This may be a bit of a rant tonight.
I've been working lots lately and have been neglecting my garden. The money I was hoping to spend on the garden is now being saved for what seems like a lifetime supply of meat. That's okay but it bums me out a little. I'm feeling like I'd better spend some time learning more about gardening since I can't be doing and spending more in the actual garden right now.
There was a course being offered by Daily Acts today. It was free to city residents and I thought it would solve a lot of my water angst. I had hoped to leave there with some wonderful new plans to simplify my water use.
I was tired this morning. Really tired. I really wanted to skip the workshop but was afraid that I would be missing something groundbreaking. I had to bring something to share for lunch. I've been working a million restaurant shifts a week and my kitchen is filled with drywall dust and it's 9 in the morning and I should bring something to share with people I don't even know? I went to the bagel shop around the corner. I brought bagels, cream cheese, and homemade peach jam. One person ate one half of one bagel. They sat out on the table in the heat of the day and are now chicken food. $15 worth of bagels and cream cheese, but it wasn't good enough. It wasn't vegan or veggie, organic or homemade. No one wanted my sorry ass bagels. This lunch exclusion just added to my overall feeling of not fitting in. Occasionally, around here, I feel like I've been transported back to high school. I can't be green enough, conscious enough, vegan enough, hairy enough, stinky enough, organic enough, spiritual enough, whatever.
The workshop began with a series of Tai Chi moves. They discussed honoring the Mother, the others discussed the Goddess and native American ways and bringing spiritual principals into ones garden. DUDE! I just wanted to learn about water use. I wanted to learn about different options for watering my garden. I wanted to hear more than that I should fill a bucket in my shower or use my pasta water on my plants. Perhaps I was expecting too much. I wasn't looking for a dose of religion. I am not really interested in learning a blessing song for my meal. What if I had asked them to sing a hymn or kneel before a cross? Ooooh, how about an animal sacrifice? Why is it that alternative religion is okay to force upon people. Why is it that it is assumed that because I want to conserve our natural resources that I must be a pagan or goddess worshiper? I am so irritated by this assumption and the exclusion it creates.
I've said before that I want to find easier ways to conserve. I still do want things to be pretty. I truly think it's okay to want to have something traditionally pretty in your garden. I think it's great to create a balance in your home and in your garden. Temper your need for a stretch of green with some great water permeable pathways. Grow veggies under your roses and feed them with worm tea instead of crap from Home Depot. Life is all about balance. Can't I believe that without rubbing my chakras? I betcha a lot more people would take a little action if things were a bit more mainstream. I guess we mainstreamers will stick with the library and our blogs.
Honestly, I did learn a thing or two at the workshop. I took some interesting photos. I met some nice folks. I'll tell you all about it in a day or two.
Framed
3 years ago
2 comments:
My sympathies. I consider myself pretty tolerant, but after a while I get fed up with all the overly earnest alternative vision crapola. I don't find forcing earth mother beliefs on anyone any more acceptable than the Jehovah's Witnesses proselytizing door to door. That's northern CA for you though. I lived in Berkeley for many years, so you know I can relate.
Glad you got at least a few practical pointers out of the day.
Thanks Kate. Northern California can be so silly. I'm not actually against religion, I like to keep an open mind, I like to experience new ideas and belief systems. It's just that I didn't enroll in the water workshop for a dose of religion, alternative or traditional. I dragged my tired and aching body there to learn about swales and mulch pits and veggie watering systems like greywater and ollas. There's a time and place and that wasn't it. Most days I adore my community but there are days when I'm tired of the "hippies" (for lack of a better label) thinking that we all think what they think.
I'd love to find a way to bridge the huge gap between them and everyone else.
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