2
July
2007
This morning, on the NPR Morning Edition’s short series “Climate Connections,” there was an article about the Tureng people of Mali. This nomadic people have been forced to move into cities and grow crops, rather than raise goats, because of effects of the 40 year drought. Although the men interviewed expressed dismay at the loss of their culture, one woman expressed joy at her new found freedom in the city:
Hadijatou, a Tuareg woman in her mid-20s, rises early to sift millet and prepare breakfast. Her parents had been nomads, but she is grateful she is not.
“Before, everything was given to us by the men. When you are given what you need by other people, you are dependent on them,” says Hadijatou. “But when you are producing what you need you depend on nobody. The life now is far better.”
I am reminded of the well-received theory that it was women who invented agriculture and even culture itself (the word “culture” is related to “cultivation”). As neolithic women chose to spent more time in settled areas to raise children they learned how to grow their own crops, grind grain and preserve food through fermentation and other means. As their children stayed close to home and learned from their first teachers — their mothers — how to do all the tasks of the home, schools arose along with the means to record the knowledge.
Throughout the Bible and other Near Eastern literature, the war between the civilized (agricultural) and the nomads waged for millennia. This war was intimately connected to the war between the sexes. Over time, patriarchy developed to appropriate all of women’s inventions, claiming them as their own, with many ancient myths told to explain this shift.
Despite the eventual negative shift, we must thank women for improving the lot of humanity. If men, like this Tuareg tribesman below, had not allowed our neolithic grandmothers to have their way, we might all live “closer to the land,” but it would also be a more brutal and less interesting world:
Traditionally, the men don’t care what the women think. Children don’t count for much, either. Mohamed Ag Mustafa, the herder still living the traditional Tuareg lifestyle, says he sees no reason to send his children to school: “Maybe school is useful for people in the cities, but not for us. As far as we are concerned, children are only useful for getting water or keeping an eye on the cattle.”
Posted under Environment, Feminism, Religion
22
June
2007
What’s up with the City of Boston? It seems that the mayor does not want city departments to have answering machines because he wants the city to be more personable. I’ve been trying for hours this morning to call someone I needed to talk to from my cell phone and no one answered. I finally had to go home and send an email so they could call me back. It seems this applies to all Boston departments including all the community centers (which I was trying to call) and even the fire department. Here’s the only blog entry I could find on the topic (it’s from 2005):
The fire department has no answering machine and no set time that they accept calls, or that they are in the office. So, it is a total luck of the draw to get a project completed. This is complete lunacy. I called up the mayor’s office and explained that we currently have some new technology known as an answering machine, and that I would be willing to buy one for the Fire Department if they’d accept it. I’m still waiting to hear back. The gentleman who was the inspector is incredibly nice, but he explained they are understaffed. Apparently, they aren’t allowed to use an answering machine.
Posted under Boston Issues
19
June
2007
According to my neighbor, who abuts the Taft Hill Municipal lot, there are at least seven individuals who park in the lot and then take the shuttle from the Roslindale Medical Center to the Boston Medical Center. He also knows that a previous tenant of the street now drives from Attleboro to the lot and then takes the commuter rail.
That’s just two more reasons to crack down on cars overstaying the two hour limit. For those of us squeezed on the residential streets by those avoiding tickets in the lot? We need resident only signs and stickers.
Posted under Roslindale Issues
1
June
2007
If you were looking for an excuse to get rid of your car, the excuse has come to Roslindale in the form of Zipcar. With all the discussion around town about parking, finally there’s an alternative for those who need a car sometime but not all the time. For those who live in the village with two or even three cars (I know who you are!), now is your chance to downsize, save some money, and reduce the car clutter in the village.
Note: Zipcar.com doesn’t realize yet that Roslindale is a separate neighborhood than JP. You’ll need to search for cars in Jamaica Plain to see the cars in Roslindale.
Posted under Environment, Roslindale Issues
1
June
2007
One of my fondest memories of elementary school was sitting at those small tables at lunchtime and opening up my lunch box to find a cup of boysenberry yogurt (Does anyone make this any more?). I would take the cup, turn it upside down on a plate, and with my fork, poke holes in the waxed paper bottom. Then, like a cup of custard or flan, I would pull the cup off to reveal a nice neat yogurt mound with those sweet purple berries oozing down the side.
Today, as the parent of a toddler, I wish for those paper yogurt cups for more than the enjoyment of opening them. Now whenever we eat yogurt, we must find a place to recycle those darn plastic cups. When plastic cups first came out, they had plastic tops. These, at least, could be reused. Today’s yogurt cups — plastic with foil tops — are useable only for starting plants from seed or mixing paint. In the yogurt industry’s attempt to use less plastic, they have inadvertently made their products more likely to be sent straight to the recycling, or worse, the landfill. A return to paper yogurt cups would mean an end to the growing pile of little plastic cup accumulating in my house and around the world. It would also mean the return of the joy of eating yogurt with the fruit on top!
Posted under Environment, Motherhood
24
May
2007
My March entry on parking meters in Roslindale set off an intense discussion of what to do about people staying over the two hour limit on most Roslindale Village streets and in the municipal lot on Taft Hill Terrace. In this week’s Transcript, David Ertischek reports on the May 16th community meeting to discuss this issue. I was left feeling that some things had either not been discussed or merely not reported.
First, was there any discussion of employees of Roslindale Village businesses taking the T to work? There seemed to be many complaints that employees can’t find parking, but why not require employees to take public transportation? Roslindale Village is ideally situated next to the commuter rail and served every five minutes by buses going in and out of the village. For those of us who live here, we don’t need to use (or even own) cars. Employees of the village businesses who come in the morning and stay all day SHOULD give up their spots to customers who bring business to the village; they should be ticketed along with downtown commuters not in the MBTA lot. Building another level to the Taft Hill lot is ridiculous!
As for employees of the Health Center, what did they do when they were located in the Community Center on Cummins Highway with no parking? The Health Center’s mission is to serve the communities of Roslindale, Hyde Park and West Roxbury. If there should be any parking for the Health Center it should be for those resident patients who are too sick to take the T to the center. When I used to be a patient of the Fenway Community Heath Center (located a half block from the Berklee College of Music) I always rode my bike or took the T. There was NO parking, for employees or patients.
People in Roslindale need to get real about parking. We live in the city, folks, not the suburbs. Good city living means accessible public transportation and pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. Cars need to take a back seat to people in Roslindale Village if we are ever to realize the revitalization that so many of us hope for.
Posted under Roslindale Issues
22
May
2007
This morning I looked out my window to see these two beauties!
How they managed to get to my yard, I don’t know. Our house borders the train tracks and then the Arboretum, but there’s a tall fence between the two. There is a small hole in the fence, but it seems too small for deer to fit through. Yet somehow, here they are!
Posted under Uncategorized
27
April
2007
The awesome Better World Travel Club (a green alternative to AAA) inspired these great green Haikus. Here one I like:
Leftover meatloaf
keeps cool and safe in my fridge,
but it heats the world*.
[*NOTE: The refrigerator heats the world, not the meatloaf]
- Erik N.
Portland, OR
However, I would beg to differ on his note that meatloaf does not heat the world. The meat industry is one of largest pollution industries in the world, growing larger every day as 3rd World people find more money to spend on meat.
Here’s a vegetarian Haiku:
Green leaves taste good
eating like a cow
instead of eating one
Posted under Uncategorized
24
April
2007
I’ve always been a fan of naps. I love hammocks, beach towels, and porch swings. I love couches in libraries and college student unions. Growing up, I especially loved to nap on long car rides, listening to my parents in the front seat; their words blending into pleasant background noise lulling me to sleep along with the sound of the wheels and the car motor.
Today, I appreciate being at home with a child who takes three-hour naps. On most days, I get to lie down for at least ten minutes and not always sleep, but at least I close my eyes.
Naps are important not just for babies and their parents, but for those without kids as well. In my previous career as a minister I found time for naps — even when I was in the office all day. One advantage of working in a church or synagogue is the presence of rooms with couches.
This afternoon while trying to nap, I found myself thinking about naps rather than sleeping. On a whim I googled “adult naps” and discovered some interesting information. According to “The Benefit of Naps” by Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs, July 27, 2004:
Several lines of evidence, including the universal tendency of toddlers and the elderly to nap in the afternoon and the afternoon nap of siesta cultures, have led sleep researchers to the same conclusion: nature intended that we take a nap in the middle of the day. This biological readiness to fall asleep in the mid-afternoon coincides with a slight drop in body temperature and occurs regardless of whether we eat lunch. It is present even in good sleepers who are well rested. Sleep researchers have also discovered that the afternoon dip in mood and alertness is associated with poorer performance, particularly after a night of sleep loss, and a simultaneous increase in sleepiness-related accidents. In fact, deaths from all causes show a secondary peak in the afternoon after a nocturnal peak, presumably from sleepiness-related accidents.
He goes on to say:
Research on napping suggests that an afternoon nap as short as ten minutes can enhance alertness, mood, and mental performance, especially after a night of poor sleep.
I also discovered some other Boston nappers who have written books on the subject. Bill and Camille Anthony wrote the following books, available on Amazon: The Art of Napping and The Art of Napping at Work. They both look like a lot of fun to read!
Now that I’ve written my piece, I feel tired enough to try to nap again. My daughter woke me up at 5:30 this morning. She has 1/2 hour left on her nap. I’ll see if I can catch a few zzz’s myself.
Posted under My Life
6
April
2007
I’m continually surprised by the strong connection I feel to women — both my ancestors as well as most women in the world today — whenever I’m in the midst of cooking, really cooking. On most nights I throw together some protein, carbs, fiber and call it a dinner. But today, being my daughter’s birthday and the middle of Passover, I’ve been cooking for the past five hours and I still have probably five hours to go. I made Passover granola and strawberry shortcake. I made a tofu salad for tomorrow’s birthday party and am in the midst of making a cold potato and spinach soup and this incredible Italian mushroom, asparagus, potato dish for tonight’s dinner. And in the freezer is a homemade vegan passover ice cream pie all ready for the whipped cream before serving tomorrow.
My husband has been listening to me complain about the difficulty of the passover dishes and heard me scream when I burn myself on the granola. I had to send him out for wine for the mushroom dish and now he’s down in the basement riding the exercise bike. He has no apparent interest in helping me cook, though I haven’t asked and don’t really need his help. He would probably suggest we order out and take a nice walk.
The reality is that often to eat good food, which I love to do, means cooking it yourself. The mushrooms (portobella, shitake and porcini) simmering in wine and thyme smell divine. As a vegetarian family at Passover, we wouldn’t find anything like we’re eating this weekend at a restaurant. The convenience of not cooking has it advantages, but so does cooking from scratch. Knowing that millions (if not billions) of women around the world are doing the same thing right now makes me smile. I do only hope they’re able to savor the smells as much as I am.
Posted under Feminism, My Life