Living with the Land
wellness updates from me, our house plants, and the future
Planting :
My African violet has some mold on its leaves. I am not the best plant mom. Sometimes I think I’d be better at this botany thing if I chose a different species to care for-- one that didn’t have such specific temperature and sunlight needs-- but then I realize how egregious it would be if parents complained about their human children being too particular about survival requirements as well.
My African violet has zero violets. My mom said that’s ok because her Orchid doesn’t bloom either.
DJ Freedem started an Underground Plant Trade (link) “where Black people come to collect their reparation plants”.
Living :
In January of this year I went to Epcot for a day while visiting Orlando. Disney World is an odd place to be in as an adult with no children, not because the attractions are necessarily boring or not designed for a person my age, but because every employee at the park works so incredibly hard to uphold the illusion of happiness and fantasy for visitors. There is no trash on the ground, everyone smiles, and all employees point with two fingers instead of one when providing directions. When waiting in line for either the bathroom or our sushi order at the Japan Pavilion, I instinctively count the Black people present at Disney World like I would when I’m at a work event, an art opening, or a private college campus. Someone walks over dressed in all white to pick up a tissue off the ground. Suddenly they’re gone.
Aerial view of E.P.C.O.T urban center by George Rester & Herbert Ryman - source (link)
Prior to becoming a theme park, Epcot was Walt Disney’s experimental concept for a utopian city of the future. An acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, it intended to highlight the latest technologies of American industry and corporations. The city’s 20,000 residents would live in identical housing units in the outer rim of the city. Working in industry, shopping, or theme park services, no one could retire, own land, or vote. One could only guess why the city was never actualized after Disney’s death in 1966. Would I be able to count the Black people in a city that doesn’t grant land ownership and voting rights to its residents? Does it even matter when districts across the country in 2020 struggle with voter suppression against black people, and land ownership is deterred everywhere through systems like redlining, the prison system, and general income inequality?
Diagram for city layout from E.P.C.O.T, 1966 (source)
The essence of the original Epcot city lives on in the present day Disney World theme parks, namely through what is now the Epcot Center and Magic Kingdom. The strangest attraction by far at the Epcot Center is a slow-moving boat ride called Living with Land, where riders are guided through a slavery omitting, human history of agriculture. The second half of the ride showcases a Living Laboratory where food is grown on Disney property to be displayed, harvested, and served across all park restaurants. A very odd take on the the farm to table concept :
Pepper plants in "Verti-Gro" columns from Living with the Land . Wikipedia
A few days later, right before our flight back to New York, we got takeout from Pollo Tropical.
Yesterday I heard my mom on the phone discussing recipes: she likes to purchase most of her vegetables in the frozen aisle.
My dad is 63 and out protesting the police. I ask if he’s gotten tested yet for the virus. He laughs and says he’s “healthy”.
Listening :
Album : Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia
From artist’s bio:
“Afro/Indigenous/Colombian/Canadian/punk/folklorist/traditionalist/transgressive/diva/angel. There are so many layers to Canadian-Colombian singer Lido Pimienta’s identity that you might get lost in them. But if you did, you’d be missing the point”.
