29

a recent mine explosion killed 29 miners in wv, and the two that survived were horribly injured. it's the worst explosion in the coal fields since 1970, and the horrible thing is, both massey and the government knew that mine was unsafe. the mine had been cited many times, yet it was never shut down. miners still had to show up to work, even though they knew it might not be safe.

risk their lives or risk their livelihoods.

in a recent article, which also said massey did not give fellow miners time off to attend the funerals of their deceased co-workers, had this quote from a an unemployed underground miner:

“Everybody knew that mine was about to blow up,I told my friend not to work there. That was three months ago; he worked two months and quit. If you check the work records, you’ll see that a lot of experienced miners left the mine because the conditions just got worse and worse as they ramped up production.”

it just seems unfathomable that a company would put people, their people, at risk in order to get more coal. i guess maybe it shouldn't surprise me, the history of coal says that's exactly what coal companies do. and after all, history has a way of repeating its self. but why? why does such a horrible, violent, exploitative, deathly history have to repeat its self and how many times can it repeat before it stops happening?

i can't say i understand the struggles of a miner, and i won't pretend to. i also can't make claim that i understand what it means to have to work against so much in order to provide for my family, to risk my life in order to maintain a job that pays the bills. i'm fortunate enough to not know that first hand. but while i acknowledge that, i still cant come up with a situation in my head that i would risk my life in order to further the profits of some company that has been violating my people for generations.

i wish i could say their lives were not lost in vain. that something positive will come out of it, for other miners in the future. i wish i can say that people would begin to see the lives of miners as part of how we keep our lights on in this country, and acknowledge that to be priceless. beyond priceless. it's not even an externality really, it's so far beyond what you could ever think about including in the 'cost of business.' peoples lives.

but i can't. maybe this time it will be different, but in all likelihood, history will keep repeating itsself. companies, like massey, will continue to be able to murder their workers in name of profit and cheap coal, while 'our' government continues to look the other way, and let it happen.

it's well said that mine companies saw a mule as worth more than a miner. i guess that saying proves true today, but this time it's not mules, but pure profits that are worth more than miners.

wild edibles

earlier this week, Jim Merkel was in athens for a presentation during earth month. an interesting fella no doubt, but one of the most interesting things he talked about was wild edibles. i guess i've known for a while that wild edibles are good. high in nutrients and if harvested carefully, sustainable (thought, with all of the habitat fragmentation out there- it is a questionable practice these days).

My housemate and I went scavenging for wild edibles this weekend. He's sort of like a mini-wild edible book, and pointed out about a million and a half more things in the forest than i can remember. but, what we picked, i now know- and thought i'd share. but, unfortunatley, i've been unable to find nutrition facts on these things.


Trout Lilies

These delightful little things, are trout lilies. They are sort of spotted, like trout, with lighter green markings. These tend to grow on the shady side of hills, down in the valley. They are similar to spinach, and are sort of sweet. They make a great salad, and I imagine you could cook them down too, but I don't plan on it. When we were out, the patches were few and far between, so again, being aware of the amount you're taking is key.


Ramps

Ramps, ramps, ramps. These well known appalachian wilds are great. Sort of garlicy, sort of oniony. They have fairly large, long green leaves and tend to have two leaves per plant (from what I've seen anyway. maybe they get more later in the season). These tend to grow in patches, and hang opposite side of the valley from the trout lilies. Many people dig up the bulb of these, because it tends to be spicier and pack a bigger punch. But, you don't need to do that and you probably shouldn't. if you take ramps out by their bulbs, you've killed the plant, it won't come back. and the leaves are plenty full of flavor. These were more abundant and the patches tended to be very full, but it's always good to be aware of how much you're picking. i tried to only take one leaf from each plant, and to not over harvest any patch. these can be used sort of like green onions. cook them, use them raw on salads etc. i have not cooked with them yet, so am not sure what happens to their flavor intensity, but i did make a really delicious ramp pesto (as inspired by integration acres). from a brief look, you can find lots of recipes online using ramps (none of which i've tested). But, fair warning, as with strong garlic, ramps can fend off those close to you (particularly close to your mouth). totally worth it.


Wild Ginger

These lovely leaves are also found around these parts, but seem to be pretty uncommon. i didn't notice (or perhaps more accurately, joe didn't point out to me) any kind of growth pattern, but these were very sparse. Therefore, we only took a couple of leaves, mostly just to try them out. We made tea with them (along with a few other things, like pine needles- which hold a ton of vitamin c).Like ramps, the roots can be harvested and apparently are quite wonderful, but that kills the plant. And since these were so sparse, we didn't even try them. We've planted some ginger in our yard, so hopefully in a couple years folks living here can have a solid source of wild ginger.

Red Buds and Violets

There are a lot of wild flowers that are edible, but these two are great, and both of them are in my yard. Violets don't hold too much flavor, but they look very nice and likely pack a decent amount of nutrients. Red buds, however, do have some nice sweet flavor. Both of these look lovely on a fresh salad, but in this case I added them to some homemade yogurt. (which, is so easy to make and wonderful- you can check out how from the Ohio Food Shed blog, Eat With The Season)


other totally edible things around here: dandelion leaves, root, and flower, stinging nettles, wild onions, milkweed, wild lettuce, garlic mustard, Sheppards purse, clover flower, wild asparagus- and probably a lot more.

oh- and just saying- take someone out with you who knows whats happening before you go around eating a bunch of things you're not sure of...

spring wish list

- eat sweets= bake sweets
- sat= no work, no computer, no way
- outside every fair weather day (non trans)
- learn one banjo song (and get a banjo)
- read 1 non school book
- develop a post graduate reading list
- learn more about black struggles
- come to terms with leaving athens
- stop comparing myself to other people
- write down every phone number used once a week, plus 5 more
- back up computer once a week
- sleep outside twice a month
- bike to nelsonville
- go to an old growth forest
- get involved with a community, not student based, organization
- practice nonviolent communication (particularly patience)
- shower in the rain
- drink beer more often (good beer, with friends, in reasonable quantities)
- keep up with good habits from winter of contentment wish list
- take life in stride
- eat more foraged food (like dandelions!)
- challenge gender roles
- graduate!
- let people know they are important to me

off to a late start, so better get going..!

fulfilling my role

So I've been battling with the idea of gender roles recently. Trying to find that balance between doing what I love and doing what I'm told to do. i love to bake, cook, sew and even clean sometimes. i like to garden (but not farming really, which i might like i don't know) which also falls into the role of a woman. i spend most of my time when i'm at home in the kitchen. If someone else is around, I'm certainly trying to feed them. That goes for both guests, but also people i live with. I really love feeding and caring for people. I guess that's what most people refer to as 'motherly instinct,' which based on my instincts means i should reject that. if i don't want to be a mother, why would i have those instincts (which, is also sort of funny because a good friend of mine often tells me I'll make an excellent mother- normally after i bring her food i made- followed by my reminder to her that i don't plan on being one, let alone an excellent one)?



(the cookies i baked, that i then realized matched my apron. gender. role.)

But the thing is, I really don't know why I love those things. But do I love doing those things, or have I always been told I should love them? And if I love those things, because I have always been told I should, but now I really do, does it matter?

I guess maybe the balance is to do things that aren't within my role as a woman, traditionally. but there again, lies a problem. sort of. it's not that i don't want to, or that i wouldn't enjoy it, but i've never really had much of a reason (or a teacher) to know how to fix my car, or build something cool, or mow the grass and cook on the grill. that's not to say i'm not learning some of those things. I can put a hammer and nail to work, and am in the process of ensuring my oil changing abilities. i can (now, thanks to the guidance of a friend, yes a woman friend), change a tire. i can light a grill, but never do.

so maybe women just are more naturally drawn to 'domestic' work and have deeper urges to care for people. or, maybe that's a load of shit and i'm way deeper programmed than i ever thought i was before.