It's Only Fair

Seeing as how I asked all of you firsties to tell me your New Year's resolutions, it's only fair that I tell you mine. As I indicated on some of your papers, mine is food oriented. I've always kind of known that the way animals in food the human food chain are treated is not exactly humane, but after reading some books--The Ominvore's Dilemma, Fast Food Nation, Chew on This, In Defense of Food--and watching the movie Food, Inc., I really just can't close my eyes and dip into that ever so delectable of foods, orange chicken, with the same elan. Seeing those conveyer belts with baby chicks, the routine deprivation of light and space for these animals, the inappropriate food provided them, the way they have to basically live in their feces--all of this has made me reevaluate my relationship with the food I consume.

And it's not just the way the animals who are slaughtered for food are treated, but the ones who produce other products I so dearly love--eggs, dairy, ICE CREAM... I want these animals who produce the milk in my coffee to graze on grass instead of the corn and other feed that they are not naturally meant to consume. I want them to experience fresh air and the ability to turn around without becoming stuck in poop.

And so, my immediate resolution is to forgo all meat and poultry from here on out, and all my dairy must be cruelty free, which means the cows producing my milk and sour cream and cheese must be pasture-raised, and I have an ice cream maker so that I can make my own tasty frozen treats from cows that enjoyed space and air and fresh greens.

Hopefully the resolution will stick!

Report Cards...

Perhaps you don't realize it, but we teachers are also subject to grueling deadlines, never more so than when report cards loom over us. It takes HOURS to compose articulate snippets that convey the essence of a student, and sometimes we wonder how much time and thought you all put into reading and processing them. Do you focus more on the actual letter grade and ignore our description? What about your parents? Would you prefer to receive just a letter grade? How would you feel about just receiving a narrative without the grade? What are your thoughts on this entire process of grading and evaluating?

It's a Big World Out There

Whether or not you agree with American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and all the other places they go, the very fact they go in support of American ideals is a beautiful thing--because what our country represents is indeed beautiful. I have no qualms about saying the United States is among the most noble of countries, if not the most noble.

And think about those soldiers who willingly leave behind their families, their homes, their comfort in the name of freedom. How hard it must be to sustain faith at such a distance.

So take a moment and click on the link below and say a little thank you!

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1024.html

Smellin' the Petrichor

Now that we've had our first real rain of the year, we can all breathe in the glory of the petrichor. For those of you unfortunate enough not to know the meaning of this truly remarkable word, allow me to enlighten you. Petrichor is the smell of the earth after it rains. How cool is that! If there's one thing your English teacher likes, it's a super specific word.

What are the most delectably specific words you adore?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/2587231576_637bc8278b.jpg

Gastronomical Musings on Food and Font

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/?8dpc

So I saw this photo essay in the New York Times this day after Thanksgiving morn, having just recovered from my 6 hours preparing a feast for my mister and Henny, and it struck me in several ways.

First, despite my yearning for French fries and the autonomic response I have to dessert and various fast foods, I do believe Michael Pollan's creed: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly produce. In one of his books he also says to be wary of foods with more than five ingredients... Something I always weigh internally as my eager little fingers grasp Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream.

I also love the simplicity of the imagery and the way the font--both upper and lower case--complement the essay. Think about it. Remove the photos and you've just got a discussion on how we all eat. Make the font all Times New Roman and standardize the spacing, and you've made it even more generic. Still well written and informative, but not alive.

While in some instances a picture is worth a thousand words, here, it is the combination that elevates both into a higher realm.

I know most of you have little control over the comestibles placed in front of you, but how much do you think about the food you consume--how it's prepared, how the animals who make up that food live (or lived...), how it arrives at your table (and I'm not just talking about the trip from supermarket to home here!)

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/?8dpc

(Mis) Adventures in Samsonland

I'm traipsing around the block with Lucy and Woodster and Memphis when I actually see the weird old woman who lives at the end of the block. She left town for some four months at the beginning of summer, leaving behind one bag of cat food and a vague request to one of her neighbors to feed her cat. Before that, we would only see her spying on people in the neighborhood from the safety of her car. Literally. For hours, she would sit in the car, the dashboard lights on, watching people. Weird, yes?

So anyway, my motley crew and I are making our way around the block when I see her. She's trimming some vines (why, I wonder? why those vines, considering her entire yard is a combination of dry dirt and overgrown foliage and piles of odd things) and leaving them in a messy heap in the middle of the sidewalk (where they remain, withering and prickly, several days later).

Hi, I say.

Hello, she responds. Followed by, Did you put two cats in my yard while I was gone this summer? When I left there was only one cat, but now there are three. I want to know who put them there.

I explain that while I was one of the many people who fed her cat (did she acknowledge this? say thank you? even nod her head the slightest bit? that would be a big fat no), neither I nor any of the other people who tended to her cat deposited the newcomers in her yard. Most likely they entered of their own volition, being homeless and in need of a safe place and regular food, I offer as explanation.

Well, I don't want them there. They need to go.

I offer to trap them for her to have them spayed/neutered, but tell her they must be returned to her property as that is the policy of the organization that helps with this.

No--trap them and take them to the pound.

I explain that they will be killed at the pound because they are feral.

Some back and forth--until she finally agrees that since she doesn't want to trap them and this is what I am willing to do for her, they can return.

As I prepare to depart, she says she wants a German shepherd.

To mask my shock at the inappropriateness of this (how can a woman in her seventies handle a dog that size? what about the feral cats in her backyard? what a miserable life that dog would have!), I simply say that's a big dog and take off.

I just don't get it! How can people be so out of touch! And on SO many levels! First--accusing me of dumping cats in her yard when I, along with so many of her neighbors fed her cat out of our pockets for months! And this was not convenient, either! Never saying thank you! Leaving her yard dumpings in the middle of the sidewalk! Announcing her desire for a large, rambunctious dog that would need major training and exercise! And let's not forget the spying from the front seat of her car...

What do you DO with people like that?