A chicken in every yard

An article in today's Portland Press Herald reports that our neighbors in Falmouth are considering a change to town zoning ordinances to allow the raising of chickens in all residential neighborhoods. No roosters. No slaughtering poultry in the backyard. Coops of a reasonable size (less than 100 square feet isn't bad) and set back 20 feet from all property lines. But chickens and eggs in the backyard, thanks to the Dyhrberg family, who wanted to have a closer relationship to the source of the food on their table. Talk about eating local -- right from the backyard!

Several months ago, our friend Erica had this weird, but reportedly quite vivid, dream that Sara and I had started raising chickens in our kitchen closet. Apparently Sara was excited about the venture, exclaiming, "Now I'll never have to wonder where my eggs come from again!" Erica reports that I was less enthusiastic. Okay, I was rolling my eyes, disgusted. Clearly, Erica knows me too well.

But now, it turns out, maybe Erica's dream was prophetic. Because, who knows? Maybe Portland's next, and if so, I feel a coop coming on.

Random Acts of Kindness Day

Saturday morning was so awesome. We got together with a bunch of people from the New Light community and just had a blast blessing the City of Portland.

We had a little over $100 in quarters -- money we'd received in a special offering for this purpose at our Beach Worship gathering a couple of weeks ago and then changed into quarters -- and we split up into small groups and just totally went wild, stuffing parking meters, leaving quarters on flat surfaces (window ledges, the edge of parking meters and pay phones), intentionally dropping quarters on the sidewalk as we walked, and giving them away to anyone who asked for change. We also had 200 coupons for free coffee at Coffee By Design, which we gave away, along with a business card-sized card about New Light. After a while we met up again and made a little scene standing on the sidewalk, blowing bubbles... It was our own little version of the Lawrence Welk set, right there on Congress Street.

A few memorable moments...

• First thing, a family pulled up in a car, just as we were getting organized. Someone immediately ran over and stuffed their meter with enough quarters for a full two hours (the maximum). They didn't notice what we were doing, and we were happy to remain inconspicuous. They got out of their car, and the Dad went to the meter with quarters in hand. It was fun watching his puzzled look and then turned and said to his wife, "Hmmm... It already has a full two hours!"



• Without knowing what she was doing, Caitlin, who's a 9th grader, offered a coffee coupon to a guy going into a porn shop. I've never heard Caitlin giggle so hard as when she told me the story later.
  
  
• I met up with a guy, down on his luck, who claimed to have a broken arm and said he was on his way to the hospital. He was happy with the coffee coupon I offered, but said, "Do you think you could give me money for a beer?" So I did! Later, the same guy came upon the bubble blowers. He stopped, exclaimed, "I love bubbles! Bubbles are magical!", grabbed a wand out of someone's hand, and proceeded to blow bubbles of his own.



• I stopped and talked for a few minutes with a woman who turned down the coffee coupon, saying she didn't drink coffee, but in the course of conversation, she shared that she was worried about whether she'd be able to have dinner that night. She didn't ask for anything, and was embarrassed to take anything when I offered, but what a joy it was to share $5 with her. Five dollars totally made her day. I don't know that I've ever felt so blessed in spending $5.



• As we were nearing lunchtime, a young guy on crutches came hobbling along and sat down on a bench near the bubble blowers. He started a conversation with the group and all at once he said, "Wait a minute! Are you guys dropping quarters on the ground?" He proceeded to tell us that he'd found $2.50 in quarters that day, which he thought was unbelievably cool. He hung out with us for a while and ended up reading us some of his poetry, and when we invited him to join us for lunch, he gladly accepted. Over lunch, we had a really wonderful conversation, learning that he was new to Portland and new to recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction. When some people began to eat without a blessing, he asked if he could offer one, and he prayed, "Bless this food to our use and us to your service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others." We all came away feeling like we had totally been blessed by this guy. We're hoping he'll join us for a New Light gathering soon.

It's unanimous: our first Random Acts of Kindness was a blast, and we have to do it again!

Fiddleheads

In honor of Sara's mother's arrival on Saturday evening, we made a classic Maine dinner: baked stuffed haddock, thanks to a trip to Free Range Fish and Lobster on Commercial Street; purple mashed potatoes that came from the Wednesday farmers' market at Monument Square; and fiddleheads that we bought out of someone's trunk on the side of the road Friday afternoon.

Yes, fiddleheads - a Maine tradition! Not quite Maine lobster, but almost as popular with some people! Here's what VeganYumYum has to say about fiddleheads:

Fiddlehead ferns are one of spring’s most elusive goodies. The are available for about three weeks in May (as in right this second), and are generally harvested in the northeastern United States. A fiddlehead is the tip of an unfurling Ostrich Fern frond, quickly snapped off with the flick of the wrist by professional foragers in the wild. If you see some growing in the woods near you, take care. There are many other ferns that resemble the Ostrich Fern, some of which are considered to be carcinogenic, like the Bracken Fern. Unless you have a guide with you, leave the collecting to the professionals and pick some up at Whole Foods. They cost $6 a pound in Boston.

Their flavor is mild, and perhaps most closely resembles asparagus, and asparagus is the best substitute for the ferns. Some also say they are similar to green beans and
artichokes. They are pleasently crunchy with a nutty, slightly bitter bite, which is why you’ll see so many fiddlehead recipes calling for butter and salt. Treat the fiddleheads like asparagus tips and you can’t go wrong. If you really want a treat, serve them up with some morel mushrooms; their season coincides almost exactly with the ferns and they pair well.

I wish I liked fiddleheads more. They're okay, but I'm not one of those people you'll find scouring the sides of roads this time of year. But then again, they're only available during a short window of time each year, and once a year is just about perfect for me...