i've moved!

this blog [including posts new and old] can now be found at:
http://peacebypiece.wordpress.com/

see you over there!

savage gulf

i knew i forgot something when writing that recent 'catch up' post: our trip down to savage gulf. it's not KY, mind you [one state south, in TN - actually pretty near the GA border], but definitely was a significant part of our june adventures.

[to be honest, june was filled with a lot of out-of-state travel for work and other reasons, and not much local adventure until the end, which accounts for the gaping holes in KY adventure-land].

anyway, back to savage gulf: it was a 2-day tree-coring expedition for us and two others to get some eastern hemlock sample's for one of N's colleagues up north. and expedition it was: in addition to the 90+ degree heat, our ankles had to contend with steep slopes and lots of rocks. savage, no doubt. we spent the two days coring ~30 trees [one of these days i'll request a guest post on tree coring for those of you who keep asking about it], braving copperhead snakes, a torrential downpour, the aforementioned rocks, and lots and lots of rhododendron. here are a couple of pics [thanks to the resident photographer]:

i have to say, it was quite the introduction to this tree-coring field work thing. definitely a good workout [my puny little triceps really weren't much of a help, i don't think] and a lot of fun besides, although completely exhausting.

would i do it again? in a heartbeat. though i wouldn't mind a more level field to work in...literally.

drifting down the kentucky river...

...and other recent events.

i seem to be remiss in keeping this blog updated on my kentucky travels and adventures. so here's another catch-up post to keep you all informed on my whereabouts and the "what's about" those whereabouts. after all, this is the kentucky education blog, didn't you know? :)

this weekend was our second adventure out with the canoe. the first was last sunday: a brief paddle in the owsley fork reservoir, just a little ways south of us [sorry, no pictures]. we had the place pretty much to ourselves - well, except for the turtles, kingfishers, and the green heron we saw perched at the edge of the water as we paddled by...and still there when we paddled back. it was a short trip and a relaxing one - not bad for the first canoe adventure of the year!

yesterday we were slightly more adventurous and decided to paddle down part of the kentucky river - - in the palisades region. yes, that is the technical term for this part of the river, which reminds me of the palisades up in NY/NJ. to wit:












we did a nice 6-mile roundtrip, passing a couple of abandoned ships and plenty of folks hanging out in their pontoon boats. some nice houses along the river, too.

paddling requires energy, of course, which brings me to our other big activity of late: blueberry picking. anyone who knows N knows that a pint a day is just beginning to be enough, and since it's the season, we took full advantage of a friday afternoon off to head up to reed valley orchard, our favorite fruit spot, and acquire, oh, 10 lbs. or so...just enough to last the weekend!

other recent local discoveries: grass-fed, organic beef at the richmond farmer's market, and a free performance of "much ado about nothing" by the cincinnati shakespeare company - - at the park just up the street from us.

now who said there's nothing but bourbon and horses in kentucky?

since when is peace a 4-letter word?

i just came back from a trip to new york to attend a conference on dialogue which i've been helping the Network for Peace through Dialogue plan for the past year. the conference was great - lots of people, good energy, a revitalized spark for pursuing the kind of work i do.

yet over and over again over the course of the 2-day meeting, i heard participants sharing stories about how their work has created problems with local government, security forces, and in the community as a whole. a woman from the chicago area shared a story about her grassroots interfaith prayer group being denied permits to hold a prayer vigil in the local park because it was perceived as anti-war. another woman told of donations to her non-profit organization diminishing in the last several years as those who used to give turned to more "patriotic" causes. even our conference - held in an academic institution and organized by a group of people led by two nuns - apparently warranted extra security due to fears that it might turn into uncontrolled protesting.

is it just me, or is there something here that doesn't make sense? why is it that any organization or event that tries to present an alternative to the current MO of this nation's government is seen as an existential danger? somehow, we seem to have been placed in a class along with enemy combatants and other threats to the state.

i know i'm probably preaching to the converted here, but if any of you readers happen to agree with those creating obstacles to the activities mentioned above, let me set something straight: peace-loving is not equivalent to terrorism. those of us involved in this work are not security threats. we are not against the united states. we are not even all against the current government [though most of us would say we're against many of the things it's done].
we are none of these things. here is what we are: looking for an alternative to the use of weapons - particularly when it doesn't seem to be working. we are open-minded individuals. we are passionate about creating opportunities for people to share their stories, their ideas, their hopes and desires for the world. we think it is important to look at the long-term implications of short-term strategies. we wish to understand other people and help them understand us. we're nuns and teachers and social workers and students and soldiers and lawyers. we are, in short, people who care - about this country and its people and its future.

let us be. maybe even listen to us, for a change. it could help.

catching up

the past month has been full of unexpected trips, sights and kentucky adventures. i've been working, too, which has slowed down my traipsing around the state. in any case, i wanted to take this opportunity to point out a few of kentucky's beauties and introduce you to what i've been seeing recently.

N. and i have been doing quite a bit of hiking in the natural bridge state resort park, about 45 minutes away from our home. it's a gorgeous area - right near red river gorge, which is (so says a friend) one of the top rock climbing destinations in the US and that climbers come from all over the country to spend time there. it must be true: N. and i were there memorial day weekend and discovered when we parked our car that ours had the only KY plates in the entire lot! i'm truly enjoying the chance to spend time hiking in the area...and i'm slowly but surely learning my trees! of course, there's a good chance my tree ID'ing skills will only last through the early fall - i'm really not too good at identifying them by anything other than their leaves. i suppose i'll get there over the next few years as i continue hiking with a self-proclaimed "tree geek"...

in the meantime, last weekend we were able to snag tickets for the first annual chamber music festival of the bluegrass, which took place in a converted barn in kentucky's preserved shaker village [also about 45 minutes from our home]. the concert was spectacular - what could be better than schubert's "trout" quintet played by the lincoln center chamber music society in a pastoral setting with birds chirping overhead? - and the shaker village, which we spent about an hour touring before the concert began, is definitely worth a trip. the ride home was gorgeous, too - right through farm country, and we got to cross the kentucky river on a ferry at one point!

i am definitely enjoying getting to know the bluegrass region (and kentucky as a whole), and it's great to discover the little gems of natural beauty/culture/history hidden in the state. to be sure, it's not new york city - - but then again, i haven't heard of any world-class rock climbing within 30 miles of manhattan, either.

and it's a lot easier to find parking here, too...

by the way, the frugal traveler is coming through TN and KY this coming week and many of the comments on his blog refer to the places i mentioned here, as well as many, many other sites worth visiting in this part of the USA. not-so-subtle-hint here...!

money makes the world go round...

my car purchase last week has made me think quite a bit about the way in which our society functions financially. before buying the car, i examined my different financial options - cash purchase? loan? other financing options? these considerations were significantly influenced by what i felt was affordable for me.

i get the feeling that for many people, however, their perception of affordability is not the influencing factor, but rather is influenced by what their financing options are. it astounds me somewhat that i was able to go to a car dealership last weekend, test-drive a car, and with no more than signing a check over to the dealer - no background check, no credit check, no request for bank checks rather than personal ones - drive away, the new owner of a vehicle that 10 minutes earlier was sitting on the dealer's lot.

ok, so i'm not a credit risk. and, in fact, i'm a pretty conservative consumer, especially when it comes to things like buying on credit. that's not the case for most americans, though, which i think is a large reason why there is such a problem with debt in this country. the system is set up to entice us to consume above our means. just think about it: you want a new car, so you get a loan from your bank or somewhere else, and are able to purchase a brand new vehicle even though you have less than $3000 in the bank, a kid about to go to college, mortgage payments, and a one-income household. ok, maybe that's a little extreme, but the point is, you don't have to have money to be a consumer. a consumer of lots and lots of expensive things. you may borrow at exorbitant interest rates, but as long as you can keep borrowing to make those monthly payments, nobody is going to stop you from trading in your used subaru for a lexus.

granted, there are people who don't have access to credit: maybe they're in this country illegally, or maybe they defaulted on previous loans or declared bankruptcy and are no longer eligible for those 0% APR credit cards i get offers for twice a week. but most of us are in well-enough financial shape that we do have access to credit - and many in our society are caught in the trap of never quite paying everything off.

why does this bother me? i've been pondering the question for the past few days, and i think at the heart of the matter is the bottom-line. specifically, the pure capitalistic strategy of the banks, credit card and other companies that make that money available. to a degree, it makes sense - and it's certainly profitable. but at the end of the day, all of this easily acquired money (most of which we see only in the form of plastic cards or numbers written on a page somewhere - who pays cash for anything more than $20 these days, anyhow?) is only helping create a consumer culture where 1] "more, more. more!!" is seen as better, better, better; and 2] the gain of a few happens at the expense of many (not that that's new...).

maybe i'm idealistic, but i think that our society has a duty to raise educated consumers: educated about responsible purchasing and the pitfalls of spending more of that borrowed money they never actually see than they can actually afford to. and i think the companies have a responsibility as well to keep people from landing in quagmires from which they can't emerge. laugh if you will at my naivete, but i do think that corporate social responsibility extends that far.

my new kentucky home...

perhaps it's a result of being surrounded by tree- and plant-geeks, but i get the feeling that folks in kentucky know their natural environment much, much better than washingtonians/new yorkers/bostonites. or, perhaps it's a result of being surrounded by natural environments (well, sort of...), rather than urban playgrounds. in any case, it looks like i'm going to have to get to know my trees and shrubs and wildflowers, otherwise i'm going to spend my time here feeling like an idiot.

the previous paragraph is the direct result of a hike i went on last week - a wildflower hike at a nearby creek. the woman i was with pointed out and named every flash of color (and there were many) along the water. she named many of the trees, too. granted, she's a botanist, but still...my bona-fide city credentials aren't doing me too well in this place!

speaking of which - i have joined the ranks of the non-city dwellers, or rather, the ranks of those who cannot rely on public transporation. this isn't going to help me get to know my plants (well, not directly, anyway!), but it does make me feel a little more like i've 'arrived' in my new mid-western life. this is definitely a big step - aside from the financial plunge, it's a little intimidating to think about the responsibilities that come with owning my own half-ton piece of metal. eek. still, i'm looking forward to zipping about town and getting to know the region a bit better now that my radius of travel has increased (there's only so much you can get to on two feet...even my own well-traveled ones!)

from the mid-east to the mid-west

a few weeks ago N. and i were running some errands in lexington and stopped for lunch at a mediterranean restaurant. with some encouragement, i decided to test my arabic skills ordering my falafel sandwich. it didn't go too well - - somehow my linguistic abilities seem to have gone into hibernation. i guess that's what you get for using a language once a year - or less...

my pathetic attempts at conversation, however, made us stand out from the typical "two falafels and a diet coke" consumers, and after a while N. asked our cashier where he was from. "philistin," he responded - "palestine."

i took advantage of another opportunity to use my arabic (ok, maybe i don't remember how to say "two falafel sandwiches, please," but "i'm from israel" is not a phrase that's easily forgotten!). eyes brightening, our friend immediately responded in flawless hebrew, "hey, what's up?!?" and proceeded to shift the conversation entirely away from his native tongue to my own. i was thrilled to talk to him - it turns out, as he put it, that "we're neighbors!" (from nearby cities within israel's borders) - - but ready to crawl under a rock listening to him pit his hebrew skills against my arabic ones...

linguistic shame aside, i thought the whole event was fabulous. it showcased for N. the kind of cross-cultural communication i'm constantly promoting in my attempts to create world peace - particularly poignant in this south-eastern/mid-western city where us middle easterners are such an anomaly in the population. i think he was really touched.

and the falafel was delicious.

moved forward...to the bluegrass state

last week i took the plunge and moved from the cosmopolitan east coast to a town of 30,000 outside of lexington, KY. at the request of some friends, this blog is taking a slightly more personal turn as i chronicle life in the bluegrass...

call it cliche, but the biggest difference i've seen so far between here and DC/NY/other places i've been living recently is that people are just so nice. it's a little hard for my hustle-bustle-east-coast-mind to get used to: people smile and wave on the streets (even when i don't know them...and i definitely don't know them, i only know about 5 people in this whole town!), cashiers seem like they actually mean it when they say, "have a good day!," and everyone makes conversation (last week it was mostly about who would be hired as the new University of Kentucky basketball coach - one of the area's great passions...).

anyway, i've been trying to adjust to all of this niceness while unpacking and slowly learning my way around. a wrong turn the other day took me on a 5-mile (urban) hike out of my way, but it did show me where a couple of key things are in town (like the drive-through liquor store. ummm). oh, right, the other adjustment i have to make is to car culture: for the last decade i've been living in cities big enough (and with enough public transportation options) to make owning a car unnecessary. not so any longer. i must have been the only person on foot for most of that 5-mile loop. hey, maybe i can start a counter-culture movement! (maybe not. i still need to get to the grocery store...)

adjustments or not, so far this feels like a great move - the right one for now. keep tuned for descriptions of gorgeous scenery and the chance for me to dispel some of the stereotypes i know you all have about this place...