Earth Path report for 2008

The Earth Path has three goals. I will list them and then give a report on my progress for the year below each.

1. Performance of a regular series of experiences and practices designed to increase your awareness and knowledge of the natural world, and to decrease the negative impact of your own life on the living Earth.

Hiking and camping: We camped and hiked several times this year, concentrating on areas that are closer than usual. It was a lot of fun exploring places we never knew existed, but which are no more than an hour or two's drive from home. We hiked the Robber's Creek trail south of town intending to do an overnight, but the rattlesnakes we encountered in broad daylight in that area rapidly changed our minds. So we just made it a day trip, but it was still a lot of fun. We also explored and camped out in the Sawtooths for the first time, and that was an awesome vacation. We are hoping to go back there again next year for a bit longer. The area is beautiful - except for where the huge self-driven dredges had devastated some small valleys. It will take a few hundred years more before those areas are viable again, unfortunately. It made me upset to see how much damage had been done by the search for gold and silver.

Eating more local food and wasting it less: This year we've managed to bring our local eating up to around a consistent 50% by buying basics in bulk, gardening and buying produce from local vendors, and preserving what we can find locally in season so it can be used later in the year. We've even managed to drink local milk around 50% of the time, which given that we have to buy it from another city is an accomplishment. (We don't make extra trips, my son picks up enough for the week when he goes there to teach.)

This year I managed to can around 400 or more jars of local fruits, vegetables, meats and broth, condiments and pickles. We made local sauerkraut by the gallon, and local zesty dills by the gallon as well. We found local onions available at Sam's, of all places, and Costco - and also did our normal 150 lbs of local potatoes buy for storage and use throughout the winter. I picked a bunch of stuff from a local farmer with a pick your own place during several trips at summer's end, and canned much of it for the winter. This helped to round out what we grew here. Our tomatoes were wonderful this year, and we saved seeds from the best to try again next year. We got a few nice golden beets, and some lovely carrots in white, yellow, orange, red, and purple. Our winter greens cloche is finally planted (early Dec) which is late (again) but we should be getting some good greens from it by next February. Hopefully, in time for Imbolc.

Next year I hope to increase our local eating a little further, with an eventual goal of eating at least a consistent 75% locally. It is healthier for us, it supports local farming families, and it is much less wasteful than buying food that has been shipped over a 1000 miles. The fact that we have to work harder to get the food and to preserve it for later also means we appreciate it more and, as a consequence, waste it less.

Composting and recycling: We composted a little bit more this year than last, but not nearly enough. Next year I plan to double our composting efforts. This is something that I often forget to work on, and I think our garden would appreciate me giving it more of my attention in the future. ;-)

This year I concentrated on finding new uses for things that would otherwise be thrown away. For instance, I saved some clear tempered glass shelves from a dead refrigerator to be used as windows for a future solar oven and a future solar beeswax melter. (We hope to set up our own top bar honeybee hive in the back yard next spring.)

2. Participation in a regular series of seasonal Druid celebrations, including at least the two solstices and two equinoxes, which are traditional in the AODA.

Since I'm a solitary here, nearly all of my holy day celebrations have been either just minor affairs for my own benefit, or "virtual" gatherings with the AODA Inner Grove group. I've attended all of the Inner Grove rituals but one this year, and have kept up with writing some of my own as well.


3. Practice of a regular series of spiritual exercises including daily meditation.

I'm still having some issues with meditation. This, for some reason, seems to be the hardest part of my studies. I'm getting better with it, though, by trying to remember that meditation can be done in many ways and at many times, and does not always require an hour to onesself alone in a room with no family and no pets in attendence! Which is good, because those circumstances are rather hard to come by here.

So, I meditate while pulling weeds, and while I'm walking, or when I have to wait in line for some reason, or if I'm out in the car while my husband is in a store running errands, or at my desk at work during lunch... taking this tack has really helped me to get in more meditation time this year.