Independence Days 2010 Week 21: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010I have no idea where we will be living this fall. The Bay Area is a distinct possibility. Washington D.C. area has emerged as a contender. New York City is in the running. South Carolina is the dark horse. Then again, we might just stay right were we are. Why all the possibilities and what are we thinking…moving with two young children? Primarily, it is the lack of full-time job possibilities for Jeff in Southern California. Jeff wants to teach at a two year or small four year school and in California, secondary education budgets have been slashed. He cannot get a job in Southern California when most schools are laying off rather than hiring. A secondary consideration is that despite our love of Pasadena, our home, and the life we have built here we have concerns about the sustainability of Southern California: the expense of living somewhere where a “starter” home runs $500K* is huge and we are entirely dependent on imported water for our livelihood. I have literally spent dozens of hours over the past month constructing elaborate spreadsheets; budgets, scenarios of raises and furloughs, and commuting vs. rental costs. I agonize over the spreadsheets hoping that technology will “save” me; will make our decision clear. But, just like problems facing the larger world, technology will not give us the answer. We have some hard decisions to make.
Living sustainability means living with a focus on the long term. Lately, it has been hard to think about our life in the long term, when we don’t even know where we will be living in a few months. I look out at my strong tomato plants and wonder, “Will I be standing over a pot of boiling water come August, sweltering in my little kitchen, preserving the bounty of the harvest?” or “Will I be finding my way in a new city, without a job or childcare, but with the excitement of possibility?” I can think about moving until I think about how that means leaving our home here and all we have built. It is my hope that if we do leave, another family take what we have made here and use it to build a more sustainable life for themselves. While I can’t take the dirt with us, I have learned a great deal and that knowledge will come with us to our new home. Life is uncertain, but it is certain that people need to eat. So I weed my beans, plant another crop of melons, carefully guide the blackberry bushes through a trellis. I am not sure who will be eating all this good food but all the effort shall not be for naught.
So, since my last update we’ve:
Plant something (or take care of something you’ve planted):
- Peppers (“Ace Bell”, “Purple Beauty Bell”, “New Mexico Joe E. Parker”, from seedlings)
- Thyme (from seedlings)
- Mint (from seedlings)
- Marigold (from seedlings)
- Watermelon (“Sugar Baby”, from seed)
- Cantaloupe (“Hale’s Best Muskmelon, from seed)
- Pruned and trellised grapes and blackberries.
Harvest something:
- Leeks
- Strawberries (just a few)
Preserve something:
- 4 half-pints of strawberry sauce (canned)
- 7.5 pints of blueberries (canned)
Waste Not:
- Gave away unwanted items for free on craigslist rather than throwing them away to be sent to the landfill.
Want Not:
- Raiding my treasure cabinet for things to keep the boys occupied during Jeff’s absences and our trips to check out possible new locations. The treasure cabinet is filled with stickers, books from the library sale, toys from Goodwill, and new crayons and activity books bought on sale. It has saved my sanity on many occasions.
Eat the food:
- Tried a new recipe for poppy seed cake with lemon frosting. Two thumbs up!
- Eating heavily from our food storage so that we will have less food to move if we decide to do so.
Build community food systems:
- I am now a certified California “food protection manager”. This means I took a class on food safety and passed an exam (with a score of 95%, I might add). This certification was the first step in my teaching food preservation and sustainable cooking classes to the public. I will be teaching the classes at a local “kitchen incubator”, a commercial kitchen for rent to those starting food based small businesses.
*So it is of course with great irony that the two official job offers Jeff has received have been in the Bay Area and in Manhattan – the two places in the country more expensive than Southern California. At least it rains there.