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Issue #10: February 2006, A Clean Slate

Covering It:
A Clean Slate, by Kylie Loynd
New Year's Eve never worked out the way I had hoped. My excitement over planning new beginnings rarely found a companion who was similarly inclined. Dreams that marriage would bring a permanent New Year's Eve partner collided abruptly with the derision my husband, Kurt, held for the holiday. "Arbitrarily scheduled celebrations" are frequent fodder for rants at our house, and the war-time convenience that drove the selection of New Year's Day is one of his favorite examples.

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Everything Herbal:
Glorious Garlic, by Kylie Loynd
"The big, long slog" is what Sally King, Director of RavenCroft Garden, calls the transition from winter to spring - it's getting lighter, but it's still cold and damp. Our immune systems have taken a hit during the season-of-sugar, and many friends, family and co-workers are sick. It's a prime time to build immune strength and prevent or heal infections by adding herbs to our diets. "Food is medicine," Sally says, thankful that a herbal health giant such as garlic should happen to already grace so many kitchen counters.

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Resource Links:
Walnut Flower Essence, by Patti Pitcher
In times of transition, I keep handy a bottle of Walnut flower essence by Bach Remedies. A few drops in my children's morning juice, and they adapt much more easily to upsets in their schedule, including the starting of school or a big family move. Useful for big or little transitions, this remedy supports people as they release the comforts of the past and move forward into a new situation.

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A Balance of Health:
Breast Health, by Dr. David Ramaley
At one time or another, the thought of breast cancer has most likely entered each of our minds - with either concern for ourselves or for someone we love. The amount of research done on breast cancer treatment and prevention is exciting, but my own experience with patients reveals that there are less widely known options and lifestyle changes available to women. (read the complete article)

Giving it a "Tri", by Lee Revere
Getting enough exercise was never a problem when I was a child. There were 10 kids in our neighborhood, and we'd play outside every day until our parents called us in for a bath or dinner. In school, I always went out for sports; it was fun and I developed lasting friendships. I don't have that same relationship with my treadmill now. Getting exercise as an adult has been a lonely endeavor.

From the Ground Up:
Saving Heirloom Seeds, by Marian Wineman
Winter is here, the time for gardeners to immerse themselves in the delectable variety of seeds in catalogs. Perusing the offerings and selecting your seeds for the next growing season may seem like an innocuous task, but the seeds you choose matter.

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From the Ground Up:
Gardening Disasters: Escaped Ornamentals, by Kirsten S. Traynor
Since people first began to dig in the dirt, they have been transplanting things they admired into new places. Some of those plants adapted well to their new habitats. Unfortunately, a few adapted too well: In their new homes, these non-native plants spread rapidly, becoming exotic invasives that choked out native flora.

Planting a Garden of Memories, by Lisa Tiffin
Recently, I realized that along the course of life, I somehow evolved from a young, uninterested non-gardener into a mature garden enthusiast. Looking around our yard, I saw vegetable and flower gardens, bushes and bulbs, and I knew they all stemmed from my desire to plant up every bare space of ground. As I wondered how that happened, it dawned on me that every single plant in my yard is linked in some way to a relationship in my life.

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Treading Lightly:
Rethinking Water, by Kylie Loynd
Water again? Yep. Whether you live in the desert, where water is precious, or find yourself glaring in disgust at the pool rising in your basement after a hard Pacific Northwest rain, water management is increasingly important. In issues #7 and #8, we explored in-home water use in our two-part series "Purely Water." An essential resource in decreasing supply, water has aptly been described as the "oil of the 21st century." With growing world attention on water - ownership, usage and conservation - we continue to look at the difference we can make as individuals.

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Life Out Loud:
Schools of the Wild, by Kerstin Barker
In my work at YMCA camps, I met dozens of kids under eight who were terrified of getting their shoes dirty, sitting on the grass, being near any insect or being exposed to a breeze or raindrop. Many were so unaccustomed to doing anything other than passively watching TV or escaping into a portable video-game player that focusing their attention on an outside activity felt too difficult to bear. They panicked, started crying or shut down. (read the complete article)

Deleting the Furniture, by Annette Gulati
The other day, my eight-year-old daughter looked at her calendar and complained about how time was flying away. "I know," I replied. "Before you know it, you'll be off to college, and I'll get your room." Although I often tease her about turning her room into my personal scrapbooking retreat, I'm really in no hurry for that to happen.

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This Spinning Earth:
333 Miles Per Gallon: Hybrid Cars, by Marian Wineman
When it comes to buying cars, I am a total nerd. I have never bought a new car. Fifteen years ago, when buying my first "new" used car, I calculated the most cost-effective age of car to buy: a four-year-old. My prior two cars had been resuscitated from the brink of the junkyard by my brother. Normally, I wouldn't be in the market for a car, as both our 10- and 19-years-olds are running fine and have low mileage. Lately, though, my 22-mpg fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have been weighing heavily on my conscience. (read the complete article)

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Looking Within:
Counted Blessings, by Milana Marsenich
At my second wedding, a guest asked my mother if she had cried. My mother wore her oxygen tank over a champagne-colored dress. Her lungs filled with fluid. She moved slowly and with caution. "How could I cry when she looks so happy?" she said. As she was too sick to attend the reception, a family friend drove her home. I barely hid my disappointment. A year and a half later, a respirator paced her breath, and she occupied an emergency bed at Butte, Montana's Saint James Community Hospital, the hospital where she birthed her four children, the hospital where she watched her son die.

Of Mice and Monsters, by Marie Richmond
At the age of 28, I still occasionally get scared of things that go bump in the night. This once resulted in a truly embarrassing phone call to 9-1-1, followed by a brief stint of cowering in the closet. As I hunkered down amongst old shoes and dust mites, a war went on inside my head. "Get out of the closet," part of me commanded. "There's no one in your house." To which another part answered with great authority, "Yes. There. Is." I was saved from having to pick sides by the arrival of the police, who let me down easy. "There's no one here," the young officer said gently. As I stood there in my tattered pajamas, a single stray dust ball clinging to my hair, I heard it in my head again: "Told you so," it whispered.

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Terrific Tips:
Love Thy Library, by Lee Revere
I fell in love with the library at an early age. Growing up in a small town, my mom, sister and I would walk to our local library at least once a week. I recall only a self-imposed limit on the number of books I checked out, based on the amount of weight I was willing to haul home. It's hard to recollect why I stopped visiting the library. I suppose it was because I enjoyed collecting books so much that I ended up buying them. But my burgeoning bookshelf and a desire to save money got me thinking about the library again. The fact that I could order books through the library's online catalog was what finally brought me back.

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In Print:
Riding the Bus with my Sister, reviewed by Helen Landalf
Rachel is pushing 40. She's a workaholic who can't take time to enjoy life, let alone experience her feelings. Her sister, Beth, is a woman with mental retardation who wears Day-glo orange and spends her days riding buses. Rachel decides to spend a year riding the city buses with Beth and seeing the world through her eyes. The intersection of these two very different lives is the subject of Rachel Simon's moving memoir, Riding the Bus with my Sister.

Straight from the Horse's Mouth, reviewed by Mary Montano
The intriguing premise of Straight from the Horse's Mouth is that animals are sentient beings who can communicate with us if we'd only stop and listen. Author Amelia Kinkade believes we can accomplish this interaction by exercising our natural telepathic abilities.

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Backing Out:
Coming Clean, by Kylie Loynd
"I did it. I'm sorry. I promise not to do it again." It's a familiar childhood mantra for resolving conflicts. At some point, parents and teachers must have stopped reinforcing this practice, because our adult population seems oddly resistant to continuing to apply any part of it: whether it be admission, apology or a commitment to change.

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