Worth Remembering

There is a contemporary form of violence to which the idealist fighting for peace by nonviolent methods most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his or her work for peace. It destroys one's own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of one's own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
~Thomas Merton

Saw this on a fellow Guilford alum's blog. I needed to see it.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies (not my recipe...just want to try it)
prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 32 minutes | makes 4 dozen cookies


Note: I use flax seeds because they make the texture a little chewier, but I've made them without and they're still good!

Equipment:
baking sheets
2 mixing bowls

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup canned pumpkin, or cooked pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
optional: 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Have ready 2 greased baking sheets.

Mix together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin and vanilla (and flax seeds if using) until very well combined. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, folding to combine. Fold in walnuts and raisins.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. They don't spread very much so they can be placed only an inch apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies with a fork or with your fingers, to press into cookie shape. Bake for 16 minutes at 350. If you are using two sheets of cookies on 2 levels of your oven, rotate the sheets halfway through for even baking. You'll have enough batter for 4 trays.

Remove from oven and get cookies onto a wire rack to cool. These taste best when they've had some time to cool and set. They taste even better the next day!

Farm Musings

Do you like salad? If you eat it, chances are the lettuce (or spinach or specialty green) you find in it come from here where I live. This field was just harvested today, for at least the third time this growing season. It is right next to where I work in Watsonville, which happens to be the home of Martinelli’s (the apple juice bottling company), Driscoll’s (the strawberry people), SunRidge Farms (the trail mix people), and Dole (produce kings). Watsonville grows more strawberries than anywhere in the world. Just 20 minutes down the road, Castroville is the artichoke-growing capital of the world. Inland 20 minutes is Gilroy, the main garlic-producer in the U.S. And Salinas, only 30 minutes south, is known as the world’s salad bowl. Earthbound Farms (organic lettuce and specialty produce grower) is 45 minutes south in Carmel. And there are others.

When most people think of Santa Cruz or the Central Coast, they probably think of surfing or skateboarding or coastline and beaches. Farming is actually a much larger way of life here than wave-riding. It just isn’t quite as glamorous. It’s true that large-scale farming has wiped out much of the small family farms everywhere in the U.S., but some small farmers seem to be eeking out an existence here, thanks to lots of local, regional, and statewide organizing and policy work, and organizations like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and California Association of Family Farms (CAFF). The Association of Land-Based Agriculture even works with migrant farmworkers and seasonal workers to help them start to own their own farms and find niches in the market to support their families.

Campaigns like Buy Fresh Buy Local encourage the public here to invest their food dollars in locally-grown produce, and small family farms actually deliver produce boxes to local families who pay for a “share” of whatever they are harvesting. We are one such family, and we love it. The farm we own a “share” in delivers food from Monterey all the way to San Francisco. And local restaurants make a big deal about cooking with all local, in-season produce. It’s quite gourmet. People pay lots of money to eat at these restaurants, and at least some of the profit is passed on to the farms who supply those eateries with seasonal ingredients.

Here is the guy currently responsible for much of the policy around food and farming in California—A.G. Kawamura:




He is our current State Secretary of Food & Agriculture. I had a chance to hang out with him and his press secretary most of the day yesterday at our Nutrition Summit, where he was the keynote speaker and I was our press liason. He’s taking a lot of heat at the moment—and for legitimate reasons, I think—but I was impressed with him. Whatever California does well or poorly, one thing is sure: few states in the U.S. can say they’ve done more to work with family farmers to find new ways to compete in a market dominated by huge agribusiness. It was really neat to get a chance to meet someone who helps make that happen.

Call for Submissions! That means YOU!

Hi Blog Readers Near and Far:
I'm putting together an envelope full of advice from friends and family for the birth coming up in about 7 weeks! We are planning a natural, unmedicated childbirth, so I need words of wisdom, encouragement, and advice from YOU. Here's what you can do:

1. If you are a friend or reader--post a comment on this blog post or email it to me with your words of advice, encouragement, wisdom, etc. that you think would be helpful to read when I'm in labor and wishing for anything to dull the pain! It can be something you've heard, read, or just a well wish.

2. If you are a friend or reader who has been through childbirth--post a comment on this blog or email it to me with some sage advice on getting through the stages of labor. Have a favorite mantra or position that worked for you? Pass it on!

3. If you are a friend or reader who has been through natural, unmedicated childbirth--post your comment or email me with some things that worked when you were, oh, around 7cm or 8cm and feeling your worst! Share *anything* that helped...positions, breathing patterns, visualizations, massage techniques, etc. etc.

Extra Credit--If your husbands/partners/boyfriends/guy friends have any advice for Abe, send it along as well!

The idea is that I'll cut these up, fold them, put them in an envelope, and tote them to the birthing center with me. When I feel like I just can't make it a second longer, I'll give myself a goal of waiting five minutes and pulling out some encouraging words to keep me going. SO, YOUR sage advice could be the thing I read that gets me through the worst of labor!

I know this probably sounds hokey, but I've always been a milepost kind of person...it gives me some sense of control and something to work for. So start writing.....believe me, it'll be appreciated!

Counting down (and waiting for your thoughts),
Me

Yogis Can Fly, and Elephant Ballet

I started a Yoga Teacher Training this past weekend at Yoga High Studio in Salinas. I was feeling a little ambivalent about the training as I drove to the studio on the first day. Yoga was such a big part of my life 2 or 3 years ago, and although I still love it, the practice has dwindled for me and taken a back seat to triathalon trainings, long distance relationships, and other life changes. I wasn't sure I belonged at a teacher training. Especially since I'm 6 months pregnant.

I am SO glad I went. I fell in love with it all over again, and began to remember what it felt like the few times I've taught a class--what a gift yoga is and what an honor to be able to show people the little I know.

I've been to alot of yoga classes, and I saw something on Sunday that awed me for the first time in a long time. Mark Stephens was a guest teacher, breaking down Sun Salutations. He did something called 'floating.' Starting in a forward bend, his transition to plank pose was not the traditional step or hop back, but a spring up off his hands, hips above his head, and the lightest, slowest, most gravity-defying feather-light landing into plank position I've ever seen. It actually looked like he was floating. It made me realize just how limited our perception of what are bodies, minds, and souls are capable of is. I'm thankful to him for that one moment of helping me re-imagine.

I, on the other hand, felt like an elephant in ballet slippers. My center of gravity and sense of balance change almost daily now, and I've certainly lost all sense of grace and style. I aim for getting into the pose and getting out again without falling over. That's it. Forget anything else. This has been a mental challenge, especially on the mat next to lithe, experienced yogis who do not have a belly to negotiate.

Overall, I'm excited. And if you're interested, Mark Stephens has a website: www.markstephensyoga.com.

Baby News Here

I started a family blog when we discovered we were pregnant, to keep family and friends who are far away abreast of the developments (and satisfy everyone's need for belly photos!).

That blog is here: www.WestCoastOjures.blogspot.com.

Who's the History Major?

AS AUSTRALIA'S defence minister during the Vietnam War and its prime minister when a flood of boat people arrived, Malcolm Fraser has a much different historical view of that conflict than US President George Bush...

"George Bush's analogies are so historically wrong that it just makes you wonder: how can such a man ever get into that position? It does make him a very dangerous man for all of us," the former PM says.

"The links he's making are historically inaccurate. It ought not to be within the capacity of a political leader, and certainly not the American President, to be so grossly misleading."

Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/history-by-george/2007/08/23/1187462435439.html