Welcome to my new URL and new blog name, The Tao of Summer!

I have for quite some time been pondering a blog name change, but couldn’t come up with a blog name and URL that suited me well enough to bother. All I knew was that “jaded” seemed to describe an old me, a me that was still in the infancy of being distraught over a stolen presidency, the shame of Gitmo, and an Guiness and maryjane induced numbness that I’ve since knocked. I’ve stopped with the self medication, and I’ve long since knocked off on the use of the pseudonym.

Though I have not shed off all my cynicism and jadedness, I’ve certainly transitioned into a more centered and focused way of being. I think there is something to be said about how we define ourselves, and everyday seeing that I was defining myself as “jaded” seemed to be putting me into a place that no longer felt right. Then, a couple of nights ago as I was just going to sleep, this name, The Tao of Summer, popped into mind and so I ran with it. I went with .net ’cause I ain’t no commodity, and a one-woman show can’t quite be an .org. I spent some time yesterday setting up the new wordpress database and importing all my old posts and comments into this blog.

I anticipate that I’ll still be blogging about the same topics, (though maybe I can get myself out of this guarded place that I seem to communicate from)…it’ll just be under the new banner.

As for the Tao, I’m not a studious student of religion. I was raised by a father who had left behind the Baptist beliefs of his parents when the government hauled him off to Thailand to be an instrument of the Vietnam War, and a mother who came of age in Southern California in the ’60s and who just believes in the Golden Rule and some sort of cosmic energy. The organized religion in my life has included the annual obligatory attendance at the Baptist Church with my grandparents, a free church camp I attended a couple of years in 3rd and 4th grade (my best friend was going, and what I remember is I Corinthians 13.4, macramé, and canoing), tagging along with friends to various masses, and a few months of youth group with friends in high school - sort of a western religion smörgåsbord where the offerings were white bread and processed meats.

I’ve long since decided that my beliefs are much more eastern, more inwardly focused than outwardly worshipful, more now than later. My ability to communicate about my religious philosophy is along the lines of that old Edie Brickell song, What I Am…you know, “I know what I know and I know what I mean…” But there is something in taoism that has alway resonated with me, reinforced my sort of String Theory concept of the way things are, an encompassing notion of that thing I call intrinsicness.

From wikipedia (which is, you know, the preeminent resource for defining the world’s religions!):

Tao or Dao (?) is the order of the Universe, when used in Wuji, Tao is a primordial state of non-being in ontology, a state without bounds or limits in the Taoist cosmogony, intangible, unfathomable and un-analyzable empirically and taxonomically (Tao Te Ching; Verse 1).

By definition Tao is a Chinese character commonly translated as a path or a way.

All things arise from Tao. They are nourished by Virtue. They are formed from matter. They are shaped by environment. Thus the ten thousand things all respect Tao and honour Virtue. Respect of Tao and honour of Virtue are not demanded. But they are in the nature of things. Therefore all things arise from Tao. By Virtue they are nourished, developed, cared for, sheltered, comforted, grown and protected. Creating without claiming; doing without taking credit; guiding without interfering - this is Primal Virtue. (verse 51. tr. Gia Fu Feng)

The great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right. The ten thousand things depend upon it; it holds nothing back. It fulfils its purpose silently and makes no claim. It nourishes the ten thousand things. And yet is not their lord. It has no aim; it is very small. The ten thousand things return to it, yet it is not their lord. It is very great. It does not show its greatness, And is therefore truly great. (verse 34. tr. ibid)

Yield and overcome; bend and be straight; empty and be full; wear out and be new; have little and gain; have much and be confused. Therefore wise men embrace the one and set an example to all. Not putting on a display, they shine forth. Not justifying themselves, they are distinguished. Not boasting, they receive recognition. Not bragging, they never falter. They do not quarrel so no one quarrels with them. Therefore the ancients say, “Yield and overcome.” Is that an empty saying? Be really whole and all things will come to you. (verse 22. tr. Gia Fu Feng)

Namasté

So in limbo, to distract ourselves and to bring ourselves a little closer to our wish, we go to the house and take measurements, both interior and exterior. We confirm our layout plans, we switch closet assignments because, Ken says, “the girl gets the bigger closet”. We wander around the lot, commenting on each gracious, old oak, the slope of the land, the placement of my garden plots and citrus trees, and the fenced area for Sadie.

We stand out front and talk about the leaking roof, falling gutters, and inefficient windows. And then we talk some more about the trees. We meet a neighbor out walking his dogs. He, with his slight european ancient, is genuinely thrilled that we are anxious to undertake the project and even more thrilled that we’ll not demo the house and that we’ll keep all the big oak trees. He has a good story to take home to his wife, where they will reminisce about the work, since the ’80s, they have put into their Emerald Hills home.

We watch two smallish blue jays jockey for position on a tall, messy shrub. They refuse to situate themselves for a proper photo. I talk Ken into keeping the shrub, for the birds, since they already seem to like it so. I wonder what else I should plant to keep them fed and dancing within my sights. We watch the non-native grasses on the slope below, as they wiggle with the frantic movements of some critter, and the sun graces the creekside dogwoods.

We decide we like the trees more than the house, and so, we like the house because of the trees. We breathe in the view, feel the sound of the riparian corridor, and see stillness of the evening air. And then, I am not in limbo, I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

Week #2 of our CSA share contained Erbette chard, leeks, spigariello greens, winter squash, agretti, Chantenay carrots, fennel and radishes. Already we have made a yummy curry, using roasted winter squash, carrots, onions, and the spigariello greens. The greens are an heirloom Italian veggie, and are a relative of broccoli. Quite tasty, like a mild broccoli, with a really great texture and beautiful green. We’ll totally be able to use the chard and leeks. Agretti is like baby tumbleweed, and we’re game, so we’ll try some in a salad and some sautéed up with pasta. I think that I don’t like fennel, but I will roast some and try it. And, really, radishes are only good on spicy meat tacos.

We’re both really enjoying the mystery vegetable challenges, getting introduced to new veggies, and the ease with which healthy greens are getting incorporated into our diet. I love the little emails from the farm too.

More than 20 cities around the world will participate in the climate change awareness event, Earth Hour, March 29th 8-9 PM local time.

At the first Earth Hour last year in Sydney, Australia, power consumption dropped by more than 10 percent. But Earth Hour’s not just about cutting back for one hour. It’s about taking a stand and thinking ahead about what you, your neighbors and your city can do to slow climate change.

Seize the Earth Hour moment. Change some of your outdated energy-wasting light bulbs to new, efficient and inexpensive compact fluorescents. Think of other ways you can cut your energy usage and trim your electric bill after Earth Hour has passed.

We are beginning to witness dramatic impacts as a result of the amount of carbon we load into the atmosphere. Large sections of San Francisco are at risk from rising sea levels. In 2007, snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada was at 46 percent of its normal amounts. This snowpack is the source of 85 percent of San Francisco’s water supply.

To alter the current course of climate change we must act now.

I am sitting in my hotel room. It is the second night of a three day set of meetings. Tomorrow will be another long day of hard work. Meetings are exhausting, especially when their result is more work for this girl. I am already looking forward to the flight home, to Greenday thumping too loudly through my IPOD into my ears, of landing, of being home with Ken and the kitts. ‘Tis it Friday yet?

The Guardian has a striking set of 8 pictures demonstrating extreme cases of climate change impacts and environmental conditions throughout the world.

Image: Chinstrap penguins perch on top of an eroded blue iceberg near Candlemas Island. Icebergs are simply fragments of glaciers, and last October an iceberg half the size of Greater London ‘calved’ from the vast Pine Island Glacier (Pig). Over the past 20 years, Pig has been thinning at 40 times the previous stable rate. Antarctica holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 57m. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected sea level rises by 2100 of between 20 and 80 cm.

Photograph: Maria Stenzel/ National Geographic/Getty Images

Today is World Water Day. Here’s some water and sanitation facts:

• 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved water supply - approximately one in six people on earth
• 2.6 billion people in the world lack access to improved sanitation
• Less than 1% of the world’s fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human use
• The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day. The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day.
• Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
• Every $1 spent on water and sanitation creates on average another $8 in costs averted and productivity gained
• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water live on less $2 a day
• Poor people living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more for per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.
• For children under age five, water-related diseases are the leading cause of death.
• 88 percent of all diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
• At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.

Visit: Engineers without Borders and UNICEF