The Small Things Add Up

It’s another cold and windy day here in the soybean field. Technically, it’s spring, but March didn’t get the message. The season of pleasures of the hearth continues at least through this weekend.

The gratitude for simple pleasures including hot tea, a warm house with a backdrop of classical music, and puppy snores has increased exponentially in light of what’s going on in Ukraine. My first hope is that the refugees will become reacquainted with them very soon and never have to endure a cruel and bloody uprooting again.

My second hope is that small actions taken by people worldwide both locally and globally will add up and increase pressure on whatever entities may be supporting the Russian president. I will not speak his name, but I will encourage you to do this: go to your favorite search engine and see who the parent company of the manufacturers of common household products are. If Nestle and Koch Brothers come up, time to look for alternatives. Those two corporations are refusing to leave Russia. We’ve had the talk about different brands of TP since finding out that the one we’ve used the better part of our marriage was made by a Koch subsidiary. We don’t buy anything Nestle, so we’re good there.

Other things you might do:

Conserve energy and resources. It doesn’t have to be anything huge or fancy like buying a hybrid (and I am pleased to report that milage with my Prius has been better than expected) or an electric. Just small things like combining errands, dialing the heat down a degree, limit oven use, share rides, and so on. If you were around for the gas shortages in the ’70s, you remember all of this.

One of the big factors in the current president of Russia being in power: oligarchs who made their fortunes through petroleum. Every degree you dial down, every trip you shorten has an impact. Might be as small as if they were getting their toenails cut, but it will add up eventually.

If you’ve heard your parents’ and grandparents’ stories about how they made it through the Depression and World War II, take heed. Can you mend clothes (do a search on fast fashion and how many resources that sucks up) and plant a garden, even if it’s just tomatoes? Can you think about ways to adjust your cooking habits such as eating vegetarian one day a week and going without wheat on another? Ukraine is one of the world’s big wheat producers. I don’t know if we’re going to be up against shortages because of the war, but it’s best to get some recipes on file using alternative grains.

Donate. World Central Kitchen https://wck.org and Doctors Without Borders https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org are on the ground in Ukraine and bordering countries to help refugees and residents who were unable to leave for one reason or another. Also check with Ukrainian Orthodox churches in your area to see if they’re taking donations of durable goods such as clothes, hygiene products, diapers, and so on to ship over there.

Contact your elected reps. Let them know your views on renewable energy; on getting rid of Reagan-era legislation promoting the completely unworkable trickle-down economics that keep the rich in power and created billionaires who are apathetic to others; on support for Ukraine. I’ve been emailing or calling mine nearly every day.

Practice self care. Always a good idea, and especially now that we have a comic book villain who wants to take over the world. Remember to exercise, enjoy favorite treats in moderation, and find distractions from the news. (I will never judge you for your YouTube rabbit holes after finding Nate the Hoof Guy . Soothing voice, the problem with the hoof in question is resolved on average in about 10 minutes or less, and the cows look very happy afterwards.)

Remember that “crisis” and “change” use the same character in Chinese. My wish is that we use this time to make a switch to renewable energy and to do a lot of reflection on what we need rather than staying stuck in the ’80s mindset of overconsumption.

No one knows how or when this war will end. It will, eventually. And my greatest hope is that we emerge a better, stronger society based on renewables and equality because of it.

The Trajectory of Hope

Sorry that it’s been so long, Gentle Readers. Between technical difficulties (running an antiquated version of my web browser that this platform had outgrown as well as finally getting a new internet service provider) and life being what it’s been…well, you get the picture.

In the wider world, well, there’s the war in Ukraine. The mixed blessing of the internet has brought us news via France 24 and DW, news services from France and Germany that stream and broadcast in English via their websites and YouTube. I’ve limited myself to two five minute check ins a day to put the brakes on despair for Ukrainians and anxiety over Eastern Europe.

Of course I’ve called and emailed in support of whatever can be done for President Zelenskyy and his people. I’ve lighted candles, prayed, visualized angels protecting the land. Donated to https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org and to World Central Kitchen https://wck.org. Tried to contact a local Ukrainian Orthodox Church to see if they were taking donations, but I’m guessing that they were too swamped to respond.

I can do nothing else.

Well, maybe there are a few things. Won’t impact this war, but thinking about ways to cut petroleum use further and supporting efforts to tax the 1% might help.

I can choose to take 15 minutes a day to contact elected officials, to repost articles of interest. That I can do. That might make an impact.

But there are things that are totally beyond my control. We’ve been hit with another one of those in the smaller world.

It started back in October. My brother in law–sister’s husband–was hospitalized with what initially presented as heart related symptoms, then had some alarming blood counts, then had more problems with weakness, then more blood tests and a bone marrow sample, then two days before Christmas Eve came the email that started with a reference to the oncologist.

Multiple myeloma. Not curable, but manageable even though the treatment has required extra tweaking because of the heart issues (this is the brother in law who had quadruple bypass surgery about three years ago). He’ll be around for a while.

Still, the news torpedoed the holiday season.

Pick up and move on once the shock wears off. Find something that can be done, something to focus on rather than allowing myself to get drawn into a downward spiral.

Over the winter I started seriously crocheting. It’s a form of meditation that helps to clear my mind of the constant swirl of thoughts as well as giving me a sense of control over a little something in light of the news of the day, both in the small personal and wider impersonal worlds. So far, I made a cell phone case for Hubby, a little protection from keys and coins in his pockets; a scarf that’s half a row from completion thanks to running out of yarn there; and another scarf in progress.

And I do yoga, of course. I’m getting to the time in life where movement is not an option if I want some kind of mobility as I grow older. It’s good to do even a short practice on days like today.

We have a below zero wind chill that argues with the bright blue sky over which season it really is. We hunker, even though the three of us are done with winter and are ready to move on to spring. Supposed to be nicer tomorrow and back up around 60 next weekend.

In the mean time, we plan. We hope with crossed fingers to get up to Ren Faire this year, of course. First on the agenda, though, is expanding the garden. Hubby will be building a couple of more raised beds when the weather breaks. I’m watching a lot of gardening videos on YouTube and reading seed catalogs for inspiration. I’m visualizing my hands in the dirt and herbs growing along side the first tomatoes. Could this be the year I try potatoes? And the year that Hubby learns to like zucchini? It might be.

It will also be the year that I plant sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower. With each seed there will be a prayer, an intention, for freedom and peace.

And as they reach towards the sky, my hopes will grow with them.