What's for dinner?

So, the other night-- Thursday night-- I did something I thought I would never do. I bought tofu. Extra firm. With a mind to eat it.

It all kind of kicked off with reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This fantastic writer and journalist out of Berkeley chronicles his journeys through the major food chains in America (industrial, industrial organic, local organic, and hunter/gatherer) and gives details and personal experiences. A large part of the book focuses on farm practices, both animal and vegetable. But, what with the farmer’s market available this time of year, my dilemma lays in the meat.

I mean, most everybody knows that ordinary meats that are available at the supermarket were once animals who were raised in awful conditions. Or at least if not awful then certainly not in the way that God intended. But reading about it in the context of this whole book, and then thinking about the idea of Christian stewardship, studying (in shallow depth so far) the practices of farmers such as Joel Salatin, all pretty much put you off the idea of supermarket meat.

So, there I was, needing something for dinner, having everything for Pad Thai, and since the recipe does call for it, and since the East Asians have been eating fotu for quite a while now without any trouble (I think), I went ahead and did it. And, I mean, it was fine. It doesn’t really have much of a taste. And it worked well in the Navratan Korma for Friday night, too.

I'm definitely not sold on the fotu as an answer, and I'm not planning on making its purchase a common practice. I'm just saying that, while I realize my life is full of inconsistencies (for example: I work at a child care center in which I am fed a Sysco lunch everyday, which is almost certainly 99% corn), I felt that, at that point, it was my only option. At least I know the soybean wasn't fattened on food it wasn't supposed to eat while living its life standing in its own feces, etc.

It really is difficult being an omnivore in the US today. Even our everyday decisions about food directly apply to our proper or improper stewardship of the earth. But, as Sam said (when he learned of my dubious purchase) "Babe... you can't change the world in a day." But, just little by little, I guess. Here and here are some more excellent websites on being a part of local and sustainable practices and thereby helping to tear down the military/industrial machine that is our main food supply in the US today.

Plenty of Seersucker to Go Round

Here is where Sam & I went last weekend for the wedding of our friends, Hal & Jan. It was beautiful-- the locale and the wedding, that is. Not bad having your wedding reception in the middle of a lake in the Smokie Mountains, eh? Apparently this place used to be a casino and big bands like Tommy Dorsey, et al, used to come out and play in there. Fantastic. And those boats on the side there were the transportation of family members that live on the lake. We spent a couple hours this same night on two of those barges that were lashed together. There was drinking involved, I admit. Not to mention dogs, splashing, precarious peeing off the side of the boat, a thick blanket of stars, and cheezy poofs. It was a good old time, that's for sure.

Here is the view we woke up to on Friday morning after sleeping at Dardanelle Lake State Park just outside of Little Rock.

And here was our luxury accomodation.


Here's a nice one of us on the way out to the little lake rotunda. Anyways, just wanted to post a few of my favorites; Sam will be writing more extensively.

A Fast Thought

Its funny how quickly after breaking a fast that I forget how hungry I was.

I can remember walking through the aisles at the supermarket, at about the 30th hour of fast, thinking that each new item in my path of vision would make a delicious and perfect addition to the meal with which to break the fast. (A 10-course dinner. Yes, I think that would just about do it.)

But, after the fact, it seems like probably I was overexaggerating. Surely I wasn't that hungry. Or at least surely the hunger didn't effect me that much.

But, in light of the fact that these fasts are to work on our spiritual discipline, I think I've learned something. It really is easy to forget how much I needed and desired Him, once God has filled a particular spiritual hunger in my life. Or not even spiritual hunger but any need, really. Not unlike the Israelites of old. This is something I need to dwell on more often.

not all shiny & rainbows

It seems those perfectly innocuous little habits that every person has are starting to stand out, I dare say *slightly annoy* this other person that I have had living in my very close proximity these last 5 months.
You mean... my bobby pins aren't welcome on any surface anywhere in the house?
Are you trying to say that my keys and sometimes yours shouldn't be nomadic but have a fixed home?
My shoes should be on the shoe rack, not just near it?
What are these radical ideas?
But, all in good humor. That's what marriage is for. That and providing the opportunity to play a lot of darts.