Pat Taub
Halloween
My spirited 17 y.o. granddaughter from Oak Park, Il. dressed as the Grim Reaper for Halloween. Her costume symbolizes the concerns of so many young people, who are desperately worried about their future during these times of climate emergency. Videos from Glasgow show throngs of young climate activists cramming city blocks around the climate meeting site. I was moved to tears. We can’t abandon the world’s youth.
Mia Mottley
Mottley is the President of Barbados. Her speech at Glasgow was very powerful and a testament to why we need the compassion of women leaders. Among the riveting words from her speech:
Simply put, when will leaders lead? Our people are watching, and our people are taking note. And are we really going to leave Scotland without the resolve and the ambition that is sorely needed to save lives and to save out planet? Are we so blinded and hardened that we can no longer appreciate the cries of humanity?
A Brilliant Read
On the subject of climate change, this week I finished the new book, The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh. It traces our current climate crisis back to the discovery of the new world with a focus on the history of nutmeg, which becomes a parable for our environmental crisis.
Ghosh describes how the Dutch traders exploited the Banda Islands, ordering mass killings of locals who protested, while destroying their homes and land in order to reign control. This extermination of native people and lands laid the groundwork for our current indifference to Mother Earth, seeing her as nothing more than a resource for profit.
Soup Time
Now that cooler temps have arrived in Maine, I’ve been thumbing through favorite soup recipes. An all-time favorite is Ina Garten’s Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Curry. Apples are an unexpected ingredient, which complement well the squash and curry. I will make it this weekend. If the Met’s Opera is on, I can listen to arias while I make soup, making me feel like I’m in an Italian kitchen.
