apples to activism

Whew, what a weekend! It was jam-packed full of fun, and though I spent most of it in kind of a whirlwind-induced daze, I had some really good times with some really good people. On Saturday, K and I got to sleep in pretty late before heading to Shelburne Orchards for some apple-picking. I always make the apple pie for Thanksgiving and I for the past couple of years I have made it with apples I hand-picked in my home state (speaking of Thanksgiving, I wish you a happy one, Canadian readers!). I was kind of disappointed when we got to the orchard because there were hardly any apples on the trees! There were about two rows that proved fruitful (pun intended), but that was about it (come to find out, apple season was early this year--my dad said it was "in the paper"--who knew!). First things first, this is what I wore:

(chambray shirt: Walmart; skirt/belt: Goodwill; tights: HUE; booties: Seychelles; scarf: F21)

This is pretty much the only good outfit photo we got, because K always grumbles when I ask him to take my photo. He thought I looked like I was about to go ride a horse, which is okay with me. I was going for the farm look :) I'm so delighted to be able to wear my bright red tights again! They're a perfect autumnal hue.

After filling our bushel bag with ripe red McIntosh, we grabbed some hot cider and shared a cider donut while lounging in the grass overlooking the mountains and Lake Champlain.

It was a beautiful fall day--the air was crisp but the sun provided just enough light and warmth to keep us cozy. I was kind of bummed that none of our photos came out very well because of the blinding sunlight, but it's not about the photos, it's the experience! Now we officially have an apple-picking tradition! Here I am in the same spot last year (note the abundance of apples):

Saturday evening I had my friends S and E over for some dinner&wine&conversation. It was really great to see them again and cook together and reminisce about the old days. I don't seem them nearly enough anymore because we're in so many different places with our lives right now, but whenever we get together it's as if no time has passed! We made a sort of ragu (eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic and fresh tomatoes over brown rice) and drank a few bottles of wine. This is where I make a suggestion for all of you: I don't care how decadent and delicious that bottle of Chocovine looks on the shelves--drink at your own risk. E and I both had two glasses and S only had one (now that I think about it, I'm not sure she even had one), and E felt sick that night and I felt realllllly sick the next morning. Just saying--beware.

Anyway, I managed to scrape myself out of bed the next morning so K and I could head over to my parents' house for brunch before the big 350 event that my father and brother organized. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the brunch as much as I should have (thanks to the Chocovine), but a nice refreshing walk through the woods with my mom and my dog (K fell asleep in a chair) seemed to do the trick. We headed down to my old high school and hung around for a few hours as people began to gather for the march down main street.

It was a short march (only about 1 mile), but we made some noise (I was pounding out a rhythm with some sticks, my brother played a drum, and my two brothers together were single-handedly leading the chants. After the march we reconvened in the cafeteria to hear a panel of local politicians give presentations on their dedication to combating climate change, and several locals stood up and offered small solutions for this enormous problem. It was interesting how each of them had a unique perspective on the issue and they were all passionate about very specific (but all different) ways in which we can help to fight the good fight against global warming. My brother Colin spoke about his experience in West Virginia with Climate Ground Zero and the heinous environmental crimes committed by big coal every day (especially mountaintop removal), one woman urged us to curb the population explosion by not having children (I thought that was a little bit extreme and told my brother that I fully intend to have three children, even if he is completely committed to having only one--I have kind of a lot to say about this, but my opinion on the matter basically comes down to the fact that children are a wonderful thing and a very important part of what makes our lives worthwhile. I don't think that we are the people who need to worry about having too many children. In fact, it's probably best that we keep having them to pass our knowledge down through the generations (adoption is also a possibility, but I have always wanted to have my own children--maybe my brother can't relate to that because he's not a woman). Anyway, I could go on and on. I think we should focus our attention on providing proper contraception and family planning to people who may not have access to those services, instead of telling people to have vasectomies for the sake of population control--it's just not a realistic solution and I actually think it's a little bit crazy. Recommendations like that are what give liberals a bad name. On the other hand, there were a few suggestions that I could fully get behind--one fellow spoke about ways in which we can put carbon back into the earth and get back to a more cyclical process of production and consumption (specifically through composting), instead of the linear factory-home-landfill model that we're currently using. I never realized that topsoil could be so valuable for sucking excess carbon back out of the atmosphere.

Finally, the "celebration" began. The Buffalo Mountain Coop served food and musicians from all around played for a couple of hours. The family band went last--I sang "Whiskey in the Jar" and "I'll Tell My Ma," said my farewells, and went home for nachos and Ugly Betty. And now I'm exhausted. But in a good way :)