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Issue #13: Fall 2006, Stress Less

Covering It:
Stress Less, by Kylie Loynd
I tend to get lost in all the work there is to do - if it all fell away, who would I be? Those words from RavenCroft Garden's Sally King, shared during our summer interview, keep replaying themselves in my mind. For the past 10 years or more, I've sought to better connect who I am with what I do - each fueling the other. I love the publishing path I've been traveling these last few years, and yet I'm so busy that sometimes I can't reconcile the days I'm experiencing with the dream I had first set in motion. So I posed myself another question: Though I'm living the life I want to live, am I actually doing what I love to do?

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Whole Foods:
Tea: Nature's Timeless Gift, by Lisa Tiffin
"Would you like a cup of tea?" If you are at all like me, this question is music to your ears, especially as the crisp days of fall descend and the first undercurrents of the chill winds of winter are felt. As inviting as that cup of tea sounds, the inevitable next question is a bit harder to tackle: "What kind would you like?"

A Simple Indian Meal, by Sarojni Mehta-Lissak
As autumn approaches with milder temperatures and waning sunsets, the need for simplicity - even in our cooking - beckons us. After a hectic summer, we often crave easy meals. I look to my roots, which began in a bicultural family, to find foods that not only take little time and effort to prepare but also satisfy the appetite. Indian food, with its exotic allure, offers cooks a wide array of flavorful dishes, from complex curries to simple lentils.

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Musings:
Life of a Dad-at-Home by Jeremy Adam Smith
In 2004, my son Liko was born. Everything - the tree outside the window, the dreams I had at night - changed. Suddenly, my job, which had consumed so much of my life and imagination, seemed like only the shadow of real life. I quit. My wife went back to work, and I joined the growing ranks of (mostly) stay-at-home dads.

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Road to Imagination, by Patti Pitcher
The other day, I came home to find road turtles lining the center strip of my long gravel driveway. Road turtles (those little reflective bumps in the middle of the road) are a decidedly cool collector's item among young boys in our area. Our woodshed has a huge pile of them, nearly all scavenged from the roadside by my son, Aidan. He's been collecting them for years, but somehow I thought that at the grand old age of 10 he had lost interest. Apparently not.

A Balance of Health:
Cell Phones on the Brain , by Dr. David Ramaley
I can truly state that I have a love/hate relationship with my cell phone. I don't need to go into the reasons why I like my cell phone, as they are probably the same as yours. This would also hold true for my dislikes. There is another side to cell phones, however, that I see on a daily basis in our practice and that is creating a subtle but significant change in our health. It is my opinion (supported by several recent studies) that the electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) emitted from cell phones are disrupting our endocrine, neurological and cellular functions. (read the complete article)

Everything Herbal:
Elfin Elecampane by Kylie Loynd
I feel most alive in the crisp coolness of fall, when the lethargy of summer's heat has loosened its hold. I watch the squirrels outside our windows scurry about, storing food in anticipation of winter. When did our own lives shift from preparation to reaction? Our family's health can take a battering during the transition into the cold and damp of Pacific Northwest winters. What if this year we planned ahead? Sally King, Director of RavenCroft Garden, introduced me to Elecampane, a warming herb that is ideal for strengthening lungs and improving digestion, so that we can meet winter in a healthy way. This year, we will add it to our cup of tea, and toast the upcoming season. (read the complete article)

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From the Ground Up:
Health from a Bee Hive by Kirsten Traynor
Before refined sugar became readily available, honey was worth its weight in gold. Our love of honey is ancient; cave paintings depict our ancestors trusting their lives to thin grass ropes to rob honey out of wild hives high up on cliff walls. However, they were not after a mere sweetener. Raw, unheated honey has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, making it an excellent wound healer. Honeybees also produce other products, such as pollen and propolis, that enhance our health.

No-till Tricks, by Joyce White
Sometimes old dogs really can learn new tricks! When I attended a local library program about starting gardens from scratch, I didn't expect to learn something that would transform the way I garden. After all, I'd been gardening since my first 4-H garden at age 10 - and that was 63 years ago.

Treading Lightly:
Energy Savings Begin at Home, by Gary Delfiner
The single greatest consumer of energy in your life is your home. Since Americans use about one quarter of the world's energy and comprise less than 5 percent of the world's population, even small habit changes can have a global impact. How we derive and use energy says much about who we are and what future we will face together. For nearly 10 years, our family has been guided by a willingness to question and modify our relationships to the natural world; our choices about what we consume are based on the awareness of the interconnectedness of all life. The following ideas come from the experience our family has gained from that ecologically guided life. These are conservation measures that you can adopt now - sometimes very quickly and at very little cost. In future articles, we'll explore topics such as installing solar energy and using "green" building materials.

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Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World, reviewed by Jim Loynd
Alan Weisman researched a series for NPR documenting humanity's search for solutions to the greatest environmental and social problems threatening the world. From that came his book Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World.

Our Picks:
Political Action Express, by Kerstin Barker
I've signed many online petitions in my day. It's so quick and easy, but I always wonder: Does this have any effect on the minds of decision makers? I've heard it said that one letter sent to a politician's office via the U.S. mail represents the opinion of many citizens. Yet I rarely have the time to sit down and write an eloquent and informed letter, let alone hunt down the appropriate address to which to send it. So when I came across Earth Action Network's letter-writing program, I didn't hesitate to sign up.

Neti Pots, by Patti Pitcher
Some American doctors volunteering in India were surprised to find that hardly anyone ever came to the doctor for sinus conditions. In the United States, sinus problems (e.g. headaches and infections) are the number one reason people visit the doctor. This difference confounded the doctors until they questioned their patients and found that most happened to be devout Hindus who performed nasal irrigation in preparation for their daily meditation practice. Using a device called a neti pot, with common saline (½ teaspoon of salt per cup of water), they cleansed their sinuses as regularly as we might floss our teeth.

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Terrific Tips:
Confessions of a Halloween Queen , by Lesley Bannatyne
I've always loved Halloween: the darkness, the chill, the mysterious stirring of dried leaves on the sidewalk. My daughter is grown now, and technically I'm no longer required to plaster kitties and bats on our windows or pick through Salvation Army racks looking for perfect pink fairy tights. But I do. I stuff dummies and sit them in my yard to wave at passersby. I host a pumpkin-carving party a week before Halloween so that, come the big night, I've got a dozen jack-o'-lanterns blazing in my tiny front yard. I drive around with a pair of stuffed witch-stocking legs sticking out of the trunk of my car and answer my door veiled in a puff of fog for extra effect. Halloween is the only holiday we have left where we open our doors to strangers, so for my part, I'm determined to make it matter.

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This Spinning Earth:
Cooling the Globe, by Marian Wineman
Recently, I was sitting in an overflow crowd awaiting the appearance of Al Gore, and the buzz was palpable. I hadn't been amidst such an excited group since the peace rally opposing the Iraq war over three years ago. This felt so enthusiastic - like there was some new discovery being revealed. Gore was uncharacteristically animated in his talk on a very serious subject: global climate change. This is also the focus of his recently released film, "An Inconvenient Truth," which already ranks among the all-time top 10 box office successes for a documentary. (read the complete article)

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Looking Within:
Night in the High Desert, by Karilyn T. Starks
On the last Saturday in October, a wanderlust breeze spilled down the eastern slopes of the Warner Mountains that rise behind our home in the far northeastern corner of California. The breeze teased the yellowing aspens outside my window. They couldn't follow its voice; yet my husband and I could, for we could take our truck and head farther east into the Great Basin.

Choose to Reuse, by Kylie Loynd
Stand in line at any post office, and you'll see a motley assortment of re-packed boxes - taped and tattered, manufacturer's printing crossed out and new labels affixed. Perhaps you've got your own stack of sturdy "what-if" boxes in a spare closet. Buying new ones seems like a luxury or a desperate, last-minute expense. With that thought in mind, consider this: How many return envelopes arrive in your mailbox each month? And who authored that unwritten rule that it's unprofessional or socially graceless to reuse them?

True Colors, by Cindy Heffron
For 30 years, I had brown hair: a light, sandy sort of brown, with a few streaks of blonde provided by the summer sun. From the time I was a teenager, I wore it long. Long, wavy hair was the crowning glory for a hippie chick like me. Then the gray started to show up. In the beginning, there was only an occasional strand, but by the time I hit 35, there was a thick, light stripe running along the front of my hairline. I was OK with it, but then the comments started: "You're too young to have gray hair" or "Have you ever considered dyeing your hair?" and "You should try my hairdresser. She's an expert at coloring."

All in the Family, by Marie Richmond
I moved back in with my parents this weekend. While other people my age were off landing their dream jobs or buying their first houses, my husband and I were wrangling our possessions into the shag-carpeted bedroom of my youth.

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In Print & On the Screen:
An Inconvenient Truth, reviewed by Lee Revere
Does the thought of watching Al Gore point to pie charts and spout statistics about global warming make you squirm in your seat? If so, you'll be relieved to know that he is the quintessential favorite professor in An Inconvenient Truth: affable, lucid, humorous and optimistic. I sat transfixed during this film, which may turn out to be one of the most prophetic of our time.

Lootas: Little Wave Eater, reviewed by Helen Landalf
Every child I know loves animals — probably because they're so easy to identify with. Animals are spontaneous, mischievous and — like the children who adore them — vulnerable.

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Backing Out:
Of Facts and Feelings by Lee Revere, Editor
When I sold my first article to a local newspaper, I quickly learned the importance of checking my facts. Nearly three years ago, when our publisher, Kylie, and I began working together on The Polishing Stone, we had many debates about the style and purpose of each article. For her, the ability to "feel" the writer in a piece was paramount; I would haggle about getting every detail right. Rather quickly, we both saw the merit of the other's approach, and dedicated ourselves to publishing writers who pay attention to details and reach out to readers in a personal way. The combination of facts and feelings is a good way to inspire positive change, because after we've sifted through the facts, our feelings are often what guide us to stay a course or make a change. Sometimes, seeing the personal side of an issue is what entices us to wade through the facts at all. (read the complete article)

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