27 January 2020
Click onto image to enlarge. Let me know your response to this photomontage. Prints are available upon request.
Pens:
27 January 2020
Our fragile planet succumbs to its assaults by human intervention. As a result there is a daily surge that pierces our psyches and thoughts. And so we march forward seeking ways to be. The constant invasion of “news” that dishes out truth and variations on lies creates an atmosphere to “just say no.” This constant pollution of noise places us in a state of uncertainty. At least we can curtail listening to and reading the verbiage. My formula to cope is to spread hope and optimism, which seems almost beyond the sight lines.
In the Lens section is a photomontage that links the results of the climate crisis to renewal. The background represents the increase of many examples of invasive acts upon nature and thus human nature. For instance, the ongoing devastation of fires tilts our sense of reality. But Mother Nature will begin to heal with the buds of new life.
It’s incomprehensible that the tipping point has not been realized by those that can change the trajectory of the damage to the wild, to humanity, to life as we know it. BUT I believe strongly in (literally an metaphorically) on-the-ground action.
Did you know that if 350,000 people were vegans (giving up dairy and meat) for a month, the result would be the reduction of carbon emissions by 45,000 tons (The New York Times, Pledging to Go Vegan, at Least for January, by Alyson Krueger, 18 January 2020). This movement to join Veganuary, the “campaign was started in the United Kingdom in 2014 … According to Veganuary, 750,000 people from 192 countries have joined the pledge, with about half signing up for 2020.”
I’ve been a vegetarian for over forty years, but I do love cheese. And I adore my recent switch to oat milk, having given up soy or almond milk for specific reasons (medical and environmental in that order). I definitely will pick a summer month (when my garden is at its most productive) to “go” vegan. At least to see how it affects my everyday meal choices.
This reassessment of selection of ingredients reminds me of my early days as a vegetarian: how availability was minimal and what was available was not always palatable. Vegetarian cooking has been a magical journey of, well, magic in choices, flare, taste and more inclusive public acceptance. It’s a lifestyle that I inhabit with complete enthusiasm each and every day.