Thursday, July 21, 2005

It could have been bad. The late paycheck that was late again. The surefire backup source that failed to materialize. My son's friend's bachelor party and wedding that canceled his visiting plans. And finally the 24 overnighted herb plants I've been expecting for weeks, finally shipped, that arrived here this afternoon. No travels, again, no travels. This was a done deal, a sure thing, but anyway I went out to the garden after supper with my shovel and compost and jugs of creek water, and planted and planted until it was too dark to see what I was doing. Trying to guess which established plant would like to buddy up with a newbie, show 'im the ropes. The Costmary is near an Artemisia. The Echinacea next to a blueberry. Two butterfly bushes--a Himalayan and a Twilight--share an area near the water dish/bird bath. We have a cat thyme Germander alongside the comfrey, a catnip--where did I put it? Oh, next to a thyme and lemon mint. The St. John's wort went down in the silt next to my little cottonwood transplant. The German (annual) chamomile in the long wooden planter with the ungerminated moonflower seeds. And I think I forgot to plant the Angelica, or if I did I've forgotten where. It was dark. I'll map it out in the morning. Tansy too. Where did I put it? Next to a lamb's ears, maybe. Those are the garden plants. Still to transplant--Roman (perennial) chamomile, in the courtyard under the pear/birdfeeder tree. Two Clary sages will go into two big pots. Two Shasta daisies will go in the ground near the greenhouse doors. A hops plant at the greenhouse foundation, outside corner, OR maybe front porch overhang. Finally, the plants that will live in the greenhouse only: Vietnamese cilantro, Greek oregano, Dittany of Crete, Cleveland sage. They were all out of hyssop of any kind, and they forgot to send my Transylvanian sage. But this is a pleasant thing to do when your heart is tender from disappointment. Put new plants in the ground. Clip stray grasses away. Toss around handfuls of compost. Add water. Do this until it's so dark you can't see anymore, and the clouds move around overhead and the moon tries to find an opening to peek through and the wind picks up ahead of the cool sliding in for the night and fondles every leaf. And later--now--you can write it up at the computer screen as the curtains billow and the house cools and freshens inside and suddenly you smell rain you never expected for even a minute, and soon you hear it, too. Ha! Rain! Beautiful! 10:29:14 PM    comment []

Recovering slowly from statistics shock. I have my list of $ causes. I will help. Am helping. We all are. With our increments of good will. And knowledge. And sharing. The greed and dishonesty and hatred enormously powerful world governments* conceal behind their shirtfronts and stimulate among their constituents** erupts anyway around the planet among peoples less adept than we at spinning and excusing their psychoses. We must heal us of our hatreds--if for no other reason than to alleviate its consequences elsewhere. We are one, remember?? They is us. *** Cleaning. Packing. Getting ready for tonight's trip downmountain. I hope you will wish us luck.*** * [themselves successful manifestations of the collective] ** [it's a vicious cycle, and it must be stopped] *** [And right back at ya.] 10:23:17 AM    comment []

Since February 2003, government-sponsored militias known as the Janjaweed have conducted a calculated campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation and displacement in Darfur. "It is estimated that 400,000 people have died due to violence, starvation and disease. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes and over 200,000 have fled across the border to Chad. Many now live in camps lacking adequate food, shelter, sanitation, and health care. The United States Congress and President George W. Bush recognized the situation in Darfur as "genocide." Darfur, "near Hell on Earth," has been declared the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today. from the Save Darfur Coalition Web site. GENOCIDE INTERVENTION FUND: http://www.genocideinterventionfund.org/donate/ Excellent daily blog--Sudan: Passion of the Present: http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/ BELIEFNET has posted a list of links at http://beliefnet.com/story/149/story_14903.html. WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: http://www.DoctorsWithoutBorders.org SAVE DARFUR COALITION: http://www.SaveDarfur.org UNICEF LINKS: Learn-- http://www.unicefusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=duLRI8O0H&b=50755 ; Donate-- https://www.unicefusa.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=duLRI8O0H&b=67966&en=asLQK0OzFgLTLWMAJeJNLTPDIgIWKfPMJeJNL0MOJoKSJ6PTJwF OXFAM U.K.: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/give_to_oxfam/donate/western_sudan.htm and more U.K. links: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3793577.stm 9:09:18 AM    comment []

From today's Utne: "Check out Greg Tate's instructions on how to build earth sofas upholstered with living grass. Using sod, fill dirt, wood stakes, and other materials, anyone so reclined can have a place to plant couch potatoes." http://www.readymademag.com/feature_6_sodcouch.php The Los Angeles-based Fallen Fruit public art project "wants cities to scrap 'frivolous and ugly landscaping' in favor of edible greenery. And they've got maps to help their fellow Angelenos find their way to the fresh delectables." http://www.fallenfruit.org/ Now let's get real, PLEASE. Read Smith College Professor Eric Reeves' "weeklong crash-course" blog on genocide in Sudan in the New Republic Online: http://www.tnr.com/etc.mhtml--"Outbreaks of cholera or dysentery could quickly claim tens of thousands of lives in addition to those already claimed by violence, disease, and malnutrition. Extant data suggest that between 350,000 and 400,000 have perished during the past 29 months. A recent U.N. mortality assessment indicates that more than 6,000 continue to die every month , and Jan Egeland, U.N. Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs, has warned that the toll may climb to 100,000 per month if insecurity forces humanitarian organizations to withdraw from Darfur. Banditry, hijacking of humanitarian convoys, and attacks on humanitarian workers have grown relentlessly in recent months, even as there has been a decline in major conflict between Khartoum's regular forces and the insurgency groups. Peace negotiations in Abuja, Nigeria have done nothing to rein in the Janjaweed militia, and a small African Union monitoring force on the ground has had only marginal effect in addressing civilian and humanitarian security needs. The death total in Darfur's genocide may reach that of Rwanda's by year's end." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!What the hell are we all doing!? Christ. How do I get a passport? How helpless can a person feel? THIS HELPLESS. 8:45:32 AM    comment []