A shot of the book, The Dirty Life. Image credit.
It’s a new year and I don’t have a lofty list of resolutions to post yet. It’s coming though. In fact, the group of us here on the farm are planning on creating dream boards together as a group visioning exercise, and I’m looking forward to sharing how that goes on this blog. In the meantime, for myself, 2013 has already been luxuriously rich in inspiring books, motivating lists, and hopeful expectations for upcoming films.
The Books
When I shared my resolutions last year, reading books was at the top of my list. It took 11 1/2 months for me to reach my goal. That is totally pathetic, BUT I am happy to report that once I finally sat down to dedicate time to books, my desire to be in front of my computer melted away lickety split. In the last month, I’ve spent most evenings and mornings with my head in a book. And it’s felt SO good. Like, reminiscent of my pre-internet life good.
I read Home: Tales of a Heritage Farm by Anny Scoones (big thank you to a tutoring colleague who picked it up for me for .50c at a library book sale), and then I read The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball (HUGE thank you to my friend Donna at Duende Farm for the recommendation), and now I’m reading All Creatures Great ad Small by James Herriot (thank you to my partner Chris for putting this classic on our bookshelf).
I’m reading again. This makes me so, so happy. Also, I cannot praise The Dirty Life enough. The book is so, SO good that I’m going to dedicate an upcoming blog post just for it, complete with an attempt at a condensed list of quotes I copied down while reading it.
The Lists
Although this post is less about resolutions and more about what’s been going on, I did put ‘make daily to-do lists’ on my resolution list. I’ve reignited my love affair with lists and my directly related productivity levels have come fast and furious. Garage is cleaned and organized, materials for spring cold frames have been purchased and collected, the pig house has been renovated and turned into a new and much-improved duck house, craigslist ads get scoured daily, onion and leek seeds have been planted in seedling trays, herb propagation experimentation has commenced, CEED Centre Board member admin responsibilities have been getting met, etc, etc, etc. Lists, for me = productivity. Thank you lists for channeling my inner teachers-pet leanings of brilliantly and efficiently getting all my shit done, with i’s perfectly dotted and t’s smuggly crossed.
The Films
This is a mark-your-calendars note. Chris K and I have been invited to sit on the discussion panel at this month’s local Cinema Politica film event. The film, Edible City, will be shown at City Hall on Thursday, January 24th. Hope to see you there! (trailer posted below)
Also, I just saw this video project online this morning and have already made a donation in support of it. Check out SEED: The Untold Story project here. An important topic that looks like it will be very beautifully presented.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336p7Yo8Zww?wmode=transparent]