Black Swallowtail, first instar

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!!



I put out parsley hoping this would happen, and it did! Black swallowtail butterflies loooooove parsley. They will lay their eggs on parsley, because that's what the baby caterpillars eat. These are first instar, no bigger across than my pinky finger (and it's a skinny pinky finger!)

I safely collected 8 of these guys and put them with some parsley in a jar (with holes in the lid, obviously). Last year, we took some of these to Tri-State Christian Camp and the kids looooooooved them. The folks who run the camp already left, but luckily I have a couple camps at my work who'd love to see these guys mature into butterflies.

Joying

Part of the work of healing the spiritual rifts between us and God is en-joying His creation. I believe this is true. When you are invited to someone else's workshop or gallery, it is appropriate and kind to offer compliments on the works you see there. And in the offering of compliments, you will create a bond between yourself and the maker. Shoot, he might even give you something to take home.

So here's one way I've been en-joying creation.



By GETTING SURROUNDED BY IT!

From the right, we have: aloe, bamboo, a tiny little oak which I believe is not living anymore, some scorched basil, and mint out the wazoo. I put them behind the sink because they are all too sensitive to be out in the blazing summer heat, but I now really en-joy having them there, because it makes washing the dishes a little bit more fun.

I scorched the mint pretty badly. Mint is my first love, though, and the cure to all black thumbs, because it is just like the Terminator: "I'll be back" --



I like the image of this little mint bud rising up under the shadow of its shriveled predecessor. As long as it's got one or two roots still living under the soil, it'll rise up again, no sweat no doubt.

I think Walt the fish likes having a little jungle of mint, too:

But I love the smell of burning rice...

In some respects, I am a well-oiled organizational machine. If I latch onto a thing, I organize myself and other people, make spreadsheets, create e-mail groups, plan meetings with prepared agendas so they'll run as efficiently as possible, contact necessary players in the community with polite and motivational messages...

In other respects, I am a complete space case. Always have been, always will be. There's a story from my childhood about how I entered a room to take a test at school, and proceeded to walk across every single chair in the room in order to get where the proctor was. Certain things about normal, everyday life just don't click in my mind.

My mother knows this about me. She's a good mom, so when she saw that I had posted more than one facebook status concerning burnt rice -- instead of judging me and ostracizing me, she decided to love me for who I am instead and bought me a rice cooker.



My environmentalist brain rarely shuts off, so while I am emotionally pleased with the gift (very pleased!! ^^), my brain is ticking away. Having more gadgets doesn't simplify - doesn't it create more clutter and involve more energy to make more things?

This is true. The rice cooker is a product that took energy to make.

However, the rice cooker is also designed specifically to do one thing, and to do it well, wasting less energy than a pot on the stove. The stovetop is not a great energy-efficient way of doing things, unfortunately - it's beaten out by the microwave and pretty much anything else designed for one purpose, like a rice cooker or a hotpot.

So the trading point is: am I going to use this gadget? How much am I going to use this gadget? Is it a worthwhile investment of the planet's energy, or would it be best in someone else's hands?

Fortunately, since my eco-friendly lifestyle involves eating copious amounts of brown rice (less processed = less energy + more natural nutrients + happier digestive system), the rice cooker is totally worth it. I made a big ol' mess of brown rice and it didn't even burn. Also, I steamed some broccoli and it was really tasty.

Thanks for following me through that weird thought process. Here's to the end of the days of burnt rice ^^

Hair washing.

Currently I am measuring the necessity of washing my hair. To date, no one has indicated to me in any fashion that they've noticed I haven't washed my hair in the last 3-4 weeks. In fact, the only comment made about my hair in that time was Michael asking if I had highlights put in. I told him yes - in February. You're not unobservant, Michael. For some reason, they're way more visible now that I've stopped washing my hair. :) (I am rinsing, though.)

For those that might wonder - while I do work in parks, I am not entitled in any way to be a dirty hippy as far as my employment's concerned. Appearance needs to be professional and generally non-frightening. It's not an act of rebellion and yes, if my hair was grungy (or gets real grungy), I'd wash. Rather than defiance, this is just me trying to eliminate having to buy a product I don't need. Plus, it cuts down on water consumption and shower time. Live simply that others may simply live.

A thought.

I found this thought that I scribbled down (despite having scads of notebooks sometimes the occasional thought slips through onto a piece of scrap paper).

"Right now we live in a society that chooses how to live without regard for the Earth and then spends its resources proving that it can't prove how long the Earth will be around. How about if we just choose a lifestyle that assures the existence of the planet?"

Good thought, past me.

Thoughts on the impossible.

A friend, Mary, recently gave a teaching at a women's retreat, and it still sticks with me: sometimes God calls us to the impossible so that when we achieve the impossible, we can't possibly claim the credit. The glory is God's and it's blatant to everyone with eyes to see, including those who follow Him and those who don't.

Time and again, God has used non-believers to do His work. I never forget this, especially in our battle for harmony with creation. Christians ought to be leading the charge, but as they're not - God will use whomever is willing to hear His battle cry.

I once saw a grown man, an advocate of nature whose career is based in a love of parks, walk out of a short film depicting the destruction of coral reefs. This image comes back to me over and over again as I try to walk this out. Many people, regardless of their understanding of God, can sense the spiritual side of this battle. It is more than just destruction of the planet, it's a destruction of self, the defacement of our own dignity. It's like waking up one morning and realizing you've been using your bed as a toilet for the last year. Or worse, someone else has been using your bed as their own toilet, continues to do so, and they can't understand why you're so upset with them.

It seems impossible. Daunting. Because the solution is not policy change, new laws, or innovative technology. The solution is a lasting personal change in the hearts of men and women. The solution is an understanding that our planet is sacred. Understanding that it's actually really unhealthy to soil your own bed. It won't be accomplished with pamphlets, facts, figures, rants, or anything like that. It will be accomplished with simple and self-sacrificing love, just like anything else that God does.


Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing.

What's the Father doing?

EcoGod

I had a thousand options for things to do yesterday. Music festival, friends' bands playing, bonfires, parties, etc... there was no reason I should have been in my house.

Except that God asked me to stay in.

I've done things against what God's asked me to do and it usually turns out fine, but that's it. It turns out fine. I don't get blessed, revitalized, nourished. I just keep on existing. Go me.

So I stayed in. And I got the revitalization I needed just from sitting around and journaling and backtracking in old journals and watchin' Narnia and playing music and watching thunderstorms (and, yes, standing out in the thunderstorms, because I wanted to become an active participant instead of just an observer).

In my life, there are a few flavors of journals and notebooks, and I'd strongly advise whoever cleans up my stuff after I die just to chuck 'em, because there's going to be a lot of them and it would take years to go through them all. I'm only 25 and I've got a stack of journals as high as my arm.

Anyway, I've got diaries, which are for blabbing about current life events; I've got notebooks, which are for poetry and writing music; and I've got my little red book. The little red book has only existed a couple of years now and I think it's a type of journal I'll be continuing. The little red book is easy to carry in a small bag or a large pocket. It started as a place to jot random song ideas but it's turned into my little red book of personal revelation from God. Whenever I feel Him talking to me, I write in it.

This is an excerpt from November 13. I had just wrapped up a 3-day young adult conference in Worcester, MA.

Yesterday, Jay [Pathak, our guest speaker] asked if there was anyone with a holy discontent on them, on their hearts, something felt of God's heart. I began sobbing. My chest started just to heave of its own accord.
And I tried to hide it.
It was like I was embarrassed to feel this way. The feeling was like, why can't I just be normal like everyone else? Why can't I just be happy living and not thinking about how bad the environment is getting?
What a terrible thought, but, you know, healing the environment is a great and terrible task. I have enough worldly knowledge about it now that I know it's a nearly impossible task.
...
I feel silly believing that I could feel the anger of God towards the destruction of His planet. But I have to believe it. I've known that the environmental attitudes of people is a spiritual deficit - I've known that it must upset God - I've just ever known that God would actually lift the walls between our hearts and let that feeling flood into me.
...
One thing... one thing that I need to say... is that I feel overwhelmingly pressured by other people [Christians] that God's heart is for people and not the planet. And certainly God's heart is for the people. Especially the poor. But God... God loves the things He has made. And He hates that those things are marginalized and set aside as "something to do after everyone gets saved."

See, I honestly think God stopped me from writing in here for a bit while He did some work in me. I used to get words when I first started going to my church that I wasn't ready to do anything, that it was just time to wait on the Lord and let Him build a good foundation that we can work from. Unfortunately, I'm impatient and impetuous, so this was frustrating to me.

But there is a great sweet joy in having a relationship with the Lord and I'm always happy when we spend good quality time together, like yesterday, and like all the time He was building our foundation.

When I first became a Christian, I was very shy about it. I wanted more than anything to follow God and not be a Christian. My prayer was, please, God, I love you, but please don't make me have to be a Christian. See, Christians were very scary people to me. They were the people that rabidly proclaimed God's hatred on most of how I lived my life or the values I held. Certainly not personally - just the impression I got from how they conducted themselves toward everyone else. So I guess I figured if I started calling myself a Christian, people I knew would begin to think of me as a terrible person.

But I didn't have a choice. God had me hooked. I knew He wanted to have a relationship with me, I began to understand that he was Love and not hate, and knowing this, I found it impossible to ignore His call.

So now, here I am, blabbing all about it. Why's it relevant to environment? Because it's not just "the environment." It's God's. He loves it. He made it. And when people get disconnected from what He has made, they're disconnected from Him. Even those who profess to follow Him.

I will no longer be ashamed or afraid to talk about Creation and God's love for it. I will no longer prance around the issue on this blog. This is who I am now.