global chilling

this morning, during zazen (where else), a phrase pops up- global chilling. chilling as in the opposite of warming but also in the sense of relaxation. relax is from the latin laxus meaning loose. beyond the physical sense, to relax is to loosen, to let go of ideas and opinions, one of the, if not the goal of zazen. i googled it of course and a bunch of references to al gore's jan 2004 ny speech on a bitterly cold day popped up. a global chilling movement might not be a bad idea- relax oneself and save the planet. it's imperative to create a counter culture sort of like the slow food movement.

with a little effort, it has been possible to eliminate a lot of wasteful stuff, starting from home. our local co-op stocks pretty much everything in bulk including moisturizers, olive oil, liquid soap, and shampoos besides the de rigeur granolae, grains, pastas, soup mixes and spices. we have started making yogurt from milk sold in glass bottles, eliminating the plastic tubs. after all there is a limit to the spices that can be stored in yogurt containers. veggies go directly sans the plastic wrap into canvas bags. of course there is still a long way to go starting from eliminating most toxic packaged chemical based stuff we have become dependent on to making more serious life style changes. colin beavan aka no impact man , whose blog is one of my favourites has done some amazing work in proving that these principles can be followed in an urban setting (downtown manhattan, to be precise). of course its a continuum and one has to draw the line somewhere- do i want to hand wash (or leg stomp, to be precise) clothes in my washtub? maybe not. can i take my mug/water bottle and canvas bag everywhere? easily. can i eliminate car usage? sometimes yes sometimes no.

on a related theme, visited my friends t and e who live near spring valley MN. they live on a farm about 25 miles from rochester and run a csa , which i was part of this past summer-fall. they believe in treading lightly on the earth and are off the grid i.e do not have electricity on their farm. their ox hercules helps out when he is in the mood. they just built a solar kitchen this summer, which will be inaugurated this coming spring. on the photo, you can see their wood burning stove range on the right and in the back to the left is a victrola- yes, the good old gramaphone player which you have to wind the crank on the right side to play. entering their living room is like stepping into late 19th century- kerosene lamps, candles, antiques, hand pumps. we had dinner, played scrabble, read to their kids (aged 7 and 9, who are home schooled, already speak german and have had will durant's work read to) all under the warm glow of candles and kerosene lamps whilst their fireplace and their hospitality exuded warmth.