Moving to a new location...

Hey all,

for those who haven't heard I have a new blog on wordpress called evolutionary roads.

I'd love to hear from you there as I won't be checking in (and have not been) here.

Here is the link:

http://evolutionaryroads.wordpress.com/

I hope you follow me there and that you send me a link to your sites and blogs as well!

Peace,keep reading,dancing and loving...Mel

Choice : a short story.

It was always cold in her bathroom. The Dr. Bronner 's soap had become white and was getting ready to crystallize. The floor tiles felt like a million needles piercing through her nerve endings to get to her motivational morning rituals. It was time to go,and she knew it. She could hear the haunting sound of hungry sheep outside,begging for hay and unfrozen water. “How did I get here?”Choice. She thought. Choice or most likely a series of choices,that's how lives are made into moments, and then into regrets. “Choice”She repeated,as if she was standing in a cavern with echoing ability. That word seemed to sound familiar but yet did not ring any bell because if it did she would have examined her life choices with extra care she believed. After brushing her teeth,she put on her overalls,the red ones because it reminded her of summer days and of the wild flowers she used to bring her mum after running through the fields with Ryan. Ryan,another choice she made,may be the right one,may be the wrong one. No one's here to judge. The sheep's complaint was growing stronger. “Time to go.” Time to feel the buckets with feed,walk through the frozen fields to reach the back of the farm. It was a nice farm,with great potential. It had not reached it yet though. Just like her,it had gotten tired before it's age. Frozen by time and used by it's environment. Nothing was too much for her she had decided at a very young age. No project too big,no amount of time too small. She would take on this farm like she took on her marriage: “With all my heart and soul,” she figured. But like for her marriage,one heart and one soul was not enough. If you stretch a heart long enough it will probably explode or something like that. If you stretch a marriage,it will probably implode. And that is what happened. Her husband had left the farm feeling powerless to help a woman who could do it all as her dad said. She was a daddy's girl,always trying to please him,make him feel proud,which he was of course. Her mama had told her that “A husband is like a crawfish, if you let it boil too long it will disappear.” Mama was from the south,therefore all her sayings needed a little bit of explanation. Mama wanted to tell her daughter that you can't leave a man on the sidelines when it comes to a marriage,that she should not have been the one wearing the pants,that Ryan could have worn the pants once in a while and that it would have made all the difference in their marriage. But there was nothing Mama could say to appease her daughter. Their relationship had been strange since that day. That day Laura had seen her mama put on that red lipstick to go get “the prescription” from the pharmacy. That day when she did not come home until the break of dawn when the birds start singing sad early morning songs. That day when an old pick up truck dropped her off,playing an old country tune singing her mama's name to the night. : “Goodnight Irene,good night..”it went off in the night,and never came back. Irene's daughter was standing bare feet on the wrap around porch,too young to know but old enough to remember. That was a decisive moment in their lives. It never was the same after that night. But today was not about her mother's choices,or even her husband's decision to abandon her. It was about her. She had made the choice to start a sheep farm,during the worst economic times of the century,or so they said. That was her choice after all,her life,her farm. She loved feeding the sheep in the morning. They were so dependent on her,and she loved that feeling. It reminded her of her son when he was just a baby,when he needed her so bad. She felt so special and appreciated at the time. She wished that Ryan still felt that way about her as he once did back in the day. That was a long time ago,she thought. What went wrong? She did not know. Was it that I can't trust him since I feel that marriage is a lie after seeing my parents living one for years? May be I am too controlling and overpowering. Making decisions for us,when we should make decisions together? All these points were valid points and would have been great answers to give a therapist after years of being tormented on his couch. So she knew the answer. And that is what scared her. Why did she make these wrong choices if she knew? May be she did not care. May be she was still learning. Learning to be human,to make choices and decipher among them which is the least painful one to make. At least with the sheep the choices were clear. Feed them,water them,help them give birth,help them die. Her life was more complicated because her choices were affecting more than one person and that is what she understood that day after her morning chores. She had finally understood the link that is invisible yet so strong. “Any choice I make is not just for me. Everyone is affected by the health of my land or the mask on my face.” She had understood all of it but was not quite sure what to do with it yet. How to explain it to the world anyways. She would sound like a Neo-green hipppie chick and no one would take her seriously. It did not matter though because her decision was made. Her crusade had begun and no one could stop her from changing the world,one choice at a time.

By Melanie Strang-Hardy,all rights reserved and all people and animals somewhat fictional! ;)

Dreaming by the waters in the Bywater

I came down to New Orleans last week and have been staying in the Bywater,an up and coming BoBo (Bourgeois/Bohemian) neighborhood with a hint of ghetto style,a splash of historical buildings,sprinkled with a dash of speak easy pizzas and local satsuma juices. New Orleans is sprouting with local mini urban gardens and its occupants try to be green and sustainable all the while dealing with the leftovers of Katrina.
So far it's been good and welcoming even though the town is overwhelming at times (biking around drunk tourists in the French quarter or meeting so many people that you forget what you were doing in the first place!). This is New Orleans,the most welcoming place I've been to so far but the feeling of unease persists yet we don't know why. Is it the fact that I get to go out in a shady neighborhood to a secret backyard pizza spot where I can enjoy smooth jazz while the neighbors are dealing with drug and insecurity? Is it the fact that I get to ride my bike for fun while taking pictures of the pretty houses while the next house is still marked by the stories you would only find in a sad country song sang to the tourist in the French Quarter? Is it me thinking too hard where everyone's just trying to forget that anything is possible even the worst in a place that would just like to see the best. So instead of raging religious battles on the other side of the planet, may be we should use our money to make levees and not war in fact so we can get back to making love.

Tuiles,riz and Social beasts...

"Le jardin des Tuileries" is the old royal garden in front of the Louvre,right before the Champs Elysées. I crossed the Louvre's court yesterday thinking of how unbelievable it is to build such a big "house"for just one family,even if it is a royal one.
I was happy to see though that nowadays this kind of structure is used by the public who can walk their dog through the "cour carrée"but was forced to ask myself have times really changed? Are we allowed the same privileges our Presidents,our ministers and other heads of state enjoy,or is it an illusion? I would say it is a lure,a decoy, "un leurre",that our socialists dreams make us mistake for the truth. We are led to believe times have changed since we are able to walk the old royal appartments,yet we still cannot choose whether we will feed our pigs GMO's or whether I can build a yurt in the midlle of my field. I still have to abide by the rules made by those "social" east thinkers who come out of Ivy league schools and have never compared the price of two butters at 2 different grocery stores because they live on a tight budget. Although they surely have compared the price of their Rolex's with their old college roomates!
Ask yourself next time you walk along our old Monarch's castles if times have really changed since we cut their heads or if we need to cut our losses,and run for the hills...

la chandeleur! Mardi gras! fat Tuesday?

Today in France it's la chandeleur,the day we all have crepes made out of buckwheat and regular white flour. The legend also wants us to think that if we throw a crepe in the air and catch it back in the pan with a penny in our hand we will be rich this year...I've done it before and my bank account has not grow since but we can say I have grown richer in other ways! Another tradition today is to make two kinds of crepes,one is with white flour and the other one with buckwheat flour.I know most of you probably never have had buckwheat crepes but it's never too late to make it right! It's even better with a glass of cider!Du cidre en fait!
I hope you enjoy some crepes and some "beignets aux pommes" today, like I did! Note that bakeries in the city are selling crepes for 1 euro a piece which is absolutely crazy since to make them you need about 2 cups of flour,2 eggs and some milk which might just cost you ,well.. 1 euro!
If you know how to make pancakes from scratch,just leave out the rising ingredients and you will probably end up with crepes! But please make them,don't buy them !

manège...et lumieres

Premier dejeuner mais pas sur l'herbe! First lunch but not on the grass...

Hey all,as most of you know,I left for Paris last week,have been sleeping in a lot,walking in the city but mainly enjoying some good cheese,and wine! Here is a sample of my first lunch,nice salad with homemade dressing,beet salad,camembert(thank god,i've been missing that one the most!),Cantal and Morbier,yes the blue in the middle is kind of like mold but things aren't pasteurized to death here, which in turn makes us healthier,he oui c'est comme ca!
I think there is something to learn here for the FDA since "clean"things aren't always what they seem. So raise your glass of "rouge"to unpasteurized cheese,it could save your life!