Brooke Hamilton

Last night I went to a book club meeting for Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Teachings, and the Wisdom of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. We all responded favourably to the book and seemed to appreciate the discussion that it led to. What can we do for our Earth and what will our Earth look like in 100 years? Do we need, as Mia put it, a proletariat revolution in which the workers have control of how the product is sold? These are the questions we attempted to answer in response to this book, which was about the author’s connection as an indigenous person to the environment and how her love of plants influenced her entire world view. She talks about the white man’s rape of the land and the pollution of the Onondaga Lake. Heavy stuff. But thought provoking. Words I used to describe the book were beautiful, poetic, insightful, and informative. I rated it a 6.5/10 mostly because I thought it was a bit dry at times and at times I struggled with the scientific descriptions. It’s not the kind of book I would typically pick up, but that’s what’s so great about book club: you get exposed to things you wouldn’t otherwise come across. However, overall I did enjoy the book. The writing and the message are beautiful. Would recommend to someone who is left leaning, as the politics could be divisive and the book is too idealistic to sway a hardcore right wing conservative. Maybe that conservative’s daughter.

This morning I went to a celebration of life for my deceased godmother Nikki. She was a warm, loving, kind-hearted woman and I will miss her. Growing up, Nikki and her husband Darryl always remembered my birthdays and holidays, and came for visits in between with her sons Jeremy and Martin. She baked the best shortbread cookies. She taught our family how to play dominoes. It is a happy day because we got to listen to Nikki’s sister and husband and daughter-in-law talk about all the things they loved about her.

Afterward, Mom and Dad and I went to East Side Mario’s for lunch. We ate so much bread.