Imagination

one day a gnome went out to play
under the umbrella shade of the white-capped beauty
growing in the backyard soil
heavy with a weeks worth of rain;
a cricket bounded by having been released
from a glassy dome by a red-caped beauty
curious about her little friend's behavior,
sad to see him go, she saw the gnome;
together they frolicked off
to fairy lands unknown to but a few
whose imaginations are captured in
kaleidoscope views of rainbow colors
and fantastical day dreams.

Produce Co-op...

Charlotte is a horrible place for growing things. We are cursed with layers of red clay void of nutrients. So to get fresh produce you really have to count on the farmers coming to you at a farmer's market. Or you can drive out of town to join a CSA or pick your own. We like to pick our own so we're willing to drive. But that's not really practical for every day meal planning. I need produce on a weekly basis. Thankfully, last summer I finally found a wonderful co-op. One woman, frustrated with the options for getting produce, decided to start a co-op. She has a big crop of produce delivered and we all meet to sort it and take home what our family will eat. It's wonderful. We get fresh, in-season produce every two weeks. The kids love helping with the sorting. And most importantly they are learning that fruits and vegetables come from hard working farmers and not just grocery store aisles. I'm always thrilled with the selection and we're learning to cook things that we wouldn't normally buy. For example, I had never cooked beets until we got some last fall. This week we got some yummy greens. Mmmm. We love greens. We are going to have happy stomachs this week.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle...

Analiese found a piece of cardboard in the recycling bin and thought it looked very much like a cell phone. So she found some tape to hold it together and a marker to make the buttons. Voila! Instant cell phone. I was so excited to find that my children were putting some of my earth saving mantras into practice. My pride was quickly deflated when she offered to make one for her sister who instead took Analiese's now unused pink plastic princess phone and then sat around talking on two pink plastic phones. Well, I guess technically she is reusing. Maybe we're getting there.