Read an eBook Week, March 7-13, educates and informs the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. <taken from their website>
If you have seen our art, read our books, or even had a conversation with either me or Ethan, you know that we are strong environmental advocates. We brought our own bags to the store before they sold them at the register, back when people would look at you as if you had grown a second head when you said “I don’t need a bag,” or “I brought my own.”
Now you get a discount for bringing your own bag. It’s the way it should be.
Hybrid cars are being produced by every major car company, doubling and sometimes quadrupling the gas mileage. It’s the way it should be. I wouldn’t drive anything else.
We supplement our electricity with solar power, create recycled art, and have been vegetarians for over a decade, the most environmentally (as well as animal) friendly diet one can have.
We make every consumer choice with Mother Earth in mind, constantly trying to reduce our own carbon footprint. It’s the way it should be.
So you can imagine how much I love eReaders and eBooks! Don’t get me wrong, I also love Love LOVE books, but with over 800 titles published every day in the US alone, that’s a lot of my beloved trees, too!
So, read an eBook this week. Give it a try. On your PC. On your Mac. On your phone. There are free eReader apps for nearly every smart phone (Kindle, B&N, Stanza, etc.) or splurge and get a Kindle, Sony, or Nook. I’ve got a Kindle, and I love it. It’s well worth the money.
Start reducing your carbon footprint today. Studies show that a paper book creates FOUR TIMES the greenhouse gas emissions than an eBook Reader, countless more times than an eBook. Plus, you’ll not only save money on books (eBooks are normally much less than their paper counterpart), you’ll also save trees!
During Read an eBook Week, Rowan of the Wood is FREE on Smashwords and Witch on the Water is 1/2 price at $0.99. The coupon codes are RFREE and RAE50, respectively.
The autumnal equinox known commonly as Mabon is traditionally a day of thanksgiving. The main harvests have been gathered. The store houses are full. Abundance abounds. People celebrate by feasting with their family and friends.
The Druids in the meantime are giving thanks by pouring libations of cider and wine for the trees in the forest. Gifts of fertilizer are given to the earth.
Mother Nature begins her transition from Matron to Crone. The Green Man will shed his finery. The time for labor is drawing to a close. The time for rest approaches.
It is also a time for learning. Tales will be told and wisdom passed around. There will also be plenty of time for quiet contemplation and meditation.
At the Rose household, which is currently camped out at the Kansas City Renaissance Faire and 500 years in the past, we celebrated with a big pot of Christine’s harvest stew. If I’m a really good boy, she might make her famous vegan, organic Pumpkin Cheesecake!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Torte
12 servings — egg- and dairy-free
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 double crackers)
1 cup sugar
1 lb. soft tofu, drained
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
15-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus additional for dusting
4 oz. soy cream cheese ( 1/2 cup), at room temperature (we use Tofutti’s Better Than Cream Cheese)
4 Tbs. soft canola margarine
Crust
Position rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 8 1/2-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
Make crust: In food processor, pulse graham cracker crumbs and margarine until evenly moistened. Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom and about 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until set, about 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Keep oven on for baking cheesecake.
Filling
In food processor, puree tofu until smooth. Add pumpkin and process
until blended. Add soy cheese, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves and process until smooth and well combined. Pour mixture into cooled crust and bake on center rack 45 minutes.
Turn oven off. Let cheesecake cool in oven 1 hour without opening door. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate cheesecake at least 8 hours or overnight. (Don’t worry if cheesecake seems a little soft; it will firm up during chilling.)
To serve, run a long, thin knife around inside edge of pan to loosen cake; remove sides of pan. Lightly dust top of cheesecake with cinnamon and serve at room temperature.
PER serving: 201 CAL; 4 G PROT; 7 G TOTAL FAT (2 SAT. FAT); 31 G CARB.; 0 MG CHOL; 100 MG SOD.; 2 G FIBER
Autumn. My favorite season of the year. And it’s followed by Winter, my next favorite season!
During these two seasons, I become uncustomarily domestic. I love to bake, especially, but since we don’t have children and Ethan isn’t too big on sweets, I really don’t bake that often (since I’d eat it ALL). Ethan cooks more often than I do, and we normally make easy things for the convenience, since we hardly stop working long enough to eat. But during Autumn & Winter, I cook & bake. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite recipes with you during these great seasons.
First, a little Mabon History & Lore:
Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, is one of the four minor Sabbats. It falls generally between September 20-23, but I always celebrate it on the 22nd.
This is the second day of the year when the nights and days are split equally. Today is when the power of the sun begins to diminish, taking us to Yule (Winter Solstice) when the days are the shortest.
It is a time to be thankful of the things you have, which is a lesson that can be applied to the rest of the year as well. Be here in this moment, right now. This is all there is, and it’s beautiful and abundant.
“The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.” (Mabon by Akasha)
So I will be painting my Green Men on glass ornaments today in honor of this day and in preparation for the coming Yuletide season. I’ll post pictures on Facebook and Twitter, so follow me!
We’re also going to celebrate Mabon today with great feasts! This morning, I will thoroughly enjoy a pumpkin spice mocha along with a pumpkin scone from Starbucks and this evening I’ll make my favorite dish: Harvest Stew. Recipe below:
Bountiful Harvest Stew
This is everyone’s favorite stew! It looks as good as it tastes, and the winter squash is a wonderful source of beta carotene. For a really festive look, serve it in a hollowed out bread bowl or pumpkin.
Nutrition info per serving:
132 calories
5 g protein
27 g carbohydrate
0.5 g fat
267 mg sodium
0 mg cholesterol
Servings: 8
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pound (about 4 cups) butternut or other winter squash
1 15-ounce can black beans
1 15-ounce can crushed or ground tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn, fresh or frozen
Heat the water and soy sauce in a large pot, then add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onion is soft and most of the water has evaporated.
Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds, then peel it and cut it into 1/2-inch cubes.
Add the squash to the onions, along with the chopped tomatoes, water, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and pepper. Cover and simmer until the squash is just tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Add the black beans with their liquid and the corn. Continue cooking another 5 minutes.
Tips:
Cooking the onions in water instead of oil reduces the fat in this dish with no loss of flavor.
Try frozen white corn for extra sweetness and flavor.
Canned beans can be replaced with beans cooked from dry.
Fresh or frozen tomatoes may be used instead of the canned tomatoes simply extends the cooking time to reduce cooking liquid to desired level. Peeled tomatoes are most commonly used, but leaving the skins on makes the dish more nutrient rich.
Last Wednesday, we had a couple of days free between events, so we drove up into the Big Horn Mountains National Forest to get some work done. It was wonderfully relaxing and adventurous.
The drive up gave us some worries because it was a long steep grade. Our energy efficient vehicle could only pull our Geekalicious Gypsy Caravan at a very slow speed, but we made it in the end.
Our first stop was beside an alpine stream, snow fed and icy. We took the pups for a long ramble which we all enjoyed. Christine especially finds rushing water very healing.
Soon after we returned to the caravan, a ranger came by to make sure we weren’t camping where we were parked. We had planned on it, since the woman at the information station said it was “disperse camping.” But he was kind enough to tell us where we could go.
We found a nice spot within an Aspen grove.
I walked and climbed and explored. By the time we left, I felt several years younger. The best part happened the next morning when I was walking and carving. A moose wandered up so I ran back to our trailer to get Christine, who is a mooseaphile. But she probably already told you all about that.
She watched the moose graze until a second moose came up (above). I kept my distance a ways back, but she crept up silently, hiding behind trees to get a closer look. Behind one tree, she found this tiny beauty sleeping (left). It took this little guy a moment to realize she wasn’t his mother, and with a squeal of fright, he ran away on wobbly legs.
For me there is something special about walking through the wilderness, especially the woods. I feel much more connected with the world. I remember that I am a part of all creation. Because of this I become more creative.
Mine are similar to this, but they don't have the button and are black
I got me some new boots!
Thanks to my new sister, Manna, I have some totally badass moccasins.
Manna was interested in our book, and she wanted to do a trade. We really love to trade. I’ve already traded for some jewelry and a cool tapestry bag and more, but she wanted to trade for some handmade leather moccasins!
So we worked out a deal. She got three books and one of my original paintings, and I got some really cool ankle moccasin boots.
I was rather hesitant at first, however. As an ethical vegetarian, I never buy leather lightly. I try to stay away from it, unless it’s second hand. Manna totally understood this. She’s a child of the earth as I am. She is conscious about her impact on the earth like I am, too.
She explained that all her leather comes from cast-offs from the meat industry.
Now, I’ve been a part of the animal advocacy movement for twenty years, but she taught me something new.
Buying shoes has been a dilemma for me for quite some time now. I buy canvas or natural materials when I can, but some shoes you need (and I, like many American women, LOVE THEIR SHOES) don’t come in canvas. So what’s my next choice? Leather or Man-Made (faux leather)?
Leather comes from animals. I don’t eat animals. I don’t like to wear animals when I can help it. But, as I thought, it was the remainder of an animal used for food (10 million animals are slaughtered for food every day in the USA alone). So, there was that.
Man-Made comes from petroleum products cast off from the oil industry.
Neither is a good choice. Lesser of two evils, really (for affordable shoes).
Turns out I was wrong about the former. Most leather doesn’t come from meat industry left-overs. That skin is thrown away because it’s marred and not pristeen.
Cows raised for leather are kept in similar conditions to veal calves. Not nice. They’re fattened up, get no exercise, and then they’re starved to loosen the skin. After death, their carcasses are thrown out (not even used for dog food!).
Scandal!
So… she gets her leather straight from local meat (cow, buffalo, and moose) farmers who would have to pay to dispose of the skin after they sell their meat.
Truly.
What a horrible industry on both ends.
Manna is doing a wonderful thing here. She’s taking something that was destined for the landfill, uses it to create uniquely beautiful shoes, and sews them together (not using any toxic glue which even the canvas shoes have!)
The result is awesome! I was worried because there is no insole or sole to these, just all leather.
I’ve hardly taken them off! They’re perfect for hiking, as they natrually grip to stones in or out of water. (LOVE that I can wear them in the water!) They form to my feet, and it feels like I’m barefoot, without having to hurt my feet on the stones.
I’m sold. I think every pair of shoes I buy from now on will be from Manna.
We had a wonderful time at the Olde World Renaissance Faire last weekend in Twig, MN. It was a beautiful and magical faire. It was like we had truly passed over into the Otherworld. I wish I could’ve captured them on video! Hundreds of dragonflies (read fairies) zipped around through a misty forest. Truly magical.
I tried something new with the video. It’s a sort of montage of sights and sounds. Let me know if you like it or if you prefer the vlogs. . . or perhaps a mixture!
I hope to have one from the Celtic Festival in Ft. Collins on Tuesday for you.
I heard or read somewhere, I don’t remember where, that there is an initiative in the works by someone who’s name I don’t recall, to paint roofs white in order to combat global warming. The validity of this information is currently just below “Some guy in the pub said…” but I promise that as soon as I finish indoctrinating you with my witty opinions I will thoroughly research the issue.
First of all I must acknowledge that the idea has merit. One function served by the ice caps is too reflect heat back into space. As the ice and snow melt, less heat is reflected and so more ice and snow melts away.
Putting a white roof on your house is like having your own unmeltable reflector. This provides an additional benefit for those of us living in warmer climes by making it easier and therefore cheaper to cool a house. This in turn produces less of a carbon foot print. If your house has dark roofing material then it absorbs more heat and will be more expensive to cool, creating more of a carbon footprint.
Speaking of heat absorption take a look at our asphalt roads. Pure heat absorption coloration, and the material used holds the heat in. They are the main reason cities and towns are several degrees hotter than the surrounding countryside.
Concrete on the otherhand is very light in color so reflects much more heat. It is also much more durable so is much cheaper in the long run. The only reason asphalt is used at all is because it is a cheaper short term solution, and most neighborhoods and towns have an annual budget and quick fix philosophy.
So there you have it. White Roofs would be a good idea, but white roads would be even better.
Post Script:
It turns out that Nobel Laureate Professor and US energy secretary Steven Chu and proposed this initiative at a Nobel Laureate symposium. He also mentioned the roads, so I could have saved us both a lot of time by just sending you his link.
Several years ago when I was a budding filmmaker, I made a little short film called Corporate Nation. It was how consumers who support corporations (buying things from such corporations) are responsible for the actions of said corporation. Basically, the idea that you vote with every dollar you spent.
I’m very careful where I spend my money.
If a company tests on animals, for example, they never see a dime of my money. It’s been this way for 20 years, when I boycotted my first two companies for animal testing: Gillette & L’oreal (both have stopped animal testing practices now).
One company I used to boycott with a vengeance was Starbucks Coffee. They were the epitome of the evil corporation, snuffing out the little guy all around them. Putting up a Starbucks on every corner around a mom & pop coffee shop until the little guy was forced out of business, even if that meant 3 of their 4 own stores went belly up.
To top it off, they were using clear cut rain forest land to raise their coffee, destroying acres and acres of precious rain forest and forcing countless species into extinction. Unacceptable.
However, those are all now things of the past.
I have now been a supporter and near-advocate of Starbucks for a few years now. Not only do I love their decadent Mochas, but they have grown ethically as a corporation.
I support ethical corporations.
They sell water (Ethos) that helps bring clean water to the billion-plus people in this world don’t have access to clean water.
Although all their coffee isn’t fair trade, it all is “ethically traded” coffee. They have a special relationship with their coffee workers and provide health care and more to their coffee workers. They visit each farm and ensure that the farmers are adhering to environmental and ethical working standards. Now they help protect the rain forests.
All their paper cups and napkins are made of at least 10% post consumer recycled material, and they offer a discount for bringing in your own refillable cup.
I was the most impressed when they joined the Product (Red) campaign, the brilliant brain child of Bono. Now I buy every cup with my Starbucks (Red) card, which provides medicine to AIDS victims in Africa.
I’m a HUGE advocate of Product (Red). In fact, I stepped into the GAP for the first time after 15 yrs because of Product (Red). Some corporations are learning.
Starbucks is one of them.
Sure, they still make billions a year while many, many starve; but compare them to other corporations like Proctor & Gamble, who I still boycott, who hasn’t grown one iota ethically in the last 20 years.
Beltane has arrived, bringing with it a new summer season. The Celts of yore had only two: summer and winter. Beltane was celebrated to welcome the more pleasant of the two. Traditionally, two bonfires were lit on a hill top and all the libestock wasdriven between to purify them. Whether this helped to rid them of all the parasites and vermin which a winter of stabling was sure toproduce, I don’t know. But it does bear an uncanny resemblance to the modern practice of running flocks through a shallow trough of sheep dip.
There are also many traditions of welcoming in the spring, such as the maypole dances where people holding ribbons, tied to the top of a pole, braid the ribbons down the length of the pole during a complicated dance. Also on top of the pole was a flower wreath. As the ribbons were braided down the pole, the garland would slowly descend down the pole. Another fertility symbol of the feminine embracing the phallic maypole.
The Irish would also decorate their doorways with flowering branches and erect Beltane bushes in their yards, like a counterpart to the Yule traditions of evergreen trees and mistletoe. Painted eggs, fresh mild, and other symbols of fecundity also played prominent roles.
Modern pagans generally celebrate Beltane on May 1st, also known as May Day. But in Scotland, Beltane is observed on the 15th. In Ireland, the 11th is traditional. This resulted from the discrepancies between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. There is also a tradition of celebrating it on the night of the full moon closest to May 1st. But whenever you celebrate it, Welcome Summer.
1985. I was a Sophomore in High School, and my favorite band was Duran Duran. I wore two-toned tight jeans and feathered my hair. I sang along with “Sussudio” on the Q Zoo in the Morning on KKBQ Houston. I was a good Catholic girl. Well, a Catholic girl, anyway.
I remember going into the library during school. At the time I was reading books by Stephen King and V. C. Andrews for fun. Homework was a chore. The library (yes even the HS library in the Death Penalty Capital of the World: Huntsville, Texas) had books on the Occult. I remember them being huge and black and seductive. Every so often I would chance it and open one, but before too long I would close it again.
Devil worshippers! I would surely burn in hell just for looking!
I was afraid to even look at books on the Occult and Supernatural, but I was secretly fascinated by them. I wanted to learn about the unexplainable. I wanted to read everything I could on those forbidden pages, but I didn’t. Fear and guilt, the cornerstone of the Catholic Church, won.
I met my first Pagan at the Texas Renaissance Festival in 1987. He was my friend before I discovered he was Pagan. Remember: the word Pagan was synonomous with “devil worshipper” to my sheltered, Catholic brain at the age of 17. When he told me he was a Pagan, I was a little scared. But he was such a nice guy! He couldn’t be a devil worshipper.
And, of course, he wasn’t.
It was when I was 25 and in graduate school for English Literature that I finally left Christianity, gave in to my curiosity, and began studying many different spiritual paths. What I found (and continue to find) was awe inspiring. The sordid, power-hungry history of Christianity in the Dark and Middle Ages. Its violent spread in contrast to the peaceful path of Buddhism. Earth-based religions that date back millennia before Christianity. Native American animal totems and dream journeys. Wiccan. Neo-Pagan. Druidism. Rich mythologies from all over the world. All, including Judeo-Christian though, have remarkably similar messages… only their path is different. Except, of course, I have not found any trace of “The Devil” outside Judeo-Christian thought.
I lament about all the time wasted during those early, formative years. Wasted on fear. Wasted on guilt. I listen to amazing podcasts and stories of people who were much braver than I, and they speak to my soul. To the very essence of my being. I think of where I could be today if I had been brave enough to read those tomes at 15.
So for all of those out there who are curious, don’t let your fears prevent your growth. Pusure knowledge wherever it leads you, and trust your ability to recognize the relative worth of what you find.
(to be continued with my introduction to Druidry in a few days)
A joyous Mabon to everyone!
It’s’ finally here again!
Ingredients
I’m a HUGE advocate of Product (Red). In fact, I stepped into the GAP for the first time after 15 yrs because of Product (Red). Some corporations are learning.
Beltane has arrived, bringing with it a new summer season. The Celts of yore had only two: summer and winter. Beltane was celebrated to welcome the more pleasant of the two. Traditionally, two bonfires were lit on a hill top and all the libestock wasdriven between to purify them. Whether this helped to rid them of all the parasites and vermin which a winter of stabling was sure toproduce, I don’t know. But it does bear an uncanny resemblance to the modern practice of running flocks through a shallow trough of sheep dip.
