False Spring

I thought I wrote about this before, I seem to remember a poem in my head....

the tastings of Spring in Portland are false.
the sun was the wrong color for how cold it was outside this time of year.

just my two cents.


here is a quote from one of my favorite places;

The Four Elements

Part I - A Poiesis of Fire

by Jhan Hochman, Working Owner (jhanhoc@gmail.com)

It just snowed in Dallas and it’s melting at the poles and if you’re not emotionally or economically vested in the carboniferous status quo, you might have wondered if the root cause was humanity’s astounding power over fire that, for better and worse, really makes us different from other animals.

To slow planetary meltdown—tepidly called “global warming” and “climate change”—we can try two things (besides killing ourselves as the bumper sticker suggests): embrace fire more as an element and shun fire as the basis of machine energy. Another way to say the same thing is, ignite, build, and nurture domestic fire while phasing out fire in thrall to the Machine (Technology) linked to the combustibles grids of petroleum, natural gas, and electricity.

It’s easy! And Alberta Cooperative Grocery can help!

Firing up: ACG doesn’t sell woodstoves, ecological fire logs, lanterns, or oil lamps but it does offer matches, candles (bees’, palm, and soy wax votives, tea lights, and tapers), and incense. Tapers work for tasklight, votives (in well-fitting holders) for ambiance and navigating furniture and dark furry housemates, and both candles and incense are more apt to be used if a matchbox is right nearby.

Powering down: ACG doesn’t stock pressure cookers, dimmer switches, crank blenders, clothes lines, or solar flash lights and radios, but it does sell longer-lasting, high-spectrum bulbs, steel water bottles, shower regulators (to reduce hot water use), and hand-crank coffee grinders (soon to be had only at http://www.camanocoffeemills.com/); not to mention recycled t.p. and totes that save production energy, bulk items that save processing and packaging energy, and local products that save transport energy.

Even if fire isn’t a living thing, it might be better to treat it like it were, i.e., with more respect. We just need a new fire zeitgeist, one drawing us nearer to actual fire as flashing (light), flaming (spectacle), and warming (heat), and, at the same time, turning us off to fire sacrificed on the grid, its “life” drained and desecrated every time a switch is flipped, button pushed, or trigger pulled. Inflammatorily and poetically speaking, that is.