Our St. Patrick's Day Tradition

St. Patrick's Day is kinda sentimental to me and Dan. Our first meeting (a tour of Colab) was expanded to include Dan's favorite spots downtown and a deep six hour conversation that resulted in our first kiss. But it finally sunk in that Dan had stressed that he wasn't looking for a relationship because he had come to Tucson to work on some projects - so I decided to end it right there. After all, I was 51 years old and didn't have time for a workaholic - even a charitable one. But I found myself buying corned beef and cabbage to celebrate Dan's Scotch/Irish heritage. (Only to discover later that he was cutting back on red meat.) Well, he came over for dinner and never left.

Our romantic gestures continued on that theme to include the Tree of Life - which became a symbol of our relationship and our commitment to our new (then) sustainable lifestyle. Dan even had a Celtic knot wedding band tattooed on his finger and wore a kilt to our wedding. 

So it became a tradition in our house to have a St. Patrick's Day feast. But our traditions have shifted slightly to a more sustainable lifestyle.

making zero waste broth with kitchen scraps

 We adapted our St. Patrick's Day classics to delicious vegetarian versions. Some of our favorites are cabbage soup, homemade Irish soda bread and vegetarian Bangers and Mash. Tonight we plan to have Shepherd's Pie. Yum!

We've found that we can adapt our traditions to be even more meaningful to fit into our sustainable lifestyle. And it's a joy to do it.

Celebrating the foundation we built on our wedding day

It has been a wonderful first year together. We began our journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle, sharing our adventures on our blog, and becoming members of a community that is working tirelessly to restore Tucson’s ground water and get our rivers flowing again. As the world seems to have gone crazy around us, we find strength in each other and our community.

In honor of our 1st anniversary we would like to share our hand fasting ceremony with you.

[Dan’s mother Beth presided] Dan and Jana will be joined together with the traditional Celtic handfasting ceremony, a symbolic binding of the hands.

Jana and Dan, I ask you now to take one another's hands in yours.

Dan and Jana have chosen the Celtic Tree of Life as the symbol of their relationship. The Tree of Life is dear to them because it represents their eternal connection with each other, their connection with the earth and their community through spirit.

Dan and Jana, taking inspiration from the Tree of Life, may your relationship be deeply rooted in a foundation of love, growing in the light.

As the symbolism of each of the ribbons is explained, Jana’s mother Lorna will drape the ribbons around Dan and Jana’s wrists.

The first ribbon is brown. The color Brown is symbolic of your shared connection with the earth, the home you are creating together, and being grounded in shared values and goals. With this brown ribbon, do you promise to share your lives as partners, always striving for what is best for your relationship?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

The second ribbon is blue. Blue stands for the water of understanding, caring, and kindness, so that your love will flow to fill you to your depths, nourishing your roots. With this blue ribbon, do you promise that your heart will always be open to each other, to treat each other with kindness, tenderness, and respect, to strive to understand each other, to consider each other’s feelings when making decisions, to remember and express what you love about your partner, and show them love through words and actions?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

And so the binding is made. 

The next ribbon is gray. So that your union may weather the storms. May the gray water, or the runoff from the storm, nurture your relationship so it grows stronger still. With this Gray ribbon, do you promise to stand by each other through hardships, trials and disagreements? Do you promise to fight for the relationship, rather than to be “right?” After a disagreement, do you promise to forgive and reconnect, to use the confrontation to learn more about each other, to love and communicate better, so that in overcoming the conflict your bond may grow even stronger?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

Inspired by the Tree of Life, may your love be ever-changing like leaves through the seasons.

The next ribbon is green. Green, like budding leaves, symbolizes trust in new beginnings, growth, generosity, sharing freely of yourselves. With this green ribbon, do you promise to communicate as clearly as you are able, to share your thoughts with each other, to share your hopes and dreams, as well as your fears and insecurities? Do you promise to listen openly whether the words be good news or bad? Do you promise to always look for the good in your partner’s words? And choose to love each other anew every day?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

The next ribbon is orange. Oh, the joy of watching leaves turn yellow and orange, and the happy memory of jumping into piles of autumn foliage. Orange represents sharing the daily joys of life, warmth and light. With this orange ribbon, do you promise to take the time to be playful and happy, to share in and celebrate each other’s achievements, and enjoy life’s moments together? 

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

The next ribbon is red. The color red symbolizes power and passion in your relationship. May your passion always burn bright. With this red ribbon, do you promise to always feed the fire of your physical passion, to never take each other for granted, to treat your spouse as your lover, to freely express your love and admiration, and always be open to their expressions of passion and love?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

The next ribbon is white, adorned with a rose. The rose symbolizes the cherished moment you opened your hearts to each other and discovered your spiritual connection. With this special ribbon, do you promise to nurture your connection with love and light, and not allow walls of fear, guilt, or blame to block your hearts and souls?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

The final ribbon is violet – one of the many striking colors of our Tucson sunrises. Violet symbolizes your choice to use your talents and creativity for good. Securely rooted in trust, stems entwined in love, your branches are free to reach to the sky, extending out to the community, sowing seeds for the future. With this violet ribbon, do you promise to support each other’s talents and goals, while working towards your common vision as a couple?

[Dan and Jana] We do.

So the binding is made.

This cord represents the marital bond. It is strong enough to hold you together during times of struggle yet flexible enough to allow for individuality and personal growth. As your hands are now bound together, so shall your lives be bound as one. The binding of your lives are not formed by these cords but rather with the promises that you just made. 

Lorna, please tie all the ribbons together. 

Now Dan and Jana will exchange rings. Jana’s ring features the tree of life. It is inspired by the Tombstone rose bush with its branches forming a Celtic knot and its tiny white roses recalling how they first opened their hearts to each other.

Your two lives are now joined in love and trust into one life. By the exchange of these tokens of your love for one another, so are your lives interlaced. What one experiences, so shall the other; as honesty and love build, so will your bond strengthen and grow. Like your chosen symbol - the Tree of Life - may your relationship always grow towards light and love.

With the power vested in me, I pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss. 

Rain in Tucson! A Reason to Celebrate?

Streets flooding, cars submerged in underpasses, drain pipes spouting...

Stone underpass photo by Alfonso Sahagun Casaus

This is what we call "flood control" in Tucson.

Our infrastructure was designed so rainwater is directed into the streets where it creates hazardous driving conditions until it evaporates in the hot desert sun. This makes me crazy!

A catchment basin

The other day, while waiting for my friend at a neighborhood restaurant, I noticed that water was flowing out of their parking lot and into the street. I figured they had left the hose on so I went to investigate. I followed the stream of water up the side of the parking lot where it made a hard right turn then went along until the end of the pavement, then under a cute pedestrian bridge and to a WASH. So the water collected in the wash was being directed out into the street! Arghhh!  While Dan and I couldn't wait to earn enough co-op hours to get our own catchment basin to "plant the water," precious agua was being directed into the street to evaporate!

This is Tucson recently posted the article, "Here's why those same Tucson streets flood every time it rains."  According to the article, the reason we have flooding is because it would cost $100 million to fix the 47 projects that flood every year. The attitude of the state officials is "Why bother? Just leave the water in the street and it will evaporate." But that is just the point. We need an infrastructure that directs the rain so it sinks into our depleted aquifer instead of just letting it evaporate. There is actually enough rainfall to supply water for every person in Tucson! That doesn't seem to be our representatives priority - even with Tucson suffering from a 20 year drought.

Curb cuts get rainwater off of city streets to water native plants and our aquifer.

Watershed Management Group has come up with a solution to our water woes! And the solution is in our own backyard! And front yard! They are encouraging people to irrigate desert landscaping with our abundant rainwater! By working together to "plant the rain" with cisterns, road cuts, and rainwater harvesting we can restore our ground water and get the rivers flowing again! How amazing is that!? The idea is to keep water in your yard instead of running off into the street - directing rainwater to irrigate native plants, fruit trees, and gardens while sinking it into the ground.

A while ago we made some minor adjustments in our yard to make use of the runoff to water our Mexican Honeysuckle.

You might recall me frantically hacking at the bricks that were trapping the water on our patio. (It wasn't a pretty sight!) Dan had suggested that if I used the right tool for the job, I could get that brick out lickety-split (actually that's my mom's word) with the brick intact.

Turns out Dan was r-r-right. Using his new pick, Dan got a row of bricks by the cactus garden out in 10 minutes. He was mostly done before I managed to get the cell phone. (But, to be fair, the bricks weren't even half as deep as mine!)

Yesterday's monsoon was the perfect time to test how well they drained.... After three hours of raining, our "wading pool" drained in a few minutes! And I have to admit, Dan's drained better!

We can use a similar technique to get water off of our city streets! By putting in curb cuts, rainwater is directed to roadside catchment basins to irrigate native trees and restore our aquifer!

Success! 

By working together we can take advantage of our abundant rainfall to make our city greener, save city water, and get rainwater out of our city streets! Making use of all that glorious rain is a great reason to celebrate!

Pulverizing Bricks that Dam the Flow

At a Watershed Management Group workshop, we learned that the first step in passive rainwater harvesting is to go outside when it rains and watch where the water flows and gathers. It was no surprise that our backyard patio flooded. When my kids were little they used it for a wading pool. But it also kept valuable water from flowing to our garden and it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

I observed that there were two rows of bricks keeping the precious water from our wilting Mexican Honeysuckle. I concocted a plan. After studying the two rows of bricks, I decided that I would take out two parallel bricks that were closest together and nearest to the desperate plants.

After days and days of scorching heat, an overcast sky beckoned me to work on removing the bricks.

I sat on my multi-purpose sometimes writing table, sometimes gardening stool and started digging on one side of the brick with a sturdy garden spade. Then I dug on the other side.

I had no idea how deeply embedded in the ground the brick was. But I finally hit some roots that were going under the brick. So I scraped under it.

Lucky for me the part of the bricks that interlocked was worn away. So I chipped away at it with my spade. I tried kicking it down but it didn't budge.

I squeezed a square ended shovel under the brick and (amazingly) it came loose!

Here I am frantically trying to get out the brick before it rained. 

Unfortunately, the line of bricks along the patio was more difficult to get out.

I couldn't dig on both sides of it because one side was brick. So I dug as deep as I could. I was surprised how far down the gravel went. In fact, I uncovered a second layer with green rocks under the red rocks. I widened the hole big enough for the shovel to fit under it, so I could pry it up. No go. It wouldn't budge. Dan suggested that I wait until he could get to the hardware store to purchase the right tool for the job (a pick), but I was determined to get it done right then and there. (Sometimes ya gotta go with the flow, baby!)  

I searched the shed for a sledge hammer, but it must have gone to my ex in the divorce. I managed to find an old hatchet. I kept the cover on, and used the back side of the ax to break up the brick. (Dan insists that I could have saved the brick with a pick.) I would suggest you use a pick or at least wear goggles. I was hitting the brick with my eyes closed. 

Here are the two holes that were left after I took out the parallel bricks. Now all I had to do was dig a channel between the two holes. I knew the water had to go downhill, so I filled part of the hole with the gravel and dirt I had removed before. On the end of the channel by the plants, I dug a deeper hole to take advantage of gravity. There were already roots there to make the water sink in like a sponge.

With bricks removed and channels built on both sides of the patio, all I had to do was wait for the rain, and wait, and wait...

Today the rain finally came. The patio filled with water and it flowed down both channels!

A toast to our first, however short-lived, monsoon rain.
And making channels to nourish the Mexican Honeysuckle.. 

Finding Faith - Fighting for the Earth and Food Justice

After watching “The Harvest,” “Man in the Maze,” “Forked,” and “Food Ministries in Tucson, AZ,” during the “Food Justice Mini Film Festival” at The Loft, I was all geared up to attend the “Food Justice, Faith, and Climate Change Forum.” But I have to admit, I was given a moment of pause when the word, “Faith” registered. I had become increasingly disillusioned with Christianity since "family values” were  shanghaied by politicians creating fear to divide us as a nation. Once in office, they sold out Christianity by denying fundamental Christian values such as taking care of the less fortunate. Using the media as a platform, they depicted the poor as lazy and stupid, not deserving of our sympathy. They coined the phrase “welfare queens” and dehumanized the homeless. They ignited racism by demonizing undocumented workers, calling them “illegals.” “Welfare” became a dirty word. Our representatives made a mockery of Christianity by denying science and climate change so their rich campaign contributors could continue to profit by savaging the earth. Being called an “environmentalist” became the supreme insult. It is a shame that you can’t even use the word “Green” anymore because it is such a turn off to so many people. This was NOT the same Christianity I had grown up with.

Franciscan Sister Joan Brown of Interfaith Power and Light

Arriving a few minutes late, I came in the middle of the opening prayer. For a few uncomfortable moments I wondered if I belonged there, if I was a fraud for even attending. But my fears were soon relieved as Franciscan Sister Joan Brown of Partnership for Earth Spirituality and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light spoke on climate justice. Fred Bahnson, director of the Food, Faith, and Religious Leadership Initiative at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, spoke on using the Tree of Life as a symbol for faith-based activism on climate change. The Tree of Life is our chosen symbol, too! My spirit soared as one lecture was preceded by a Native American blessing. This interfaith event wasn’t about fear or exclusion, it was about love.

I was inspired by the faith-based responses to climate change and food justice. We heard how individual congregations were implementing environmentally sustainable practices like starting their own community gardens, and installing solar panels and rain gathering cisterns. There were practical lectures like: “Seed Libraries and other Strategies for Providing Better Access to Fresh Food in Food Deserts.” Barbara Eiswerth, founder of Iskashitaa Refugee Network, told us how they make arrangements with local residents to pick fruit that would otherwise be wasted. 

We heard some practical responses to food justice. Don Bustos, New Mexico Organic Farmer of the Year, spoke on “Farmworkers to Farmers: Empowering Those Who Bring Us Our Daily Bread.” On his farm he implemented training programs for farm workers to become independent organic farmers by using solar energy. Jose Oliver, co-director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, shared how they reach out to schools to implement the Real Food Challenge. Through the program, schools work with food service providers, distributors, processors and growers to ensure: (1) local economies, (2) environmental sustainability, (3) fair labor, (4) animal welfare and (5) nutrition.

Veronica Kyle, Chicago Outreach Director of Faith in Place, spoke about reaching out to her community. She demonstrated how important it is not to shame people for their food choices, but to speak to them from where they are. Her organization published a Southern Cooking cookbook with healthy, organic recipes. Once Veronica was lecturing on organic gardening and spouting off sustainability jargon. The audience didn’t know what the heck she was talking about – even though a few had been gardening their whole lives. When she started a community garden, she made sure to ask those gardeners to share their expertise. She is reaching people where they live. 

I came away from this forum feeling inspired and hopeful that people of all faiths were coming together to make a difference in climate change and food justice. Just imagine the environmental impact if every church, temple, synagogue, and mosque encouraged their communities to do the same.

Steps Towards Sustainability - We Had To Start Somewhere.

Excited and energized by the "Food Justice, Faith and Climate Change Forum," I tried to share what I learned with my apathetic teenage son. Feeling frustrated after he told me that everything I was doing to combat climate change was stupid (I hate that word!), I tried to paint him a picture of how it would affect us. “You know the way the land looks in "Mad Max: Fury Road" – where nothing can grow on it - that’s possible.  It could happen again. It has happened before in this country. In Oklahoma, the farmers overworked the land so much that nothing would grow on it.” My son said he already knew about that.  “That’s the Dust Bowl. I don’t care. What would you have done about it? Told those farmers not to farm on their land? Would they have listened to you? What good do you do?”  I replied, “I don’t know. But I know that I couldn’t live with myself if I left that for you without doing something. I have to start somewhere, don’t I?"

Our fledgling tree still needs support

So here I am starting somewhere.  My husband Dan and I started where we live. Bit by bit we are making an effort to transform our convenient consumer lifestyle into a more sustainable lifestyle. Admittedly, we are still learning what that means. My simplest definition is incorporating sustainable practices and habits into our everyday life that protect our precious land (so it will continue to grow plants like the food we eat and maintain the various ecosystems and wildlife) and conserve our precious water supply. This is especially important since we live in the desert. While reduce, reuse, recycle is a great start (I am still groping with changing old habits), it goes beyond that to shopping locally, gardening, water harvesting, reducing use of fossil fuels…  We have so much to learn!  But it’s kinda fun and exciting.

I have been wanting to start a “Sustainable Living Tucson” blog for some time.  Dan and I have discovered so many incredible resources (Watershed Management Group, Native Seeds/SEARCH, PimaCounty Seed Libraries), that I wanted to start a blog showing how Tucson is a sustainability mecca in the desert. And hopefully I will get to that someday. But as my wise brother-in-law suggested, it might be more useful to share our honest struggles in changing our lifestyle from that of an average American consumer to being more responsible for the future of our home. So here I am - starting where we are NOW.