recourse

How naïve I can be. The mistakes I've made through ignorance and ignoring. We have so much information available to us these days that the backlash can be that it is all too much for us to take in, to digest, to understand the implications. I've often compared modern life to life in the proverbial jungle;  there is so much danger lurking in places we least suspect. Unaware little lambs that we are, we put our faith in other unaware, or worse, immoral people, corporations, governments. Like our health food stores that sell Xylitol as a sweetener, another jungle trap we fell into almost 2 years ago ( see this site for an explanation:) .

Today, in my attempt to remove the stench of Febreze from beautiful secondhand fabrics I've bought recently, I've read about the betrayal of Proctor & Gamble in their use of poisons in this product. People have killed their pets and caused themselves no end of respiratory problems and worse. Thanks to Roscoe of Supreme Mariner in a thread on this topic dated December 2012, I quote a few of his findings:

1] 2-ethyl-hexanol. This chemical is a news article unto itself, in that
it has been categorically identified as an indoor air pollutant which
was found to activate a type of white blood cell which, in turn, pro-
duces the major inflammatory mediator Interleukin 6. Specifically
speaking, 2-ethyl-hexanol activates the CD4+ cells.

This ingredient is a testimony to the fraudulence and hypocrisy of the
Proctor & Gamble Corporation. Febreze is showcased as an effec-
tive organic air cleaner, yet it contains a notorious indoor air pollu-
tant. In sequence, 2-ethyl-hexanol has been implicated in Building-
related Illness, otherwise known as Sick Building Syndrome. This
Febreze ingredient is a menace.


2] Acetaldehyde. This is the hangover chemical, as in excessive
alcohol consumption. It happens to be recognized as a cancer
risk to the upper digestive tract.

3] Benzyl Acetate. Produces respiratory tract irritation. The con-
tinued exposure to ambient levels of this compound at 50 parts
per million will cause kidney damage. Cats have died from this,
at 180 parts per million. 

I'm no scientist. I've often joked that my left brain is atrophied. But it leaves one wondering about telltale clues in our lives, things that we dismiss at first that seem to linger. The body can only undergo so much duress before "something's gotta give". Just sayin'.

                                       Ironically it is a foggy day today. (I love metaphors.)

I've filled my laundry tub with my latest beauties from the secondhand shop and put in the usual dose of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and borax along with a good dose of pickling strength vinegar. I threw in a kettle of boiling water added to my machine's tub of hot water and hoped for the best. It didn't work.  Apparently the petroleum based fragrances that pervade most household products are hard to remove because of their oily base.  Some say that fabrics, whether on furniture or clothing, will release these oils in outdoor freezing temperatures (don't try it in your freezer) and Jocelyn Dale on a forum at mothering.com in 2008 said:

Febreze is really freakin' hard to remove. I've had luck with a soak using Calgon (the laundry treatment). With as hot water (initially), a soak usually does the job. And then a double wash to remove the smell of the Calgon.

Have you tried milk soak? Water + dry milk powder. I usually use a cup or so dissolved in a bucket of water.

How very affirming that there are people out there like you and me who care. As for the ignorance of the workers who spray this stuff and the managers who direct them to, the housewives who think they are doing their family a favour, and all the innocent people, children and animals who are subjected to it, we can only spread the word. I am not up for the monumental task of litigation. As it is, the New York State government has won battles on separate occasions with Monsanto, banning Roundup the weed killer, yet Monsanto, one of the biggest, if not the biggest chemical company in the world, continues its immoral  pursuits. Don't kid yourself that Money cannot trump truth. "Just pay the fines; it's the cost of doing business."

Then there's the phenomenon of  being dismissed, if not downright rejected for delivering facts. It has certainly changed my life. There is an unconscious fear that compels some people to "shoot the messenger." Regardless, disturbing information is available to those who care to research it. It is a harsh fact of life that I normally avoid on this blog as there is enough unpleasant news to last each of us several lifetimes.

Still, we are compelled to ask, "What is sacred if it isn't Life?"  Moral Integrity, that's what. That stands at the edge of Truth. Morality is a loaded word. Religious leaders argue with Philosophers, Countries with each other, Parents with Children, Brother with Brother, Sister with Sister. Ultimately, as the  Dalai Lama has said, "It is better to be killed than to kill." It is the dark side of human existence that when threatened, we opt for fear. Yet it is illustrated so often in life that Fear is the opposite of Love.

For now, I will continue to try to wash out this putrid Febreze in the textiles under my auspices. Surely I can break the bond.

~

Now on to more pleasant things-

One nice thing since the repaving of our road, is that it is quieter out there. Big trucks and tractor trailers don't rattle and shake the house as they once did when hitting the low spots, even when they weren't speeding. Overly zealous drivers forget that they left the highway 4.5 kilometres ago. Now that our part of the road is 8 inches narrower, I've seen less commercial traffic than before, but this may just be the adjustment period after 6 months plus of being detoured.

My sweet companion Muji after his breakfast while I ate my own.

We took a little detour of our own on Saturday, well past White Rock where I showed you our Thanksgiving wilderness visit back in October, to find an utterly quaint craft show at the community centre in Black River. We'd given up on finding it when it appeared dead on at a T junction.

That's the day we passed a bit of snow on the north mountain. It refreshed us considerably to do something so spontaneous and rewarding.

Then we headed back through White Rock to our original destination- the library

this is one of my favourite houses, with a distinctly Georgian façade, with an extension and walkthrough to the brown garage(?) behind. Too close to the main drag for my personal taste, I enjoy its formal elegance. Note the groundfall of the apple trees next to it.

Here's that wonderful Saltbox home in Wolfville that I can't seem to get a good picture of from a moving car. What a grand piece of traditional architecture.

This is where I left Muji this morning as I went out to hang my Febrezey laundry. As my washing did not remove the smell of it I hoped a good airing would help, but I've since talked to Wally who has encouraged me to run it all through another wash with something that will target the oils and chemicals that carry the smell. It reminds me of the years I couldn't remove the stench of a supposedly deglanded ferret from a favourite sweater of mine.

You may remember the beginnings of this brooch from an earlier post.

(I take great pride in it being odourless!)

~

I think the word of the day must be

Forgiveness

Christ said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do"

It is clear that the conscious choice to do immoral things is every bit born out of limited scope as unconscious choice. This is why we have moral teachers to guide us to do what is right. Because we are so limited as human beings.

I always default to the fact that what we perceive is illusion as the atoms that make up things- people, trees, cars, blue whales, fleas- is mostly made of space. If we squeezed all the space out of the atoms of all the people in the world, you could indeed fit the entire human race in the volume of a sugar cube.  Perspective (i.e. Context) puts a huge spin on The Truth. What is it from a different angle?  What recourse remains if it is not Kindness?

Forgive