bye-bye bacons

today was a sad day. you see, we took bacon and bacon to a nearby little butcher who does such things for people with small holdings like ours. it was time for them to become the bacon they were named for. their joyful little countenances have given us happiness since the beginning of april, but it was time. if we let them get much bigger, the roasts and pork chops would have been quite unmanageable for us.

they had a very good life here with us and we thoroughly enjoyed them. but what it was about in the end was that we would know the source of our meat supply. we would know what they ate, whether they had space to explore and whether they were allowed to root around and be pigs. and they had all of that. plus, we really did fall a little bit in love with them. they are friendly and curious and happy. and we will honor them by preparing them lovingly for our table over the coming months.

they were so curious, it wasn't at all difficult to get them interested in hopping right up into the trailer. we just used some boards and blocked off and opened the ramp. curiously, it didn't feel like we were tricking them or leading them to their death (tho' we sort of were), it felt right and it was a big relief that we could load them without any struggle at all.

it helped that it was late afternoon and time for a snack anyway, so they were very keen to check out what was in the buckets we placed in the front of the horse trailer to coax them in. it was important to us that they didn't feel stressed out by the experience.

they were a little unsure of the footing on the ramp at first, but the clean, fresh straw inside and the sight of their buckets helped them overcome their fear and they were soon inside, happily munching away. it was a stress free experience for all of us, which was a big relief. i didn't go along to the butcher (they will actually be slaughtered tomorrow), as that would have been too much for me, but husband said that one of them was so relaxed when he got there that she was lying down, relaxing and didn't want to get out of the trailer.

we've not yet finished our smokehouse, so we're just having them cut up in a traditional way, into roasts and pork chops and such. i will try to make some fresh sausages, because that's something i want to learn, but we will leave the ham-making to next spring's pigs. because we are definitely doing this again. this is why we moved out here to the countryside. and even tho' i will miss them, i also know that they are fulfilling their purpose and they are helping us move one step closer to our goals of being at least partially self-sustainable and when we eat them, we will definitely be eating local.

a sustainable life

this whole move we made in the past year to our farm property was a major part of a decision to live a more sustainable lifestyle, so that's a topic we discuss around here quite a lot (often in the context of me being browbeaten for just acquiring a shiny new apple product). i also have a couple of friends who i discuss it with quite a lot - we send article links and have long email and in-person discussions about recycling, upcycling, thrifting, produce that's in season and local, the danish view on being green and ways in which communities are adjusting themselves to a more sustainable way of being. in that connection, we decided to take our conversation public and how better to do that than with a blog?

so i hereby give you a sustainable life. please come and join our conversation.

changing priorities

as you know, i've been doing a lot of thinking about how to simplify our life. it's partially because i don't want a high-powered office-politics game-playing type job anymore and that means that we'll have less money to frivolously throw away every month. and it's partially because i no longer want to frivolously throw away money every month on crap that i don't really need and which has been produced in a way that doesn't respect our planet. and although i love collecting and stashing, i don't want so much clutter in my life (and my brain) anymore. but mostly, with all of the talk about climate change here in the lead-up to the COP15 meeting, i have realized that i want to live in a more sustainable way. i want to throw less away and waste less. i want to make the purchases i make in a more deliberate, less impulsive manner (good luck with that aries girl).

so over the past week, i've been trying to put myself into the simplicity mindset when i'm out and about. and what struck me is that it makes me feel poor. and i realized that i don't like that. but now i know that's the main notion and feeling that i need to work on. because while spending less money would be a nice side effect of this endeavor, it's not actually the main goal. the main goal is living a more deliberate, meaningful life that's better in balance and harmony with the world around me. because i want there to be a clean, healthy planet for sabin to inherit.

but i think i'm so conditioned to consume that not consuming makes me feel strange.

i want to do this, but i don't want to feel poor or like i'm withdrawing from society at large or living a hermetic existence, but i think it's a bit of a balancing act. because i want there to be shops and restaurants and bakeries and butchers and fishmongers in my community. which means i have to support them by being a customer. but how do i transition to being a more responsible customer? and if i end up having a shop of my own, how can i be a responsible shop owner?

i don't have all the answers, but these are the questions i'm struggling with as we get ready to embark on a year of mindful consumption.

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p.s. i haven't forgotten about picking my favorite comment from the voice post, it's just a bit more difficult than i thought it would be because there were some very interesting thoughts. but a result is coming soon! maybe even later today...

a little glimpse inside my head

photo credit: sabin + little pink sony cybershot, singapore

this is how my brain feels at the moment. it's shooting thoughts in every direction. it's been one of those days. tons of new input. meeting lots of new people. much laughter and storytelling over a nice dinner and a couple glasses of wine. i was seated next to a french guy, a sweet romanian girl, a charming norwegian girl and a woman from singapore. i love that my field is really, really international. and that people have so many stories to tell. tho' surprisingly few of them included ships. however, the afternoon was full of them and i realized once again that ships make my molecules hum in perfect alignment.

strangely tho', as the dinner part of the evening was ending, i found myself violating my own cardinal rule: "what are you gonna remember?" i actually turned down going along with the group of people who decided to go in search of a wine bar for the sake of the poor sad french guys who had had to settle for an australian red at dinner because i wanted to come back and write about my day. yes, blogging has in fact taken over my life. but i think it's not a bad thing.

it was a long, intense day of observations.

: : having a religion with a lot of restrictions makes life unnecessarily difficult and just seems made-up, artificial and absurd. it is, however, fascinating to watch. the extremes to which people will go not to live a so-called normal life are astonishing.

: : whoever invented the whole vision-values concept thing is an evil genius. never has so much time been devoted to so much made up crap.

: : what do we miss out on by not giving ourselves over, but holding ourselves aloof and cynical? and by we, i mean me.

: : overheard: "it's like choosing between pest and cholera." i think i'd take pest. no wait, cholera. see? it's hard.

: : i'm troubled at how worldwide perception of the word "sustainability" differs. it can make my chest constrict and my left eye twitch when i let myself, just for brief moments, take in the enormity of the gap in understanding of this notion between the various peoples of the world. in those brief moments of pure, white terror, i truly fear for the world sabin will inherit.  the planet will undoubtedly be fine, but will we?

: : shipping is the most schizophrenic combination of wildly creative innovation and stodgy conservatism. i can't think of anything else like it.

: : it strikes me as a little difficult to be a thin, neat, sockless loafer guy in shipping.

: : i've always wanted one of these in my house. not the boat, just the woman. isn't she cool? neruda had one.

what did you observe today?