Banned Books

Unfortunately, there are some books I should never be allowed to read but I just can’t help myself.  These are any type of memoir that involves a city girl moving to the country where she plants a garden and raises chickens.  Chickens….my dream bird.  I suppose, like my unfounded love of West Virginia, chickens are really messy, stinky birds that require tons of work for a couple of meager eggs.  Fortunately, I am not one to let reality interfere with my dreams and I do dream of chickens.

These memoirs are like waking  dreams for me.  Someone actually did it!  Moved to the edge of a forest, the foot of a mountain or the middle of the prairie and planted their dream garden and built a chicken coop.  I can’t get enough!  I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and will have to add it to my list of banned chicken dream books.  I loved it.  The author and her family decided, after moving to a farm, to eat locally for one year.  All their food had to come from within 100 miles of their home.  Talk about adventurous!  Do you have any idea of what is in season during the month of Feb?  Nothing good I can tell you.  But they did it and they liked it.  While I have no intention of trying to eat locally all the time, I am inspired to do it more of the time.  I live in the middle of the Willamette Valley and we are surrounded by great produce all spring and summer long.  So as spring approaches, I think I’m going to try and use our local farmer’s market instead of Safeway to supply our fruits and vegetables.  In fact, as I was walking through Safeway yesterday, I found grapes from Chile, strawberries from Mexico and bananas from Ecuador.  I’m guessing it took a lot of energy to get those items here for me.  More energy than I am worth to be honest.  So even though Leina wanted a peach, we contented ourselves with raisins.  I discouraged the watermelon whining and instead grabbed some fresh asparagus.

Isn’t it odd how we forget our childhood lessons?  In my opinion, one of my biggest responsibilities as a parent is teaching my children they can’t have everything they want.  I have to show them that there is a vast difference between “what is good for you” and “what you want”.  This involves saving their quarters instead of buying everything they covet.  It involves learning one scoop of ice cream is enough even if four sounds delicious.  It encompasses the art of waiting their turn and sharing with others.  And then we go to the grocery store and all these lessons get thrown out the window.

Want a peach in December?  No problem.  Craving watermelon on a cold March day?  Got that too.  Corn on the cob can be had any day of the week in November.  I am quite convinced that my girls believe that strawberries grow year round on any farm.  When it comes to fresh food, we have reverted to preschoolers.  We no longer wait for things to come into season.  If we want it, we get it with no thought to how it happens or what it really costs.  So I’m going to try and teach myself as well as my kids a bit more.  I’m going to take the time to read where my produce is coming from.  I’m going to remember that patience is a virtue and that it is worth waiting for some things.  Not just for my health but the health of  this planet too.

And did I mention the chickens?  Someday….. Someday…….