Losing consciousness*

apple, banana, stripe, and orange, originally uploaded by fumipeli.

This morning Felix woke up at 7 am. He has been sleeping super late since we returned from the states but it seems like he might be getting back to normal...that's a good thing and a bad thing.

It was a bad thing this morning because it was my turn to get up with him and I stayed up way too late. Well, actually, I went to bed late and then couldn't fall asleep for a very long time. I am not a good sleeper. Even though my eyes were dropping as I wrote a late night e-mail, the minute my head hit the pillow my brain went into overtime.

Thoughts race through my head. The repetitive thoughts are the worst. I try to come to terms with some of the things I am thinking about in order to settle myself down but the same concerns keep repeating themselves over and over again. I find myself thinking "shut upalready! we already discussed this issue. just go to sleep!"

Some of last night's thought were related to the local versus organic versus fossil fuels versus global impact issue that I have been wrestling with. Thanks to some great articles (here, here, and here) linked to me by Riana and Andie I have had to rethink my concerns in connecting what we eat so heavily to the distance it travels. Miles (or kilometers) are not a fair indicator of the amount of energy that is used to produce a food and it is possible that something produced far away might actually be more energy efficient then something produced around the corner. And our food choices are already going a long ways towards reducing energy consumption because we eat very few processed foods. I am pretty sure that the process of producing processed foods has got to suck more energy than organic bananas grown in the Dominican Republic then shipped over here. (Although if you have an article on the subject...send it my way...).

I still think that it is important to have an awareness and connection to your local food. I like the challenge of trying to eat local and I have always felt strongly about supporting small, local businesses. We are still working out the details (what items can't we live without, etc.) but I think we are going to try to be as local as possible for the month of September. I would like to try to cook one local meal a week. I really have no idea what items I can get completely locally. And what does local mean anyway?


* Thanks go to Riana for the title...

Comments

[shula]

I know, I know, I have trouble sleeping too, for exactly the same reason. It's a pity we can't sleep sitting up. The minute my head hits the pillow my mind considers it absolutely necessary to write shopping lists, or plan the next 6 months craft ventures.

Drives me bonkers.

[Riana]

shula, I am with you too. I have thought about hitting myself upside the head with a frying pan, but then I would have to decide which *pan* to choose. Ah the decisions, decisions.

Anyway, this post makes me smile, not at you suffering because that sucks, but because you are so dang smart as a whip and doing something about it, I feel an epiphany coming soon.

love the post title :)

[andie]

I understand where you are coming from with all the choices out there and all the information available for you to choose how to lead your life. What's great is that you are aware and aware of those choices and aware of the possible consequences. A lot of people just join the bandwagon without knowing both sides and the positives and negatives, and I think to make a difference, we need to know all of the aspects involved. Like the Fair Trade movement- I was all about that until I found out that maybe it wasn't as fair as it seems, but getting information about all aspects will help you make an educated decision and even though you can't sleep at night, which stinks, it just shows how much you care about your choices, which is very admirable. You don't follow something blindly and you question and just that I think is making a difference- questioning, pondering, and thinking make a difference. So, keep up the good work and take it as a good sign that you can't sleep!

[phillippa]

You have the same insane, obsessive thoughts that I do. I'm known to spend hours trying to give away stuff appropriately (computers, nice dresses, career clothes vs. jeans and t-shirts...). Plastic vs. paper, how to avoid consumption, and the liat goes on. Makes you wish sometimes that you could just bury your head (but then what's in the soil?).

[phillippa]

Funny. i was looking at the links on the right sidebar. i followed the link to SFCompact, read about a recycling center where a volunteer grows native plants I grew up right across the street from that little center. This is partially how I became the freak that I am about this stuff.