As it turns out...

Connecting with nature is really all about the footwear...at least for me.

Historically, I have always been a reluctant and rather whiny hiker.  I never "got" the whole "communing with nature" thing. Never really understood what that meant and being physically uncomfortable with blisters and sore feet really took away from any attempt to obtain that experience.  Before our honeymoon Evan helped get me fitted with a good pair of hiking boots. While they helped somewhat in my confidence in stepping, it did not help the enjoyment factor ....or the whining.

And then came Vibram Five Fingers...the barefoot alternative. ( A GREAT BIG HUGE THANKS to my friend Gina for telling me about them!!)  I love being barefoot, but that does come with a certain risk of injury so it isn't ideally suited for all outdoor adventures.  Before making the purchase I read online about them.  It's essentially a thin vibram skin that covers the bottom of your foot. They fit like a glove.  These shoe-socks are sold at running stores and are touted as one of the best running shoes so that you can achieve the perfect form of a Kenyan Olympian. As soon as you remove shoes, your body will intuitively correct itself. For example, if you slam 

your heels, you won't in these. Then you can retrain your muscles to move in the correct form. Or so I have gathered from reading and can imagine after wearing them...

I couldn't get over the look of them at first.  But Gina has never steered me wrong, so I looked up where to find them. (Camping with Wi-Fi, yes that's my speed.) They had them at a running store in Portland, ME while on vacation so we stopped.  I tried them on. They were WEIRD looking at first.  I walked around. Evan tried a pair and said, "Not for me Thanks." I wore them out of the store like a kid with a new pair of sneakers. I was warned to go slowly at first as muscles in your feet and calves will have to get used to the new footwear.  I hiked a bit around a park the first day in them and 2 days later I jogged in them.  My lower calves were a little bit sore, but nothing too serious.

Then we started hiking in Acadia National Park in Maine. And this is where I fell in love with them.  They are the best hiking shoes I have ever worn.  I had read that you feel "connected with nature" when you can feel the earth beneath your feet. Gina had also said something like this.  I didn't really know what that meant. How could I like nature more just with a pair of shoes?  I still don't know the answer, but I do know its true. Something about feeling the roots and rocks beneath your feet (minus any stabbing, cutting or blisters) and gripping rocks with an almost lizard like ability feels AMAZING!  I have never felt so connected to nature and I know I have never liked hiking so much in my life. I couldn't get enough. Every morning I was itching to get out and explore some more.  I did do 2 nature walks in the old hiking boots on mostly gravel trails and I certainly didn't enjoy those as much as bouldering in the Five Fingers.  I also used them for canoeing and in water they are just like water socks/shoes.  They dry quickly in the sun too. 

The only experience I can compare it to is natural childbirth.  Not the pain part, the connection part.  Giving birth without drugs gave me such a connection to the process. I could move my body freely and intuitively as I needed to. It didn't require thinking, it was just a deep understanding, a primitive knowing.  That is the difference in these shoes. I could feel the earth, the terrain, and my body could move and adjust accordingly without having to over-think it.

The shoe-sock look garnered a lot of comments and compliments on the trails. One barefoot hiker we encountered had visited the same store in Portland and they had to special order his size.  A 12 year old boy told me I could climb like Spiderman, which is a compliment of the highest level I think .

I don't know if there is any way of describing the experience adequately, but if you like being barefoot, you'll just have to try them for yourself.   

I found it! I found it!

My higher purpose, that is.  

I kept thinking it was something other than what I am currently doing.  I thought maybe it was that I should be a chef. Or the owner of a juice bar and cafe, serving foods that nourish the body and the soul.  Or was it that I should be more seriously pursuing a living as a doula, supporting mothers as they transition into a new role with the new little spirit who chose them as a guide.  Or maybe I missed my higher purpose when I didn't go to Berklee College of Music. I stop just short of calling it a 'regret' but it is by far the biggest "what if" of my life.  Or maybe its growing spiritually by studying homeopathy.  Or maybe it is that I should be practicing homeopathy and helping others.  So much time pondering, wondering and being open to what it is I am supposed to be doing that serves myself and others in some divine way. Waiting for the light to shine and show me the way to my path of service. So much time has been spent trying this and that and then feeling like I wasn't doing enough, like I should be doing more or something different.

And then yesterday, I found it.  In one not-so-extravagant moment, it occurred to me.  I am already doing it.   I am blessed to be able to stay home and guide my child and help him grow. I am lucky enough to be here to create a home we can all enjoy, which sounds esoteric but is in reality laundry, meal preparation, errands and other various and sundry household activities.  I am the reason my husband can go out into the world and earn a living as much as he is the reason I am able to stay home and nurture our child.  I can't believe I wasted so much time, energy and money trying to find something that was right under my nose.  I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a thousand different things everyday.  And when I am not distracted by trying to find "what I am supposed to be doing,"  I love doing it too. 

So today I let go of things that pull me from this center. As time moves forward, and my family grows, and I evolve,  I expect that my high purpose will evolve too.   But for now, THIS is what I am doing.  It's a welcome relief to stop looking outside for something that is already here. Everything I need, I already have.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Today our Natural Moms group met to tour the Johnston Landfill and Recycling Center.  It was very educational for both the kids and the adults.  The main recycling facility has a learning center with activities for the kids, very children's museum-esque.  After bit of a lecture on recycling we went upstairs to watch the massive quantities of recyclables being picked through, sorted, and packaged up for resale to manufacturers.  Next we went on a bus tour of the landfill, which is an enormous grassy mountain covered in wildflowers. We learned all about how the run off water is filtered, cleaned and then brought back to cool the turbines that process the methane gas which is also captured and burned to generate electricity that supplies both the landfill and the remainder is sold back to the grid.   It was really an amazing facility and process to see as well as to really feel the impact of our consumerist society and the importance of minimizing our waste.  The tour guide did point out that the landfill also feels the effect of the recession because their traffic reflects our economy and how much the consumers are buying both by the amount of trash coming in and the amount of recyclables being bought.

Here were the main take away messages:

1. We all know this one, but please, if you don't already use reusable bags, then start. The single biggest problem for the environment are those stupid plastic bags that are illegal in many forward thinking countries.  I seriously hope our new government heavily taxes their use on the way to a complete ban.  If you do use them, we all forget sometimes or don't have enough, then use them for trash to weigh them down. The landfill has dozens of fences to catch them because the biggest issue they have is those bags flying around everywhere.

2. You can recycle milk and juice cartons but they recycle as an aluminum. (Pretty sure I heard that correctly.)

3. You cannot recycle pizza box bottoms (grease = contamination), soda/frozen food boxes that are shiny. They must go in the trash, or better yet reduce buying them.

4. Only #1 and 2 plastics are recyclable in RI. CT and MA recycle plastics #1-7. RI should start recycling all plastics by 2012.  The state goal is for RI to recycle 70% of its trash.  We are currently at 19% as a state.

5. Reuse as much as you can as often as you can. If it can be reused, pass it along if you have no need. Repair it. Try to reduce your portion of the 375 tons of trash per day (in RI alone!)

6. Compost as much as you can.  Whatever your current trash production for your house is, work on reducing it as much as possible by living life by the three R's as well as by composting.

What surprised me most about this learning expedition was how much Ian understood of it. He was very attentive and can tell you in his own way now what happens to the bottles and boxes he helps us put in our recycling bins.  

RI Resource and Recovery Center

Johnston, RI

http://www.rirrc.org/main.cfm

Our Little Garden

Last year we tried a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Our closest one was a bit pricey and split their farm shares into three seasons: 6 weeks spring, 12 weeks summer, and 8 weeks fall.  We bought a half share for spring and then a full share for summer.  While the farm was lovely, the people friendly and the produce organic, I was pretty much disappointed with it every week until the last four in August when the tomatoes started coming.   It seemed like every week I got way too much of things I didn't really care about.  Endless weeks of abundant Swiss Chard, which we don't really like. Lots of Kohlrabi that we tried for the first time and while good, got boring. And a good solid 4 weeks of rhubarb, which we don't care for. One strawberry rhubarb pie a season is enough, after that rhubarb is pretty useless to me.   I very much enjoyed hitting the Farmer's Market on Thursdays with Ian as our little ritual. Picking out fresh veggies for our weekend meals.  We would always get a pint of little orange tomatoes to eat on the way home.  Needles to say this year we opted not to join a CSA.  I like to do the choosing and not just getting what I get. 

Ever since we moved to this house we have debated having a garden. I have a notorious brown...no black, thumb and don't often grow things of the botanical variety well. I can raise animals, but not plants.  I also don't, as a rule, enjoy nature and getting dirty.  I'm pretty reluctant when it comes to physical labor too.  Evan has long gotten used to daggers that shoot from my eye sockets when he asks me to help him in the yard.  Asking me to help cut down trees or rake the yard sounds about as appealing to me as being asked to clean prison toilets. Give me my deck, some sunglasses, and a beach chair is about how immersed in nature I like to be.  (Note: when I say we are going "camping" what I mean is we are taking an RV with beds, a fully appointed kitchen,  and bathroom to a campground with water, electric, sewer and cable hookups.)

We tried one year to plant some vegetables in pots. They did ok, but pots dry out too fast. At least they could get the right amount of sun.  Another time I planted some tomatoes but they didn't get enough sun and I didn't end up with very many edible tomatoes.  Our house faces east/west and we have very little real estate to the south of our house so finding a good garden spot is a challenge.  

This year I started really putting a lot of energy into daydreaming our garden.  But I quickly talked myself right out of it on a number of occasions.  

This place doesn't get enough sun.

This place over here is too far from the house, I won't tend it.

This place is too close to the front and would be an eye sore.

and then...

Then we need a fence. Should we do raised beds? How do I fertilize? What about the bunnies in our yard?  Then the thought of ALL it would take to make a successful garden sounded like more work than I could handle and I was overwhelmed.

Soon enough I had more reasons than not to stick to a farmers market, but something was nagging at me.  Our house needs a garden to make it really feel like home.  Here is where the essence of my problems in life reared its head.  

Good vs. Perfect 

As Kirsten so often reminds me when needed, I was letting the idea of perfect be the enemy of the good.  

So one beautiful sunny day I was feeling particularly energetic and I picked a spot behind our deck that gets a solid 6-7 hours of sun and decided I would just try a small plot with tomatoes and basil.   Ian and I thoroughly enjoyed picking out our plants and doing our project together.

After about 1 hour of sweat equity, we had cleared a small 3.5 x 7 ' rectangle, delineated it with scrap boards from the garage and planted our tomatoes.  We were both so proud.  It was definitely the highlight of our day.

The next few days, every time I caught a glimpse of our little garden plot I smiled. It was perfect with all its imperfections.  I liked it so much I started thinking I wanted more. Ian heartily agreed. "Cucumbers and parsley,"  he requested.  So we made another plot for cucumbers, parsley, cilantro and red bell peppers.   

And now that we have gone this far, I am already considering quickly adding another one or two beds for squash, cut flowers, and to save some room for cool weather greens.

This whole project has been such fun to do with Ian. I really hope it "works" and we get to enjoy our own fresh vegetables in a couple months. 

Orange Julius Smoothie

I re-created the mall classic Orange Julius in raw, vegan, processed sugar-free form.  It's my new favorite and it keeps well (actually gets better!) sitting in the fridge so I make a huge batch. It only lasts us about 2 days though.

2 cups of fresh squeezed orange juice

2 oz irish moss (cleaned well, soaked, rinsed, and drained)

1/4 cup of macademia nuts 

2 oranges, peeled

1/2 banana

6 TBSP vanilla water*

2 TBSP agave nectar (to taste) -optional

Blend the irish moss with 1 cup of OJ until smooth and creamy. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Vanilla water is 3 fresh (soft) whole vanilla beans blended with 1 cup of water.  I make this up and it lasts me at least a month in the fridge.  You could use vanilla extract or scrape a vanilla bean, but you'd need to experiment with the amounts. I like my Orange Julius very vanilla and I love seeing the little vanilla speckles in it.

I enjoy mine over ice with a straw for an authentic "hanging at the mall when I was 16" experience.

Natural Sunscreen

I just made a large batch of natural sunscreen that I mentioned in my last post. If anyone wants to buy a couple ounces to try, there is plenty. Its a recipe I found in the same magazine as the green cleaners.

The sunscreen contains: coconut butter, beeswax, sesame oil, zinc oxide, and water. I also added citronella, rosemary, and eucalyptus essential oils to deter mosquitos and ticks. It seems to go on nicely and you only need a little bit. The directions say to reapply after swimming, but after the time I had cleaning this stuff of my kitchen equipment, I'd say the beeswax makes it fairly water resistant. It also left my skin nice and soft. I'm asking for $3.00/oz to help defray the cost of all the ingredients. Which if you buy California Babies ($9/oz) it's a bargain!

Greener Cleaner

I used to be a very cluttered person. And I never really knew how to clean. But as I have begun to cleanse internally, the mental and emotional clutter has started to clear and naturally, I now desire an external space that reflects my internal space.  Suffice it to say, I now can be found cleaning and tidying a lot more often than I ever thought I would. When things are in order it gives me a sense of peace. It is very calming.  Cleaning gurus "as seen on TV" often speak to the opposite order of things, that organizing your space will give you mental clarity. While that may be true, I see that as more of a band-aid. A symptom reliever - like taking a pain reliever for a headache.  Something that masks the symptom but does not heal the source.  From my studies of homeopathy, I have learned that we heal from inward to outward, therefore permanent change can only start on the inside. You know, the same that any weight loss program will tell you. You have to heal the deeper problem to be able to truly heal and ultimately achieve a healthy body.  

Ok blah blah blah, fast forward. I clean a lot now and obviously I want to move away from chemical cleaners so that when I do so I am not giving us or our planet a dose of toxins.  I have switched mostly away from paper towels, though I find them quite necessary for dog accidents and other equally foul jobs.  I use micro-fiber towels and rags for all of my wiping needs these days.  They work well and can be thrown in the laundry with our abundance of dish towels and cloth napkins.  

I have found that pumice stone, the one made to scrub callouses off your feet, does a fantastic job at removing hard water stains from the toilets, tubs, and showers.   I still use a commercially prepared green cleaner for general toilet scrubbing. Well, let's just call it yellow- green, because its made by Clorox and I intend to stop purchasing their products sooner rather than later. But the ingredients are natural so at least it has that going for it.

I use a lot of lemons. At least a dozen a week, probably more.  I felt bad throwing the rinds in the compost knowing they contained all that lovely lemon oil that could be used if I could only get to it.  Thank goodness for Google.  I learned that throwing a bunch of rinds in a bath tub overnight could then be drained and shined to a gleaming finish. I was skeptical at first and so was Evan when he saw our tub with floating with the beginnings of lemonade. He was gracious enough to shake his head and dismiss it as one of my odd experiments.  It turns out it really did leave the tub sparkling and I got one more use out of the lemons before they were retired to the compost bin.

When we visited Vermont this winter I picked up a local green magazine called the Green Living Journal.  It was really a great little periodical. I really wish one existed in our area.  In it was a list of green cleaner and cosmetic recipes. I have tried a few so far. 

Tub Scrub:  Mix 1/2 cup of baking soda and enough liquid soap (I use Dr. Bronner's) to make a frosting-like consistency.  Great for scrubbing sinks, showers, and the like.   I then was informed I could add this mix to my dishwasher along with plain vinegar in the rinse cup. This worked very well but I should issue the caution that only a tiny bit was needed.  The first time I had a bit of a bubble-overflow all over the floor.

Spray Cleaner:  1 tsp Borax, 1/2 tsp detergent, 1/4 cup distilled vinegar and 2 cups of hot water. Mix and add to a spray bottle.

There are also recipes for floor shine, linoleum spray, window wash, toilet bowl, oven cleaner, drain cleaner, facial astringent, and lotion.  They also have a sesame oil sunblock which I plan to try very soon. I'll report back on that.