Footnotes to a Conversation, July 24, 2023

“People everywhere and throughout history have seen birds as messengers and signs. We are omen-minded. We’re always looking for hints about what’s coming up, for predictions and premonitions, and we turn to the natural world for signs. It seems to be a human universal.” – Felice Wyndham, ethnoecologist affiliated with Oxford University [What an Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman]

Dreaming Big

The city of Liège in Belgium wants to ensure that, within one generation, all the food consumed in the city has been grown locally. It’s a daunting task, but they’ve initiated some very successful small projects – food co-ops, an organic market, a brewery. The one that impressed me the most is the soup served daily to 5,000 school kids in vulnerable areas: “The soup is also made by a small non-profit, Echafaudage, that assists the long-term unemployed back into work, then it’s delivered by the Food Belt co-op Rayon9 using cargo bikes. It’s been so successful that the region, which financed the project, has increased its budget fivefold.”

“A food revolution is complicated, and it’s slow. There are setbacks and compromises, but gradually a painstaking knitting together of tiny links to build an alternative system, working out what’s missing and somehow supplying it, can drive change … But can they scale up? And how, especially right now, when the cost-of-living crisis is squeezing the whole network?” [The Guardian]

Lace-inspired Murals

The artist NeSpoon has created lace-patterned murals on the sides of buildings across Europe and beyond. She says, “Lace patterns can be found everywhere around us – in the calyxes of flowers, in the skeletons of sea creatures, in snowflakes … Wherever I am, I meet and interview members of the local lace guild, and scour museums and historical sources for inspiration. I often ask people who live nearby if they have any lace at home. I always find something interesting.” Do take a look at the photographs of the murals – the one in Calais, France, is my favorite. [The Guardian]

It May Be a Lie, But Does It Sell?

As a writer, I am somewhat offended when famous people announce they have written a book when in reality someone else did all the hard labour. I take it for granted with celebrity biographies, but it becomes more ambiguous when the book is a work of fiction. Should the ghostwriter receive recognition? Some people believe it’s “a collaboration where all parties concerned should get their share of the credit.” Others think that if a reader “enjoys the book, then does it really matter who wrote it?” although they go on to say, “When an author talks about the book they’ve supposedly written by themselves, they’re essentially lying to the audience. Generally, I feel people don’t like lies.” Our society’s cult of the celebrity leads us in strange directions. I’d much rather read a book by an author who has gained my respect than one by a politician or a movie star. [The Guardian]

I’ve Been Reading

Earlier this week, I had 13 library books awaiting my attention. I’m slowly whittling down the pile, but I do wish my reserved books didn’t all become available at once!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson, but my pleasure was mixed with sadness and regret. When author dies, so do his characters. After 28 books about DCI Banks, I found it hard to say goodbye.

Laurie R. King is perhaps best known for her series of books about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Her most recent book, Back to the Garden, is a stand-alone and not part of a series. Plots and timeframes overlap as attempts to identify all the victims of a serial killer unveil a separate murder on an estate in California that has played host to both movie stars and rock stars as both a stately home and a hippy commune. The characters are extremely well developed and likable, although it does leave me wondering why we try to eliminate our personal weaknesses and eccentricities in an effort to become bland and homogenous when the most interesting characters are those with the most flaws?

Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.

If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.