Sunday Song Day: "Harvest Moon" and Polar Mama Bearing

Traditions and change.

Ian and I have been saving up for yearly fall-excursions for 15 years, I’ve been cold-water dipping since 2009 (<—when we met, fell-in-love-with, and joined the Coney Island Polar Bear Club); and ever since, we’ve been slipping away to some watery spot so this Polar Mama Bear can get a birthday dip, and the family can get some nature time. If you’re new to me: polar bearing is one of my favorite things in this world, and the waters run deep enough that Quillan’s name is Gaelic for bear cub.

The foods have morphed through the years, the company has changed (originally it was large groups of friends, and/or some combination of our parents, then a cub thrown in the mix), and yet our energy has somehow increased, and there are muscles on the back and arms of this ol’ Mama Bear that weren’t there at the start of this journey.

How am I healthy enough to build muscle (not waste away like most of y’all imagine of plant-based feasting) while feeding a family-of-three (<— 2 of which are Hobbits) filling and energy-fueling meals (to power polar dips, forest jaunts, hill hiking, ravine climbs, etc), keeping it to a super-tight budget, while also doing so as zero-waste as possible? Plant-based whole foods. They are all of the above, plus easy to throw into a cooler and bring along to a rusty-rustic cabin.

Best side effect? It’s the only feasting that is environmentally sustainable (ie preserving all the beautiful spaces you’ll see within), it’s absolutely delicious (as per all the meals seen therein), it’s tied to reversing/preventing cardiovascular disease (<—leading cause of death in the world!), and if it can fuel Olympians and this Cappello crew, it can surely sustain you.

Continue for: Sunday Song Day "Harvest Moon” (38 sun revolutions, and 15 of them with this old soul); eating without waste though a weekend away; rehashing the diseases and ailments this family eradicated by switching toward Plant-Based Whole-Foods; photos of Central New York splendor.

Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.

Plant-Based Whole-Food Packed Lunches: black rice, sugar-free peanut sauce, quick-pickled cabbage, peas dressed with sesame dressing, olives, roasted corn, and swiss chard.

Arrived at Watkins Glen and realized it was waaaaay too packed to hike, so we ate lunch in the parking lot and regrouped.

There was a Ben and Jerry’s in downtown Watkins Glen that served vegan options and did so in burnable/compostable cups and spoons. :-)

And enjoyed the free (much less populated) Watkins Glen Park shoreline. :-)

What it looks like when I roll up to a rental.

To make sure we have plenty of healthy/tasty options, I bring along an array of food.

Here seen: corn bread, something like crust bars but with more oats, homemade chocolate mouse (made with coconut milk), black rice, Cappello Chili, a big container of greens, pumfu, Crystal’s sweet potato flatbreads, olives, kraut, queso, sweet cashew cream, homemade oatbread, sesame dressing, and hot sauces. :-)

It meant we could whip up quick and filling bowls of chili, cornbread, queso, and greens. :-)

Or quick stiryfry bowls with black rice, pumfu (we are all in LOVE with pumfu. Good gravy, it’s like toasted nut meat! It tastes good in any vector! <—and the wrapper it comes in is recyclable! <3), olives, ruby kraut, swiss chard, and sesame dressing.

And quick decadent desserts of crust bar, banana, sweet cashew cream, almond butter, and chocolate mouse.

Or a brunch with Crystal’s sweet potato flatbreads with banana, almond butter, and sweet cashew cream.

There is a better, healthier, kinder, more-delicious path just on the other side of whatever-is-holding-you-back from shifting plant-based.

How do I know? Aside from the scientific evidence, the vast array of souls harking the health benefits (and success stories), we have the anecdotal evidence of our immediate family. I once lived in a Hobbit revelry of homecooked meat-forward meals, had a passion for cow breastmilk that was soul-sistering with Liz Lemon’s “Night Cheese”, and was throwin’ poached eggs on anything I could…simultaneously, I was full of every ache and pain imaginable. I had a Lyme’s sore skeletal system (achy/stiff/sore neck, knees, back), sciatica, migraines, GI calamity in all vectors, eczema, acne, depression, anxiety, and now every single one of those is gone and it wasn’t via a speck of medicine: it was purely shifting plant-based.

Ian’s back was forever giving him trouble, he’d get wildly intense bouts of illness that’d lay him low for days, his energy was depleted: his strength and back are better than ever, he hasn’t been that ol’ tempestual sick once since shifting plant-based, and BOY HOWDY does he have some muscles on him now. Like me Ian has always been willowy, but both of us have actually gained considerable muscles/strength.

Q had failure-to-thrive and was always in the ebb-and-flow of sinus infections and ear infections. He’s now sprouting like a sapling, is healthy as heck, when he’s wrestling or running you can see he’s packed with his own set of meaty muscles, and it’s been almost a year since his last sinus infection (<—that came with a roar when he snuck some cheese at a party).

So, I fully understand the inclination to hackle-raise, hiss, and shutter ears to the idea of going counter to ingrained culture comfort/harm; but the truths remain the truths, climate change is a looming threat every one of us is hearing about, and there’s something profoundly impactful we could all do that would be delicious AND healthy at the same time.

What could possibly be holding you back from that positive path forward?! There’s so much at stake!

Here’s what I’m treasuring while I can, and hollering til I’m hoarse to protect/preserve.

I’m aware the moon above is not a harvest moon, but as Ian was discussing Mars and apogees it came to mind, I ended up whistling and humming it for the rest of the weekend, and it suits well the theme.

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleepin'
We could dream this night away

We’re now 15 years into this journey and there is often more dancing, more laughter, more wonder of all there is to learn from the other; and I’m deeply appreciative I’m paired with the sort of soul who can dream, plan, and grow.

Saturday polar bearing

He can make art out of anything. <3

Brought our own boardgames and realized we need to be playing them more at home! We haven’t pulled this out since Christmas and Q was loving it! Would work well for number homeschooling work. :-)

Working on American Sign Language alphabet.

What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️

Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕  

Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥

Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎

Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️‍🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️

What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health,  Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health,  American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.

We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️

Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️

If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕

We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖