Being

There is a time to take it easy. One doesn't always need to be doing something. Sit back and rest on your laurels.

Our species has come a long way. It's good to pay attention to all the things that are not good in the world; but, for a balanced perspective, it's good to recognize both the wonderful and the terrible things we human beings have been and are engaged in. I know enough of the rotten things we have done to each other to choose at this time to emphasize the positive.

There was a time when those living in this part of the planet got eaten by big cats, cougars or panthers or mountain lions. Not much of a worry now.

We in the Pittsburgh area once got maybe one third of our food from the waters - rivers, creeks, ponds, marshes. Clams, fish, oysters, water snakes, crayfish, turtles,... Now we get the majority of our fish, for instance, from fish farms - both in open ocean and in contained water systems on land.

We get a huge amount of food from microbial processes - yogurt, bread, buttermilk, sour cream, cottage cheese, kefir, sauerkraut and pickles (if it's REAL sauerkraut and pickles, made the traditional way), cheese (REAL cheese, not American cheese, which is processed without microorganisms), tofu (REAL tofu, not what most Americans know as tofu, which isn't fermented and so isn't as healthy as the original tofu which took soybean curd and - like making cheese - let it ferment into curds),...

Fish often used to be fermented also, by the way:

"...Fermented fish: A traditional preparation of fish. Before refrigeration, canning and other modern preservation techniques became available, fermenting was an important preservation method..."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fermented_foods
This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In thi...


Today, many are finding new ways to obtain the health benefits of traditional ways. The bacteria humans co-evolved with (e.g. via milked soured accidentally - refrigeration having been invented only recently) are some of the same ones in both the human stomach and healthy soils. People are now taking pro-biotic supplements and consuming foods such as yogurt which add friendly bacteria for healthy digestive and immune systems, rather than taking anti-biotics which kill the bad "bugs" but end up accidentally ENCOURAGING diseases such as those caused by antibiotic-resistant microorganisms.

The life in soil - earthworms and other creatures both larger and smaller - has often been described as Nature's digestive system, recycling nutrients back into the other plants, animals and microorganisms.

Our society I think is too often stuck on the idea that we've always got to be DOING something. We engage in so much useless and even destructive activity out of fear - fear of not having enough money, for instance. At this time of year, with the weather so often about just right, it IS time to take it easy. Let's stop blaming each other and feeling like we always have to down each other to justify ourselves.

Let's take it easy on ourselves. Just be.