To 2019!

First day, working out the kinks.  And practicing self-forgiveness, letting go, appreciation, and gratitude.

New Year's Eve - casual party and cupcakes for the hostess with the mostest; she entertains, she's an activist, she works, she gets out and has regular extracurriculars, her life and balance is the aspiration.  Second party fell by the wayside - missed the host, not so much his usual roster of guests.  And, well, falling a little short and cutting a little slack, not attending events that do not bring true enjoyment is ok.

Orange cornmeal cupcakes with sweet black-eye peas, pomegranate seeds, and mint - for Hostess with the Mostest's party.  Cornmeal = gold; round = coins and riches; sweets = sweet year; oranges = round coins, health, infinity; green leaves = currency; black-eyed peas = swollen, increases, plenty; pomegranate seeds = fertility.  No pork, but this is the Year of the Pig = progress, forward motion.

Above and below - Cute button shop encountered en route home after midnight.

Late wake-up, salvaged by a brisk park walk.

Hellebores - early winter flowers.

Connection with cousins and nephews, and new connections.

Base touching with NF, and plans set for a rendezvous.

Chores undone, but soul content.  The 2nd affords a second chance.

To Self Compost or Not to Self Compost?

Yet another composting question, prompted by a friend's sharing a link to a new technique being researched to provide an alternative to burials and cremations.

It is "recomposition" or "human composting" as described by NBC.

Screenshot of the image from the linked NBC article.

This, or, rather, alternative burial methods, have been under consideration for a while.  There is a cemetery somewhere in Kentucky or in Appalachia that accepts only unembalmed corpses so that the soil microbes can just come and do their thing, without caskets and chemicals to get in the way.  [Edited: There’s one in Newfield, New York!; Further edited: And more sites!]  It seems the gentler way to depart the earth.  And if not this, then cremation, which apparently consumes quite a bit of energy.

Back in high school there was a Vanity Fair article that described a novel practice of disposing of the departed: in a monastery in Tibet, there is a monk whose job it is to chop up the bodies of deceased fellow monks in the open courtyard of the monastery so that the vultures can descend and have their meal.  The vultures know, so they come quickly.  It was at once a grisly description, but resonating in how true the practice is to Buddhist philosophy.

That particular method of departing the earth would not be especially feasible or green, at least from New York City - flying a body over to Tibet leaves a definite carbon footprint.  But finding a gentler way of departing seems a good aspiration.  The loved ones already know of this aspiration, and here is the public statement of wishes 😊

To Vermicompost or Not to Vermicompost?

That is the question - triggered by a Facebook feed sponsored post for the Urban Worm Bag.  And then the rabbit hole opened up and off down into it went this urban terrace jungle girl.  YouTube review videos are a black hole.

Screenshot of the product from the Urban Worm Company site.

Seems it produces fast, or relatively fast, compost.  Not sure about tending to all those little worms.  One summer the vermicomposting happened accidentally - there happened to be worms when the bin was opened for the usual stirring, they appeared inexplicably.  Maybe they came with soil from plants transplanted from the Mother Garden.  But those wormies - they seem awfully high maintenance.  And what to do with them in winter?  Seems a lot of people keep their bins inside, which is not feasible in a New York City apartment.

The answer keeps coming back to "no."

The Big Chill

More to come ...

Marathon Sunday

(More to come.)

Autumnal Colors

(More to come.)

The World Is Your Oyster

Although perhaps not quite so much on a predominantly vegetarian diet.  But exceptions can always be made for those occasions when oysters are on the menu and good company is at hand.  Liberal invocation of those types of exceptions is highly recommended.  Life is short; YOLO, as the kids say.  Balance - duty to the animals, on the one hand; nature and self-care, on the other.  Everything in moderation.

And with that approach, maybe the world really can be your oyster - the best of it all.

Like the Billion Oyster Project - an educational program in the New York City public schools that teaches marine conservation techniques and seeks to seed oysters in used shells to plant in New York Harbor, both to clean the water and to act as a defense against the strong currents of global warming.  And, bonus, the participating restaurants save money by reducing the need for waste disposal, and the shells that yield all that deliciousness go back to the ocean from where they came.  Not just win-win, but so many wins all around!

Love those stories!  Environmental goodness, educational goodness, gastronomical goodness.  Like the little urban (terrace) jungle.  Now how is that for bringing it all back around?

By Agata Poniatowski, from the NPR article linked. 

(Also the best of it all: Finally coming back around to making time to blog after a long absence, finally getting to use inspirational material saved and emailed in hopes of sharing it further, finally getting to take a little step toward building and sharing a version of the ideal and integrated life - that elusive goal of living....)