We have roofrats! OK, not really. The new landlords decided we need a new roof, so they informed us late Saturday night via email that the roofers were scheduled to arrive at 7:30AM Monday morning. I’m not wild about the fact that the roofers are scheduled to be here all week as well, especially since…
This is an astonishingly “chewy” book! I’m impressed, as well as greatly enjoying Plumwood’s fascinatingly erudite, logical — and yet, I feel, still thoughtfully spiritual — considerations on ecofeminism. She is, in fact, so logic-oriented that it was initially a bit disconcerting when her writing was also richly metaphorical. It’s always a pleasure to discover…
Being a child of the US, I’ve only seen online, rather than face-to-face, the types of deeply vicious and misogynistic attacks which Maathai describes: [C]ertain people were jealous and wanted me to be taught a lesson and put in my place. They took pleasure in what they perceived as my comeuppance. The message was clear:…
There is a phrase that’s apparently become popular on Twitter conversations where someone wishes to point out unconscious privilege: they state that the issue under discussion is an FWP, or “First World Problem.” Reading Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed: A Memoir, I found myself often reflecting with bleak amusement that all the issues I’ve ever faced —…
Journaling for the ecofeminism class! :) Regarding how the plans for the yard go, and my place in nature: I’ve put up two bird feeders — one for hummingbirds and one for seed eaters — out front as I continue to map out what changes and/or additions I intend for the yard. The seed eaters…
I dedicated most of this week to (amongst other things) catching up on the readings for this class, so I could start on the required reflection paper as soon as possible. Here are the readings to date for all those intellectual sadists who are following along: Chapter 1 of Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber & Patricia Lina…
I think what has astonished me the most this week is how (sometimes unwittingly?) destructive humans are. I had time to muse on this as I was wandering around the yard picking up all the various bits of trash strewn hither and yon. Not only was there an absolutely astonishing amount of garbage — and…
Okay, this posting is going to be a not-so-quick recap of stuff I want to keep track of for my yard work, and I’ll keep adding to it as I learn more stuff to do. I’ll work more on the compost idea later; for now, some very useful URLs: the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for…
Susan Griffin’s ecofeminist book Woman & Nature: The Roaring Inside Her is considered ground-breaking in the field. Written in 1978 in a poetic and then-uniquely female “voice,” it was one of the first — if not the actual first — text which traced a clear textual-historical connection between patriarchal use/abuse, and conflation, of women and…
Here are the handful of photos I took of my “Place in Nature” for my Ecofeminism independent study class: my front yard before I’ve tried to make it any healthier. I’ll post more photos as things get better! ;)