Day 18... a potato

“Give peace a chance...”

— John Lennon

outside of Bonhoga, Shetland

Let’s give potatoes a chance…

perhaps the potato is a symbol of peace.

“Rules” for today…

if you find yourself saying “but” as it pertains to the potato, you have to say “butter.”

The potato… the simple potato, deceptively simple, so simple most believe it’s devoid of nutrients.

How many times have you heard the potato is bad for you? It’s a starchy vegetable and stay away!!!!

Did you know that civilization would not be where we are today without the potato?

People have survived long winters thanks to the potato…

Endured wars due to the potatoes growing under the soil unbeknownst to the travelling armies pillaging for food…

Allowed populations to grow due to the presence of food.

One summer, after a particularly traumatic life-event, a friend helped me plant a garden. I knew nothing about gardening and with previous failed attempts at growing zucchini, I was not sure I needed one more responsibility to tend. She persisted… and we planted potatoes.

Buried the little eyes deep in the mound of dirt and let them be. I was skeptical. How could one plant a small piece of a potato and yield another potato? And to my surprise… the little old piece of potato didn’t grow into a new potato… it gave new life into many new potatoes. When I returned a couple months later, you can imagine how surprised I was to find 100’s of potatoes… growing hidden underground all summer long.

One small potato… magnifies.

One small act of peace… endless possibilities.

The potato is actually one of the most nutrient dense foods in all the land. In particular, it is the best source of potassium of all the vegetables. Now, we happen to know that a diet rich in potassium is associated with lower blood pressure and this is good for the heart.

One small potato… good for the heart.

Many of you have commented over the past 18 days… “peace is in the heart.”

The potato is an economical source of food…. peace need not be expensive.

Here’s the only “but” I will allow us to explore… but what about the Irish Potato Famine.

I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating and reading about the great famine. I’ve no Irish background, only a strong draw to learn more about Ireland. Perhaps it’s in the name… Ire-land, is really Eireland, and derivatives of “eire” mean peace. So, the island itself is actually the land of peace.

I digress… the potato and how it symbolizes peace is the topic for today. While I have several thoughts about the potato famine, the one that is most appropriate for today pertains to monocropping (and again this is layered with reasons)*. Potatoes were the main and for many, the only source of food and if fortunate to have a cow, milk was the other source. So, when the potato crops were destroyed by blight year after year, no other food source was available.

The path to peace is a network… not one single route. All roads are interconnected.

Relying solely on the potato (or eating a lot of potatoes) might not be the path to peace.

The potato and peace…

we have to dig deep to find them,

one small act grows to nourish others,

good for the heart,

inexpensive,

and multiple, interconnected roads can lead to peace.

Aah, the potato.

*Added on 12/19: To learn more about the causes of the Irish Potato Famine, Cecil Woodham Smith's "The Great Hunger" is a good resource to learn about the disaster that reduced the population from nearly nine million in 1845 to six and a half million in 1851.

Peace tip #18

Food is peace… for self, others, and the land. It can nourish our own body, connect us with others, and grown responsibly, it can honor the land.

Potatoes have been grown and used in almost all cultures around the world. How has the potato connected you to others? Do you have a family recipe or tradition that uses potatoes? Let’s see how many ways the potato has connected all of us.

Have fun with this one.

And if you are ever in Idaho… check out the Potato Museum!

Day 17... a house

“Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.”

— John Lewis

A house… a place for shelter, protection from the outside…

from the elements, others, fears?

We build a house, a home, a place to be.

For some, loving images of family come to mind, whereas for others, this may not be true.

A house, a home does not mean the same to all…

So many of the Project Peace topics are packaged into this physical structure… boundaries, the path, perspective, moods, grounded, connected, here…

what is a house?

a tent, a cave, the side of a street, a small rock building with a root cellar to preserve food throughout the winter… an apartment in the inner city, a farm in rural America, a croft in Shetland, a mud hut…

Peace in place… for many, their house may be a place of peace yet it’s important to recognize that this is not the case for all. And, that one can make a home in unusual places. The white picket fence surrounding the house may not be a prerequisite to peace…

Where is your home?

Peace tip #17

Two things for today.

First a question… can you think of a person who has a house very different than yours? One that makes you question what you know? This might be someone living or no longer, present day or in the past. Think about living in their house… what would that be like? Instead of “walking in someone else’s shoes,” let’s try “living in someone else’s house.”

Last spring, when my trip to Shetland was cancelled, I created a little retreat for my mum and I. We pretended we were in Shetland, took walks around the lake to represent the sea, made scones, and I created a croft hoose garland. Click the image below to access the template to make your own paper croft hoose… make several and string them on a piece of baker’s twine.

Updates

The template above is my little gift to all of you for engaging in our 21 days of peace. It’s not a professionally produced activity… just me trying to relay my thoughts so others might be able to reproduce the activity. Let me know how it goes. I’d love to see photos! No need to make them look like crofts, get creative.

2nd give-away recipient announced: Heather Sharp-Keyes!!! please send me an email: thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com Thank you to everyone who continues to post… even if it’s just one time, it’s one additional step to saying “hello to peace.”

3rd give-away will be revealed on 12/21 and don’t forget that everyone who makes a comment each day will be entered into a final special give-away! Winding down… 4 days to go until the solstice. Don’t forget… 12/21 is our group-proclaimed “World-wide knit for peace day.” Start making a plan… in solitude, socially-distanced group or virtual. Let’s knit peace on 12/21!

I’ve been knitting croft hooses this year… I knit, my mum stuffs and finishes them off. It’s a joint venture and someday we’ll have enough to string together to create a knitted garland. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Day 16... here

“Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger.”

— David Wagoner "Lost"

MacFarland Park, Ames, IA

Sometimes you can’t quite recall how you learned about a writer… you’ve started with one resource that leads you to another and another. The way you’ve come to know of a person is like an old, meandering creek weaving throughout the landscape. Once you’ve been introduced to their work, their words, their wisdom, it’s as if you’ve always known of them…

And this describes how I came to know of Padraig O Tuama, a poet, storyteller, and theologian. I can’t recall the path that led me here, yet now it feels as if I’ve known him my whole life. A person that can make you feel ‘welcome’ despite never having met. The sign of a wise and gifted storyteller I suppose. In Padraig’s book, “In the shelter; finding a home in the world,” he uses the phrase “hello to here,” a phrase that deeply moves me.

HERE

You are never any where other than here… this place.

Here, not ‘now’ in this moment of time, but here in this very space… here, in this place.

I rise…

hello to here

I walk in the trees…

hello to here

I cry…

hello to here

I love…

hello to here

I grieve…

hello to here

I rest…

hello to here.

Always here, in this place.

And while I don’t normally include paragraphs and passages from a book, today is different as I have found great solace in these words on my own particular journey to find peace in place. Note: the “poem” mentioned in this passage is the one at the top of this post.

“The truth of this poem is an old truth. There are the places you wish to go, there are the places you desperately wish you never left, there are the places you imagine you should be, and there is the place called here. In the world of Wagoner’s poem, it is the rooted things - trees and bushes = that tell the truth to the person who is lost, the person with legs and fear who wishes to be elsewhere. The person must stand still, feel their body still on the ground where they are, in order to learn the wisdom. …This is not easy wisdom, it is frightening wisdom.

So, “stand still” the poet advises. Learn from the things that are already in the place where you wish you were not. “

~Padraig O Tuama “In the shelter,” p. 9

Along the shores of Loch Lochy, Scotland

Rooted and grounded where planted. The trees accepting of their place, rise to the occasion, confront adversity, work collectively.

Trees… here.

The trees below are separate living beings, yet they’ve grown together as a collective… a community of trees. As the story was told to me, the leader of the Cameron clan had resisted the call to fight against the invading British… One afternoon he was was out planting trees and at this moment in time, he was summoned to fight in the Battle of the Culloden. He grabbed the remaining trees in one hand and planted them in the ground as one. He died on the battlefield as so many did that day…

the trees live on… here.

Cameron Estate, Scotland.

Peace tip #16

Here…

Today, utilize one of our previously discussed tips…

paint a mood panel of “here,”

walk to the tree and include “here” in your breath exchange with the tree,

or perhaps doodle “here” and see what happens.

Here… peace.

Thoughts?

Updates

Here are a few additional resources:

• Ted Talk by Padraig O Tuama “Imagining Peace”

• On Being

Monday was the end of week #2 and another gift-away. My dear friend, Susan has generously provided a give-away again this year. And it is filled with islands treasures… some small-batch yarn from the Isle of Skye, a pattern to knit a croft hoose, and a copy of the Shetland Wool Adventure journal published by Misa Hay.

How to on the give-away: Leave a comment on Day 14 by the end of Wednesday. Email me if you would rather not comment on the website (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com). I’ll announce a winner on Thursday (Day 17) here on the website. If you are the lucky recipient, you’ll need to send me an email so that I can get your address. Plus on Day 17, there’s a little something for everyone!

Keep on with the daily comments. It’s amazing to read such thoughtful and inspiring, hope-filled messages. Separate beings yet collectively striving for peace… thank you.

Day 15... the moon

“I like to think that the moon is there, even if I’m not looking at it.”

— Albert Einstein

Yesterday marked the new moon… a time in the lunar cycle symbolic of new beginnings.

A new moon…

solstice in a week…

a new year on the horizon…

An opportunity to reset our frame of mind.

Yet when I look follow the ebb and flow of the lunar phases and intentionally pause to gaze at the moon, I often think about others in far away places who can also see the moon.

Regardless of where we are, we all see the same moon albeit at different times of the day.

One moon for the inhabitants of this blue dot… connected.

The moon…

up and down in the night sky

powerful from so far away,

the waters dance to her rhythm….

in and out.

the snow sparkles like diamonds laying on the valley floor.

Her luminous light casts tree shadows in the pre-dawn hours.

The moon provides a natural calendar for us to follow… almost monthly. With an opportunity to start a-new, to be creative (from now until the full moon) and then slowly let go (from the full moon to the new moon).

The new moon, a pause and a threshold to new beginnings.

It’s always there whether we look at it or not.

yet, looking up to gaze at the moon and feel connected to others in far away places is a powerful act of peace.

Peace tip #15

Make a plan, a peace plan.

Draw 3 small circles (the size of a quarter)…

the one on the left, color it in a dark color; label it “new moon”

the middle one, draw a vertical line within the circle creating two half circles, color half of it dark, the other half light; label it solstice.

the one on the right, color all bright; label it “full moon.”

For the new moon, what’s one new beginning you might adopt related to peace.

For the solstice, what’s one way you might connect with others during a pandemic that you can continue in the new year… something that brings you “light.”

For the full moon, what’s one thing you can let go of.

And if you don’t want to draw, then just jot a few things down.

Updates

Yeterday, marks the end of week #2 and another gift-away. My dear friend, Susan has generously provided a give-away again this year. And it is filled with islands treasures… some small-batch yarn from the Isle of Skye, a pattern to knit a croft hoose, and a copy of the Shetland Wool Adventure journal published by Misa Hay.

How to on the give-away: Leave a comment on Day 14 by the end of Wednesday. Email me if you would rather not comment on the website (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com). I’ll announce a winner on Thursday (Day 17) here on the website. If you are the lucky recipient, you’ll need to send me an email so that I can get your address. Plus on Day 17, there’s a little something for everyone!

Thank you again to all who are reading, following along, and commenting. I genuinely appreciate the level of engagement this year. It certainly helps to keep me going in the early mornings when I write knowing that people are reading.