Friday, August 21, 2009  Earthy ponderations: part one  This is
the first post in a series of three in which I take excerpts
from the chapter in our book, a chapter titled Grounded, where
my mother and I hold forth about gardening, vacationing, and
being stuck at home. I share this with you now because I know
I'm not the only one struggling, trying to keep my head above
water as I swim through August's harvest days.  Now, go grab a
glass of ice water, sit down, put your feet up, and breath deep.
Enjoy this little reading break for all it's worth.   Me: “I
think this chapter on gardening is more a chapter on
sustainability,” I said to mom on the phone the other day.
“Gardening in itself is kind of a dead end street, don’t you
think? Aren’t we wanting the bigger picture?”  “Umm,” I had to
wait while she took a big swig of coffee and cleared her throat,
ridding it of the sticky particles of her last bite of
earthquake cake, her traditional afternoon (and sometimes
morning) mood elevator.  “Sustainability? What’s