Issue #6: April 2005, Welcome to the World
Covering It:
Welcome to the World, by Kylie Loynd
While I watched the rising count of lives lost in the tsunami, a new niece and a nephew were born into the cradle of our family. Together they bridged our transition to the New Year. All around me there was tragic news: natural disaster, war, decades of human rights and environmental gains eroding. Yet during those births, all I could feel was the sheer euphoria of two babies entering this spinning earth. I was elated, humbled, shaken right to the core of my being. Is there nothing more precious? Welcome. You chose well,and you are loved.
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Whole Foods:
Slurping Soba Noodles, by Alexa Robbins
Our favorite noodle house in Japan is just around the corner from the apartment where my husband and I recently stayed with friends. Coming in off the dark, neon-glazed Tokyo streets into a small bustling restaurant, we'd find a comfortable table by the window and order our favorite dishes. Soon big bowls of steaming noodles would arrive.
Guerilla Gourmet, by Khris Fruits
Bear with me through what may sound like a fevered dream from some 1950s magazine — the one that suggests imaginative uses for peanut butter and clam juice as a way to keep friends at a party rather than get rid of them. This dish actually turns out like a tasty tuna meat loaf.
From the Ground Up:
A Berry Patch of Your Own, by Marian Wineman
Nothing stirs the taste buds quite like a few fresh raspberries. We garner handfuls and bowlfuls and diligently keep picking our 12-foot row so they don't rot on the vine. Berry specialist Barbara Bowling's sentiments sum it up: "If there truly is a food of the gods, it must be raspberries." But many other berries come close to this exalted position with equally limited effort.
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Everything Herbal:
Dandelions: If you Can't Beat ‘em, Eat ‘em, by Kylie Loynd
Dandelion is a bright yellow herald of spring and the most nutritious cost-free food on the planet. Has there ever been a plant so helpful and yet so thoroughly unwelcome? Sally King recommends dandelion as an excellent way to support our bodies during the shift of seasons. I could use a kick-start into spring. If there was one plant that we could eat every day for greater health - whether blossom, leaf or root - this is the one.
(read the complete article)
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A Balance of Health:
Skip the Fluoride, by Lea Anne Burke
"Did you read that the city is thinking about fluoridating our water?" The rambunctious tranquility of my day was shattered by a phone call from a friend down the block. Are they nuts?! I replied. As a child in first grade, I had refused to participate in the classroom fluoride rinses. My parents ignored the early-blossoming issues with authority and supported my decision.
Heavy Metal, by Dr. David Ramaley
It can be very confusing to decipher all the information we read and hear about toxins. Never before in the U.S. have we been exposed to such large quantities of pollutants, in particular toxic metals, than we have in the last several decades. I routinely test and treat many people for heavy metal exposure. In my opinion, most people have excessive levels of toxic metals in their bodies, creating fatigue, muscle and joint pain, autoimmune disease and, in children, ADD-type behavior. Fortunately, there are things we can do to prevent or mitigate the effects of toxins. (read the complete article)
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Treading Lightly:
Safe Paint by Safecoat, by Kylie Loynd
"Alternate and evacuate" was my former painting-party strategy. I'd trade off with fellow painters and pray to finish soon. Frequent trips outside to clear the fumes from my head only served to delay the inevitable headache. In our concrete-domed earth home, cross-breeze is minimal, making indoor air quality essential. With every room ready for a color makeover, a great eco-paint was a top priority. Safecoat products were a breath of fresh air…
Dirty Laundry, by Lee Revere
There may be those who spend loads of time thinking about laundry - but I wasn't one of them. I had my environmentally correct laundry detergent, and I was satisfied. Or so I thought. The truth was that my whites where less than blinding, and I had a dirty little secret in the form of one potentially not-so-earth-friendly "stain stick." That's when my research began… (read the complete article)
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Life Out Loud:
Fair Share, by Phyllis Ring
My alarm clock didn't wake me the other morning. Instead, I was roused by the steady clang-clang of aluminum tubing landing on a metal surface. I knew it was aluminum tubing because there was a cache of it outside my house that morning, stuffed into a trash barrel like so many unruly stalks of celery. My husband and I had hauled these and other objects, most from the dark recesses of our basement, to the curbside the night before.
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In Print and on the Screen:
Changing the Message in Education, by Kylie Loynd
They call him the "Drug Guy," but I call him medicine in motion. Jeff Albin is a certified chemical-dependency professional and a skilled wilderness survivalist with over 15 years experience. I'd already had the pleasure of hearing Jeff speak passionately about incorporating life skills into a compulsory school setting. So when Changing the Message: A Handbook for Experiential Prevention, his book about drug and alcohol prevention, came out, I knew I'd ?nd a more universal message woven within: how to build our children's inherent resiliency so they can engage life at its fullest and make healthy, informed decisions as they grow.
(read the complete article)
My Story as Told by Water, book review by Patti Pitcher
This book moved me as few books do. I, who can easily chew through five or six books in a week, took months to read this book. Savoring it page by page, I rationed each word so I could fully take in its wisdom. Duncan writes fearlessly, with a raw, almost naked intensity that left me breathless.
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This Spinning Earth
Song of Hope: Danny O'Keefe's Songbird Foundation, by Lee Revere.
Singer/songwriter Danny O'Keefe is probably best known for writing and recording the '70s hit Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues. He continued to write and perform in the ensuing decades, but was deeply dissatisfied as a contract writer. In 1991, while searching for something to do that felt more valuable, Danny read an article that described how sun-grown coffee was destroying the wintering grounds of migratory songbirds. That night he dreamed, and woke to a chorus of birds. When he realized that it was only three in the morning and there were no birds outside his window, he knew that he was having a lucid or waking dream. It was the first in a series of inspirations that eventually led him to found the nonprofit Songbird Foundation.
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Looking Within:
May I be Happy, May I be Peaceful, by Theo Miniclier
Someone was snoring. Irritated, I couldn't believe it. Why didn't our instructor untwist from his lotus position and go poke the guy, reminding him this was a meditation class, not naptime? God, how annoying! I shot the sleeper dirty looks with my eyes closed. Observation: This is irritation. This is the assignment of "hearing, hearing, hearing," paying attention to the sounds and to what comes up. OK. I get it. Not that this realization relieves me of the feeling, but something changes.
No Frills Passengers Now Arriving, by Marie Nelson
I really don't care for flying. My mother loathes the memory of my first flight, when I was three months old. It was non-stop from Seattle to Minnesota and so was my screaming and crying. Even the flight attendants could not provide enough comfort to keep me quiet. Thus began my disenchantment with aviation.
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Backing Out:
Life-Sized Puzzle, by Kylie Loynd
"I just couldn't find the time," my dear friend confessed. When one more Monday dawned with project untouched, she felt embarrassed by her lack of industry. I thought of her situation - single, child-free - and mentally compared my own list of things to do. Just stay home and do it, I thought as I sat at my desk, struggling for some empathy. A memory of a similar conversation rose to rescue me. Years ago, my friend Minna pointed out that eliminating obvious obstacles doesn't always mean that what we wanted to do will actually get done. The stuck places inside us carry the same weight as the ones we can see. We have to look beyond the obvious excuses and uncover the real block.
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