In The Event Of My Being Consigned To The Plant Kingdom

Rus Stanton's aunt-in-law (is that a designation?) is a poet. Rus wanted to share this wonderful poem written by his wife's aunt, poet Alexandria Sergio.  Enjoy this playful musing about a serious topic.

In The Event Of My Being Consigned To The Plant Kingdom

Prologue:

The artichoke

is class as hell,

baffling,

harbors a delicious secret

defended by spiked guardians,

rewards effort.

You can't go wrong

with artichokes.

It was broadcast that

the dying man was

 "in a vegetative state"

like fulvous broccoli,

a pitted bean

spotted parsnip,

a life reduced

to sliming greens.

Clutching for some scrim of dignity

to make safe my naked soul,

I've left instructions that should my mind discard itself

while the heart yet whispers,

the announcement,

if it must indicate a change in my taxonomy,

is to say

"she maintains an artichokian essence."

Do not report

that she was last seen resembling a flaccid carrot,

sour with the taint of last week's spinach,

but rather say there prevailed an aura of globed amusement

suggesting that,

tantalizing as the cardoon,

she had a secret

and now you will never know it.

Alexandria Sergio (C) 

Mentor Headlands Beach Cleanup Report

Mentor Headlands Beach
Photo: ODNR website, http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/headlandsbeach#

May 24 was our ninth Mentor Headlands Beach cleanup and it was a big success! The Universe blessed us with gorgeous weather.

Thirty four adults and 4 children participated plus Kristine Bowers and Maureen Burk who were with us in spirit, picking up trash on Barcelona beach in New York . That is a total of 40 people who picked up well over 60 pounds of tiny pieces of all sorts of trash, mostly plastic and smoking paraphernalia. That trash would have further polluted the waters and probably killed fish, birds and other wildlife who would have mistaken it for food and eaten it.

This is a story well worth telling: Maureen Burk and Kristine Bowers were “with” us May 24th and picked up a bag of trash ON THEIR WEDDING DAY - on the very beach they were married on!!!!!!!!  Wedding first – pick up trash afterwards they say!! Can you believe the dedication? I loved it!!!! May their marriage be blessed by the Clean Blue Water Spirits.

Additionally, Becca Ray picked up trash at Mentor Headlands Beach with the Leadership Lake County organization in April.

The cleanup was presented by the Green Sanctuary Planning Team: Judy Willour and Cara Battaglia co-

chairs, Ron Prosek, Jim Rittenhouse, Ann Jacobson, Frank Jacobson, Emily Murphy, Marten Schreiber,

Linda Alexander, Leslie Iosue and Jerol Kennedy. - Jerol Kennedy, Coordinator, Mentor Headlands Beach Cleanups

Meatless Monday: Creamy Asparagus Soup

According to the global organization Meatless Monday, going meatless for at least one day a week is "good for you, great for your nation’s health, and fantastic for the planet." The initiative was launched in 2003 in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

This recipe is just in time for the local seasonal asparagus starting very soon.

Enjoy!

Creamy Asparagus Soup

2 teaspoons Earth Balance (or other ghee or butter alternative)
2 large leeks, chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper (or less if you don’t want it very spicey)
1 teaspoon Braggs Liquid Amino Acid or tamari sauce
¼ pound white potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon tarragon
¾ pound asparagus, discard bottom 1 and ½ inch and cut into 1 inch pieces
4-6 cups vegetable stock to cover potatoes in pot
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

In a large soup pot heat the Earth Balance. Sauté the leeks and add pepper and Braggs. Continue to simmer the leeks. Add the potatoes, tarragon, and thyme. Saute until the potatoes are browned. Add the asparagus pieces and cover the vegetables with vegetable stock. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. Puree the soup into a smooth consistency by using either a handheld blender, standard blender or food processor. Garnish soup with nutmeg and parsley.

This soup is so good I double the recipe.

The recipe is adapted from the book Grow Younger, Live Longer by Depak Chokra.

This week's Meatless Monday recipe shared by Jerol Kennedy. To learn more about Meatless Monday including recipes, global events, health studies and more, visit the website http://www.meatlessmonday.com.

Ready to March: 350.org march for climate change in New York City

Climate Change is by far the most important crisis facing the planet right now – nothing else comes close. Below is an article by Bill McKibben of 350.org based on a story he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine that is a call to action. Because I am active in the climate change movement the below content was emailed to me and I want to share it with our community at East Shore.

Bill McKibben is a multiple award winning environmental journalist who is a leader in the climate change movement

- Jerol Kennedy

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Dear Friends,

Earlier this spring the chaplain at Harvard joined students sitting-in outside the Harvard president’s office to demand climate action. He took the bullhorn for a minute, and thanked the organizers for “giving me the chance to be the person who I purport to be—a person who gives a damn.”

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org

We’re all going to get that chance Sept. 20 and 21, when the biggest demonstration in the history of the climate movement takes place in New York City. We need you there, you and everyone you can think of to bring. Here’s the somewhat more formal invitation that I wrote out, for the current issue of Rolling Stone. Please share it—it’s the most important call we’ll send you this year. And if you're ready to say you'll be there, RSVP on Facebook here.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has summoned the world’s leaders to the city in late September to consult about climate change. Because we think those leaders have done a lousy job, and because we’re tired of fancy words and ready for real action, we’re going to go to New York too, in our thousands and tens of thousands.

Marching doesn’t solve anything by itself. But movements can shift political power—in fact, little else ever does.

We need to show just how big and unified our movement has grown, from the environmental justice advocates fighting fossil fuel pollution in our communities to the students demanding divestment on our campuses, from the scientists who have seen their warnings so far ignored to the clergy now showing real moral leadership.

If you’re wondering how to react to the devastating news that the Antarctic is melting out of control: New York. If you’re scared like I am by the pictures of the fire and drought across the West: New York. If you’re feeling like it’s time to change the trajectory of this planet: we’ll see you in New York.

Sept. 20/21. Tell everyone.