me to even begin processing. all i know is that i am dying for saturday to hit the green market. we are almost out of food.... not really.

Comments

Dave said…
So, I was thinking about the lazy comment...because that is cool and what made me think...though I love Barbara Kingsolver and need to read this...and I was thinking about my lazy areas where I totally yearn for convenience. And feeling guilty about wanting convenience. And then not. I was thinking, everybody has things they just don't like to do. Things that they would rather not push a bit to do it a harder, but probably better way. And those things shift around and change during life. My weakness is laundry. It didn't use to be. I used to be fine to pull my clean clothes out of the coin-op machine in the grungy basement of many different apartment buildings. But now, with kid, and diapers and such...I am way more needy on the laundry front. So much so, I would rather haul my stroller up a flight of stairs to an apartment we spent three days rodent-proofing that has a smaller kitchen, all for easy laundry.

Kathy, if you weren't on the church staff, I'd say that this route you're taking kicks *ss. Instead, I'll just say, right on. And leave an absurdly long blog comment, because those are so fun. I think that it is great that you are doing this, and that in a few weeks, you'll be a routine where it won't seem like more work....

or maybe not...but still totally worth trying. You know , just to say you did....

ok. I'm done.
6:12 PM EDT
patti said…
You are completely cool. Inside and out. Cool cool cool. Thanks for your words..they challenge me. And robyn's too!
8:47 AM EDT
tami schuch said…
oh my, yes-- i felt embarrassed reading the poisenwood bible too.

haven't read this one by her, though it sounds really interesting. and i gotta say, aside from all the goodness that is passed on when one chooses to eat/buy locally, on a selfish note, things do taste so much better when eaten in season and close to home!

lame grapes from chile in december just somehow don't do much for me, you know? but still, i buy them sometimes. argh.

thanks for the challenge, kathy.
10:21 PM EDT
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