Read.Eat.Listen: Regeneration

I was dismayed, heartened, inspired and confused by the latest report by the UN on Climate Change. Dismayed that things are as bad as they are; heartened that experts are not shying away from the truth; inspired by the possibilities for taking action and confused at how and where to start on the individual level. The upshot is, of course, there's no more time to waste when it comes to taking action to slow climate change and no more excuses to be made: climate change is a man-made problem. We've a couple more decades, if that, to halt or slow the crisis. This lifetime. Right now. Where to begin when the problems — from fossil fuel use, to fracking, to plastics in the ocean, to rampant development —  have such momentum? Fortunately, there are many people on it. Now it's our turn to listen and believe that what we do today affects tomorrow and  that the affect can be beneficial. Toward that end, I've been so encouraged to see all the footage of hatching Peregrines from the 'nest-cams' set up around the Bay Area. By the 1970s, the Peregrine was an Endangered Species, a victim of rampant pesticide use, but with diligent efforts by biologists and a ban on DDT use, the falcon population recovered. Thirty years of combined legislation and action works. Now look at them go: 

Read: Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior, a takes on climate change in novel form. "Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths." 
Plus, this article: UN Climate Report Charts Ways to Halt Global Warming

Eat: An afternoon snack at Piccino in Dogpatch the other day entailed a spring soup made with butter beans. Butter Beans, or Fava Beans, are those large, lovely kidney shaped beans that look engineered for presentation possibilities. They're also yummy. I've got my eye on this easy breezy spring salad of Fava Beans with Red Onion and Mint.

Listen: I've been on an Over the Rhine jag most of the year, I admire The Lone Bellow and I've been a fan of eTown since the 90s when I lived in Boulder and watched many a live taping. So I was delighted to see this Over the Rhine/Lone Bellow/eTones rendition of Slip Sliding Away. Beauty. Yes.

Townes & Tunes

"We all got holes to fill/And them holes are all that's real/Some fall on you like a storm/Sometimes you dig your own/The choice is yours to make/Time is yours to take/Some dive into the sea/Some toil upon the stone/Well, to live's to fly awe low and high/So shake the dust off of your wings/And the sleep out of your eye/Awe, shake the dust off of your wings/And the tears out of your eye" — Townes Van Zandt, "To Live is to Fly"

One of the lifetimes ago, while living in Boulder, CO, I attended a live recording of etown, the environmental & musical variety show that airs on NPR stations across the land, and saw one of those truly great, late and flawed artists, Townes Van Zandt perform. Looking older than his age, (then not-yet-50 years), he moved a bit slow and seemed almost shy on stage. At the time, the live etown broadcasts at the Boulder Theater were cheap to attend: the show was fairly young and rough around the edges (as was I) but my equally young (and now ex) husband and I used attend as often possible, regardless of who was playing, as much because it was something we could afford. We soon realized that our few dollars were worth every cent. Co-host Nick Forster, a fine musician in and of himself, books great acts sandwiched between environmental information and special-guest interviews, and I would see memorable turns by Ani DiFranco, Bruce Cockburn, Richard Thompson, Jane Siberry and The Crash Test Dummies. However, I was ignorant of Van Zandt before seeing him on the etown stage. So I didn't know what to make of the skinny, possibly inebriated, musician who, nonetheless, was afforded great patience by etown's cast and crew. I don't remember what he played (and sadly, the etown show archive has a big gap between 1991-2000 which more than covers my years in Boulder!), but Van Zandt got in with me that night, despite my ignorance and my judgement. Weakened by years of substance abuse, he would die within a few years of the show. Since then, of course, I've realized that many my heroes and heroines of the music world have routinely covered his songbook: Lucinda Williams' version of 'Nothin,' EmmyLou's as well as Willie Nelson's oft-heard versions of "Pancho & Lefty," and how fortunate I was to see&hear him in the flesh. Another album of covers of Van Zandt, "Townes," by another influential troubadour, and friend, of Van Zandt's, Steve Earle arrived in the mail yesterday. Listening anew, I'm reminded how powerful a good & true song can be.