Welcome to Silver and Shadow

"Look at that sea, girls--all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds." -L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

This is a blog I will be using for topics other than food. Politics, religion, spirituality, humor, green living, anything that I want to talk about that doesn't fall under the food/cooking category.



Thursday, November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving and Genealogy

Today is Thanksgiving, a day I generally think of as a harvest festival, but it's also important to acknowledge the history behind the day as well. The Pilgrims are right up there with Christopher Columbus in the damages they inflicted on the indigenous people's of this continent, as well as the destruction of the land. It all began with them. Some of us were taught to revere them, and some of us weren't really taught about them at all. I honestly don't remember ever learning about them in school growing up. We never did Thanksgiving plays or pageants and I have no recollection of ever writing an essay on the topic. I always assumed it was more of an East Coast thing. After all, that's where the Pilgrims went. So, it's been easy to ignore throughout the course of my life. But then a few years ago, I got this list of ancestors from one of the ancestry websites my friend and I use to research our families. It was a huge list, broken into sections of what the person was known for. Things like Presidents, artists, politicians, etc. One of the sections was Mayflower passengers/Pilgrims, and it showed me exactly who I was related to them. So, for all my Driggers family out there, this is relevant to all of you too! We are related to no less than nine Pilgrims. I'm going to post Wikipedia links to each of them here so you can learn their names and see what their lives were like.

It's an important thing to acknowledge our own connection to this time period, and the colonizers who inflicted so much pain on others and damage to this land. We have a line in our family tree that has been here for a long time. That means it's done a lot of harm, and received a lot of benefits and privileges over the centuries. The very least we can do is to acknowledge that, and use the privileges and benefits to help fight for others, and the land.

Here is the list of our relatives from the Mayflower:

Edward Fuller-Our 11th Great Uncle

John Tilley-Our 12th Great Uncle

John Howland-Our 1st cousin, 12 times removed. The one who fell off on the way over...Spoiler alert, they fished him out of the water...

Peregrine White-Another 1st cousin, 12 times removed

Thomas Rogers-Our 1st cousin, 14 times removed

William Brewster-Another 1st cousin 14 times removed

Samuel Fuller-Our 3rd cousin 11 times removed

Myles Standish-Our 3rd cousin 12 times removed-Yes, THAT Myles Standish, the one they talk about on the Charlie Brown special. I literally never heard of him before that.

Henry Samson-Our 12th cousin 3 times removed

As you can see, none of them is a direct ancestor, but to still be connected in any way to so many people from this moment in history, demands acknowledgement.

And another thing that is good for us to do on this day is to acknowledge the land on which we currently live is occupied land.

This link shows the tribes native to Washington state. Check it out to see what tribe's land you live in.

We live on Duwamish land. This link has great resources about the Duwamish tribe and their culture.

This link shows the locations of Coast Salish sites and what colonizers put in their place.

I highly recommend looking at the above links to learn more about the land we're occupying and the people who we displaced and colonized to be here now. The last link is sobering to see places we know and use every day and seeing what they used to be. The story of how it came to be what it is now, can't possibly be a happy story, but it's important for us to learn it.

So, there you have it. Our own family has a huge connection to the Mayflower and the Pilgrims that isn't exactly something to be proud of, but is something we can acknowledge and use to fight for others. And there are a lot of websites out there to learn about the Indigenous cultures we displaced and killed to take over the land. Every day is a good day to educate yourself about it, but this day in particular, it's necessary.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Ideas for the Environment

I have always been interested in the environment and cleaning up our planet. I live in Seattle, and we began city-wide recycling in 1988, when I was ten years old. I'm forty one now, so that means that I have recycled for thirty one years. We've been doing city-wide composting since 2004, which I am shocked to realize is fifteen years. Has it really been fifteen years already?! That's not too shabby, if I do say so myself! I am privileged to live in a city that has made environmentalism a priority. Other parts of the country have a lot of catching up to do, but we also have the financial means to do so here, and not all places have that. We have a good head start over a lot of places in this country, but there's a lot more that can be done.

Greta Thunberg has really inspired me recently. I attended, though briefly, the Climate Strike protest here on Friday, and have been thinking of ideas that people can do on an individual level to make a small impact on our world. But small things add up to big things, if we're all doing them. I don't believe that individuals can't make a difference, or not a big enough one at least, to matter. Of course governments, and corporations must do the majority of changing their ways, but that won't happen unless we demand it. We must lead the way. We must change ourselves before we can expect others to do so as well.

The following ideas are not necessarily new or even that creative, and I am not saying everybody should to do them, but we all could do more. And I know that everybody has different economic levels that allow for more or less to be done. For those of us who can make changes, I encourage us to. For those of us who can't, I don't want them to feel guilty over things that are not within their control. So, check out my list of little things, and see if any are things you can adopt into your own life. You don't have to tell me what you can or can't do, it's none of my business. But if you have any other ideas to add to this list, please share with me, I'd love to hear them!

Food and Food-Related Issues:

The Great Food Exchange: While the old mantra "reduce, reuse, and recycle" each has important elements to each word, I believe that "reduce" is the most important. Reducing the waste we create by reducing what we consume, is the most important impact we can have on this planet. But sometimes that's just not possible. And when Reduce isn't possible, that's when Reuse and Recycle come in. This is where this idea stems from. We all are guilty of buying foods to try and not liking them, so we throw them away or compost them. Or we let them sit out until they get stale or let them sit in the fridge till they get moldy so we feel less guilty about tossing them. Admit it, you know you do this, I do it too! Unfortunately, already opened foods can't be given to homeless shelters or food banks, so what to do with it? Well, how about setting aside space in your workplace kitchen and/or fridge to let people bring things in to share with one another? You might not have liked those gluten-free, low-carb cauliflower crackers you bought to try out, but somebody else might. And somebody else might have bought a brand of peanut butter they hated, but is your favorite. Or maybe you're not a fan of restaurant leftovers, and you know somebody at work who will eat literally anything, particularly if it's free. This is a great way for people to reduce waste by letting others reuse it for them. And see what just happened? "Reduce" just made its way into this, after all!

Rethink Expired Food: With a few exceptions, food expiration dates, particularly on canned and boxed food products, are merely suggestions. Unless the packaging is bulging or otherwise damaged, it is fine. Expired foods, unfortunately, cannot be donated to homeless shelters or food banks, so we all need to work on reducing what we purchase in the first place(so difficult when the sales are just so good! I am very guilty of this one,) and we also need to get past the stigma of that arbitrary expiration date. But if you just can't move past this one, see my above idea, I guarantee you there are coworkers at your workplace who won't care about eating expired foods. More free food for them!

Reducing Meat Consumption: I do not advocate for veganism, but if that is what you want to do with your life, that is great for you. I think everybody needs to do what is right for their physical and digestive needs, and shockingly, a one-size fits all approach to eating doesn't work. But I think there are things we could all do, even if only on occasion. Meatless Monday, Fish on Friday, or whatever works for you. Or maybe a full meat-free day is more than your body can handle. Maybe a "here and there" approach is better for you. One day a month, or two meat-free meals per week, or cutting out one type of meat entirely, are all possibilities. There is plenty of information easily available out there about this topic, and I'll let you research it further if you're interested.

Reduce or Give Up Gum: Gum, you say? What harm does gum play in our planet? Source. It's just a tiny little piece of nothing! But gum is not biodegradable, recyclable, or compostable. It often ends up on the ground, which requires water and energy to clean up. It ends up in our water ways where aquatic life can ingest it. And even if we do properly dispose of it in the trash can, it's going to just sit in landfills for hundreds of years and will always have a small bit of plastic it leaves behind forever. And this is just the gum alone, that's saying nothing to the plastic wrapping around the packaging, the packaging, and the foil/paper or paper wrapping on each piece. If you cannot give up gum, try to find chicle-based gum to replace the other stuff. That's a much more natural product that will eventually break down in a landfill.

Organic Foods: I personally buy a combination of organic and non-organic foods, mostly produce. This is something I'd love to be able to afford to buy more of, but I just can't. So, I pick and choose a few items that I purchase exclusively in organic form, and some that I might buy if they're on a rare sale that makes them more affordable. For me, I tend to buy potatoes, onions, or citrus fruits I plan to zest, in organic form. Thick-skinned foods or foods with peelable skins, I tend to go regular. I don't think organic foods are more nutritionally-good for us, but I do like they that don't use pesticides. Not only for my own health, but for that of the planet, I think it's really important. We know the damage pesticides cause, and I would love to do more to support the organic food industry, but it's just not always economically feasible. $6 for a cucumber? I think not! But, I do what I can, when I can.

Straws: Banning straws is ableist, period, end of story. But for those who can function without a straw, I would encourage them to forgo straws. Or switch to compostable, metal, or paper straws, though if you are sensitive to gluten, I suggest researching paper straws before using them, as some use wheat-based glues. But plastic straws, bendy and straight, as they currently exist, need to remain easily available and accessible to the people who need them to function. Their reasons for needing them are their own, and it is none of our business.

Cloth/Clothing-Related Issues:

Paper Napkins vs. Cloth Napkins: Source 1 Source 2 I have been thinking about this one recently and have decided to switch to cloth napkins. I am going to try to track down bamboo cloth napkins, as I think bamboo is a great renewable source of materials for a variety of items. While it does take water and energy to wash cloth napkins, they just go into the laundry you're already doing, so I don't feel that it adds that much more to the energy and water you're already using. But you will not be throwing a paper napkin into the garbage or compost. On a smaller scale, this is a better option, and it's a pretty simple one we can do. I'll be doing this one!

Clothing Boycott: I don't have statistics on this, but just my thoughts about it. I have to assume that it takes a lot of water and energy to create new clothing. I also have to assume that there are ways that already exist, or could be invented, to mitigate some of this. Since I also think reducing our consumption of stuff is the most important thing, if we all reduced the amount of new clothing we bought, I think we could get clothing companies to go about making changes in their industry. With the exception of undergarments that I think are important to purchase new, for hygienic reasons, I would challenge all of us, myself included, to see if we can go for a full year without buying any new clothes. If you need something, go to a second-hand store or upcycle what you already have. For the clothes horses out there, this might be a challenge, but what's more fun than a challenge?

Miscellaneous Issues:

Car-Free Friday: Or Monday, or Saturday, or whatever day works best for you. I challenge people who primarily drive a car as their main form of transportation to take a car break one day a week. This could be on a weekend if you absolutely have no other way of getting to/from work or school. But one day a week, let your car not be in use. Take the bus, walk, or just have a lazy day at home instead. If you're in a position to switch entirely to public transportation to get to school or work, I would highly recommend that, but I'm not going to pressure or guilt you into it. But could you maybe manage one day a week? It's something, anything, and like I said before, it builds up and becomes a bigger something. Less garbage in the air, less asthma in our lungs, less fossil fuels siphoned out of the ground or ocean, every bit counts.

Cigarettes: Source 1 Source 2 Still looking for a reason to kick the habit? Even if you properly throw cigarette butts into the garbage instead of littering them where they could end up being eaten by animals or getting into our water and harming aquatic life, they still sit in a landfill forever. They are not biodegradable or compostable. And this is just the cigarette butts, not to speak of the plastic wrapping or the packaging or the water and energy needed to grow the tobacco and produce the actual cigarette. If it's something you've been thinking about, but you just can't do it for yourself, try letting the planet be your inspiration.

Changing Our Attitude Towards Consumerism: We are taught from a young age to want things. Stuff. Stuff that we buy fuels our economy and keeps this capitalist system going. So we're taught, basically from birth, that we deserve things. We should want all this stuff. And if we don't have that stuff, then something is wrong with our lives and the only way to be happy in our lives, is to get that stuff. Living within our means doesn't matter if we aren't happy because we don't have stuff. Go into debt while pursuing that quest for a lavish lifestyle that you've had ingrained in you that you need to be a success in life. Debt is perfectly acceptable, as long as you have the stuff. This is, in a word, bullshit.

The hardest part of dealing with climate change and cleaning up our environment for the future, is working past this attitude. It's going to take all of us, even young people, to do it. We must become bad consumers, bad capitalists, in order to save this planet from ourselves. We have to stop wanting that new phone each year or the newest car each year or that super cute pair of shoes you saw the other day that you know you don't really need and will just end up covered in dust in your closet.

The other day I got a fall edition of the Swiss Colony catalog in the mail and enjoyed looking through it. I saw this super adorable red cape that I really wanted. It's on special for $50. But I don't really need it, I just want it. And I wanted it and wanted it for the first few days after seeing it. I thought about my finances and if I could afford it, and did I have space for it and how often I might wear it. After a week, I realized I didn't need it, would probably not wear it that often, and could find a lot better ways to spend my $50. It's tough, and it sucks, to want something and deny yourself. It goes against everything we're taught as Americans, but that's what it's going to take.

There is an element of self-sacrifice in all of this. We need to adopt an attitude that people in the world wars adopted, Make Do and Mend, and Eating for Victory. We must imagine ourselves as participants in a world war, because we are, in fact, in a war for the fate of our world. We make do with less now so that our planet and people can survive to enjoy a future. Not necessarily a financially successful future or a future full of riches, but just a future.

It's not easy to make do with less, but even less, in a world full of such riches, is still a lot. Retraining ourselves to not want so much, that's the real battle. We will have good days, and bad days. Wanting stuff is, I would suggest, an addiction as much as anything else can be an addiction. We love the high we get from buying stuff, and so we seek it out more and more. Let's work on turning caring for our planet's future into our addiction that replaces this one.

Activism: Write to your politicians, tweet them, write on their FB pages to let them know what you think about all of this, and what they are or aren't doing to do their part. Write to businesses and corporations and stand up for your beliefs. Boycotts work well when they are organized, but you can still opt out of supporting companies on your own, if they don't live up to your standards. Speak up, speak out. March.

I know all people can't do all things. We all have different abilities and talents and levels of comfort and economic levels that I completely respect. But I also think that everybody can do something. Even if it's just caring about it. Even if you can't actually make a single change or take a single action. You can still care.

So, there you have it, a not comprehensive list, with plenty of room to grow, of some things we could do ourselves and as a society, to address climate change. Whether you believe the science or not, whether you think it's a hoax, or not, you should still do some research on this. I am willing to think that this might be overblown, and we're making a lot out of nothing, but are you willing to entertain that idea that maybe you are incorrect? In the end, only one of us is right, do you want to take the chance that you could be wrong? I would love to be wrong, you can laugh at me for the rest or our lives, if that's the case. But just note, that if I am right, and you come to see it so, I will never laugh at you. I'll just hold out my hand and say, "Welcome to the fight of our lives."

Is the Green New Deal What Will Save Us All?

Does it Even Matter if We Try Anything?