Category: FreeForm

  • 14 Things I Do Well

    This is a prompt I gave to Fast approaching middle age in a comments section. It was, specifically, “14 things I do well, now that I’m old enough to get it”, whether “it” is practice, space, time, or whatever else comes with getting to certain ages. I wouldn’t go back to my 20’s if you…

  • Whither Spring?

    I’m hiding in my basement. The woodstove is cooking up a storm, and we are baking bread to warm up the main living space of the house. April is a hard month around here.(1) It rains. And it rains. And it rains some more. The wood pile is depleted so we are on heat rationing.…

  • Sunk Costs – More About Nuclear Power

    Edit: It occurs to me that I neglected to mention that I used to work in the nuclear field. Just in case that might be relevant to whether you are going to write me off as a crank, or something. Not that I’m not cranky. But I’m an informed crank. *** Also known as, “Throwing…

  • Not Really Breastfeeding

    To the author who (while telling a story, in her own post) followed up: “How long did you breastfeed?” with the additional question: “No, how long did you exclusively breastfeed?” *** I’m trying to say this in the kindest way possible, because I think we both want the same thing, which is for people to…

  • Advocacy? Me?

    Welcome to the April Carnival of Natural Parenting: Compassionate Advocacy This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared how they advocate for healthy, gentle parenting choices compassionately. Please read to the end to find a list…

  • Slowing Down

    A radical, heretical proposal to our energy problems. Use less energy.

  • Poem: Advice from the Inner Critic

    Advice from the Inner Critic Love?!? Love’s been done to death. Nobody’s had anything new to say In 60 generations. And how do you plan to avoid The cheese-traps, Running mouse-like through The maze of metaphors? No. Best to steer clear, Dance around the edges. Leave love to the experts.

  • Beauty All the Way Down

    This is a post about structures. It is a post about illusions. It is a post about what lies beneath the apparent beauty of our privileged culture, and what else might be possible. It is a post about beauty as a way out of our current crises. What is in a rose? This flower that…

  • On Uranium – Briefly

    Can nuclear power get us out of this mess? I am working on a series on nuclear power for the near future, but I’m totally tipping my hand by starting with uranium supplies. The International Atomic Energy Association’s projections in 2000 showed possible shortages as early as the late 2020’s/early 2030’s if there were dramatic…

  • The Recurring Cow Conversation

    “Do we want the local (conventional) milk, or the large-scale organic (shipped 2500 km) milk this week?” In case you were wondering, we’re not actually planning on getting a cow. We only have an acre and a half cleared, and the cow would need most of it for pasture. It’s swampy and we’re near a…

  • A Litany for Agnostics

    In the beginning… We start as a DNA blueprint, a set of instructions for how to construct the magic of consciousness from nothing more than the molecules that surround us. The environment is not just a soup that we swim in. It’s what we are made of. We are built entirely from materials that we…

  • Once More With Feeling!

    On the occasion of my 39th birthday, allow me to wax philosophical. Really, how are you going to stop me? I’ve made it around the sun one more time. This is apparently an accomplishment that warrants cake. Go, me. Just keep breathing, breathing, breathing. Don’t get me wrong; I love cake. But it is an…