Ecology Democracy Party

This week and next week is the short but intense period of time that political parties have to get their candidates on the ballot this session. Our party, called the Ecology Democracy Party, has 3 candidates running: Roderic Olsen for State House in District 64 B (Highland neighborhood in St. Paul) and Ken Pentel for Governor of Minnesota and Erin Wallace for Lt. Governor. For State House, 500 signatures are required, while for Governor it's 2,000. In the entire state, that's not much, right? But we are a small party, and we are all gathering signatures on our own free time.

Here's Ken Pentel, on his bicycle that he rides around MN campaigning:

The pic is from this past May Day parade. Two of us held the banner while Ken rode in circles around us talking to the crowd. I thought I had a picture of me holding the banner (super hard in the wind that day!) but I can't find it.

The Ecology Democracy Party platform is now basically the same as the Ecology Democracy Network, whose website can be found here: http://www.ecologydemocracynetwork.org/ How is this different from the Green Party? I don't actually know a lot about the Green Party, but I like smaller, more tight-knit organizations that keep the original vision strong. I'm learning a lot from working with this Network and Party, and I think that the Party's platform is the strongest I've ever seen. There are three main mandates of our platform:

1. An ecologically sound economy not based on the growth model. We cannot continue to grow on a finite resource base. Our economy's health will be measured directly with the health of our environment.
2. Change the electoral system to be proportional. Proportional representation is the system used by most democracies in the world, and it is the best way to ensure that the most votes go towards electing an official. A great book I'm reading about it is Real Choices/New Voices by Douglas J. Amy.
3. Create a currency specifically for Minnesota that will be used for local environmentally-sound projects that also can be used to pay State Taxes. This is the mandate that I don't understand as well as the others, but I do know that our Federal currency is currently being used by the banks to charge us interest and get rich. We can never get out of debt in this country with the currency system we use now.

These are great ideas, and all true, but they will never happen, you might say. That might be true, but I'm tired of hearing about how we continue to mess up our home, Earth, and not hold those responsible accountable, and we have the worst natural disaster ever in history happening right now in the Gulf Coast and I am fed up, along with many others. So our Party is attempting to challenge those in power with our ideas (that are not unique to us!) and keep chipping at the cement block of our system.

Meanwhile, in my other life news...my new job with Prairie Restorations Inc. is so far really good. Everyone is so much more into the work than the other place I was at--almost everyone knows their plants, and is passionate about healing the land. I have had a couple of herbicide application days, not my favorite to be sure, but not too bad. And I have seen the difference between areas not sprayed and areas that were sprayed the first couple years--big difference. I guess there are some more organic chemicals out there, for the same price, and I think the owner of the company and the higher ups might need a little nudging in that area.

Shigeki went to the boundary waters with a group of guys he knows from school, and he'll be gone a week, then almost straightaway he's going back to Japan for 2 months. It sucks, but he does need to make money. And learn his dad's business for after he graduates. The future is somewhat uncertain; after he graduates in December (he's 24, so not quite as young as you might have been thinking...but still younger than me) he wants to work in Colorado for a year at one of the ski resorts, doing either rentals, ski patrol or both. That fits somewhat with what his dad does, which is making custom insoles for athletes, usually for ski boots, and doing boot adjustments. It seems pretty specialized, and Shigeki has a lot to learn. He says he came to America to learn English and possibly use it to someday open an international branch of the company in another country. He's from a really small town in Japan, and I think it's good that he wants to stay in his little town more than live in a big city. His parents and all his grandparents still live in the same town, too. Sounds like they have wild bears in the nearby mountains! Crazy. So, I don't know if I want to someday move to Japan with this guy, but things are going well now and I will just take it one day at a time and try not to think too far ahead too much, even though I already sometimes do. For example, it might seem cool to live in a small mountain town in Japan, but I don't know if his family would like me, or how quickly I will get homesick, etc. Anyway, for now, when he goes to Japan we have Skype so we can talk, and email too.

Here's a picture of my jack-in-the-pulpit this year:


I've been so involved with my little grasses and flowers this month that I completely didn't notice that the Japanese lilacs had started blooming!


Isn't this season the best?

Mowed Prairie

So, I started my job last week, but I had an interview with another landscaping company Monday of that week. Turns out the job I interviewed for is a much better deal, so I decided to put in my two week notice, but since it was only a week into it they told me to just not come in. So, I guess they didn't need me...? And my new job starts on May 10th. One day, one day I will have consistency in my career....I hope I hope I hope.

So, with two weeks off I'm filling my time best I can. I looked into getting a burn permit for my prairie garden, but was turned down because it's within 50 ft of a structure. Several structures, in fact. Ah, it was wishful thinking on my part to believe I could get a permit. But I guess I learned something! Instead, the Tousan and I mowed the prairie:

Over the years, especially the Japan years, i.e. in my absence, the European grasses have invaded. Over the next few days and weeks, a little bit at a time, with a little TLC, I'm going to weed them out. This mowing is supposed to help by simulating bison grazing, and the roots are longer on the prairie plants so they have a better chance (I hope) of coming back from this treatment.

Not a lot more news other than that. Tonight I had dinner with and had a drink with two of my old crew from last year, plus a couple other friends and one new guy who was really entertaining. I was surprised to learn this guy goes to Japan to teach Japanese youth how to dance hip hop! He had me relate the whole story of how I met Shigeki. My face turned so red but it was because it we were crammed in a booth together and I had a hot drink. Really.

My Birthday and Jury Duty

Last Saturday was my birthday. When one's birthday falls on a Saturday, it's going to be an awesome day right? Well, it WAS!

In the morning, I biked over to Lake Phalen and met my friend Elissa from my job last year, my old supervisor and some of my youth from Youth Outdoors were there. It was really good to see them again. They were there because it was the St. Paul Parks Spring Cleanup Day and the Conservation Corps was on the job, signing up volunteers. They were there for an hour but then they had to go to another site, so I went out to the lake by myself and did the tougher areas that most volunteers miss. I actually found two diapers, if you can believe it. They have garbage cans not even 20 yards away from where I found them! I hit a cluster of willows and maneuvered like Lara Croft around them to pull bottles and bait containers out of the water. I also pulled one of the dead willows out of the ground and used it to reach garbage further away. I'd like to tell you that it was my own idea to do that, but I saw some kids do it and felt a bit slow. Oh well--it got the job done!

Then I biked over to Lake Como to meet my boyfriend and have a picnic lunch at the top of the hill next to Black Bear Crossing. I brought the blanket, sandwiches, bean salad and pineapple in my backpack. He made me chocolate cake! It was good, but like a lot of cake I've had in Japan, it wasn't as moist or sweet as I would like. I hope he never reads this...


We hung out there for awhile, then went over to the Conservatory, which was way too crowded so we left and walked around the lake. We spoke in Japanese the entire day, which was his birthday present to me. We could speak all the time, but I would get tired and I already tried to date a guy in Japan who didn't speak any English--it sucked.

That evening I hung out with my girls form last year, plus Elissa's roommate. We met at the Happy Gnome, which has some of the best beer variety in the cities, as far as I know (but I don't know very far). Shigeki didn't come because I told him we'd only be regaling the events of last year, which is what ended up happening, but my girls still gave me a hard time about not bringing him. He doesn't drink, either, so bringing him to a bar seemed like a bad idea. Anyway, a hilarious time was had by all!

Transitioning to the other part of my title, I had jury duty this week, Mon.-Wed. Now that the trial I got on is over, I am allowed to blog about it!

The first day I read a lot and didn't get on a trial. I almost got on a breaking-and-entering trial, but it was settled out of court. Tuesday I got on a drug possession charge trial. The case was that the police had busted down the door of a suspected drug dealer's house, only to find nothing except some crack cocaine in a balled up napkin in the defendant's mailbox, with 125 dollars. One of our speculations as a jury was, was he using the mailbox as a drop box for selling drugs? But if so, why would both the money AND the drugs be there? Since there were other suspected drug users in the guy's apartment, plus a mailbox is accessible to the public, we couldn't find him guilty without a reasonable doubt. There was a confession where he said he smoked crack, but that was after the police convinced him they could make him a deal of some kind. The defendant said on the stand that he was worried about his kids being taken from him, so he lied to the police. In my mind, it's very possible that it was his crack and he told the police the truth then lied on the stand, but the prosecutor (the state of MN) did not prove to most of us in the jury that he was guilty without a reasonable doubt. Three or four jurors were leaning more towards guilty, but we convinced them and found him not guilty. Hopefully, if it was his crack, he will learn his lesson from almost getting caught.

All this happened mostly during Wednesday. Pretty short trial. I'm happy with the outcome--the defendant seemed like a good guy in general and I wouldn't feel right about sending him to jail (or whatever they would do to him) without being absolutely sure. Oh, and on a positive note, they treated us to lunch! I think it was the Saint Paul Hotel--good buffet. Got to know the other jurors some too. One was a judge himself! He said he might be the only judge in Ramsey county to sit as a juror. Another juror lives in my neighborhood, and his wife has a rain garden--she love gardening in general so I'm invited to their house for lunch and to talk about gardening.

That's all for now. Santini, it was lovely to see you last weekend! Hopefully I'll see you and Nancy and the kids in August!

Last weekend in White Earth

I have stayed at three places now where the people are trying to live closer to the land, take only what they need and plant more to help facilitate the rejuvenation and restoration of often degraded land. One place was in Japan, where I worked at a family-owned organic and natural foods cafe and restaurant, and sometimes at their farm where they harvested most of the food for the two. I was impressed with their knowledge of the land, and their compassion for it and each other. Another place was in India, where a deforested area was being slowly and painstakingly replanted by mostly volunteer labor. The volunteers, some local Indian people, and the family that started the project all lived together in huts, used composting toilets and solar energy, and where planting gardens for everyone to eventually get all their food. The diet was even strict vegan, AND on top of that no caffeine or spicy foods (in India!) were allowed. I spent two weeks eating mostly fruit, vegetables, beans and rice. I did cheat some nights with some volunteers by going out to the nearby village and drinking chai and eating spicy parotas. I was particularly impressed with this place, and told the man who started it that I thought that what they were doing was beyond just "sustainable living"; it was "regenerative living". More and more, I believe that the latter is the only way to pull ourselves out of this mess we're in.

And now White Earth...upon reflection, I reminded myself that this is a place torn apart not only ecologically, but the people whose original land base this was, have been torn apart and repressed as well. To some degree that was true of Japan, and India, but nothing to the degree of this place. What I mean is, where the people in those places in Japan and India where working hard, sometimes fumbling around for the right path, but supporting each other and staying mindful of their common goal, here I have witnessed a dysfunction in the human relationships, and a disconnect to the one's own impact on the environment that I didn't expect to encounter, especially not from a group of people who were working so hard to do the opposite. Can't climb out of the burning oil without scalding yourself on the pan first, I guess. If that makes any sense. The more I get to know people here, the less I realize we have in common in our pasts, and I feel like I've been riding on a wave of White Privilege all my life. Even so, I'm tired, I feel drained here, and I want to go home. I didn't come here with any expectation that I'd make a big difference, or "save" anyone, I just wanted to learn, and hopefully become more inspired by the work and the people working around me. I have felt that way some days, but for the most part I have seen dysfunctional communication, disorganization, and a sense of hopelessness. Some days I feel like I'm the only person who cares enough to clean up after myself, or after others, or encourage others to work a little more before the next break (and there are many). Or be on time. I guess it's just everyone runs on "Native Time". I totally believe in taking time out and really appreciate your surroundings and all that, but sometimes the stalling is just about avoiding work.

This weekend, I got to hang out with Winona LaDuke for a few hours. Somehow, after spending more time with her, I feel a little better about being here. She works hard--is in fact as they say constantly in motion, always planning something, and she has done a lot. However, in the process other important things have been neglected in her life, and I've learned a lot from what I've seen. I would not tell anyone not to do an internship here, because I have learned so much, even from the bad stuff. And the forests are beautiful, the wildlife abundant, and I've met some great people and hope to stay in touch.

The Sugar Bush is Running

We are done for now with getting more wood for the evaporator, which will boil down the sap into syrup. I did some of the cutting and splitting, but mostly I stacked it. I now feel confident that I can split wood, as long as it's of a certain size. Here I am next to the wood pile covered in a tarp:



Starting Monday of last week, we started tapping the maple trees in the sugar bush for Native Harvest. By Wednesday, we had 798 taps put in. The original plan was for around 500.

On Monday, we split into two teams of three people, each team consisting of a driller, someone with a bucket of taps and a small hammer, and a can person. I was the tapper. And for each tree I came to, it occurred to me to thank the tree for letting us use its sap again this year. Put the tap in, placed my hand on the bark and thought: "We humbly receive only that which you will give us." On Thursday, when we collected the sap, I tried to thank each tree again. And I realized, as I saw the twigs, moths, spiders and other random things that had fallen in the cans, that consuming maple syrup is very much like drinking the forest.


This weekend was really fun. Shigeki, who I've started dating, came up and visited for the weekend. I met him at one of the rec centers that I was teaching skating at in February. He's a really great guy. We went to Bemidji with a couple of kids from White Earth who are related to someone from the project, and we stopped at Itasca State Park to see the headwaters of the Mississippi. Of course we all had to cross it in bare feet, despite the available bridge.


Yes, that is me with bare feet in icy water. I have miraculously survived!

And now for some gratuitous cuteness. Take it away, Victor the cat!


He is probably the friendliest cat I've ever met, or neediest. He kills voles and yesterday a squirrel and offers them at our feet. Wish he wouldn't do that, unless he was going to eat them too, but he's an outdoor cat, and I'm thankful not to have to change kitty litter.

Next week is the last week I'll be up here. It's been good and I've learned a ton, but it'll be good to be back next Saturday. See you soon, Bro and Tousan!

White Earth

Gud Dag! I have internet after all in the wilderness, so I will now regale you with my harrowing tales of northern Minnesota! Disclaimer: Tales may not be harrowing.

I am now in White Earth, MN. Or very near there. I'm not sure where the boundary is. I have met some great people, and have learned A LOT for such a short time, but I have a few complaints of course. Mostly the messiness (which I cleaned up pretty well at the Intern House), and the smoking, and the general disorganization. Oh, and too much driving--everything is so far apart!

Right now we are preparing to collect sap from 500-600 maple trees. In past years they tell me they have done over 1,000, and I have seen the evaporator to prove it, but it wasn't cost effective to do so many and there are also less people either employed or volunteering to do the work necessary. We needed a smaller evaporator (it boils the sap into syrup--40 gallons of sap make 1 gallon of syrup!!), and so my first day was spent with 3 guys who work with the Sustainable Communities branch of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, taking apart, then moving, then putting back together the smaller (still very heavy) evaporator. I guess that was pretty harrowing!

Yesterday I helped out at the office, where I made random phone calls and did busy work. I am not so keen on office work...

Today and tomorrow we cut and will cut up more wood to burn in the evaporator. I used a chainsaw again! But this time was the first time, unlike MCC, that I felt like the people I worked with either didn't think I could use a chainsaw, or lift heavy things, or do much of anything men do. It's a bit of a struggle and I have to keep asking for tasks, which is frustrating. Plus, I have some criticisms of how they maintain their saws--they keep the chain insanely loose! I was taught to keep it at a certain tightness, and I fixed the saw I used, but it was all I could do not to say anything to the guy, kinda my boss, who's chain hung off the bar visibly. I did mention it, not to criticize, just ask why he keeps it that way. He said it was easier for cutting bigger pieces. In my head I was like "B*** s***!" I've cut with a somewhat loose chain before--his must be so sharp he doesn't notice. I should ask an expert.

I have a new friend who I live with--her name is Nikki and she is half Ojibway, and an ethnobotanist. We have had some great conversations and she has taught me a lot. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here! Oh, and I'm still doing my Norsk lessons. Har deh bra!

Back from Beyond

Wherever that was. I am finally rejoining the family blogging circle. Now that I've been back from Japan almost as long as I was there, I thought that changing the blog title and converting to Blogger was the way to go.

I had an awesome interview today. The more I think about it, the more I think that my dream of working for The Nature Conservancy, while still there, is only one option in the bigger dream of Restoring the Environment, that will hopefully lead to (or be done in conjunction with) Educating People About Nature, thereby causing the creation of Near Utopian Standards of Living for Everyone. So anyway, the interview was with a company called Minnesota Native Landscaping. It sounds like it's growing, with lots of interesting different avenues being explored, like energy from biomass (a little iffy but often with restoration projects there is leftover biomass, and why not use it?), green roofs, and other cool stuff. The president of the company himself came in and drilled me with some random questions about Japan (not on my resume, but it came up) and whether I was "anchored" already in the Twin Cities, or if I would be open to moving closer to the office. Seems like a good sign to be asked that sort of question. I told them that I was looking for a permanent position, eventually, after doing a seasonal job at first. It was crazy how they seemed to know a lot of the people I had worked with--definitely good for me. They were so comfortable that we started joking around right away, and one of them even dropped a couple of s-bombs to my surprise (they probably had a talk about it later--then again maybe not!). *Happy sigh* Thursday I have an interview with another landscaping place. This one is not all native landscaping, so not ideal, but the drive is shorter.

In other news, I am going to White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota for the month of March. I will be doing a lot of physical work, and possibly (hopefully!) tapping maple trees for maple syrup! I hear it's messy work, but I'm all for it! I'm reading a book now about the Anishinabe'ojibway (spelling varies) tribe who live on the White Earth, Red Lake, Prairie Island and other reservations in Minnesota. The more I read, the sadder I feel about the history and current situation of the aboriginal indigenous people of this continent. It's the least I can do to volunteer for them, especially at White Earth where they have a growing effort to restore their land and culture. It's called the White Earth Land Recovery Project, and you can find them here: http://nativeharvest.com/ along with their Native Harvest products.

I have also applied to grad school in Norway. I will find out in May if I get in, but I don't know how good my chance is. They didn't ask for an essay, or letters of reference, or a resume. Only my transcripts and an application. That's how they do it there I guess! Which brings me to my blog name, "Daughter of Norway," which is what my friend Ray has been calling me, and even though I know I am also the daughter of Sweden, Germany, France, etc., I feel the most affinity for Norway and am now learning Norwegian. It's always good to know your roots.

Har det bra! (lit. "have it good" but means goodbye--did I get the spelling right?)