Happiness

The video is long, but, I think, worth the investment. Matthieu Ricard was a bit of an influence in my migration to Zen & Buddhism. I was reminded of him again when I read Change Your Mind, Change Your Brain, which was also an influence on me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI

The Kit

After much consideration and experimentation, I decided on the kit I will take to Paris.  I think.  

Initially I thought I would take the Fuji 18-55 kit zoom - after all, it’s autofocus and has image stabilization.  And it’s optically excellent.  But with practice I got better with manual focus lenses on the X-Pro1.  And I have just never got on with zooms.  Even the very nice manual focus Tokina 70-150 for my OMs has not seen the light of day for over a decade.

So the line up starts with the native, auto-focus Fuji 18/2.  It’s one of Fuji’s older primes and by some reports isn’t as good optically as later lenses, but it certainly is no slouch.  For the kind of work I do, it’s perfect - 28mm equivalent field of view, which I love for street work.  I have a feeling I will use it a lot.

Second is the OM Zuiko 35/2.8.  F2 might be nicer, but I don’t have one and it is larger and heavier than the 35/2.8.  I’ve always loved the rendering of this OM lens.  On the X-Pro1 it will provide a field of view of 53mm on a “full frame” camera/sensor.  If you only have two lenses for travel and street photography, 28 and 50 are the way to go.

I deliberated whether to take a longer lens and finally decided to go with it, so am packing the OM Zuiko 50/1.8.  I have a 50/1.4 which would give me one more stop exposure.  But the 1.8 is so small and light.  The 50/1.4 isn’t THAT much bigger, but it’s enough that the camera would balance quite differently than the 35/2.8 much less the Fuji 18/2.

What?  No film?  Well yes. Of course  I’m taking the Olympus XA.  It’s pocketable yet has rangefinder focusing and a lovely (if quirky to some) 35/2.8 lens.  It’s great at either quick street work or more deliberate shooting.

I had considered taking an OM body thus having use of the Zuikos on a film body as well as the Fuji.  I still may, but have pretty much decided to keep the kit as small and light as possible.  Too many choices does not promote good photography.

Mobile Test

Since I leave for Paris three weeks from today (!) I wanted to try a mobile app to be able to blog.  I am not taking my MacBook - travel light is my mantra!

I will have some access to my son's computer, but I certainly don't want to inconvenience him; and writing and posting from an actual computer draws me into a longer session. While not as convenient, posting from a mobile device may focus my attention along with supporting "real time" blogging.

So I downloaded the free version of Blog Touch for my iPhone.  Along with the iStick to transfer photos from my camera's SD card, I may have a workable suite of tools.

The photo below is just a test of inserting images - let me know if you see anything funky.  And subscribe!

© 2016 Earl Dunbar

"My name is Buddy, please adopt me!"

PS - I've finished this from my laptop.  It turns out the free version of Blog Touch supports what I need for mobile blogging except ... publishing what I've written.  Back to square one.  Maybe I'll just submit to using Tumblr for awhile.

Buddy

Buddy is the current foster dog in the house.

Young, full of energy and sweet!

https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34703027

Fuji-Zuiko Marriage

I've resumed practicing using my manual focus Olympus OM Zuiko lenses on the Fuji.  I think I've made progress in understanding camera operations in manual focus meode and that I've gotten better.

I was out for a little while today at Lake Ontario, at the Irondequoit Bay access.  Both of these photos were made using the (legendary) Zuiko 21/2, which works out to a field of view of a 32mm lens on the Fuji APS-C sensor.  It's a nice compromise between 28mm and 35mm field of view.

I converted both of these photos from RAW.  The in-camera JPGs were very good, but I just wanted to gain further experience in editing.  The only changes I made were to work with the curves, light sharpening and resizing.

Buddy & Kalli

Today a new foster dog came to the house.  Buddy is an owner surrender - a new baby was severely allergic and even required hospitalization.

He's a little Shitzu and very busy.  It didn't take Buddy long to feel at home.  And while watching the Leafs and Sabres, Buddy decided he liked Kalli and wanted to give her a kiss.  Kalli was not impressed.

Sleepy Girl - Adapted Lens on the X-Pro1

OM System Zuiko 28/2.8 (with a bit of fungus on the front [I think] element)

This is cropped and with a minor amount of sharpening. ISO 3200, f2.8.  Love my dog.

March Break with Daughter

March break for Ontario schools (and some other provinces?) is a wonderful time.  It's there in the middle of March, not dependent on the timing of Easter.  You've seen the backside of January and February (if not late winter storms) and you can see, even if in the distance, the end of the school year.

Students adore it, but teachers even more.  This year I was able to take my daughter on a little road trip to see her Grandma, who will be 92 the day after my daughter turns 26.  Mom is healthy for her age, but obviously won't be with us forever, so we want to take advantage of opportunities to visit.

Being a teacher, of course my daughter had teacher stuff to do.  So we headed to a good coffee house to take advantage of caffeine and free WiFi.  Dad was a techie and had an Internet connection, but after he died, Grandma reverted to her buggy whips.

The next day we met up with my "girlfriend", the retired French teacher who was my first date -- when I was 10 days old.  😇

Since my daughter teaches in a French immersion school and I am headed to Paris, it was a really fun time.

Great trip, I easily got into vacation mode and only responded to two work emails.

Martini Time

With my daughter on March break .. this was called a Raindrops Martini ... was tasty.

Fuji 18-55 @ 18mm

Paris - The Non-Plan

I have been "walking" Google maps street view ad nauseum.  My wife says "are you STILL looking at maps?"  Well, yeah, I am.

But I did set an arbitrary (and TOTALLY fuzzy) limit of the end of last week, then prioritize them so that I can set some sort of itinerary.  Yes, I am a silly, silly little man.  (Kelly, I hate you for that appellation.)

But the reality is that, for me (and by extension reality for ALL THE WORLD,) when you go somewhere both special and mythological, forget about the tour guides and "common knowledge" ... those guidelines are co-opted by two groups.

1. The local office(s) of tourism - these are designed to extract the maximum amount of cash for the least amount of cultural enrichment.
2. American/British (UK) tourism "experts", such as Rick Steves, who want to sell you something -- whether it's the latest in luggage or local, grubby souvenir vendor that takes advantage of American/western, glazed eye jet lag

I've tagged a whole bunch of sites, mainly cafés, bistros and hang-outs that promise to NOT be populated with tourists.  OK, some of them WILL BE no matter my effort.  But I will try and sit far away from them.

My son will likely be leaving his first floor sub-let this year.  Someone will need to take up that lease, right?  I mean ... 

Paris - Developing a Travel Plan

Those who know me personally may understand another reason I have been apprehensive about making an epic journey.  One would think that with a pretty solid foundation in French it would be a no-brainer.  (I heard what you're thinking, Roger!)

Time out for a little story ... my first father-in-law, Samuel Barnston Hunter Smeaton (aka Barnie Smeaton) was a linguist.  (That gene obviously passed to my children.)  If my memory is accurate he spoke about seven languages fluently and could read and write in quite a few more.  His speciality was lexicography, and for several years he was an editor for a major English language dictionary.

My mother-in-law, Rita Smeaton (née Burwell) would never travel overseas.  Because she "didn't speak the language," even with a translator as companion.  Sigh.  I loved her (RIP) but I didn't want to repeat to that mistake borne of irrational fear.

With rusty French there is some language fear, but not that much.  The nagging doubts were more about mobility and stamina - I  mentioned this issue before.

But once I took the plunge, my thoughts turned to both itinerary (too much to see - must be selective!) and the logistics of travel.  The latter weighed on me.  As in I want to travel as lightly as possible.

The luxury I have is lodging, so here is my strategy.

I will travel to Paris with the clothes on my back, a carryon containing my cameras, minimal toiletries and maybe one change of clothing.  The latter two are for the unlikely eventuality of being stuck some where in transit.  That's it.  What?

I will ship additional clothing ahead.  Yes, I could check one bag at no charge, but then I have to schlep it.  With mobility assistance at each airport, this would not be an issue.  But then there's transport from De Gaulle  (CDG) to my son's apartment.  I want to carry/handle as little as possible.

I will ship the rest of my clothing ahead of time.  Most of what I ship will be articles I can dispose of before I leave, older articles that I no longer need or care about.  Toiletries?  There's a pharmacy steps away from the apartment; I can buy travel sizes for use during my stay.

There is a Lomography shop a 4-5 minute walk from the apartment.  For my film needs I will buy film there - probably Ilford XP2, which can easily be developed  during my trip (it's a C41/colour negative process film that produces black and white negatives) so I don't have to worry film going through multiple X-Ray inspections.  And yes I will have a digital camera with me (along with my iPhone 6s,) but nothing beats a pure, analog manual camera.  What would Cartier-Bresson do?

This will leave me with a nearly empty bag for the return voyage.  Can you say du vin et chocolat?

Bien sur/I thought you could.

Going to Paris - Deux

Taking so long to go to Paris was not optimal.  I could say that money was the reason, but that would be less than honest.  Over the years I have spent more than enough money on other things, such as cars, housing, etc.  Certainly those are essentials, but also certainly I could have made different choices and saved the difference.

So maybe the real answer is priorities and being clear with myself.  When after a few decades of no contact I reconnected with my oldest friend the French teacher, I began thinking about going.  Having her relate her experiences during and after each journey got the juices flowing.  And after all, she is my personal travel resource for Paris in particular, and France in general.

Somehow I got it in my head to use frequent flyer miles to make the trip "free".   I had a few thousand miles on United, but not enough for a return trip.  So I started accumulating more by transferring points from other loyalty programs when possible, and eventually got a United-branded credit card with a bonus of several thousand points for signing up, plus points awarded for all purchases.  This works really well when I use the card for travel and other expenses reimbursed by my company.  Win!

But of course there is a dark side.  What capitalist pig business wouldn't get you coming AND going?  As I approached the number of miles required for a free return ticket (30,000 as I recall,) the amount changed - the number of points required, that is.  I watched it go up from 30K to 40K and eventually 60K.  I detect bastages in the marketing department!

When my son moved to Paris for work I was thrilled for him - and myself, of course.  Free lodging!  So that became a key element of the plan.  Sure I could pay for lodging, but that would have meant a shorter stay.  I may never be able to afford to go again, so staying for longer than a few days, if at all possible, is important to me.

That also means I can relax.  No need to cram everything into a few days.  While I will succumb to visiting at least a few of the tourist sites that everyone considers de rigeur (for a reason to be admitted discussed below,) whenever I travel I like to seek out the hidden, unknown and even ordinary.  Especially cities are defined by the people who have built and are building them.  Obviously geography and weather are foundational to how a village, town, city, et., is shaped.  But the everyday breathing in and out of a city is defined by its citizens.

And is there a better major city to people watch?  I am certain there will be disagreement on this, some of it centring around certain beaches in Brazil, Cannes, etc.  I'm not allowed on those beaches -that has nothing to do with my current parole stipulations.

The real reason for visiting at least some of the usual touristy sites is that if you don't, you catch hell from everyone.  "What?!?  You didn't go to the Eiffel Tower?  What are you, a commie pinko?" (Someone knows who he is ...)

"You didn't even try to get to La Sainte Chapelle!!! I'm no longer your oldest friend!!!"

Ok, I'm using a bit of hyperbole to just say my aim is balance.   

Back to why the delay ... more than financing the trip, the other factor that kept me from booking for such a long time was the reality of mobility issues.  Paris is a walking city, which is a significant part of its appeal.  That's hard for me at the best of times.  But after a few years of weight gain, combined with reduced flexibility due to a sedentary job, I knew I could end up going and being disappointed.

I decided to turn that into a challenge - make Paris an absolute goal so that it became my motivation to get in shape.  I started that process near the end of December.  I went back to my physiotherapy provider, going twice a week for a few weeks to kick start me and provide instructions for continuing at home.  Once I booked the ticket this weekend, I was fully committed.

Once Christmas was past, I began reducing my caloric intake.  As I got more flexible I was able to walk more easily, which helped with losing weight, which helped increase flexibility, which helped ... the opposite of the vicious circle.

My goal is another 10 pounds loss minimum, but I'm not fixated on that.  In fact my real long term goal is another 15-20 pounds.  I don't know if that's realistic, but we will see.  I'm not going to defeat myself by trying to grab the unobtainium.  Anyone who does that usually ends up regressing, sometimes ending up in a far worse situation.

Once the weather warms up a bit more here at home and daylight lingers longer, I will go on walking photo excursions of increasing duration.  I may even buy a cheap-ish bicycle and get back my cycling chops.

I hear people ride bikes in Paris and they can easily be rented.  The bikes, that is, not the people.  Well, some of them can be rented, but that's not permitted.

Going to Paris - Partie la Premiere

I began taking in French in Grade 5.  Our teacher was the formidable Mme Foreman.  I can't recall if she was from Paris or elsewhere in France, but she married and emigrated to North America.  If there was a better French teacher for elementary level, I can't imagine it.  Even students who did not like nor did well learning French, liked her.  Most of us loved her.

For several years we did not see a printed word of French.  This is the way we learn language in infancy -- duh.  We were privileged to be in a laboratory school run by the local university.  It was very progressive and allowed for experimentation of curriculum and methods.

I can't say that everything that the school attempted worked, but the method of foreign language instruction was an unqualified success.  One of our classmates struggled with pronunciation - you could see his brain churning as he struggled to translate and speak.  Yet he ended up living in Belgium, becoming fluent and accomplishing a stellar career in marketing management for major corporations involved in both consumer and commercial marine operations -- en deux langues. Or more.

Another classmate, whom I knew from birth and thus is my "oldest" (she will hate that designation!) friend on this earth became a French teacher.  With undergraduate and graduate level studies at two universities in France, including La Sorbonne, she retired after 33 wonderful years of teaching high school French.  She is a true successor to Mme Foreman, ushering a huge number of students not only into the joy of learning a new language, but of being open to a cultural world holding wonder and fascination.  (She travels back to Paris at least annually, so I may have a travel guide ...)

At the end of high school I was nearly fluent.  I remember walking a path along the St. Lawrence, chatting with an innkeeper in Cap Madeleine, Quebec, and being nearly giddy that we could converse without any trouble on my part either to understand or speak.  Our conversation flowed easily; it was heavenly.  I managed to keep my giddiness concealed.

Fast forward a few decades and I am no longer fluent.  Or even close.  I can shift into gear, but the right vocabulary, the correct grammar is locked a few levels lower, encased in cobwebs.  It comes slowly.  Sometimes Google or an app are required.

But my children.  Oh my children ...

My daughter achieved her Masters at University of Toronto and has embarked on a career teaching in a French immersion school in Toronto (Scarborough) ... and my son gained Bachelors, Masters and PhD diplomas in linguistics, with heavy computer science qualifications.

My son now works in cognitive linguistics and computation in ... Paris.  He lucked into a wonderful apartment in le troisieme (le Marais) so it seems eminently logical that should Dad choose to visit, free lodging would be available.  And it is.

Next up ... why the wait?

More X-Pro/Zuiko Love for Kalli

I am in the process of "thinning the herd" - that is, selling excess camera gear.  So I've been bringing cameras, bodies, lenses, accessories and paraphernalia from storage to sell online.  It turns out I have two Zuiko 50/1.4 lenses, and I stuck the one I'm going to sell on the X-Pro to shoot my favourite subject.

I'm getting better at manual focus (I actually read the manual to learn about focus magnification!) so this time the focus was much better.  And I think  my post process sharpening was better, though I'm sure someone could comment about "sharpening artifacts".  Whatever, it's the dog that counts.  If I recall, this was shot wide open at f1.4.

Click the photo to embiggin.

Zuiko OM on the Fuji X-Pro 1

I bought an adapter to use my Olympus OM Zuiko lenses on the X-Pro.  With the APS-C crop factor and manual focus, the X-Pro is no longer a fully digital age camera.  But whatever.  I'm not addicted to autofocus, and if I can figure out how to do it with the X-Pro, I can accomplish manual exposure.

The adapter adds depth to the OM lenses, negating their small size.  Sigh.  With the superb Zuiko 21/2 (equivalent to 32mm on a 35mm "full frame" camera,) the combination is almost as large as the 18-55 zoom that came with my X-Pro.

My initial attempts with the 21/2 were ho-hum, but that has nothing to do with the lens.  I was just learning.  But with the 28/2.8 (equivalent to 42mm "normal",) combined with a little more skill, I seemed to find a sweet spot.

I missed focus (on the eyes) a bit, but this was low light and the EVF is not the best under those conditions.

I'll be using the combination more.  

Converting to B&W With the Fuji X-Pro1

I shoot in both black and white and colour.  But essentially I see in b&w and feel most satisfied with it.  With the acquisition of the digital(!) Fuji X-Pro1 I have been learning not only the controls and (too many) options, but how to take the RAW files and convert to black and white that looks like film.

Yes, the Fuji X cameras can produce really nice b&w jpeg files in camera, but the b&w settings are, by necessity, somewhat limited and generic.  To a significant degree b&w films are defined by their spectral sensitivity - that is, how the level to which they respond to red, green, blue, UV and IR content of the original scene.  Digital sensors don't work that way.  A built-in computer takes the information from the sensor and saves it in a "RAW" file which essentially contains all the data that is translated from the light hitting the sensor cells.  (It's more complicated than that, but that's essentially it.)

All digital cameras have modes which can manipulate that information into a modified type of image, normally stored in a JPG file, which represents a combination of settings which are simply manipulations of the data to produce a specific look.

Throughout the absolutely glorious history of black and white film emulsions there have been hundreds of formulations, each with unique renderings.  And as b&w is an abstraction of how most people see a colourful world, none of them is "right".  Some are classics, such as Kodak Tri-X, Fuji Acros,  Iflord HP4, dozens of others, and my favourite, Agfa APX100.

So how the hell do I get a particular look of a specific b&w film from an original RAW file?  It turns out there are two essentials:

1. Using the appropriate controls in image editing software such as Photoshop, GIMP, Lightroom, etc., which basically involves changing the amount of primary colours (Red, Green and Blue) content and 
2. Knowing (or discovering) what the levels of each colour should be for a particular b&w film type

From those changes, you tell the image editing software to convert to monochrome.  You can then add brightness and contrast changes as desired, and even add grain effects to complete the conversion.  I haven't mastered this -- I've just discovered these steps, and haven't even played with applying grain.  

So, I'm a beginner in the "digital darkroom" - which has always seemed so foreign to me, a somewhat accomplished traditional darkroom worker.  But I've been helped immensely by my friend Gene Wilburn, whose series on b&w digital workflow starting here pointed me in the right direction.  And, quite by chance, I stumbled across an incomplete but highly helpful list of levels for several b&w emulsions about half-way down the page here.

So with a little work tonight, using GIMP for Mac, here are some samples.  I used the Fuji 18-55 zoom set at 18mm (approximately equivalent 28mm field of view in 35mm film terms) on the Fuji X-Pro1.

The first picture shows the original colour image.  The day was mostly cloudy with low contrast light, so I bumped up the contrast, then sharpened a little bit and resized.  After applying the appropriate levels for the colour channels in the GIMP channel mixer, I then used the exact same brightness, contrast and sharpness settings for the b&w conversions.  Naturally I don't have shots made with the actual corresponding films (and I haven't tried all the settings listed on the linked site,) but the results are very interesting.

Edited colour image:

Agfapan 25

Agfa APX 100

Agfa APX 400

Ilford PanF

Kodak Tmax 400-2

As I work through other settings, I will add to this post.  Some day I may even learn how to save the settings in GIMP so as to automate the conversion process.  And if anyone can figure out the settings for Adox films, that would be super!

Of course, I could just keep shooting film.  Which I will do.

Kalli

A little over three years ago we adopted a rescue dog.  Kalli had been abandoned in a field in North Carolina, not an uncommon occurrence in some areas.

She was clearly scared, having been mistreated (we later learned,) gone through clean-up, veterinary treatment, a foster home and then to our family already populated by three cats plus a male dog who is definitely an alpha.

It took her several weeks to become comfortable with us.  At first she wouldn't come in after she had been let out into the back yard for exercise and essential duties.

The adoption group called her a Border Terrier mix, and she does have some of those characteristics.  Only genetic testing would be definitive.  Personally I think she has Pekingese traits; my wife disagrees, but I know I'm right. :)

Every once-in-awhile I make some photos of her.  Her underbite is clearly adorable, and the various lengths of her coat give her lots of different looks.

Everyone agrees she is sweet and adorable.  I love her.

© Earl Dunbar December 02 2015

Fuji X-Pro1

And here is her ADORABLE underbite, courtesy of the really nice iPhone 6s camera.

The following shot was made with an Olympus Zuiko OM System 28/2.8 lens.  Focusing legacy, manual focus lenses on the X-Pro 1 is not easy.  "Focus peaking" is a camera feature that highlights the area in focus; it appears as brightness, sort of like shimmering.  I slightly missed focus on this.  The first version is the JPG straight out of the camera.  For the second version I applied some sharpening, but no other editing.

My Letter to the Senate of Canada

I am writing to urge you to vote against Bill C-51.  I am convinced that not only will this bill not offer any further significant protection against terrorism, but it is actually likely to make “terrorist” attacks more likely.

This is because Bill C-51 strikes against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which has justifiably been praised around the world as brilliant constitutional document.  How can eroding the sacred trust contained in the Charter enhance the trust that Canadians need to have in their government?  In fact, the less trust citizens have in their government, the more likely there will be those who, however unjustly, take violent action against the government and, indeed, innocent citizens.

As a country we are at a crossroads.  The two roads that intersect are Fear and Freedom.  Fear St. is the one chosen by those who act without sober thought and would sacrifice the very freedoms they claim to protect.  Freedom St. is chosen by those who have the vision and strength to not only protect citizens physical security, but the very freedoms that make a nation strong.

Again, I urge you to vote against Bill C-51 which, at its core, bears frightening resemblance to laws which have been enacted and used by fascist, dictatorial regimes against which our citizens have fought and died.

Easter Thoughts on Faith and Politics

Yesterday evening I sent an email to my youngest sister and my nephew that contained a link to a Daily Kos article, You Cannot Be A Republican And A Christian -- please take the time to read the article.

My sister is a devout Protestant and my nephew (her son) is a political operative for a state Republican party.

My sister seemed to take offense, which wasn't especially surprising, though I perceived it (maybe I'm wrong) as emotionally stronger than I expected.  I certainly never mean to offend, but rather want to provoke thought and reflection.

To be honest, I pretty much agree with what the author writes, and his conclusion "You can’t have it both ways. You have to choose, because, today, you cannot be both a Republican and a Christian" is pretty close to the mark.  The conclusion and article title are hyperbole, of course, but only slightly so in my view.

While I was raised in a evangelical and moderately fundamentalist church and home, I left organized religion many years ago.  Even now, as non-theistic Buddhist, I am not presently engaged with any group, though I have a very loose affiliation with a local Zen centre.  (My sense is that most Western Buddhists are either non-theistic or atheists.  There are many Buddhist traditions and lineages, some of which embrace the existence of deities, though usually the role of any god(s) is not central.)

I belong to no political party.  I have never been registered as a Republican, Democrat, or any other  party in the US, nor have I ever been a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, the NDP, the Progressive Conservatives, et al.  In my current jurisdiction, I am registered as an independent.  I don't see that changing.

Enough preamble ... I have met people whom I consider to be "true Christians".  I don't mean that to be a reverse judgment on those who call themselves Christians but don't seem to act accordingly.  But my sister is one who pretty much walks the walk.

Both political parties are "guilty" of using faith for political purposes that do not align with the tenets of the faith.  The GOP gained traction and ascendency partly because of the hypocrisy and outright bigotry of southern Democrats - Dixiecrats.  So I would say the same of Christians who belonged to or supported the Democratic party of the 50s and 60s - you can't have it both ways.

Since the start of my Buddhist practice, I have frequently contemplated the similarities between the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha.  I challenge anyone to read only what Jesus supposedly said and what Buddha directly taught and not come away with substantially the same conclusion.

I don't know if "Red Letter Editions" of the Bible are still published, but I would hope so.  We had them when we were kids, and even then I liked them; their existence actually made a big impact on me and helped me decide to leave organized Christianity.  The words and teachings that have been credited to Jesus stand in stark contrast to most of the Old Testament, some of the writings of the apostles in the New Testament, and, as pointed out in the article, how Christianity is predominately practiced and promulgated in North America.

When was the last time the GOP supported a non-military path to peace?  When was the last time they condemned limiting voting rights in state legislatures by the use of non-constitution trickery?  When was the last time they supported helping the poor with legislation that would actually work?  Jesus never said that government should not engage in social welfare or justice.

There are a lot of things that Jesus never said but self-identified Christians use his name to try and justify their political and social agenda.

I leave with one example.  The next time a Christian trots out "God helps those who help themselves" as validation of any political view or position on social policy, ask them to quote chapter and verse.

I'll welcome with open arms a follower of Jesus any day.

On Farming -- Family Farms Under Siege

Long time no blog.  Sorry -- though some of you may have enjoyed the respite. :)

On Twitter I follow a wonderful person who is both a farmer (mainly dairy) and a lawyer.  It may seem odd to some, but I think it is a wonderful combination.  Farmers need advocacy, and when that advocacy comes from one of their own, it stands a chance of being more helpful.

It is no secret that small "family" farms have been under extreme pressure for several decades.  Large scale farming, driven by "agribusiness" and other factors were the initial forces feeding the change.  Corporations that produce genetically engineered crop seed have been a big factor.  The public claims by Monsanto, Syngenta, Dow and others in this space has been that not only that yields can be dramatically increased through GMO (genetically modified organism) technology, but that it is necessary to feed an exploding global population -- that the available arable land and "conventional" farming methods cannot feed the planet.

Without going to deep, I totally disagree with that claim and am convinced that GMO technology's true purpose is to sell pesticides and trap farmers into purchasing only from the Monsantos of the world.  My Twitter contact (whom I won't name because I haven't asked permission) and thousands of other farmers become financially unable to break away.  As my "Tweep" posted, "since we can't afford to buy non gmo grain to supplement our cows diet , yet another strike against us"  Isn't that the definition of serfdom -- the rural equivalent of a company town?

Fundamentally I am anti-GMO because of biology.  My undergraduate degree is in biology, with an emphasis in invertebrate zoology, aquatics and ecology.  Even though I do not work in the field, my concern for the health of the planet, its ecosystems and the essentials of life -- food, clean water, healthy food -- is incredibly deep.  And so is my commitment to basing my opinions on reliable data.  That isn't easy, and I freely admit I don't always succeed.  But if I find myself wandering away, I yank myself back and try to do my homework.  Eventually. 

Enter the anti-GMO and foodie movement.  I will be the first to admit that at times the anti-GMO signal-to-noise ratio is so bad that "sane" people have to switch off.  Activism itself is good, a force for change.  But rabid activism driven by 1% fact, 9% myth and 90% rabid, frothing emotion is destructive.  Suddenly, anti-GMO rage turns against farmers who care deeply about their land, about food, about farming, but for their own good reasons, whether financial or other circumstances, do not have non-GMO certification.

Small farmers, once "only" pressured by corporate farming operations, are suddenly demonized by crazy-eyed, wealthy urbanites who can afford the higher prices of non-GMO products.  And the local food movement eschews anything not grown within 100 miles -- or 161 kilometres in Canada.  The financial impact can be real, resulting in more families having to abandon the profession and lives they have loved.  The emotional shock reverberates through the countryside.

It is no wonder then that any anti-GMO discussion, especially in the shortened 140-character Twitterverse, is a huge emotional trigger for small farmers.  Those of us who respectfully disagree with genetic engineering on scientific grounds get lumped in with the "nattering nabobs of negativity".  Meaningful dialogue, a true exchange of ideas, stops or is at least delayed or diminished.

Thus went the Twitter thread with my friend, more than once.  I hope my observation on what lies beneath does not come across as somewhat harsh, or even condescending, but I want to offer it in a true spirit of friendship.

The source of suffering is attachment -- this is the Second Noble Truth.  When I am so emotionally attached to something, I will suffer.  We all find this out the hard way -- I know I did.  Two failed relationships, both tragedies in my life which sent out ripples, if not small tsunamis, of karmic hurt, finally brought me up short.  There were hundreds of other, seemingly smaller, attachments that inevitably led to the two major blow outs.  Even if I am "right" about something and others are "wrong", being emotionally invested at a very high level will bring about suffering.  And not just my own.

We all need to separate emotion from objective evaluation.  I hear you, and I totally agree -- that's not at all easy to do.  It takes practice.  It takes the recognition that while emotions are completely valid and an essential part of our true selves, being out of balance is not healthy.  It takes learning to treat ourselves gently and to treat others gently.  When we fail to do either, we need to forgive and regenerate the commitment and effort.  Or suffer.

This is about letting go.  My stuff is my stuff; the stuff of others isn't mine.  If someone else, if that frothing-at-the-mouth-rich-SOB-faux-foodie won't listen even to calm, dispassionate, logical discussion delivered in the most loving way ... that's their stuff.  And behind that stuff is more stuff -- layers and layers about which we have no idea.  There is pain, suffering and who knows what.   It is theirs alone to acknowledge and confront.

The sooner I recognize that, acknowledge it, let it go and honour my self, the sooner I can continue to breathe and be psychologically healthy.

I grow some of my own food -- not nearly as much as I want, and not nearly as much as I plan to grow.  Every year I bring more of our land out of ornamental grass (sod be gone!) into production.  I put no chemicals in the ground.  Yes, I am fortunate to have the gift of good land, and no, I have not had any drastic infestations or other challenges.  So I don't judge others who are faced with adversity, even while sticking to my convictions to grow organically and plant non-GMO stock.

My small farm friends, I am with you.  If I disagree with you on genetic engineering, pesticides, herbicides, the place of meat production, please don't lump me in with the shrieking crowd.  Believe me, I want you to be successful and happy.  Happiness makes for good food.  Stick to your guns, but know when to tune out the noise and to not return fire with the same ammunition.