Saturday, January 11, 2014

From Permaculture to Permaliving


A lovely purple cast for the holidays!
Somehow, it takes me a week or two in January to recover from December.  The holiday season can be exhausting, and this year's was especially so since I broke my wrist in two places on December 8.  We had waked on Sunday morning to a coating of ice and I slid down my back steps.  I immediately knew it was broken, but not severely so I had Jim wrap it and had it x-rayed after finishing my day.

The orthopedist put me in a cast, of course, which was miserably inconvenient.  Mind you, I'm only mildly complaining, since the break could have been far worse.  I relied a lot on Jim this year at Christmas, and everything I did was very tiring.

How can I capture this for the summer?
The cast came off on Tuesday, so I'm enjoying  more freedom with a brace.  As has been my custom, I began an online class after Christmas--Introduction to Permaculture.  One of the first tenets of permaculture is to observe closely, and the recent polar weather has given me plenty to observe.

We were frigid--the lowest low was 0--but the dangerous precipitation avoided us.  The garden was a little crispy after the hard freeze, but, I think, the broccoli, carrots, and garlic will survive.

Life is always full of challenges.
One of the main problems I'm hoping permaculture will solve is water control--and we certainly have had enough rain this weekend to observe all of our drainage challenges.

Speaking of drainage challenges, like many others, we had a frozen/burst pipe during the cold spell.  As these things go, it was minor, especially because we have concrete floors rather than carpet.  The cleanup was quick, although we are still drying out a few books.  Little did I realize that choosing concrete floors because they are so easy to clean would also help us recover from the water.

That's one of life's realities: choices resonate for a long time after we make them.  Often, I put off making a choice, or overthink a situation, for fear of making the wrong choice.  What's the saying?  

Failure to decide is deciding to fail.

Thoughtful analysis is good, and underrated, but when it spirals into fear, it can be paralyzing. All I can do--all anyone can do--is gather the best information I can, try to account for future best- and worst-case scenarios, then go with what seems most reasonable.  Sounds a lot like permaculture.  Maybe I should call it permaliving.

What about you?  How are you living your Savory life?

Nancy




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