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Every Little Thing is Gonna Be All Right

don’t worry… about a thing…

’cause every little thing is gonna be all right

-Bob Marley, Three Little Birds

When I was in college, I had a good buddy. Totally non-romantic. We’ll call him Bryan, because that was his name 🙂

Bryan was awesome. He could run a 4 minute mile. He was ROTC and ridiculously strong. He was whipsmart and eternally good-natured.

He was always up for whatever utter nonsense I would suggest— I’d say, “Hey! You know what we should do?” and Bry would go “YES! Let’s DO IT!” and we would. Never a moment of hesitation. Not once did he ever tell me “that’s dumb” or “I’ve got better things to do.” Dress up like superheroes and walk around campus asking if anyone needed saving? Sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

I’ve never known anyone then or since that was such a pillar of strength, and optimism, and perfect faith. With Bryan there was no halfway, no pussyfootin’ around. If we wanted to do it, we could. Period.

As lovely as Bry sounds, he had his off days. (I had them too, only quite a bit more often.) And whenever we’d get discouraged or mad or sad, Bryan would load up Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” on his CD player and play it. At top volume. On repeat.

And we would sing along, at the very tipytop of our lungs, shouting into each other’s faces… until we believed it. And everything was all right.

It sounds dumb. It worked every time.

“Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”
Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!”

Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, “This is my message to you-ou-ou.”

I haven’t seen or really even thought about Bryan in years and years. I’m sure he’s got a family of his own now, telling them constantly with perfect faith that if they can think it, they can achieve it: with such enthusiasm and conviction and strength that they believe it. Damn, I hope they all know how lucky they are.

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This past Sunday I ran out to the co-op with my son Maverick, and I heard “Three Little Birds” on the radio for the first time in forever.

And on the way back, flipping through the stations, I heard it again.

Hearing it twice in such a short time— maybe a space of ten minutes— made it all came flooding back, all these old memories. And I felt really, really GOOD. Better than I have in a long time.

I came home and played the songs a few times for my kids. I set it as my alarm on my iHome. Such an easy way to stay happy! It’s impossible to wake up grumpy now.

Hey, thanks, BryBry, wherever you are. I can’t believe you’re still bolstering my good spirits after all these years.

Who still lifts you up when you’re down?

Who have you lost touch with, that still touches your life?

What song always makes you happy?

February 22, 2011
Breakin’ the Law: I’m a (Sub)Urban Homesteader
I was not designed to be forced.

I will breathe after my own fashion.

Let us see who is the strongest.

-Henry David Thoreau,
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Actually, I’m not even suburban, I’m really borderline rural, but that’s beyond the point.

Some people I’ve never heard of before, the Dervaes family in Pasadena, has trademarked the phrases “urban homestead” and “urban homesteading,” and apparently going after bloggers who use the terms.

In addition to URBAN HOMESTEADING® and URBAN HOMESTEAD®, the terms PATH TO FREEDOM®, HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION®, and FREEDOM GARDENS® have been claimed by Dervaes trademark machine.

Now, see, I was under the impression that these were common terms, going back to war effort Victory Gardens. I thought it was part of Michelle Obama’s healthy eating initiative. I thought it was an umbrella that, historically, communities had formed under.

Why would the Dervaes seek to take that umbrella away?

It doesn’t make any sense to me. Bloggers who literally wrote the book on The Urban Homestead, who were the inspiration for many to build themselves a self-sustainable lifestyle— why would they work to disenfranchise those they had inspired in the first place? Those who stand together and share their experiences in an effort to make the world better?

Who does that?

What precisely is an urban homestead, anyway? According to Wikipedia:
“an urban homestead is a household that produces a significant part of the food, including produce and livestock, consumed by its residents. This is typically associated with residents’ desire to live in a more environmentally conscious manner.”

Aspects of urban homesteading include:
- Resource reduction: use of solar/alternative energy sources, harvesting rainwater, greywater use, line drying clothes, using alternative transportation such as bicycles and buses
- Raising animals, such as chickens, goats, rabbits, and fish, as well as worms and/or bees
- Edible landscaping: growing fruit, vegetables, culinary and medicinal plants, converting lawns into gardens
- Self-sufficient living: re-using, repairing, and recycling items; homemade products
- Food preservation including canning, drying, freezing, cheese-making, and lacto-fermenting
- Community food-sourcing such as foraging, gleaning, and trading
- Natural building
- Composting
Ruh-roh. My husband hasn’t allowed me my chickens or goats yet, but we’ve got that worm farm. We garden as many herbs and vegetables as the deer will leave for us to harvest. We reuse and repair like our lives and wallets depend on it. We recycle, upcycle, and make ourselves. I’m still a little scared by canning but we do plenty of freezing. And we’re double-dealing with the composting; in addition to the worm bin we’ve got a straight-up compost heap happening in the backyard.

So, it looks like we fall under the umbrella of the (sub)urban homestead. Are we in trouble?

Of course not, they can’t trademark our way of life. All they can do is try to take away our efforts to align ourselves with a community that values the same ethic. You can be an Urban Homesteader, you’re just not allowed to SAY you’re one without giving credit to the Dervaes, even if you’re seeking to align yourself with a movement that began decades before.

They’ve very generously (that’s sarcasm, folks) mentioned that formerly urban homesteaders can now brand themselves as Modern Homesteaders, which really burns my britches because that’s not what we are AT ALL. What we are is trying to relearn the ways generations before us lived, to fit the skills and environmental responsibility and independence and connection to the land of times gone by to the reality of the world we live in now. That’s, like, the opposite of modern. It’s retro.

This whole business is like me saying, I’m an Asian mother. I know a bunch of ya’ll are Asian mothers too, but I wrote the book on being an Asian mother in a very specific way (let’s pretend I wrote a book called On Being an Asian Mother ). Now, it doesn’t matter if ya’ll are Asian mothers or not, I trademarked the commonly used, descriptive term, so you gotta call yourselves something else. May I suggest Oriental Matriarch? It’s pretty much the same thing.

ONLY IT’S NOT. It’s a bunch of BS, and you can quote me on that.

Do you consider yourself an Urban Homesteader? Can a lifestyle be trademarked?

Let me know if you’ve written about this today, as it’s the Urban Homesteaders Day of Action. I’d love to hear your take.

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February 21, 2011
The 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count: Feb 18-21

Downy woodpecker

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

-e e cummings

If it looks like a duck,

and quacks like a duck,

we have to at least consider the possibility

that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.

-Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

It’s here! It’s here!

I look forward every year to the Great Backyard Bird Count. It’s an opportunity for me to combine so many of my geeky favorites— birds, hiking, photography, field guides, counting, graphs— and for a good cause, too.

The GBBC is a four-day “citizen scientist” bird counting extravaganza across the country. Amateur birdwatchers can go out “in the field,” or cozily watch from their kitchen window. You’re only obligated to count for 15 minutes, but you can go all day if you’re cool like that.

It’s a great way to get kids outside and quietly attuned to nature as they listen for bird calls, or active and running around looking for birds in trees and bushes. It’s also a chance to sneak in a little extra education as you encourage them to use their field guides, sketch any birds not easily identified (I’m looking at you, sparrow species) for researching later on the internet, and then graphing and submitting your results.

sparrow

sparrow

another sparrow

After you’re done, you can print out a certificate for the fridge.

Your bird count numbers are entered into a national database which updates in real time, painting a picture of exactly where and how big bird populations of each type are. This helps scientists determine all kinds of stuff, like which species are declining, whether this year’s migration is happening earlier or later, and what birds prefer what sorts of areas.

This year will be particularly interesting as we determine whether all those weird bird die-offs that happened a few weeks back had any impact on overall numbers.

tufted titmouse

carolina wren

crow

We’ll definitely be seeing everybody pictured here (except the duck, who I photographed at Disney but couldn’t resist including when I came across the Douglas Adams quote in my notebook), probably along with robins, cardinals, chickadees, finches, mourning doves, grackles, cowbirds, towhees, juncos, blue jays, pileated woodpeckers and a stray raptor or turkey vulture. (Owls we hear but rarely actually see. Too early yet for bluebirds or hummingbirds.)

It’s amazing how much life is bustling all around you, all the time.

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I read earlier this week that a mayor in California is planning to broadcast birdsong through public speakers along Main Street. “Why? Because scientists tell us that if you use bird sounds, Cortisol level drops, your feeling of security enhances. Exposure to it 15 minutes a day will make you happier people.”

At first glance, this seems like a little too much clucking around for me. There’s birds everywhere, is it really necessary to amplify them? But then, I live in a rural area, and there’s not too much noise competing for my attention. And the pigeons that score the prime real estate in urban areas aren’t prodigious songsters like my wrens.

I’m curious to see if he follows through with his experiment, whether levels of depression and crime rates drop.

I propose you try your own experiment: lie down comfortably and count how many different bird calls you can pick out in a 15 minute period. You will all be wiggily at first; stick it out. See if your happiness is affected.

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Have I talked you into it? You in?

You can print out a tally sheet of common birds by region here.

Some pre-game kids’ activities are here (listen to bird calls, printable coloring sheets, etc).

I really like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site for post-game bird identification.

Another nice idea is to jack your odds by putting out a bird feeder. This post has some easy homemade feeder ideas; there’s always the bird feeder made from a milk jug, milk carton or soda bottle; or you can just put out a plate with some bird seed on it. Make sure you sanitize it afterwards.

UPDATE: The Crafty Crow has a TON of super-cute bird-feeder ideas on her blog today.

You can input your data here (click on the birdy!)

Have a great weekend!

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Lolli @ Better in Bulk invited me to play along with their weekly meme.

Go link up your photo post!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

February 17, 2011