Thank you, Antonia. Having only subscribed about a year ago I have not read your earlier posts and will look forward to the pleasure. And it is always a delight to hear your voice. I much prefer it to that laden voice that rolls around my head when I'm trying to sleep. Thank you for the much needed interlude. And I love the photos. They are testament to why photography is often referred to as painting with light.
The local media here in the Treasure Valley are giddy today as they report on the grand opening of Idaho's first ever In-N-Out Burger joint. Extra police have been hired to direct the anticipated onslaught of rabid consumers happily idling in their motor vehicles. A group of hungry patriots was photographed camping overnight on a nearby strip of concrete so that they might be one of the first in line. A nearby shopping center has paved four previously vacant lots to allow "stacking" (whatever that is) of the endless lines of cars and trucks expected to clog adjoining driveways and roadways. A gentleman from California (where the chain originated) has driven 800 miles to take part in this iconic frenzy of mindless consumerism and carefully cultivated brand identity. At long last, Idaho has arrived! At long last, we have deliriously thrown ourselves on board the progress train! Private vice unleashed for public benefit! Hooray for us!
Sometime soon I might wander off alone and co-imagine the future with a stand of trees, or with a river, or with a twinkling star, or perhaps with my dear old friend, silence.
Good lord. I don't think I've ever had an In-N-Out burger. I didn't realize it was such a huge thing! We have a Five Guys here, where my kids enjoy the fries sometimes, but I don't think it had such a huge draw. On the other hand, the Chik-Fil-A did have huge lines at its opening, which is maybe even worse, knowing their very outspoken right-wing politics.
There's a new book out by Betsy Gaines Quammen called "True West" that's about the west and identity and extremism. I don't think I learned anything new from it, but she spent a lot of time in Idaho and the general aspirational Redoubt area talking with people. Reading it sent me straight back out into the woods and yearning for a river. I can understand why anyone would just want to run away from it all.
I've always hated the expression "your camera takes great pictures". This Substack captures your introspection and inspiration consistently and I always love your photos. They complement your story and that is not easy. That is why it is rare I guess.
Coming to this a day late. I saved it until my post was done and I could give it my full attention.
I just love the voiceover. I'm glad you're planning to continue those.
“Co-imagine the future with the people hurt by the present.”
That's a pretty wide net. It's almost easier to count those who are not. I love it. It's a wonderfully inclusive way to phrase it. It centers those hurt the most, and no one is excluded.
I kind of thought that, too! There are many who are perpetuating harms, and intentionally causing harm, but when I inquire of my most compassionate self (and take a little of Riane Eisler's words within me), I know they've been harmed, too. My commitment can be with those being harmed most without dehumanizing anyone else.
I'm glad you like the voiceover. It's so tempting to just keep rambling instead of actually reading the essay. 😂 It's more fun to chat.
I can't not think about that whenever I reference something that I've previously written. I honestly don't remember much about the rest of the movie, just that perfect scene.
That light....is just everything. I love those long shadows, the way that the slanted light speaks to me of poetry (I see you Emily Dickinson) and of quiet, and of deference. Co-imagine a future with the people who are hurt in the present is going to become something that I suspect is going to stay in mind each time I read the news and my rage begins to erupt at the cruelty we inflict on others--whether human, animal, or whatever other ridiculous hierarchical categories we insist on ascribing to what makes up this world. Thanks for sharing that--and those pictures of snowy blue grey light. 💙
I am sure you have much of that snowy blue-grey light where you are, too. ☺️ And that seems a good guideline to keep in mind whenever I run across the news, whether it's horrors happening halfway across the world, or injustices right where I live, of which there are plenty. I guess it's a flip-side of "look for the helpers," isn't it?
Oooooo East India Company! I'm about to finish The Anarchy by William Dalrymple. It's taken me ages to finish it. It's so well written, but it's also so heavy.. I have an audio passage marked for recording to post. It's some of the best writing I've read!
I have not read that book but I saw you mention it elsewhere! This piece was based on a long article about EIC I read, though when revising it I should really bring in more sources. I hear you about heavy and well-written! Most of the books I read for research take me ages to get through. They're worth it but I'm slow at them. Unless it's someone like Amitav Ghosh, who manages to inform while being very engaging at the same time.
I am here for all of it - the building of the future together, taking land and its beauty more seriously, to stop and admire the impermanence of it all - alongside you Nia. 💜
¨It’s hard to believe this river was a Superfund site not that long ago, that its waters were siphoned off and temporarily drained to allow a massive cleanup from a century of contamination from the rail yard.¨
I am maybe 300 yards from a cleanup site, an old factory. They put up soccer fields, which OK - I guess nobody wants to live there or they don´t want anybody to live there?
¨I imagine each of us walks with that idea very differently. What do those words mean in your own life?¨
Which people? To fix things carbon dioxide-related you have to build better things, but we have the usual equilibrium: the people against building anything ever and the people dead set on keeping everything exactly the same, especially the bits that produce the carbon dioxide.
I was told (by a friend who happens to be very righty) that at COP they were proposing balloons to capture cow farts. If so, I said, that was likely put forward by people who wish to continuing pumping carbon dioxide, or rather, as much methane as possible for burning. (It was held in Dubai.) Also, fixing pipe leaks would be expensive. So: balloons for cow farts, and coal for Chinese-produced solar panels because it would immoral for anybody to buy the solar panels produced by other nations because free trade. Etc. A whole lot of BSing to make it look like certain people are Very Concerned while they do absolutely nothing and do their best to make sure nobody else does anything about the problem.
So, yeah, which people?
¨May you and the weather find peace with each other, wherever you are.¨
It´s been super cold for around here, and then actually warmish , and then a whole lotta damp, but I will continue working in it (which is why I am behind).
elm
roasting a chicken - possibly some staring into space and then more work
“Which people” was exactly what I was thinking when I wrote that question but I didn’t want to lead anyone else’s thoughts so I’m glad you brought it up. I think that’s about as important as clarifying our own values. It feeds into the whole concept of property rights, too, because in order to have any workable idea of them, and of “takings,” you have to agree on a definition of harm and so much damage happens because we don’t.
But I’m, um distracted by the cow fart balloons? What the what?
I lost a bunch of potatoes to this early freeze-rain cycle, once again, but this time I had them separated out under cloths, so at least only lost the few that were affected, not all. I’ll keep experimenting but more importantly am eating them as fast as possible. Surprisingly, the fingerlings have done the best and they’re not meant to keep very long at all!
1) That´s what I was thinking about ¨property rights¨ all along. What with the concept (in America) emerging from the collision of feudalism, merchant work and royal prerogatives, it´s bound to to screw everyone who isn´t connected to power. The problem, as always, is how the hell do you replace it? There´s a whole lot of land that could be returned to Native Americans and that SHOULD be returned, but the usual suspects lose their minds at the idea because ¨property rights¨ are for well-connected white people. Actually existing property rights are only available if you can afford to defend them by purchasing expensive lawyers. ¨Property rights¨ seem to function to create a series of tiny fortresses that must be defended because they´re constantly under attack.
In the town context I was talking about, the town has no sidewalks (but it does have bike lanes thanks to the Federal money), the street system could be improved to make the traffic work a lot better (the traffic is HERE), but under the guise of protecting nature, there is comparatively little development in town. We have the urban traffic but not the urban development and forget walkability. It´s slowly being filled in with houses. All the development is occurring outside of town where they tear down a lot of trees to build McMansions. Worst of both worlds scenario. It´s good if you own an existing house: your house is accruing paper value.
It was a thing in 2014. Apparently (???) they brought it up (???) at COP in Dubai. The whole Dubai thing was BS given that it was hosted in Dubai, so I wouldn´t be surprised if someone went off about the cow fart backpacks so as to avoid talking about pipeline leaks and the stopping of them. (Or maybe that was Fox recycling something from 2014.) At any rate, I just checked: Al Gore thinks the whole conference is close to failure, Saudi Arabia is perhaps holding the talks hostage &c &c. The Euros want some more talks. Anything anyone wants done in this in this space is going to have to be done country by country, I expect.
3) You don´t have a cold cellar of some kind for the potatoes? Urm. They should last a pretty long time, albeit getting more wrinkly over time. So: potatoes casseroles, mashed, steamed, vichyssoise (surely!), soup with lots of potatoes, stew and so on. But yeah, the fingerings being the tastiest is no surprise? Which breeds are you using, and have you seen or been able to get the weirder potato seeds from South America? (No way in hell to grow potatoes here, so I haven´t looked in some time.)
4) I will post the post the roast chicken. I am not so hot at using Notes.
"Actually existing property rights are only available if you can afford to defend them by purchasing expensive lawyers." Pretty much. I think that's one huge thing that loud defenders of private property don't realize. People lose their property, or rights on it, all the time, if someone with more money or clout wants it (like through eminent domain that benefits a pipeline company or a developer).
That town street and development situation sounds interesting, and long-term difficult to maintain? Or at least expensive. Suburbs are expensive. Chuck Marohn, the Strong Towns guy and chagrined traffic engineer, says that for most suburbs it takes 100 years for a municipality to recoup from taxes the initial infrastructure investment. Even if you only care about an economic perspective, and of course I care about a lot more than that, it's horribly unsustainable.
Sadly, no. There are a lot of basements in our town but they don't work very well--high water table, a lot of sump pumps--and we don't have one. We're on a slab foundation. Last year I kept the potatoes in the garage but the freeze-thaw cycle was too intense. This year I've got them in paper bags in a space that's about 45 degrees. But my real strategy is to get all of the 3 families involved to eat them as quickly as possible.
It's illegal to import seed potatoes into Montana (diseases), so I get mine from this local-ish company: https://irisheyesgardenseeds.com
This year I grew Montana, Yukon Gold, Dark Red Norland, Russian fingerlings, and two varieties of Russets. The Yukon Gold and fingerlings did the best.
(5000 years behind. I had to go to a funeral yesterday. Sigh.)
1) Property rights and claims are only absolute for rich people, which is very feudal of them. Of course then they pay assorted people to defend property as absolute, except not. I have annoyed various people with endless repetitions of the statement that behind all the verbiage, the political stance amounts to merely MORE MONEY FOR RICH PEOPLE. Not seeing how I'm wrong.
2) It's weird. They just sort of plop houses down in random places next to two-laners, and then you have to just try and get around. Then built two new bridges - wide enough for three lanes but not three lanes, so the most minor booboo backs traffic for a mile or two. Unfortunately there's only those bridges to get in and out. Of course cars are the only way to get around. They aren't reducing pollution with only two lanes, just increasing it at rush hour and of course by effectively encouraging people to live outside town. This makes sense somewhere.
3) Yeah, OK. That makes sense! In 45 degrees they should last for a couple of months. OK, next year slightly fewer potatoes and more of ... something else? Turnips? Parsnips? I guess you can't do winter crops because of all the snow? Greenhouse?
4) Yeah. So no one has imported some weird potato seedlings under licence to develop/grow native versions? Surely someone has done this in Idaho? Yeah, I would expect Yukon Gold to do well. (I do almost exclusively cherry tomatoes now - those are least likely to be eaten before they're ready.)
1) 100%. It is so exhausting to constantly be trying to discuss this with people who still believe in free-market-whatevering and trickle-down tricksters. You're not wrong.
2) That sounds like one of the most confusing land use planning/road engineering situations I've heard of? I'm not sure it makes sense anywhere except on a real estate agent's property valuation sheet.
3) Turnips and parsnips maybe? I like salad turnips, so they're nice in spring. Yeah, no winter crops. We were meant to build a greenhouse this year but got sidetracked by another project. I should plant fewer potatoes but on the other hand they go fast if people remember they're there! More beets. The beets did well this year, thanks to your advice, but only about half the seeds sprouted. (I buy those from FedCo and most of the seeds seem good but these ones were maybe not great.)
4) I think Irish Eyes does a lot of varieties, but those are the ones I buy partly because I always forget until spring and a lot of stuff is sold out. But I also find things like purple potatoes kind of tasteless. The ones we get have so far been pretty good! I love fingerlings. The russets haven't grown so well but maybe it's still all that clay soil we're working on building up.
I don't even bother planting cherry tomatoes anymore. I let one plant go to seed a few years ago and now I get hundreds of volunteers. Love it! And agree--my stepmother plants some other tomatoes, but they get eaten or frozen before they're ready usually.
What comes to mind is a really cool collaborative in my city to reimagine and co-create the future of our major urban highway. When it was built it cut off the city from the Hudson River and also cut off an immigrant and Black majority neighborhood from the rest of the city. Many other injustices followed suit, and today’s Albany Riverfront Collaborative is prioritizing the voices and leadership of those hurt by the present highway. Thanks for this post!
I’m so glad to hear that! (The collaborative and whose needs are being prioritized, not the original harm.) I wrote about these highways in my book, using the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul as the main example. It’s been very interesting seeing which cities are trying to dismantle those highways and repair the damage done (not always both), and which are doubling down on highway expansion. And to really think about what kinds of legacy infrastrucutre we’re building now that future generations will want to dismantle. Thank you for reading and for telling me about Albany! When I first started writing about walking we were living in Orange County, NY, just south of Newburgh.
"… it’s a reminder of how precious it all is, how easily these gifts are used up and discarded. Yet with a change in perception and a clarification of what we value, it’s just as easy to respect and care for them. The more people I listen to, the more it’s clear how many yearn for a reality that reflects those values. They just want to know how to get there."
All true Antonia, and I agree.
I don't like being a buzzkill, but this is where we all are right now:
"It's still underway in Dubai with the outcome, so far at least, looking somewhat underwhelming. If only to suggest the urgency of its tasks, the UN Environment Programme unveiled a chilling report, which seems to have had little exposure beyond here. The authors concluded:
Close to $7 trillion is invested globally each year in activities that have a direct negative impact on nature from both public and private sector sources—equivalent to roughly 7% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)…. In 2022, investments in nature-based solutions totaled approximately $200 billion, but finance flows to activities directly harming nature were more than 30 times larger.
“Nature-based solutions are dramatically underfunded," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. Government spending on environmentally harmful subsidies in four sectors—agriculture, fossil fuels, fishery, and forestry—is estimated at $1.7 trillion in 2022."
Yeah. I wasn’t expecting much better, but half-glancing at headlines from COP has been enough. And things like Canada’s pipeline, mining, and tar sands policies, which have changed pretty much not at all for the better in my memory.
I’m never sure what’s helpful to say about any of it. It’s not just a train wreck that’s already happening, it’s one that’s got a bunch of other trains barrelling toward it. Hence my general lack of optimism. It’s a fair question to ask what I think anybody is building for, or for whom. Looking around where I live, I don’t like the answer of what’s left, and who has power locally, as larger institutions begin failing on a larger scale. If there’s anything left at all, it’ll be found in resilient communities, ones that have figured out how to work together at least on a basic level, and that start scaling back their own investments in unsustainable development (like suburbs, whose infrastructure needs are long-term unaffordable) and fully learn to live in relationship with their local environment. And to take care of one another, and plan for the needs of people who will, and do, need help.
Sometimes when I’m driving around Montana, most of what I think about is which roads are still going to be seeing reliable upkeep 30 years from now.
And yet what a beautiful day today, snowing thickly as we greeted various Christmas tree options in the woods near Tally Lake …
Thank you, Antonia. Having only subscribed about a year ago I have not read your earlier posts and will look forward to the pleasure. And it is always a delight to hear your voice. I much prefer it to that laden voice that rolls around my head when I'm trying to sleep. Thank you for the much needed interlude. And I love the photos. They are testament to why photography is often referred to as painting with light.
The local media here in the Treasure Valley are giddy today as they report on the grand opening of Idaho's first ever In-N-Out Burger joint. Extra police have been hired to direct the anticipated onslaught of rabid consumers happily idling in their motor vehicles. A group of hungry patriots was photographed camping overnight on a nearby strip of concrete so that they might be one of the first in line. A nearby shopping center has paved four previously vacant lots to allow "stacking" (whatever that is) of the endless lines of cars and trucks expected to clog adjoining driveways and roadways. A gentleman from California (where the chain originated) has driven 800 miles to take part in this iconic frenzy of mindless consumerism and carefully cultivated brand identity. At long last, Idaho has arrived! At long last, we have deliriously thrown ourselves on board the progress train! Private vice unleashed for public benefit! Hooray for us!
Sometime soon I might wander off alone and co-imagine the future with a stand of trees, or with a river, or with a twinkling star, or perhaps with my dear old friend, silence.
Good lord. I don't think I've ever had an In-N-Out burger. I didn't realize it was such a huge thing! We have a Five Guys here, where my kids enjoy the fries sometimes, but I don't think it had such a huge draw. On the other hand, the Chik-Fil-A did have huge lines at its opening, which is maybe even worse, knowing their very outspoken right-wing politics.
There's a new book out by Betsy Gaines Quammen called "True West" that's about the west and identity and extremism. I don't think I learned anything new from it, but she spent a lot of time in Idaho and the general aspirational Redoubt area talking with people. Reading it sent me straight back out into the woods and yearning for a river. I can understand why anyone would just want to run away from it all.
A recent news update: the drive-through now has a wait time of "up to eight hours."
It's hard to know what to say. I tremble when I realize that these people actually vote.
That is just all around horrifying, every aspect of it.
Words as eloquent as the photos are beautiful...
!!! :)
I've always hated the expression "your camera takes great pictures". This Substack captures your introspection and inspiration consistently and I always love your photos. They complement your story and that is not easy. That is why it is rare I guess.
That is incredibly kind of you, Mark, thank you!
Coming to this a day late. I saved it until my post was done and I could give it my full attention.
I just love the voiceover. I'm glad you're planning to continue those.
“Co-imagine the future with the people hurt by the present.”
That's a pretty wide net. It's almost easier to count those who are not. I love it. It's a wonderfully inclusive way to phrase it. It centers those hurt the most, and no one is excluded.
I kind of thought that, too! There are many who are perpetuating harms, and intentionally causing harm, but when I inquire of my most compassionate self (and take a little of Riane Eisler's words within me), I know they've been harmed, too. My commitment can be with those being harmed most without dehumanizing anyone else.
I'm glad you like the voiceover. It's so tempting to just keep rambling instead of actually reading the essay. 😂 It's more fun to chat.
I enjoy the rambling too!
🫠
Your strolls seem nice.
I'm lucky to have them. ☺️
They keep us sane!
I hear walking's good for you. I read it in a book somewhere. 😂
Did you just Dr. Leo Marvin me? https://youtu.be/rCVBOfoCTNo?si=ytPNS8osfZMbupUS
😂
I’ve never seen that. That’s hilarious!
I can't not think about that whenever I reference something that I've previously written. I honestly don't remember much about the rest of the movie, just that perfect scene.
That light....is just everything. I love those long shadows, the way that the slanted light speaks to me of poetry (I see you Emily Dickinson) and of quiet, and of deference. Co-imagine a future with the people who are hurt in the present is going to become something that I suspect is going to stay in mind each time I read the news and my rage begins to erupt at the cruelty we inflict on others--whether human, animal, or whatever other ridiculous hierarchical categories we insist on ascribing to what makes up this world. Thanks for sharing that--and those pictures of snowy blue grey light. 💙
I am sure you have much of that snowy blue-grey light where you are, too. ☺️ And that seems a good guideline to keep in mind whenever I run across the news, whether it's horrors happening halfway across the world, or injustices right where I live, of which there are plenty. I guess it's a flip-side of "look for the helpers," isn't it?
yes! 💜
Oooooo East India Company! I'm about to finish The Anarchy by William Dalrymple. It's taken me ages to finish it. It's so well written, but it's also so heavy.. I have an audio passage marked for recording to post. It's some of the best writing I've read!
I have not read that book but I saw you mention it elsewhere! This piece was based on a long article about EIC I read, though when revising it I should really bring in more sources. I hear you about heavy and well-written! Most of the books I read for research take me ages to get through. They're worth it but I'm slow at them. Unless it's someone like Amitav Ghosh, who manages to inform while being very engaging at the same time.
I hope you write about it! I'm curious now.
I love how the light changes after fresh fallen snow 🤍✨
Me, too!
I am here for all of it - the building of the future together, taking land and its beauty more seriously, to stop and admire the impermanence of it all - alongside you Nia. 💜
Fireflies together, Swarna. 🧚🏽♀️
🎆🧚♀️
(Look how far I fell behind.)
¨It’s hard to believe this river was a Superfund site not that long ago, that its waters were siphoned off and temporarily drained to allow a massive cleanup from a century of contamination from the rail yard.¨
I am maybe 300 yards from a cleanup site, an old factory. They put up soccer fields, which OK - I guess nobody wants to live there or they don´t want anybody to live there?
¨I imagine each of us walks with that idea very differently. What do those words mean in your own life?¨
Which people? To fix things carbon dioxide-related you have to build better things, but we have the usual equilibrium: the people against building anything ever and the people dead set on keeping everything exactly the same, especially the bits that produce the carbon dioxide.
I was told (by a friend who happens to be very righty) that at COP they were proposing balloons to capture cow farts. If so, I said, that was likely put forward by people who wish to continuing pumping carbon dioxide, or rather, as much methane as possible for burning. (It was held in Dubai.) Also, fixing pipe leaks would be expensive. So: balloons for cow farts, and coal for Chinese-produced solar panels because it would immoral for anybody to buy the solar panels produced by other nations because free trade. Etc. A whole lot of BSing to make it look like certain people are Very Concerned while they do absolutely nothing and do their best to make sure nobody else does anything about the problem.
So, yeah, which people?
¨May you and the weather find peace with each other, wherever you are.¨
It´s been super cold for around here, and then actually warmish , and then a whole lotta damp, but I will continue working in it (which is why I am behind).
elm
roasting a chicken - possibly some staring into space and then more work
Or the balloon-makers ;)
🫠
“Which people” was exactly what I was thinking when I wrote that question but I didn’t want to lead anyone else’s thoughts so I’m glad you brought it up. I think that’s about as important as clarifying our own values. It feeds into the whole concept of property rights, too, because in order to have any workable idea of them, and of “takings,” you have to agree on a definition of harm and so much damage happens because we don’t.
But I’m, um distracted by the cow fart balloons? What the what?
I lost a bunch of potatoes to this early freeze-rain cycle, once again, but this time I had them separated out under cloths, so at least only lost the few that were affected, not all. I’ll keep experimenting but more importantly am eating them as fast as possible. Surprisingly, the fingerlings have done the best and they’re not meant to keep very long at all!
They go well with roast chicken :)
1) That´s what I was thinking about ¨property rights¨ all along. What with the concept (in America) emerging from the collision of feudalism, merchant work and royal prerogatives, it´s bound to to screw everyone who isn´t connected to power. The problem, as always, is how the hell do you replace it? There´s a whole lot of land that could be returned to Native Americans and that SHOULD be returned, but the usual suspects lose their minds at the idea because ¨property rights¨ are for well-connected white people. Actually existing property rights are only available if you can afford to defend them by purchasing expensive lawyers. ¨Property rights¨ seem to function to create a series of tiny fortresses that must be defended because they´re constantly under attack.
In the town context I was talking about, the town has no sidewalks (but it does have bike lanes thanks to the Federal money), the street system could be improved to make the traffic work a lot better (the traffic is HERE), but under the guise of protecting nature, there is comparatively little development in town. We have the urban traffic but not the urban development and forget walkability. It´s slowly being filled in with houses. All the development is occurring outside of town where they tear down a lot of trees to build McMansions. Worst of both worlds scenario. It´s good if you own an existing house: your house is accruing paper value.
2) The fart balloons? https://www.fastcompany.com/3028933/these-backpacks-for-cows-collect-their-fart-gas-and-store-it-for-energy
It was a thing in 2014. Apparently (???) they brought it up (???) at COP in Dubai. The whole Dubai thing was BS given that it was hosted in Dubai, so I wouldn´t be surprised if someone went off about the cow fart backpacks so as to avoid talking about pipeline leaks and the stopping of them. (Or maybe that was Fox recycling something from 2014.) At any rate, I just checked: Al Gore thinks the whole conference is close to failure, Saudi Arabia is perhaps holding the talks hostage &c &c. The Euros want some more talks. Anything anyone wants done in this in this space is going to have to be done country by country, I expect.
3) You don´t have a cold cellar of some kind for the potatoes? Urm. They should last a pretty long time, albeit getting more wrinkly over time. So: potatoes casseroles, mashed, steamed, vichyssoise (surely!), soup with lots of potatoes, stew and so on. But yeah, the fingerings being the tastiest is no surprise? Which breeds are you using, and have you seen or been able to get the weirder potato seeds from South America? (No way in hell to grow potatoes here, so I haven´t looked in some time.)
4) I will post the post the roast chicken. I am not so hot at using Notes.
elm
go go go
"Actually existing property rights are only available if you can afford to defend them by purchasing expensive lawyers." Pretty much. I think that's one huge thing that loud defenders of private property don't realize. People lose their property, or rights on it, all the time, if someone with more money or clout wants it (like through eminent domain that benefits a pipeline company or a developer).
That town street and development situation sounds interesting, and long-term difficult to maintain? Or at least expensive. Suburbs are expensive. Chuck Marohn, the Strong Towns guy and chagrined traffic engineer, says that for most suburbs it takes 100 years for a municipality to recoup from taxes the initial infrastructure investment. Even if you only care about an economic perspective, and of course I care about a lot more than that, it's horribly unsustainable.
Sadly, no. There are a lot of basements in our town but they don't work very well--high water table, a lot of sump pumps--and we don't have one. We're on a slab foundation. Last year I kept the potatoes in the garage but the freeze-thaw cycle was too intense. This year I've got them in paper bags in a space that's about 45 degrees. But my real strategy is to get all of the 3 families involved to eat them as quickly as possible.
It's illegal to import seed potatoes into Montana (diseases), so I get mine from this local-ish company: https://irisheyesgardenseeds.com
This year I grew Montana, Yukon Gold, Dark Red Norland, Russian fingerlings, and two varieties of Russets. The Yukon Gold and fingerlings did the best.
(5000 years behind. I had to go to a funeral yesterday. Sigh.)
1) Property rights and claims are only absolute for rich people, which is very feudal of them. Of course then they pay assorted people to defend property as absolute, except not. I have annoyed various people with endless repetitions of the statement that behind all the verbiage, the political stance amounts to merely MORE MONEY FOR RICH PEOPLE. Not seeing how I'm wrong.
2) It's weird. They just sort of plop houses down in random places next to two-laners, and then you have to just try and get around. Then built two new bridges - wide enough for three lanes but not three lanes, so the most minor booboo backs traffic for a mile or two. Unfortunately there's only those bridges to get in and out. Of course cars are the only way to get around. They aren't reducing pollution with only two lanes, just increasing it at rush hour and of course by effectively encouraging people to live outside town. This makes sense somewhere.
3) Yeah, OK. That makes sense! In 45 degrees they should last for a couple of months. OK, next year slightly fewer potatoes and more of ... something else? Turnips? Parsnips? I guess you can't do winter crops because of all the snow? Greenhouse?
4) Yeah. So no one has imported some weird potato seedlings under licence to develop/grow native versions? Surely someone has done this in Idaho? Yeah, I would expect Yukon Gold to do well. (I do almost exclusively cherry tomatoes now - those are least likely to be eaten before they're ready.)
elm
tired
1) 100%. It is so exhausting to constantly be trying to discuss this with people who still believe in free-market-whatevering and trickle-down tricksters. You're not wrong.
2) That sounds like one of the most confusing land use planning/road engineering situations I've heard of? I'm not sure it makes sense anywhere except on a real estate agent's property valuation sheet.
3) Turnips and parsnips maybe? I like salad turnips, so they're nice in spring. Yeah, no winter crops. We were meant to build a greenhouse this year but got sidetracked by another project. I should plant fewer potatoes but on the other hand they go fast if people remember they're there! More beets. The beets did well this year, thanks to your advice, but only about half the seeds sprouted. (I buy those from FedCo and most of the seeds seem good but these ones were maybe not great.)
4) I think Irish Eyes does a lot of varieties, but those are the ones I buy partly because I always forget until spring and a lot of stuff is sold out. But I also find things like purple potatoes kind of tasteless. The ones we get have so far been pretty good! I love fingerlings. The russets haven't grown so well but maybe it's still all that clay soil we're working on building up.
I don't even bother planting cherry tomatoes anymore. I let one plant go to seed a few years ago and now I get hundreds of volunteers. Love it! And agree--my stepmother plants some other tomatoes, but they get eaten or frozen before they're ready usually.
Also tired. I'm with you.
Looking forward to reading these older posts! Thanks for your great essays, Antonia. Hope you and your family have a peaceful December.
You as well, thank you!
What comes to mind is a really cool collaborative in my city to reimagine and co-create the future of our major urban highway. When it was built it cut off the city from the Hudson River and also cut off an immigrant and Black majority neighborhood from the rest of the city. Many other injustices followed suit, and today’s Albany Riverfront Collaborative is prioritizing the voices and leadership of those hurt by the present highway. Thanks for this post!
I’m so glad to hear that! (The collaborative and whose needs are being prioritized, not the original harm.) I wrote about these highways in my book, using the Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul as the main example. It’s been very interesting seeing which cities are trying to dismantle those highways and repair the damage done (not always both), and which are doubling down on highway expansion. And to really think about what kinds of legacy infrastrucutre we’re building now that future generations will want to dismantle. Thank you for reading and for telling me about Albany! When I first started writing about walking we were living in Orange County, NY, just south of Newburgh.
"… it’s a reminder of how precious it all is, how easily these gifts are used up and discarded. Yet with a change in perception and a clarification of what we value, it’s just as easy to respect and care for them. The more people I listen to, the more it’s clear how many yearn for a reality that reflects those values. They just want to know how to get there."
All true Antonia, and I agree.
I don't like being a buzzkill, but this is where we all are right now:
"It's still underway in Dubai with the outcome, so far at least, looking somewhat underwhelming. If only to suggest the urgency of its tasks, the UN Environment Programme unveiled a chilling report, which seems to have had little exposure beyond here. The authors concluded:
Close to $7 trillion is invested globally each year in activities that have a direct negative impact on nature from both public and private sector sources—equivalent to roughly 7% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)…. In 2022, investments in nature-based solutions totaled approximately $200 billion, but finance flows to activities directly harming nature were more than 30 times larger.
“Nature-based solutions are dramatically underfunded," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. Government spending on environmentally harmful subsidies in four sectors—agriculture, fossil fuels, fishery, and forestry—is estimated at $1.7 trillion in 2022."
From <https://daandelman.substack.com/p/twtw-the-world-this-week-episode-e6e?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=414036&post_id=139649981&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=8nxwh&utm_medium=email>
Yeah. I wasn’t expecting much better, but half-glancing at headlines from COP has been enough. And things like Canada’s pipeline, mining, and tar sands policies, which have changed pretty much not at all for the better in my memory.
I’m never sure what’s helpful to say about any of it. It’s not just a train wreck that’s already happening, it’s one that’s got a bunch of other trains barrelling toward it. Hence my general lack of optimism. It’s a fair question to ask what I think anybody is building for, or for whom. Looking around where I live, I don’t like the answer of what’s left, and who has power locally, as larger institutions begin failing on a larger scale. If there’s anything left at all, it’ll be found in resilient communities, ones that have figured out how to work together at least on a basic level, and that start scaling back their own investments in unsustainable development (like suburbs, whose infrastructure needs are long-term unaffordable) and fully learn to live in relationship with their local environment. And to take care of one another, and plan for the needs of people who will, and do, need help.
Sometimes when I’m driving around Montana, most of what I think about is which roads are still going to be seeing reliable upkeep 30 years from now.
And yet what a beautiful day today, snowing thickly as we greeted various Christmas tree options in the woods near Tally Lake …
A Land Desk recommendation
Crossings | Ben Goldfarb | W. W. Norton & Company (wwnorton.com)
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324005896
I really need to read that. I haven't yet.
Fabulous. ❤✅❤
💖😀
Gorgeous writing and photos. I look forward to reading the older work, Insha Allah.
Thank you! 🫶