Poem: "Oak Guilds"
Jul. 19th, 2021 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem was written outside the regular prompt calls, based on discussions with dialecticdreamer. It fills the "Gifts" square in my 6-1-21 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. This poem belongs to the Shiv and Broken Angels threads of the Polychrome Heroics series. It is followed by "Caterpillar Park" and "The Power of Food to Bring People Together."
"Oak Guilds"
[Monday, May 9, 2016]
Boss Blaster and Shiv
were going over a map of
the Long Arm neighborhood
that had belonged to the Tatters
when the doorbell bonged.
"I'll get that," Cas said,
heading for the door
with Hali on his hip.
Boss Blaster recognized
the voice, though. "Sally,
come on in," he invited her.
"What brings you here today?"
Sally was still in college, but she
also put in some internship hours at
the Lincoln Saline Wetlands Nature Center.
"There's a new initiative," she said. "We're
encouraging citizens to plant oak guilds."
"Why oak?" Boss Blaster wondered.
"Oak hosts the most species of wildlife --
over 550 insects alone, over 2,300 in all,"
Sally said. "That makes them best for
supporting birds and other living things.
Oak guilds make great wildlife gardens."
"Can trees have guilds?" Shiv said.
"I thought that was history stuff."
"It's not quite like historic guilds,
that's just where the name came from,"
Sally said. "In permaculture, a guild is
a group of plants that help each other.
An oak tree makes shade and shelter
for understory shrubs and flowers."
"Okay, that makes more sense,"
Shiv said. "Like Shady Grove Park."
That was one of Boss Blaster's parks
which just got started last month.
"That one has some oak saplings,
but it would help to have more and
the other things that grow with them,"
said Sally. "We're hoping to boost
insects, and that will help songbirds.
It takes over 6,000 caterpillars
to raise one clutch of chicks."
"I like birdies!" Hali crowed.
"They sing such pretty songs."
Boss Blaster looked thoughtfully
at the map of the Long Arm area.
He didn't have any parks there yet,
but he had picked up some properties
on the cheap, including an empty lot.
A park would raise all their values.
Flipping through pictures on his phone,
he nodded. "Yeah, I got space," he said.
"Are there any program incentives?"
"We supply native plants from
our greenhouses," said Sally.
"There are bur oaks along with
some other native trees, shrubs,
and flowering plants they like.
Tiny ones, but they'll grow."
Shiv gave him a look
but just said, "Later."
"We also offer a variety of
tax incentives for landowners
who participate in the projects
by the Center," Sally added.
"There are new opportunities
for the oak guilds, yard mapping,
and privately owned parkland."
Boss Blaster brightened.
If he could use the parks
to lower his obligations and
boost property values, that
would really help his budget.
"All right, here is a picture of
an empty lot I have, its address,
and the area measurements.
It covers about half an acre."
said Boss Blaster. "Sally,
go pick out some plants.
Cas, start the phone tree."
Sally made happy noises,
then scampered away.
Cas put Hali down on
a chair so that he could
start making the phone calls.
"So, what's up?" Boss Blaster said,
turning to Shiv. "Something to share?"
"I uh, might know someone who
could make the plants grow faster,
if she's free today," said Shiv.
"You want I should check?"
"Go ahead," said Boss Blaster.
"I've already had Dozer out
to clean the soil, so it's safe."
Shiv made the call. "Hi, I'm
in Lincoln and we're planning
to plant oak seedlings and
wildflowers," he said. "So if
anyone wants to come over
and play in the dirt, maybe
speed things up a little,
that would be awesome."
He paused, listening. "Yeah,
an hour from now sounds good.
I'll pass the word about calories.
Don't worry, they got a great cook."
Shiv hung up. "Okay, we're set,"
he said to Boss Blaster. "They'll
show up wherever I am in an hour."
"What did you promise about food?"
Cas said. "I've taken a few classes
on cooking, but I'm not a chef."
"So? I've eaten your food,
it's fantastic, and you know how
to feed high-burn appetites,"
Shiv said. "You just need
a big main dish, like maybe
a Lasagna Bomb, and then
the most ridiculously sweet
dessert you can imagine."
"You want to give me a hint
who I'm cooking for, so I can
pick something suitable?"
Cas said, looking at him.
"Ah, well ... her name is Alicia
and she looks about seven but she's
a lot older than that and really powerful,"
"If you treat her like a seven-year-old girl,
that's how she acts, and that's what we
want other than helping the plants grow."
"For how many people?" Cas asked.
"Uh, probably just three or four,
but two of them are high-burn and
the third is usually another soup,"
Shiv said. "Imagine that they're
about ten ordinary appetites."
"Don't forget the rest of us,"
said Boss Blaster. "I'm not
going to ask people to plant
trees and then feed them pizza."
"I can make a Lasagna Bomb and
a few loaves of garlic bread, plus
a salad or something," Cas said.
He took out his phone, scrolling
through recipes. "For dessert,
how about this?" he said. "Hali
is a bit young for it now, but I
thought in a year or few, she
might like something like this."
Then he turned the phone around.
The tall round cake was mostly white,
but had a swirl of rainbow rosettes
going down the side. Two ears
stuck up on top, and a gold horn.
Eventually Boss Blaster realized
that it was actually a unicorn.
Then Cas showed the next image.
The cake had been cut open
to reveal rainbow layers and
a filling of sprinkles and candy
that spilled all over the table.
Shiv cracked up laughing.
"Oh, that's perfect," he said.
"She loves shit like that -- she
eats Rainbowrama Jumble Munch."
"Okay, a Lasagna Bomb, garlic bread,
a chopped salad or something else green,
and a Unipalooza for dessert," Cas said.
"Boss, I'm gonna need a bigger budget."
"No problem," Boss Blaster said. He
fished out his wallet and passed Cas
a $300 Greenbucks card. "That's full."
"I don't need that much!" Cas squeaked.
"Well, better too much than too little,"
Boss Blaster said. "Go start shopping.
Don't worry about lunch, I'll have
someone bring that to the park."
"Okay, boss," said Cas. "We'll
be back in an hour or so."
He picked up Hali and
then hurried out the door.
"So, let's see what we have
to work with," Boss Blaster said.
Shiv looked at the map again,
sliding the card across it to see
how different circles lined up.
Cas had helpfully made
the template for them out of
stiff posterboard, its cutout circles
measuring a variety of distances
and time estimates, so they could
slide it around and see what was
available within a quarter of a mile,
about a 15-minute walk, or whatever.
You could do the same thing online,
but that could be tracked; paper
was a lot more private and you got
the feel of a place in your hands.
There weren't any parks inside
Long Arm itself; they were all
across some boundary road.
"Two quarter-mile circles fit here,
stacked south and north," Shiv said.
"The south one covers everything
that you've bought or plan to buy
anywhere in Long Arm thus far."
Boss Blaster looked at the map.
"The new park won't be exactly
in the center of the south circle,
but it's pretty close to there. It's
good enough for a first step."
"Yeah," Shiv said, then tapped
a finger higher up. "Later on,
maybe put a different kind
of park in the other circle."
"I might put a skate dot
or pavement park there,"
said Boss Blaster. "There's
a few abandoned parking lots
in that part of the neighborhood."
Sometimes people repurposed
buildings, or land, and just left
the part that they didn't want.
If they built houses where
a store had been, there could
be a parking lot standing empty.
Boss Blaster puttered around
with the map and his phone,
looking at property values and
usage patterns, mulling over
what he could do with Long Arm.
This was turning into a fun day.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear separately.
dialecticdreamer. It fills the "Gifts" square in my 6-1-21 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. This poem belongs to the Shiv and Broken Angels threads of the Polychrome Heroics series. It is followed by "Caterpillar Park" and "The Power of Food to Bring People Together.""Oak Guilds"
[Monday, May 9, 2016]
Boss Blaster and Shiv
were going over a map of
the Long Arm neighborhood
that had belonged to the Tatters
when the doorbell bonged.
"I'll get that," Cas said,
heading for the door
with Hali on his hip.
Boss Blaster recognized
the voice, though. "Sally,
come on in," he invited her.
"What brings you here today?"
Sally was still in college, but she
also put in some internship hours at
the Lincoln Saline Wetlands Nature Center.
"There's a new initiative," she said. "We're
encouraging citizens to plant oak guilds."
"Why oak?" Boss Blaster wondered.
"Oak hosts the most species of wildlife --
over 550 insects alone, over 2,300 in all,"
Sally said. "That makes them best for
supporting birds and other living things.
Oak guilds make great wildlife gardens."
"Can trees have guilds?" Shiv said.
"I thought that was history stuff."
"It's not quite like historic guilds,
that's just where the name came from,"
Sally said. "In permaculture, a guild is
a group of plants that help each other.
An oak tree makes shade and shelter
for understory shrubs and flowers."
"Okay, that makes more sense,"
Shiv said. "Like Shady Grove Park."
That was one of Boss Blaster's parks
which just got started last month.
"That one has some oak saplings,
but it would help to have more and
the other things that grow with them,"
said Sally. "We're hoping to boost
insects, and that will help songbirds.
It takes over 6,000 caterpillars
to raise one clutch of chicks."
"I like birdies!" Hali crowed.
"They sing such pretty songs."
Boss Blaster looked thoughtfully
at the map of the Long Arm area.
He didn't have any parks there yet,
but he had picked up some properties
on the cheap, including an empty lot.
A park would raise all their values.
Flipping through pictures on his phone,
he nodded. "Yeah, I got space," he said.
"Are there any program incentives?"
"We supply native plants from
our greenhouses," said Sally.
"There are bur oaks along with
some other native trees, shrubs,
and flowering plants they like.
Tiny ones, but they'll grow."
Shiv gave him a look
but just said, "Later."
"We also offer a variety of
tax incentives for landowners
who participate in the projects
by the Center," Sally added.
"There are new opportunities
for the oak guilds, yard mapping,
and privately owned parkland."
Boss Blaster brightened.
If he could use the parks
to lower his obligations and
boost property values, that
would really help his budget.
"All right, here is a picture of
an empty lot I have, its address,
and the area measurements.
It covers about half an acre."
said Boss Blaster. "Sally,
go pick out some plants.
Cas, start the phone tree."
Sally made happy noises,
then scampered away.
Cas put Hali down on
a chair so that he could
start making the phone calls.
"So, what's up?" Boss Blaster said,
turning to Shiv. "Something to share?"
"I uh, might know someone who
could make the plants grow faster,
if she's free today," said Shiv.
"You want I should check?"
"Go ahead," said Boss Blaster.
"I've already had Dozer out
to clean the soil, so it's safe."
Shiv made the call. "Hi, I'm
in Lincoln and we're planning
to plant oak seedlings and
wildflowers," he said. "So if
anyone wants to come over
and play in the dirt, maybe
speed things up a little,
that would be awesome."
He paused, listening. "Yeah,
an hour from now sounds good.
I'll pass the word about calories.
Don't worry, they got a great cook."
Shiv hung up. "Okay, we're set,"
he said to Boss Blaster. "They'll
show up wherever I am in an hour."
"What did you promise about food?"
Cas said. "I've taken a few classes
on cooking, but I'm not a chef."
"So? I've eaten your food,
it's fantastic, and you know how
to feed high-burn appetites,"
Shiv said. "You just need
a big main dish, like maybe
a Lasagna Bomb, and then
the most ridiculously sweet
dessert you can imagine."
"You want to give me a hint
who I'm cooking for, so I can
pick something suitable?"
Cas said, looking at him.
"Ah, well ... her name is Alicia
and she looks about seven but she's
a lot older than that and really powerful,"
"If you treat her like a seven-year-old girl,
that's how she acts, and that's what we
want other than helping the plants grow."
"For how many people?" Cas asked.
"Uh, probably just three or four,
but two of them are high-burn and
the third is usually another soup,"
Shiv said. "Imagine that they're
about ten ordinary appetites."
"Don't forget the rest of us,"
said Boss Blaster. "I'm not
going to ask people to plant
trees and then feed them pizza."
"I can make a Lasagna Bomb and
a few loaves of garlic bread, plus
a salad or something," Cas said.
He took out his phone, scrolling
through recipes. "For dessert,
how about this?" he said. "Hali
is a bit young for it now, but I
thought in a year or few, she
might like something like this."
Then he turned the phone around.
The tall round cake was mostly white,
but had a swirl of rainbow rosettes
going down the side. Two ears
stuck up on top, and a gold horn.
Eventually Boss Blaster realized
that it was actually a unicorn.
Then Cas showed the next image.
The cake had been cut open
to reveal rainbow layers and
a filling of sprinkles and candy
that spilled all over the table.
Shiv cracked up laughing.
"Oh, that's perfect," he said.
"She loves shit like that -- she
eats Rainbowrama Jumble Munch."
"Okay, a Lasagna Bomb, garlic bread,
a chopped salad or something else green,
and a Unipalooza for dessert," Cas said.
"Boss, I'm gonna need a bigger budget."
"No problem," Boss Blaster said. He
fished out his wallet and passed Cas
a $300 Greenbucks card. "That's full."
"I don't need that much!" Cas squeaked.
"Well, better too much than too little,"
Boss Blaster said. "Go start shopping.
Don't worry about lunch, I'll have
someone bring that to the park."
"Okay, boss," said Cas. "We'll
be back in an hour or so."
He picked up Hali and
then hurried out the door.
"So, let's see what we have
to work with," Boss Blaster said.
Shiv looked at the map again,
sliding the card across it to see
how different circles lined up.
Cas had helpfully made
the template for them out of
stiff posterboard, its cutout circles
measuring a variety of distances
and time estimates, so they could
slide it around and see what was
available within a quarter of a mile,
about a 15-minute walk, or whatever.
You could do the same thing online,
but that could be tracked; paper
was a lot more private and you got
the feel of a place in your hands.
There weren't any parks inside
Long Arm itself; they were all
across some boundary road.
"Two quarter-mile circles fit here,
stacked south and north," Shiv said.
"The south one covers everything
that you've bought or plan to buy
anywhere in Long Arm thus far."
Boss Blaster looked at the map.
"The new park won't be exactly
in the center of the south circle,
but it's pretty close to there. It's
good enough for a first step."
"Yeah," Shiv said, then tapped
a finger higher up. "Later on,
maybe put a different kind
of park in the other circle."
"I might put a skate dot
or pavement park there,"
said Boss Blaster. "There's
a few abandoned parking lots
in that part of the neighborhood."
Sometimes people repurposed
buildings, or land, and just left
the part that they didn't want.
If they built houses where
a store had been, there could
be a parking lot standing empty.
Boss Blaster puttered around
with the map and his phone,
looking at property values and
usage patterns, mulling over
what he could do with Long Arm.
This was turning into a fun day.
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear separately.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-20 05:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-20 03:41 pm (UTC)Alternately, extra portions could be frozen for later, instead of just left in the fridge.
Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-20 06:52 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-20 08:58 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-20 09:39 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-20 09:26 pm (UTC)Leftovers have a purpose?
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-07-20 10:02 pm (UTC)* ensuring everyone is as full as they want to be prior to leaving the table
* providing snacks later
* lunches the next day
* some can be frozen
* some are ideal as ingredients for subsequent dishes.
For a while, we had a housemate who adored leftovers. He would stick his head and shoulders in the fridge to root around for things, while wriggling his butt and making happy-puppy-noises. If there were no leftovers, that made him sad and kind of antsy. I don't think he ever went without, he just had a big appetite and a lot of energy.
My partner Doug primarily uses leftovers as lunches, or if they're too small for that, snacks. If we make a family-size dish, usually that's what happens to the 1-3 leftover portions.
When I make a large meat dish, I often use a bigger piece of meat than we will eat in one sitting. The leftover meat is chopped up and frozen to be used as precooked meat in other dishes.
So if I make a corned beef brisket, we eat that as a main dish with vegetable sides. The next day, we mix the chopped leftover brisket with diced potatoes for corned beef hash.
Leftover diced ham can go into a pot of noodles or a quiche. Leftover shredded pork or beef often gets done up as quesadillas.
We also do some freezer meals with things like sloppy joe filling. One day's work prepping and cooking will yield a whole stack of cartons to freeze, which then become convenience meals.
In a few cases, dishes with complex spice blends may come out better after sitting overnight. Just be aware that occasionally one will get hotter. We have a potato curry recipe that I love fresh, but after a few hours it's at the edge of my heat tolerance, and the next day is past most people's tolerance.
So while there are very few things I like as reheated same leftovers, there are lots of things that my partner likes to reheat, and there are plenty of things I will reuse in another dish that I enjoy.
To make use of leftovers, you need to think about the people in that household, the type of original dish, and what if anything you wish to do with the leftovers.
It helps to have a number of flexible recipes that will absorb a variety of leftovers, especially algorithms. Frex, shepherd's pie (lamb) and cottage pie (beef) can be made almost entirely with leftovers -- it's how they started out. Stews, stir-fries, skillet meals, casseroles, omelettes, etc. are also helpful. Almost every culture has their own version of "shut up and eat it" like Spanish paella or Cajun jambalaya, most of which amount to "leftover stuff in rice" or some other starchy base to which things can be added.
Cas cooks for a gang, which means feeding a lot of people who have superpowers and/or moderate to heavy labor as part of their job. That means being able to put edible food in someone's hands almost immediately, at any time. He hasn't quite gotten far enough to establish an "always ready" item beyond leftovers, snacks, or the fresh bread that's available until someone eats the last of it. If you look at Blues Moon, there's something going in the kitchen almost all the time, even if it's just beans'n'rice, and they keep a jar of emergency honey for teleporters. Ricasso's gang has a hunk of gyro meat on the spit. The details vary, but intelligent super gangs make an effort to accommodate big appetites.
Contrast that with crappy bundles of thugs like what Shakedown or Boss Batir had going, without a decent place to sleep, wash, or eat. :/ I try to represent the whole range.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-20 10:04 pm (UTC)Yeah, parks are good.
Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-20 10:56 pm (UTC)I'm so happy to see you here again! :D There will be more about this park.
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>> Yeah, parks are good. <<
Boss Blaster has figured out that parks are not only good for reducing tension, but now that he's stumbled into real estate, they greatly increase the value of nearby (within 1/4 to 1/2 mile) lots. Establishing one park with basic amenities (a bench, a garbage can, etc.) boosts the value by 8-20%. A greenbelt suitable for hiking or biking is even more effective. So if Boss Blaster owns one home near the new park, he can probably break even or turn a profit; if he owns more than one, he can probably make as much as house flipping usually does, before even touching the houses!
Since he didn't come to Lincoln with this in mind, it's a slower process of discovery. He's still a car guy at heart. But Sally is helping him learn that there are actually many incentives for property owners to do Earth-friendly things. He's smooth with that, so as he explores further, he'll find more opportunities to save or even make money with green projects. \o/
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 01:14 am (UTC)Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 01:23 am (UTC)Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 02:03 am (UTC)It's also possible that higher rent will keep people jammed in living together instead of moving out (if they want to).
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 02:08 am (UTC)Well, not yet. ;)
>> It's also possible that higher rent will keep people jammed in living together instead of moving out (if they want to). <<
That's a big problem in L-America. In T-America, minimum wage is higher, housing is more affordable, people have better interpersonal skills, and more housing is designed for communal living. So it's less of an issue there, but still something to keep an eye out for.
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 08:05 pm (UTC)(Which reminds me, don't you have a link collection about that? I should dig it up again.)
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 08:34 pm (UTC)By all means, prompt for it.
>> (Which reminds me, don't you have a link collection about that? I should dig it up again.) <<
I might. Some quick references:
Cohousing and intentional community are often done with freestanding homes, but can be done as an apartment complex, sharehouse, etc.
Multigenerational homes are designed with divisions that make it easy for people to come together or spread out, supporting both family and privacy.
https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/collections/multi-generational
https://archivaldesigns.com/collections/multi-generational-house-plans
From my poetry, "A Celebration and a Consolation" (in microfunding now) features a sprawling family that needs a new house. "Come Together to Learn and Create" is for sale, about designing an intentional community. There is a pool going here to sponsor poetry.
Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-21 10:59 pm (UTC)Re: Welcome!
Date: 2021-07-22 12:37 am (UTC)The manor style used wings and floors to separate groups of people. The biggest common areas were in the middle and lower down, but there were often others scattered elsewhere. The closest I usually see to this is the modern McMansion but those are typically bad designs where the bathrooms take up as much space as the bedrooms. 0_o However, there's something to be said for designs that are all master bedrooms where each has its own ensuite, as long as the bathrooms aren't 3-4 times as big as they need to be.