"A house on fire or a rising sea?" (2)

[greygirlbeast]

No writing yesterday. And I don't much feel like writing about that just now. More and more, I do not feel like writing about writing. I'm even less inclined to write about not writing. Except, yesterday I learned from my agent that the signed Audible.com contracts that were mailed back to NYC on December 11th never made it to NYC. So...I'm waiting to see what I'm supposed to do now.

Yesterday, we did the same thing we did last January 4th. Maybe this is the beginning of an annual pilgrimage. Maybe it's only a coincidence (yes, I do believe in those). We drove from Providence to Conanicut Island, to Beavertail State Park. Like last year, there was snow. Actually, quite a bit more snow this year than last. And colder, I think. And I wasn't dressed as well for the weather. All that ice and snow made it too treacherous to attempt to make it down onto the rocks. But we watched gulls and murres, cormorants and crows.

Last night, in a moment of weakness, I bought asparagus from Peru. That's fucking insane. Asparagus from Peru. How much fucking fuel was burned, how much C02 released into the atmosphere, to get that asparagus some 3,500 to 4,000 miles from Peru to Rhode Island? We have perfectly good asparagus grown right here in the state, a few miles from our house. But it's not asparagus season in Rhode Island, and I had a moment of weakness. This civilization (and much of the present biosphere) will fall at the mercy of a trillion trillion moments of seemingly insignificant luxury. Seemingly insignificant, that is, when each is considered alone. It's not so much the big things that kill worlds; it's all the little fucking things that come before the big, inevitable things.

There are photographs from yesterday:





Crossing the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge to Conanicut Island. View to the southeast.



At Mackeral Cove on the island. View to the southwest.



Beavertail Lighthouse in the snow. View to the southeast.



A half-hearted snowman built on the rocks north of the lighthouse.



Looking back towards the lighthouse. View to the southwest.



Snow on Cambrian-age phyllite. View to the southeast.



More snow on Cambrian phyllite. View to the northeast.



The author and her walking stick. View to the northeast.



A gull track in the snow.



North of Jamestown, looking southeast towards the Newport Bridge.



The old windmill north of Jamestown. The blades were removed recently due to a windstorm, and presumably will be replaced soon. View to the northeast.

All photographs Copyright © 2010 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Kathryn A. Pollnac

Comments

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The snowman seems to be in a perfect position for existential ponderings.

Once there was a time in human existence where if something wasn't in season, or available locally, it simply wasn't to be had fresh at that time. I think that's part of the wonder and possible destruction of our place in the world now ~ is that we feel subconsciously entitled to have pretty much anything imaginable at our fingertips, and don't always remember there was a time when "no ~ you can't have that now" was real. Just like I'll send this message to you now, and you'll have it near-immediately. In the past, it would be another week until the mail arrived...

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

In his book Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons talked about just that, with the first sprigs of wild asparagus tasting so good after months of canned vegetables and fruits. Personally, I don't mind bucking the trends on a personal level, mostly with growing my own exotics indoors. However, that's on a small scale, and saving local bounty makes a lot more sense.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I think on a personal level, somehow it works... (says the person who has a couple of avocado seeds on the kitchen counter). And technically, that is still local, and you're doing it in a very organic, natural way. But yes, when we can have things transported to us from the other side of the world? It's like we're kings. For pennies.

So strange if one thinks about it.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I think that's part of the wonder and possible destruction of our place in the world now ~ is that we feel subconsciously entitled to have pretty much anything imaginable at our fingertips, and don't always remember there was a time when "no ~ you can't have that now" was real. Just like I'll send this message to you now, and you'll have it near-immediately. In the past, it would be another week until the mail arrived...

Yes...very well said.

Asparagus from Peru, and this journal entry,too. Everything I do.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I suppose we can't fully help that we're on a planet that's turning at a certain speed so we're destined to move with it. But what strange, indulgent creatures we are...

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

You know what's funny? I could show you a way to grow asparagus and even pineapples during a New England winter, without additional energy expenditure, and all it requires is access to a good supply of horse and cow manure in fall (http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=g6965). (This is why I giggle whenever I hear particular publications being "hotbeds of controversy," because that always implies that some ideas can only be germinated if they're started in a closed environment atop a gigantic pile of shit.)

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

You know what's funny? I could show you a way to grow asparagus and even pineapples during a New England winter

Well, if we had the space. It would be grand to have a garden. And a few chickens. And a goat.

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

Time for me to buy more of your books to expedite this dream, isn't it?

[humglum.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, my father was keeping his lettuce producing all winter long by using a plastic "tent" and bottles full of hot water.

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

I'm doing the same thing with my greenhouse. Sure, every available space underneath the benches is full of two-liter bottles of rainwater, but they do wonders to keep everything from freezing, and I've never had to put in a heater. (I'll wait to see what Wednesday and Thursday bring, seeing as how we're probably going to get our coldest weather in North Texas in nearly ten years.)

[humglum.livejournal.com]

This was out in the garden, in Rhode Island winter. I think he may have only done it one year, though, as it's a pretty labor-intensive endeavor up here.
My parents have a huge cistern they use for garden water. Saves the well from getting low.

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I love your title phrase, and the snowman picture.

Re: Wow!

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I love your title phrase,

It's a line from a song by Arcade Fire, "Windowsill."

[ardiril.livejournal.com]

"How much fucking fuel was burned, how much C02 released into the atmosphere, to get that asparagus some 3,500 to 4,000 miles from Peru to Rhode Island?"

Approximately 1/4 of the price you paid. Compare that to canned vegetables that not only ship the water in the can but must manufacture the can itself.

... and then the can is tossed.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Approximately 1/4 of the price you paid. Compare that to canned vegetables that not only ship the water in the can but must manufacture the can itself.

... and then the can is tossed.

Either way (and without checking these figures), the degree of waste is entirely unacceptable.

[ardiril.livejournal.com]

Without doubt. Global warming is far from the only reason to cut carbon emissions.

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

Look at the asparagras in a different way. A person (or a group) made their living producing that veggie for you. May have saved their lives. We have no way of knowing. Often luxury items (to us) are mundane to the people producing it.

As for growing things in the cold. A friend is growing a grapefruit tree. She has it tented in plastic (not touching the tree) and fairy Xmas lights inside the tent to provide warmth.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I know this will sound cold...but....

I don't care. People in Peru should be growing those crops for people in Peru. People in Rhode Island should be growing crops for people in Rhode Island (and maybe other nearby parts of New England). I don't care if excessive expenditures of energy makes someone's life better...or makes my life better. I truly do not care. That's no justification.

And really...this is a far more complex issue.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I bought asparagus from Peru.

I try to buy locally, my food allergies have really made it difficult for a lot of choices. I am lucky here that we recycle cans, because I buy locally processed canned goods too. In a way, we dont appreicate the seasons and the natural cycles when we can get most things year round. Other days, well, we just crave it, dammit@

[jenjen4280.livejournal.com]

The gull track looks like a fossilized skate or ray.

I've got this weird thing that whenever I hear (or read) the word asparagus, I get that song from Hair stuck in my head, but instead: "This is the dawning of the Age of Asparagus..."

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

The gull track looks like a fossilized skate or ray.

Hah! I thought the very same thing myself!

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

The pictures are lovely, and I'm glad you got out. I have the new Sirenia open and the drawings this month are stunning. I am trying to finish up Boneshaker (about 1/2 way) so I can enjoy it properly.

Also, I think I asked you this before, but I'm not sure - who made your walking stick? I have two that are perfect when I'm on solid ground in regular shoes, but they fail with things like sand or my stompy Demonia's because I'm too tall. Yours appears to be adjustable, but unlike every adjustable I've found it's plain black and has a different grip, which looks more like the doorknobs I prefer.