L'aura del Campo

Placenta-rutabaga stew Birth in the Andes French hurricane

Would anyone like the recipe to placenta and rutabaga stew? A poll, too! Do you practice ahimsa? Saw a documentary about Andean maternal care. Wrote three poems after reading Shahriyar, Gurgani and Hafiz. Hurricane Florence hits France! (Well, St-Pierre et Miquelon).

7,995 views

█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █


██████████████          L'aura del campo          ██████████████

█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █
█ █

SUMMER: 6 'Izzat (13 September)

'é a lua,  é a lua,  na quintana dos mortos'
♣    Federico García Lorca    ♣

At highest risk

I thought about how our culture, as advanced as we think it is, creates disease. Pregnancy, no matter how risky it may be at times is NOT a disease. This was so obvious while watching a documentary Monday about maternal care in the Andes. It was presented by Rebecca Rivas who visited Perú as a journalist and covered what is available in the rural indigenous areas.

She went to out of the way places like Ccapacmarca where she filmed a couple who where having childbirth the traditional way. The woman held on to the soga (braided rope) while her husband held her upright or sitting. The medics were there to assist.

I especially appreciated the part where the clinic in Ayacucho incorporated the local ways in their birthing room. Sounds more logical to me than stirrups, bright shiny lights and unknown men dressed in white sheets!

The modern and traditional ways are learning from each other.

A woman she got to know well did a bit of both: She had the fajada (body wrap), the belt to place above her belly; and she kept the placenta {the highlands people traditionally bury the placenta); but I don't believe she did the soga, she had the boy in the hospital.

The link: http://athighestrisk.com
Pictures: http://www.athighestrisk.com/mambo2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32...

Now this reminded me that placenta can be used as food ... ... yep. So:

A poll: "Placenta and rutabaga stew" 

The poll also shows up at the end of this entry ...


████████ Cool? !
████████ Weather where I am: 68º at noon.
████████ Weather in Cusco, Perú: 66º.
████████ Weather in Saint Pierre, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France: 53 and windy.

Do hurricanes hit France? The not-so-obvious answer is yes! The islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon lie off the southern coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Winds there are now 58 mph, with gusts of 79 mph. So, yes, they are feeling the effects of Hurricane Florence.

IMAGES

At Haskell and 15th:

Fine-leafed willow; fine-leafed elm; a row of sunflowers in a line pointing towards the flags flying above the twin towers of Fraser; the dry cracked earth; a rose bush with only half its leaves, one bouquet of tiny flowers, red, ablaze; double white rose of sharon, marron at the base of petals; dew on the grass and three petaled oxalis; backpack at rest upon my back; sunshine and clear blue sky; orange pumpkins; the green city dumpster.

MY LIFE

Saw Susan ... every Wednesday! Got on the wrong bus though. But, I got off and flagged down the other bus which was right behind. I do buses. My heel is doing much better, but I'm not abusing it.

Went to the Art Center last night and set in with writers for a workshop. I showed them my poems: 'Poor in Kansas' and 'Bowling'. Might change title of second to 'Bowling for Father' and change the line breaks. Robin Lewis helped with that, bless her. The two poems seem to have connected with the audience.

I'm still staying up too late. Last night went to the coffehouse late and had a riveting conversation with 'The Hollis of Wamego'. Hollis is such a bright light that I'm sure few in his hometown have ever forgotten him. Quite a character. He gave me the idea for a poem about how the presidents of the U.S. are just like the Egyptian rulers. Merely new names and faces, but one and the same person ...

POULTRY? YOU CALL THIS POULTRY?

I read some Persian poetry and as so many times happens, was inspired to write.

When will my mother die?

When all who have been loved by her
return to dust and clay, forgotten under stone
the wind and rain have worn away,
still, without a whisper of her name
she'll be remembered.

Long after the coals of life have burned,
this poem will remain an ember.

[163.347] Inspired by a poem of Shahriyar (1906-1988 CE)

Upon the pillar of time

we stood there entranced, entwined.
Your soul wrapped around me,
a moonflower sending
fragrance to the stars.
There was nothing between us
save the universe and time.
Words were not needed to fill that void.
We were all that mattered.
Your electrons kissed my protons,
swirling around like fine mulled wine
caught in the cup of our being.
Lit by the twinkle of galaxies
that flamed then cooled to embers,
we imbibed each other's depths.
Aeons later, Gurgani said it best:
If rain had fallen on us then,
a raindrop would not have moistened chests.

[163.345] Inspired by Gurgani's poem 'Vis and Ramin'.

Of worth

I say I'll give you stars.
You reply that you have galaxies enough to spare.

I swear my strength of mind is yours.
You know my intellect and flesh flow weak.

I speak to offer you my life.
You take it, heal it, give it back.

With blackened tears I weep, what do I have that you would keep?
Then in your mirror, I see my beating heart.

[163.348] Inspired by Hafiz.

BLOGVILLE

Tooling around ... Said hello to SilverValkyre loves YOU! who's valiantly moving. Pray she gets settled quickly. Two nice entries "Invalid Entry"  about horses and "Invalid Entry"  about taking time to actually LOOK!

Visited therealcrow, Shian (Check out her essay on Leonard Peltier, who's birthday was yesterday: "A little bit of History" ), obwan who burned down his 100 year old barn and sponsors a 100 word fiction contest: "Invalid Item" .

We live in a small world in Blogville. I remember reading Dawson College somewhere in a blog, so I went to Matthew St.James who lives in Montréal and left a note at his blog. He wasn't there, but is hearing about it. I share the concern that goths may be targeted for reprisals. The very recent news link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060913/ap_on_re_ca/canada_college_shooting

POLL

In an imbedded poll the links are 'broken' and don't work. Here are the links for the following poll:

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Spicy_Australian_Placenta
http://www.geocities.com/virtualbirth/placenta.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahimsa

The poll:

Placenta and rutabaga stew 

Would you eat placenta and rutabaga stew?

The highlands people of the Andes traditionally bury the placenta after birth. But ... placenta is not 'killed' meat. And it is quite edible and full of nutrients. Many animals eat their own placenta.

So why rutabaga? Well the big old Swedish yellow turnip (kålrot) needs more respect. However, to eat a rutabaga root, you have to 'kill' it.

Rutabaga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga

And therein lies a quandary (or an article/essay if I wrote such things!). According to 'ahimsa', as practiced by the Jains, one does not kill. Most of you have probably seen photos of people with gauze over their month so that insects are not mistakenly inhaled. So ... eating rutabaga root would not be allowed (turnip greens fine, but not the root). But would placenta be okay?

On the other hand, many cultures are very specific on the handling of the placenta. There are rituals to be observed. But Americans seem to love to eat and in the days of 'waste not, want not' of thirty years ago some American magazines had articles with recipes for placenta.

One such recipe for placenta and rutabaga stew (my modification; I replaced the zucchini) I found at Wikipedia:

Ingredients:
3/4 fresh human placenta
1 potato
4 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 carrots
3 celery
1/2 rutabaga
1 tomato
1 onion

Procedure:
Chop up the ingredients.
Roll the placenta in a mix of one tablespoon flour, on teaspoon salt, a half teaspoon powdered paprika, some ground clove, some ground pepper and 6-8 coriander seeds.
Sautée the placenta in two tablespoons oil, pour in the vegetables and about a liter/quart of water.
Allow to boil and then let simmer for an hour.

For a Down Under recipe: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Sp icy_Australian_Placenta
A link about the placenta: http://www.geocities.com/virtualbirth/pl acenta.html

So would you eat placenta and rutabaga stew?

      Yes, gladly! When are you getting pregnant?
      Placenta yes; rutabaga no!
      Rutabaga yes; placenta no!
      No way José! Man, you are a sicko!
      When I give birth, I'll give you a call.
      Maybe. How much you paying? Does it come with red wine?
      I believe in burying the placenta.
      I believe in burying the pollster.
      I have an opinion. I'm just too polite to share it.