Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
at work?
since i have been woefully neglect in maintaining this journal during the last hectic week of picketing activity – i thought a quick update would be a good idea.
although we don’t have an agreement yet, we have returned to work today (friday) in anticipation of an offer being made this morning at 8:00 am. the national strike council decided that rather than have our members lose another days pay we would return to work to await the employer’s offer.
of course, we will not know for another couple of hours whether or not our bargaining team will accept said offer – and if they don’t then it is back to the picket lines next week.
i’m exhausted but so far everything has gone fairly smoothly. indications for a decent settlement are good at the moment.
"ready to stay out as long as it takes"
so, if you follow the news you know that my union is on strike from today until we reach a settlement. i did an interview with cbc radio this morning which i think turned out okay. in lieu of a proper blog posting at the moment – i leave you with a link to the real media version of the interview. wow – do i sound peppy for first thing in the morning.
rhyming couplets
on friday i received a housewarming package that included poems by two of my favourite east van children – jacob and kira. i share their poems with you here since i think they display the fine raw talent of young anarchist poets….. 🙂 (and you should see the crayon drawings on the pages… very nice indeed).
Oh pickles and lies
oh smelly old flies
put them together
and you have a pie
and to make milk
you have to gather some silk
cause a cow is too dirty
so is a gote
as for a drink
blend up some stink
from jacob
for a megin you must be a pagin
for a tristin you must be a christian
for a sum blue you need sum glue
for sum sun you need to run
love kira
weekend chores
besides stacking a cord of firewood and turning 25 pounds of apples into applesauce this weekend i have also managed to redesign this blog. what do you think?
salmon soup
salmon and shitake soup
for grey days on the west coast
ingredients:
one red onion
2 carrots
some stalks of celery
10 shitake mushrooms
1 lb of deboned salmon filet
2 cups cooked brown rice
boullion cubes, soy sauce or veggie stock for soup base
spices as desired
instructions:
- first of all, go for a long walk by the sea until you are cold and in need of warming. go by yourself and think about someone you haven’t seen for awhile.
- come home, and light a fire in the woodstove or fireplace, hang your wool sweater up to dry by the fire and then get your ingredients together for cooking
- start by sauteing the onion in olive oil until it is soft and translucent and your kitchen smells like cooking is taking place. if you want, add some cloves of crushed garlic and stir those in too
- add the sliced shitake mushrooms and stir them around a bit in the oil to release their flavour – put a bit of soy sauce over them and make them sing in the fashion of a chinese cook
- add about 7 cups of water and bouillon cubes and or 7 cups of veggie stock – if you have planned your life around eating well, you should have some homemade stock in the freezer
- throw in the sliced carrot and celery – make sure they are organic and you can leave the skins on the carrots
- put on a low, rolling boil until the veggies are getting towards done
- throw in the diced salmon filet, skin and all (make sure the bones are out first) – chinook or sockeye are the best because they have the strongest fish taste, make sure the pieces aren’t too small so you miss them when eating the soup
- when the salmon is cooked, add the brown rice and heat through – simmer the pot on a low heat for awhile so the flavours can marry
- soy sauce to taste
you can also add garlic, dill, oregano, bay leaf, celery seed, ginger, white wine, and/or barley (instead of rice) – i have made this soup all manner of ways. it is best if the salmon is of a piece given to you by a friend so you can think about that person as you are warming yourself up with the finished soup – this is nourishing for the body and the heart. on the west coast there are many fishermen (and women) – these are good people to befriend, and i am lucky to have a couple in the circle of my aquaintances (even luckier that one of these people regularly bestows me with gifts of salmon).
Red Cedar 