It's spring again today! Flowers spray the air with their sent and the sun dances in the sky. 1.5 weeks of classes left, then finals. I'm learning about fruit trees in one of my classes right now. It's a pretty reductionist class, but I still like hearing about fruit.

My new favorite flour is coconut flour! It is naturally a bit sweet and delicious, and makes great cookies. Would make a nice grain-less cake, too. Use some good quality coconut oil to stick it all together..mmmm.... I added cinnamon, too.

It's a rainy, chilly day. I'm going to have to take a hot bath :)

reading reading

I'm looking for new books to investigate through Amazon. The reviews that are 4 or 3 stars are usually the best--they will honestly point out flaws without being married to ideology, like many (not all!) of the 1 or 5 star reviews. I'm going through the Paleo books--like raw vegan but with meat instead of so much fruit and veggies, and some of them do cook. So interesting how similar they are; now I can clearly see why people distrust all ideologies. People just take what fits and ignore what doesn't. (note: many of them tried a strict vegan or raw vegan diet. So there are more similarities than not).

Partly it's fascinating to me because it's so different from what I like--instinctively, I think it's better to avoid eating animals, but the Paleo meals sounds so disgusting to me! I really never liked animal fat, and it wasn't because my parents discouraged it at all (they didn't). It's so interesting that some people have completely different preferences from me. It's a little easier to stomach reading about than the typical SAD food eater, because at least the Paleo people are minorly concerned about animal welfare. Anyway, I do like raw vegan food (just not the restrictiveness) and I am not going "Paleo" at all, but I like to read about experiences totally different from my own. (FYI--my favorite kind of meat, right before going vegetarian, was dry, white chicken. It seemed more like paper than an animal. This is not what the Paleo eater recommend eating. They are 180 from me).

Who can be so strict forever? I like hanging out with vegan-friendly people (vegan-friendly enough to share a vegan meal with me, but do whatever they feel is right for them), and leaving it at that. Whatever else they do, as long as they are nice enough and trying their best, is fine. I want to keep mellowing out as I age ;)

The sun sets late now--closer and closer to 8 pm.

My lab partner just told me she is leaving this school at the end of the semester. She went straight from undergrad to grad school, and will have only finished her first year. I really like her, she's down to earth and came from an environmental science background. She doesn't get along well with her adviser and finds school very stressful. It was funny how easily I could tell she'd made the right decision--her energy just seemed so much brighter, and lighter. She won't have a degree, but at least she doesn't have debt from this, either, so she'll be fine.

Then, a couple of MS-PhDs told me they are considering stopping after their MS. I can't blame them! It's so funny. I am very at peace with where I am, but I have just eight months left. Exciting!

I also learned about a new, more sustainable fertilization method-- human urine (a *sterile* product). It's a rich source of N and P in it, which are often limiting. This is often done in Asia, but the stigma here leads us to being more wasteful. We take the nutrients out of the soil, and flush them down the drain, where the concentrated nutrients make trouble elsewhere. Some are investigating a method of precipitating the essential part of urine into a solid form. This might help with the stigma, and make it easier (lighter than liquid) to transport. Very cool, once we examine and question our assumptions! Humanure is cool too, but more issues with pathogens. Humanure also helps close the loop!

It's a beautiful sunny day, and sunset's not until 7:30 pm. It's so exciting. Four weeks of class are left~~~change in the air!

Keep walking

Though there's no place to get to.

Don't try to see through the distances.

That's not for human beings.

Move within

but don't move

The way that fear makes you move.

Rumi