OPINION
Branching Out By Genevieve Villamizar
The scent of cumin hits an ancestral note for me; it frees the feels, right up there with sauteed onions or sizzling garlic: uniquely and pungently itself. Familiar and welcoming, yes, but otherworldly, too. In just a handful of homes do I smell it, that pervasive, bulk-food spice cabinet smell: cumin. It is the fragrance of family, of home and, to me, the fragrance of “you are welcome here.” When we moved in with our Colombian dad, I was six, maybe seven years old. Everything about him (after four or five years apart) and our new home was exotic, intriguing and, at times, embarrassing. As a single dad with no experience, we endured a lot of weird food combos — tuna, Kraft singles, green olives, cheap bread. Oyster stew? Guava paste and queso blanco? But ohhhh, his black beans. They were special; they were on purpose. You had to plan ahead, soaking them overnight. This meant he was focused on
Fragrances of home-making It often starts around a chunk us, thinking of us, cooking for us. The sight of that bowl, filled of protein: muscle, bone and to the brim with shiny dark bean give way, melding. Distinct “pebbles” in a scrim of purple- terroirs become one. With a gray foam, stirred relief and joy: porcelain spoon (a burnt tongue Dad was in a good mood! He can’t taste) I sample every few was planning a dinner for us! hours to learn more of the meat hunted, gifted or purchased. Would he make arepas, too? Mountain lion from Oak, His recipe was basic. javelina rump and feral Soak overnight. Rinse. boar from Martha. Large soup pot, fresh "Missing or needing Elk, deer, even water. He’d dash 'home' in my early Jacober Brothers the air above with 20s and on my own, I moo moos when cumin and adobo. cooked the family black they still grazed Salt and pepper; beans for comfort." our watershed. onions, garlic. He’d Ground pork or sear and slice a rope bacon from Potter of spicy sausage. Then Farms, water buffalo bred and came the yummy part: the beans simmering all day long. Tendrils raised by friends. Each animal has of steam, densely layered aromas, its own savory slant. Simmering, simmering; meat, teased my nose; made my tummy rumble and my mouth water. bean and bone surrender into Decades onward, black beans and succulence. The opposite is true rice are still a cherished family of loose grind. High quality grind is not a mushy paste, but squiggly meal. Missing or needing “home” strands of “broken” meat: in my early 20s and on my own, small morsels, chewy and juicy. I cooked the family black beans Something to bite into. And for comfort. By my 30s, they had encased sausage, mixed with its become a go-to for potlucks and own array of seasons? Nom, nom! Enjoying a beer? One for parties. Today, at 50, my family black beans are still gobbled with you, one for the crock. (Tequila gusto. Never have I tasted black works, too.) Frozen stock? beans prepared by another as Chuck it in. Dried porcini from the Lake Christine burn complexly delicious as mine. scar? Why not? Two squares Yes, I boast. And no; no recipe. I cook them when the heart of forgotten chocolate, 80%? requests and no batch is ever Go for it, 100%. Cayenne for the same. Each is unique to the bite; marjoram to marry wild season, to my fluctuating pantry and domestic notes. Coriander, tomatoes, or fridge and to whatever I have Worcestershire, harvested out back or palmed poblanos… Any other leftovers? My dad is an artist. He around town.
collects oddities from Nature and integrates them into expansive dioramas that he carves and paints in the magical realism born of his native Colombia. Watching him prepare black beans, among his many other life-long rituals, taught me about living and being. Growing, hunting, gathering, sourcing, harvesting, storing, planning, cooking, sharing, showing: each of these verbs — in fact, every and any verb — can be expressed artfully. So I crumble silver-green leaves of culinary sage from a bundle tied in twine and dried last summer. I sprinkle thyme and last autumn’s breath from a pretty jar diverted from the recycle bin. I pull bay leaves from a plant I had ordered and grown in the old greenhouse, one leaf, two; don’t want a bitter edge. No measuring spoons; it’s all in the feel — but yes, add a carmine dune of smoked paprika; golden mesa of ground mustard seed. Celery seed, tiny with explosive flavor. Cardamom — just a smidge to see what it does? Amusing to note that this is really just a huge pot of flora with a lil’ bit of fauna when you compare it to all the boxes, bags, bottles and jars on the grocery shelves… But these beans, here? So darn beautiful to assemble, to savor, to smell. And soon? To share and consume.
LETTERS Happy New Year January has already come and gone. They say time flies and we are watching it happen. Carbondale Homeless Assistance is still very active in our Community. Although “different,” 2021 still showed the need for our help. We are grateful to all of those who have contributed to our program. We could not exist without your donations. Those funds help us provide City Market cards, gas cards, gift cards, the shower program, emergency overnight accommodations, pet care and other miscellaneous items. The clothing and gear you donate to Ragged Mountain Sports also helps, as they in turn donate to Carbondale Homeless Assistance. Please, please, please continue to donate. Send checks or gift cards (City Market, Dos Gringos, Subway, Peppino’s, White House Pizza) to Carbondale Homeless Assistance at 711 Main St, Carbondale. Or you can VENMO @ CarbondaleHomelessAssistance or direct deposit to Carbondale Homeless Assistance at any Alpine Bank. Unhoused persons in our community are taking advantage of the daily hygiene program that we offer with shower passes at the Rec Center. Those in need have met the criteria and are given the opportunity to use the facility as needed. Even during restrictions imposed for health concerns,
we were able to assist and provide showers. During the extreme cold and other emergencies, we continue to assist with clothing and outerwear appropriate for the weather conditions. Our local motels, the Days Inn and Comfort Inn, assist us with discounted accommodations whenever possible. We are very grateful to Michael Miernicki at Days Inn and Emily Ravn at Comfort Inn for their personal involvement with our program. It is with heartfelt gratitude that we thank you for your continued support. Here’s to a healthy and happy 2022. Lynn Kirchner Carbondale
Heat pumps Thanks to The Sopris Sun for highlighting heat pumps for electric heating in some new buildings in the Roaring Fork Valley (Jan. 27 issue). Gas heat is a major source of climatedisrupting emissions here. Compared to burning gas (plus upstream leaking and venting), heat pumps greatly reduce global warming emissions. This advantage gets better as more solar, and particularly wind, is installed on our electricity supply. While it’s kind of sad that Holy Cross Energy issued only 20 heat pump rebates last year, this conversion is just getting started here.
This is not just a Roaring Fork Valley thing. Other regions and countries are pulling ahead. In the Netherlands last year, in areas where gas is available, 90% of all new buildings installed electric heating instead. They have plans for two million heat pumps in a decade in their little country. Europe is installing more “natural refrigerant” heat pumps, too. I spent a month in Vermont last year, and outdoor units for heat pumps were popping up on many older buildings. We need heating conversion programs which result in much higher participation. A few entities seem to be having success with centralized contracting for multiple energy retrofits using leasing models, and there are probably other approaches. This is instead of trying to pile greater rebates and credits on the current model of custom assessments and applications, bespoke financing, and multiple contractors bidding on each home or business. A traditional conservative question is, “Why can’t we let ‘the market’ do this?” It might, if we added the emissions damage from fossil fuels to gas rates. At the low-end compromise rate of $75/ton of damage from CO2 emissions (plus 70% or so to account for 2.5% methane venting and leaking), retail heating gas rates would nearly double from this winter’s relatively high level. More recent estimates of this form of deficit spending are $200/ton for current and future Continued on page 19
The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect those of The Sopris Sun. The community is invited to submit letters up to 500 words to news@soprissun.com. Longer columns are considered on a case-by-case basis. The deadline for submission is noon on Monday.
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