They finally got around to putting More Business Of Being Born on Netflix (watch the trailer here). Hurray! I’ve been working my way through the four episodes that talk in depth about The Farm and Ina May Gaskin, doulas, places to birth, cesareans and VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). My favorite one, of course, is the celebrity birth stories told by the women themselves. It’s an impressive bunch and I think you should watch it.

In the re-telling of her birth story, Melissa Joan Hart said a phrase that I hear over and over again. Especially by women who are having hospital births and are considering getting an epidural. She explained that she wanted to have a natural birth, but “didn’t want to be a hero.” Really truly, this is such a common phrase that people tell pregnant mothers. They are told by their doctors, nurses, friends and family that there is no reason to suffer, no reason to be a hero. Go ahead, get an epidural. Why should you feel pain just because you’re birthing a baby?

My response to this is…do it. Be a hero. Be a hero for your baby, be a hero for your family, be a hero for women, be a hero for yourself. Feeling the pain of childbirth, moving through it and allowing your body to DO IT’S JOB by creating LIFE and birthing it from your body is HEROIC.

There are thousands of books, spanning thousands of years dedicated to the hero. Movies, stories, fairy tales, all with a hero. People strive in their day to day lives to be a hero by helping one another, saving lives, donating $$$, donating blood. Children run around yards wearing capes, playing heroes. It’s practically human nature to aspire to be one. When given the actual opportunity to be heroic, why would anyone turn that opportunity down just because the chance presents itself in the form of birth?

What hero doesn’t overcome pain, suffering and challenge?  Martin Luther King Jr. faced racism and bigotry, but persevered in his quest for equality. Hellen Keller was born deaf and blind, but overcame those obstacles to become an activist, lecturer and author. Sacajawea was married at 13 and then sold or won (as in being used as property) before finding her way to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Without her help, there was a very real possibility that they wouldn’t have survived and found their way to the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. Oh, and she was pregnant, gave birth and cared for her small baby while doing this. Surely, birth is no more difficult and just as noble as the obstacles that these, and so many others, overcame with persistence, ability, support and a profound belief in life. Being a hero isn’t easy, but who ever said it was or should be? Isn’t it the struggle that makes us root for the hero in the end?

At the Farm to Fork dinner a few weeks ago a gentleman asked the table, if we could have any super power what it would be? Most people said flight (me included, thanks to this post) and a couple people said invisibility. Guess what. I know, and other women who have had un-medicated births know, that right after you birth a baby and in the following weeks you feel like you have mega-super- human strength. I know it’s not just me because all the women in More Business Of Being Born said the same thing. There is nothing the universe could throw your way that you couldn’t handle. I truly believe that this power is in everyone. Women are just lucky to have a clear way to access it. Over time this feeling gets subdued as you settle into a new routine and a new life, but it doesn’t go away. It’s simply laying low, under the surface. Waiting for the next time you need to call upon your super human strength. The next time you need to be a hero.

The future generation of heroes.

Porter trying to attain super human powers through the force known as sugar.

This child made a super hero out of me.

*If you want to know why I care so much about this, follow the link to this post.

Smelling the flowers

Checking to make sure they’re just right

The knock

Aww, she’s a ballerina.

Mission accomplished

We just arrived home in Boise after almost a week visiting with my family in Capitola. It was confirmed, yet again, that grandparents and uncles are way more fun than actual parents.

At the Cabrillo Farmer’s Market with Grandpa and the  awesome Radio Flyer tricycle, dubbed “Porter’s Bike”.

My dad’s garden, fecund as ever.

Oh look, a weed!

Luke, Porter and I took a trip to UCSC and I had a moment when I called for Porter in the bookstore. If you know how he got his name then you’ll understand.

We scoped the new bookstore/student union. Decidedly not as cool since it’s been updated but deemed necessary for the growth of the campus.

Followed up the UCSC visit with bread bowls and animal watching at the Santa Cruz Wharf. Here we have a multitude of sea lions being very lazy.

A pelican, a la Nemo.

I forced Luke to get a massage and soak in a tub with me at the Well Within. It was hard wearing a robe, but he pushed through like a good sport.

I’ve been looking for just the right rain boots for the upcoming seasons and finally decided on the Crocs. We took them for a test splash in front of our neighbors house. They kept the pajama bottoms dry. Success!

He made a bubble!

Gotta catch the zzz’s when you can on these trips. The days go so fast and there’s so much to do.

Took Porter to the beach for the first extended period of time. Poor kid, his mom hates sand. He loved it, and I got a full frontal of sand thrown at me. Just a quick reminder of how sand manages to get everywhere. Blech.

Shortly after arriving home. Porter’s experimenting with facial expressions. This one is usually accompanied with head nodding up and down, preferably to a beat.

New favorite past time!

Stroll up the street and collect an assortment of pine cones from neighbors yards.

Walk to main canal that has a small waterfall.

Grab a pine cone, or as many as you can cram into your fist.

Throw said pine cones into the canal water.

Looks like a little turd, no? Anyway. Watch turd float towards waterfall and then over the edge.

“Hurray!” Repeat for endless enjoyment.

It has been my great pleasure to have enjoyed the Peaceful Belly Farm to Fork dinner on more than one occasion. Tonight my friend Chelsea and I got to enjoy the September bounty as interpreted by chef Abby Carlson. She did not disappoint! The company was friendly, the wine was flowing and by the 3rd course the conversation reached a crescendo. There were many comments made when we realized that the final course was coming that we all could have eaten more of all the savory goodness. And that was the truth!

The table settings were a  diverse assortment of squash in varying shapes, sizes and colors.

Appetizer: roasted peppers on a crustini

Watermelon jalapeno non-alcoholic spritzer. Fresh and delightful.

The best dinner companion for this event, my friend Chelsea.

The Menu as designed by chef Abby and grown by Peaceful Belly Farm. Fabulous local wines by Cinder Wines.

Crespelle with Creamed Corn, Pepper Jam, Heirloom Tomato Stack, 2011 Dry Rose

2011 Dry Rose.

One of my top 2 favorite dishes: Pork Meatballs, Tomatillo Caramel, Fried Hakurei Turnips, 2011 Laissez Fair

Winter Luxury Pumpkin Soup, Joe Long Sambal, 2011 Dry Viognier. Maybe I had 3 favorites because this was really good.

I don’t remember which one this was, but it was refreshing.

Not Pictured is the Basil Sorbet. There was one bite worth and I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. That’s what I get for living in the moment. It was dark green, sweet and cold. Maybe my favorite part of the meal.

It was all fantastic really, to pick a favorite would be silly! Pork Scaloppine, Peruvian Potato Gnocchi, Confit Tomato, 2010 Syrah

That’s a legit John Deere lit up with lights and holding many bottles of wine.

Chocolate Financier, Raspberry Ganache, Salt and Pepper Caramel, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Blend

You know when there’s wine spilled on the menu at the end of the night that it was all a great success. Thanks Dad!

I’ve been reading a lot of posts on Facebook about where people were on 9/11 and the lesson they have learned from that event and how it shaped our collective consciousness. Of all the posts that I read today, the radio playing the emergency 911 calls from New York (like it was live, again) and the tears that ensued, there were two things that stuck out to me. The first was that Obama and Romney declared a truce for the day on political jabs. They pulled ads and didn’t hold rallies. This was maybe the first compassionate action from either of them, maybe ever? I wonder who was copying who?

The second was more profound. It was a quote from Sandy Dahl, the wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl, and she said this:

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”

I wonder how she was feeling when she made this statement. Was she saying it like a mantra, hoping that it would someday become true to her? Or did she really find a way to banish hatred from what must have been her broken heart? Either way, I applaud her strength of character and attempt to find a splinter of truth from a horrific loss.

We celebrated our lives, family and freedoms today by ordering Thai/Chinese takeout and heading over to the park for some playtime. Our great friend Danny showed up and made Porter’s night. Life is short and I’m so grateful to be able to celebrate every single day.

Have you heard about the Real Food movement? I’ve mentioned it briefly in a few other posts, but I finally found a reason to do a whole post on it. Emily at Holistic Squid does an excellent job explaining Real Food. You can also check out the work of Westin A Price as the basis for this movement. Dr.Price was a dentist who travelled the world and studied the health of traditional cultures and those cultures who were then introduced to modern foods. The results were astounding. People who eat local, fermented, traditional foods (this included omnivores and vegetarians) were healthy and virtually disease free. That is until they came upon modern food. Then it was straight to food purgatory for them (and us!) For my part I will say that when I look back at what I imagined a healthy way of eating, it was always food in its most natural state. Little did I know that I wasn’t the only one who had this vision. (This is just another confirming fact that I am actually normal in all my weirdness. Phew!)

My grandmother, who was raised on a farm in Nebraska during the depression, comes to mind. Forced to eat fresh veggies from the garden and farm fresh meats and dairy, no doubt. My grandma was a hilarious and lovely person, but she was known as the “front room girl” because she preferred to entertain in the front room than be part of the actual farm work. According to my father, once she got off the farm she was all over the ease that canned and pre-made foods had to offer.  Thankfully my dad took it upon himself to learn to cook from scratch, and I was raised eating home cooked meals, fresh baked bread and real butter everyday of my life. Thanks Dad!

Well, it seems we’ve come full circle in the food revolution. We’ve gone so far from eating food in it’s normal, fresh state, that there is an actual movement that involves eating like our grandparents. This food trend falls in line with the Organic Farming and Farmer’s Market movements that are happening all around the country. Slowly but surly we are learning that maybe the reason our nation is so sick, and getting sicker, is because of the vast amounts of absolute CRAP we eat.

Now, I’m no saint. I’m just as addicted to carbs, high fructose syrup, fast food and all the baked goods I can get my hands on as the next person. But I’ll be damned if I don’t change my bad habits for my health and the health of my family. This has led to shopping and cooking as locally as possible. Trying not to eat out as much, thus forcing myself to cook. It’s not so bad though. When I have the time and energy, I actually like cooking and eating my creations. So far I’ve dabbled in:

• pickling 
• made gallons of chicken broth (I can never go back to the boxed stuff, EVER) 
• eaten the most delicious pastured chicken eggs 
• made homemade jello using juice and this gelatin 
• cooking with saturated fats like coconut oil and butter (not canola or olive oil) 
• committing to growing/eating local and organic produce
• brewing kombucha 

My hopes are that I will eventually get into such a routine of cooking with real food that it will become second nature and that Porter, Luke and I will have diverse happy palates and guts.

A big part of our Real Food deal is meat. There’s a lot of it. It’s incredibly important that the meat my family eats be raised using non-GMO feed, hopefully eating grass and bugs and rooting around in the soil the way nature intended. They hopefully had happy lives and were treated with the utmost respect before and after their death. To ensure this I talk with the farmer at the market, and thank goodness for the internet and all of the great websites that everyone has.

Current methods of factory farming, feed lots and slaughter houses ARE NOT considered Real Food. When people talk about the raising of animals for food that’s bad for the environment, this type of farming is what they’re talking about. When animals are humanely raised and slaughtered it can rehabilitate the environment and be a source of good, believe it. For more info, check out Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms and his method of animal husbandry. If you are what you eat, and I eat meat, I want to be happy and healthy. Just like the animals that were raised to feed me.

I came across this series of videos today, they are truly beautiful and informative. They are made by a family who raises and butchers their own pork. It’s so well done that I actually shed a tear over the passion that this guy has for animal husbandry and feeding his family and friends. It gives an excellent history of how butchery came about and then he actually shows you how to butcher the whole pig and use each of it’s parts. It sounds gruesome, but I swear it’s not. It’s less messy than an episode of Dexter. There’s very little blood, a lot of skill and an overwhelming amount of pride and love for the animal. There are 3 parts, each around 20 minutes. If you have respect for the food you eat, are curious about how it should be prepared correctly or are just into anatomy then please watch these videos.

I don’t expect to live in a Real Food bubble, although I’ve read enough to know there are people who do. What I do expect is to try and make educated choices. Just like in childbirth, parenting and everything else I do. Food is good, it should make us feel good about eating too.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32367993 w=500&h=281]
On The Anatomy Of Thrift: Side Butchery from farmrun on Vimeo.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/39451071 w=500&h=281]
On The Anatomy Of Thrift: Harvest Day from farmrun on Vimeo.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47809670 w=500&h=281]
On The Anatomy Of Thrift: Fat & Salt from farmrun on Vimeo.