Easter Eggs, Groceries, and Old Friends

Well, DH and I tried to pick up some essentials yesterday at the local Superstore.  Wouldn't you know it...IT WAS CRAZY!!!  We had grabbed a basket and began to fill it when we were overwhelmed by the number of people there; as well as the amount of cheap Easter memorabilia.  So we shifted into reverse and escaped.  There were no casualties, but a striking reminder that we are in the land of the CONSUMER!!!!

Of course, when we got up today and chatted with friends about doing something 'easter-y' today we remembered that not only were we low on a few items...but we had no eggs.  We have not bought meat, dairy or eggs for the last few weeks.  The dairy free part is the most recent move...although I seem to recall a bag of fish in the freezer as I sit here... so we are technically in process still.  However, we are not as committed to meat free if the meat is ethically sourced...ie. acquired by hunting or free-range and organic.  It's about allowing animals the quality of life that involves the least amount of suffering.

DH has been reading John Robbins' The Food Revolution; I read part of it this fall.  I struggle with the graphic descriptions and so I skipped and skimmed through it in order to not fill my mind with disturbing images that result from my over active imagination.   Anyway, this book is going along way to convince us that factory produced meat is a major threat to sustaining an environment that is conducive to life.  And yet, the food industry seems to be relatively free of sensor from censure from the environmental movement, particularly in the part of the country which we now find ourselves.  Interestingly DH caught a session at a recent Eco-Conference and was surprised to see and hear nothing addressing the issues of factory farming and its impact on water use and waste disposal....if you think of it not only do you need a lot of water to raise animals well, but they produce tons of 'poop' that needs to be put somewhere.

All that leads to our current position of not laying down a hard line with our diet but to think about where our food comes from and what the larger impact of that food choice is.

Well, I am trying to draw myself away from that 'bunny-trail' onto the larger stream of consciousness.   Overwhelmed at the grocery store means no eggs among other things, no eggs means we have nothing to colour or to colour with...which leaves us wondering what to do for fun with our wee ones to commemorate and celebrate Easter.

As for 'Old Friends'...we had a lovely visit with old friends last night.  It was nice to chat and know that they already love us and so we could be free to work things out in conversation.  As we were making our way to the door we noticed a couple sitting at another table...  A couple we had met years ago just up for the weekend...more reconnections...  There is a funny feeling of joyous disconnect as you try to cover ten years of life in 2 hours.

And now to see what today entails...