It is so easy to feel despair and pessimism for the future these days. So many awful things are happening on all fronts. Sometimes I go on a news blackout for a couple of days. After all, ignorance is bliss! At least, ignorance allows me some peace of mind from the barrage of bad news.

So it was quite a relief to read several positive articles in yesterday's New York Times (Monday, November 30, 2009).

Those who know me have heard me say, many times, that being outside, in nature or in the garden, working in the soil or with the plants, brings me peace. This is really where I'm most happy and feeling spiritual. So it was with delight that I read the article "After War, Finding Peace and Calm in a Garden". Veterans of America's overseas wars - from Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, the current war in Iraq, and Afghanistan, come home with traumas and injuries the rest of us can barely imagine. Not only that, in many cases, the rest of us non-serving citizens and our government don't always provide the help that these veterans need to overcome the traumas they have experienced in war. I have personally known veterans from some of these conflicts - it ain't easy for them!

At the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Newark, NJ, many vets are finding a kind of peace through gardening. One has even been able to put years of substance abuse behind him and has started a landscaping business using the skills he has learned at the Center's garden. He says
"... being with the plants gives me time to think and meditate, to feel the soil or clay or whatever you're working in. I talk to my plants. Maybe it's crazy, but it's given me a chance to get out, work with others, grow something and do something that's right, not just for myself, but for the whole community.

Patrick Corcoran, a former marine who served in Lebanon said of gardening " It just lowers the volume in my head. It allows me to think on a rational level".

In the same newspaper, on the front page no less, was an article entitled "Tree Harvester Offers to Save Indonesian Forest". This Indonesian forest is a major contender in the sequestering of carbon dioxide. Along with Brazilian rainforests, these areas have the capacity to reduce the pace of climate change brought about by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Asia Pacific Resources International Limited is a huge company that is critical to the health of the Indonesian economy. Nevertheless, the company recognizes the importance of the Kampar Peninsula where one of the world's largest peat bogs lies. The peat bog holds (sequesters) vast quantities of carbon dioxide. If logged and drained, the carbon retained in a stable form in the peat bog, would be released into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Asia Pacific has proposed protecting the peninsula in exchange for receiving carbon credits under a UN program.

A vast international logging corporation volunteering to protect raw land with valuable raw materials? Unheard of! Maybe times are changing and the corporate world is waking up to how relentless search for profits may not be in the planet's best interest. If we don't protect the environment, there will be no resources for any of us, corporate or otherwise.

A little bit of fresh air (no pun intended) in the New York Times.

On another note, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, as I did with my family and friends. We have a terrific tradition here in Bethlehem on Thanksgiving Day. Our friends, Larry and Jen, have for about 20 years hosted a "Pie Breakfast" on Thanksgiving morning. Yes, pies - pecan pies, pumpkin, apple, you name it. It is awesome. This year my contribution was an apple-cranberry pie with a crumb topping. I used a recipe from Gourmet Magazine as a basis but, as always, I adapted it to my own taste with lots of zingy spices to pep up the fruit. It was a huge hit.

After Pie Breakfast, my family goes on to a decadent champagne brunch at Bev and Woody's house. They started this tradition many years ago too. There used to be a real foxhunt in town (thank goodness no one hunts live foxes here anymore) and there used to be a "blessing of the hounds" by the pastor of one of the local churches. A strange ritual, I always thought. After the blessing, people went back to their house for a champagne toast which has morphed into a loaded brunch table with lots of goodies.

Then, we collapse for a few hours, maybe take a walk before dinner. Our dinner was really delicious, even though I say so myself. We ate a lot of stuff from our garden - potatoes, shallots and herbs previously picked and stored; kale, fresh picked. I should have posted my vegetarian recipes BEFORE the holiday. But, stay tuned, I'll post them here in a day or two for use next year, or even for the upcoming holidays in a few weeks.

Happy post-Thanksgiving!