As BFP has pointed out, not every walk is full of revelations. And not every walk is an encounter with a gorgeous forest. When BFP and I had that conversation about schedules, I said, “I know. It’s not always a pretty walk on a dirt trail in the hills, talking about climate change and capitalism. Sometimes it’s, you know, a quick walk in the neighborhood to get groceries.”

1. That week, I had taken a little walk early in the evening one night to get a final few ingredients for dinner.

driveway, heading out

crossing the street with neighbors

I went to the Jons market in my neighborhood. It’s a small-ish family-owned chain with several locations in Southern California. They’re known for low prices and for offering, in addition to standard big-US-supermarket fare, a relatively plentiful selection of whichever ethnic food/s match the demographics of a given neighborhood. It’s not racial justice, just smart capitalist business. In my neighborhood, also known as Little Armenia, there’s a large selection of feta cheeses, olives, pita … and every time I walk into a Jons, I remember how my Jewish grandma in the Valley would rave about her local Jons almost every time I saw her. She couldn’t understand why my mother would pay so much for organic produce at the local health-food store when the produce prices at Jons were so much better. (But the bagels, she had to admit, were better in the bakery section of Vons, the giant corporate chain, and they were on sale every Wednesday … ) Leaving Jons with Grandma on my mind but no longer in this world, I had to call my sister to say hi and remember our charming, cantankerous, food-loving, and ever-bargain-hunting Gram for a minute before I walked home.

me calling my sister (jons in background)

2. Yesterday, I walked to the LA Ecovillage to pick up my weekly box from our local food co-op. 

It is a mystery why this neighbor has so many antennas on the roof. Theories? 

mural: oil-company jackals

This mural is in the parking lot of the Laundromat I usually go to. 

My friend Hilary has been talking a lot lately about the security culture we live in, and how gates and bars everywhere have to do with private-property protection above all else (which has to do with capitalism, and a racist classist heteronormative prison industrial complex, and more) — but look at what these neighbors did with color on the otherwise ugly gate on their building!

I mean, look at all these people and institutions and what they’re putting onto and next to the sidewalk. 

balloons on cars for sale - it's like a party!

This last one is a subway station. Public transportation is a sustainable alternative to driving – but what are these palm trees doing in the midst of the desert landscaping?

This very neat wall of trimmed bush (with less-neat tree feet sometimes awry in a shady row) is in front of an elementary school. 

On the very last block before the Ecovillage, I find this:

poster for socialism conference (reads "capitalism is criminal-fight back")

Who knew there was a socialism conference at LA City College this weekend? I turn the corner and walk past a gate into the Ecovillage. I’m a little nervous there might be some tension with other folks there because we’ve been struggling a little over different visions of the future of the food co-op. Some people want to see a kind of growth that sounds to me too like the failing and exploitative dominant economic systems that already exist. I’m trying not to get frustrated by conversations that scare and frustrate me, but to stay hopeful and engaged in the conversations in a positive spirit, remembering that our little food co-op is one of many labs for experimenting with not only alternative food systems but also alternative economics systems — systems that are neighborhood-based, sustainable, democratic in a real sense (with people involved in decision-making about things, like food, that directly affect our days, our communities). Looking into my box for the week — all this gorgeous locally grown, pesticide-free produce from a small farm that gets the reliable income of a committed bulk order from us week after week, sorted by co-op volunteers, for ten bucks — helps a little to sustain the energy to keep engaging, with hope.

veggie box

And while not every walk is an encounter with stunning forest landscapes or intense political thinking, every walk, wherever, however, is political. But I don’t need to tell you that. What kinds of walks did you take this week?