Monthly Archives: June 2011

A benevolent planet

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Comments Off

This morning I made my way down my driveway to check if there was any damage from last night’s storm. The early light peeking through the trees mixed with the damp, dewy, summery feel in the air. I breathed it in and it smelled so fresh and good.

For a moment I was lost in nature and my senses.

And then a pair of red heating and plumbing trucks rumbled by and I was brought back.

The other evening, I noticed that the sky was my favorite type of late day sky. That really pale blue with the pink color from the sunset captured in puffy clouds.

I went outside to seize some time enjoying it. I took a few photos of the sky. The pictures never really fully capture the colors or framing exactly or the feeling it gives to me.

But just taking some time to soak it in made me happy. It made me feel connected and it was a completely innocent moment where nothing could be found that did not fit, if that makes sense.

The other day, I was feeling kind of pissed off (by something silly in retrospect) when I stopped by my friend’s farm to pick up some veggies. She told me to go for a walk or to take some time to look at her chickens.

I went over to the chickens and spent some time watching them. It made me feel a lot better.

I wonder why it is that we spend so many moments being wrenched and dragged around by negativity when simple fixes for our emotions and spirit are available in so many readily available places.

We limit ourselves by saying we only have one or two options. But really once we stop allowing the negative to be an option we can see how many choices we really do have in our days and our life.

I have ascribed to the school of thought that people suck. And certainly there are some sucky people out there. But, once we stop allowing ourselves to be an option for the sucky people to suck the life out of we see how many more appealing options we have.

There are some kind, beautiful, wonderful people out there. And those are the ones we should focus our attention on. They are the ones we should aspire to be like.

It can be a wonderful world where we notice the beauty around us and within the people we love.

And then we give our love and attention more readily.

I really believe that -

When you fill your life with positives, and
Take time to appreciate what you have,
You won’t bother making fun of others,
Or trying to get an upper hand.

And what a wonderful world that can be for all of us. And maybe some of the sucky people would even be happy then.

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Posted in Feeling Connected, Learning from nature, Nourishment Reunion, Simple pleasures

I will (not?) survive…

Posted on June 26, 2011 | Comments Off

Now *this* is food... beautiful organic swiss chard, straight from the fields at Sport Hill Farm, Easton, CT.

Is it possible that our falsified food supply is messing with our survival instinct?

I was thinking about that this weekend…. yeah, I know, Laura, get a life…. But, really, if you think about it this makes some sense. Our bodies need nourishment. When we don’t eat food our bodies store what they have. It is part of our bodies innate survival mechanism.

Right?

So, what are we telling our bodies by filling it with chemicals, processed “food” and GMOs?

Are we telling our bodies to kick into survival mode constantly since so much of what we ingest these days is not really a natural source of nourishment? It is not really organic in nature.

But we’re giving it calories. Our food system is nothing if not cheap calories.

Sheesh, imagine how confused our systems must be right now.

“Hmm, I’m getting calories and feeling full but I can’t find the nutrients I need. Can you give me a little clue here?”

Our poor bodies.

Sport Hill Farm's beautiful girls. Thanks for the eggs!

As I’m typing this I feel it is kind of odd. But it is making sense to me. I hope it is to you as well.

So, what happens when we feed our bodies things that don’t work in accord with its needs? But, at the same time, we’re telling it that this is food. Our mind, soul and body are completely out of sync, I think.

All because Doritos come in shiny packages that models hawk during the Super Bowl.

Well, at least someone is profiting.

I have always enjoyed food. Even during the years when teenage girls are suppose to starve themselves and we tell ourselves we feel fat when really we mean, we feel we’re not good enough.

So, it is deemed okay to subsist on Diet Coke and salads where the produce comes from who-kn0ws-where and protein is considered too many calories. And sugar free, artificially sweetened things like highly processed yogurt are “healthy”???

It does kinda mess with your mind, doesn’t it. And, that, ultimately is programming your body’s survival. Or inability to survive perhaps.

We aren’t nourishing ourselves that way.

Personally, I am less afraid of some nicely produced cheese than I am a 100 calorie, sugar-free “treat.” And I feel badly that there are not more messages about whole foods (not the store chain), fresh air, clean water and clean living being cool.

I think our basic human needs are being skewed with each advertising dollar that is hoisted towards soda pop, chips and candy. And the only true “diet” concern we should have is keeping things real. Having *a* healthy diet instead of being on one.

As in it grows out of the ground or comes from an animal that eats what it is designed to ingest.

Okay, I think that’s it for my Sunday evening rant. Hope everyone is having a great day! It is a bit of a relief to have moved past the intense rain of this past week. It looked like meteors had impacted lots of grounds around here.

Stay safe – and healthy – everyone! And lets consider taking the “system” out of “food system” and just getting back to basics. We *can* survive.

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Posted in Feeling Connected, Flirting with nature, food choices, Learning from nature, Nourishment Reunion

I can cook that!

Posted on June 20, 2011 | Comments Off

The inspiration for my cooking.... (Sport Hill Farm, Easton, CT) The only "producer" is the farmer (a food producer.)

Brands like Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart would have us believe that cooking requires a handbook. It doesn’t.

In fact, cooking is one of the easier pursuits out there. We just got so disconnected from our food that it became awkward and uncomfortable, like using a hand that had fallen asleep.

But, really, just like that body part, all you gotta do is give your cooking consciousness a good shake and get on with things.

The other day I was by a television and turned it on to discover Ms. Ray giving all sorts of tips and tricks in the kitchen. As if my mind is capable of more complication.

I know a lot of people are fans of hers (And Ms. Stewart’s) and that’s great. But as far as I am concerned, in summertime the best thing to do is get what is in season that you like, cook it up with some other stuff you like and eat it.

Seriously.

Ya know, it just occurred to me — rut roh — with all these cookbooks and shows that people look to for inspiration, how much does it all perpetuate buying out of season? How much does it encourage people to, say, want strawberries in February and keep so much of our food imported?

Beet greens sautee quick and easy and have a consistency like spinach.

The show I caught on television the other day was a repeat. It was about some decidedly wintery comfort food. I don’t really remember the details but I’m not sure it was even in season for the cold months.

It would be impossible for these shows to stay in-season and fill all the hours they do fill. Particularly given that much of the summer (the heartiest growing season) is filthy with reruns.

There is one cooking show I enjoy and that is The Natural Princess videos (thenaturalprincess.com). Alicia Ghio, and her husband, Renato, make highly enjoyable videos focusing on small farms, the food they produce and simple, nutritious ways of eating in-season.

Hmmm…. Anyway, I digress (sort of)….

Typical for me – for lunch today I looked in my veggie bin. Mmmm delicious organic beet greens! (A new discovery for me this summer….  I love going to my local farm. Although it shouldn’t be a surprise since last summer I totally got into beets, leaves and all.)

I sautéed the beet greens in canola oil, cooked some organic whole wheat pasta, tossed them together with a little parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and a bit more oil.

How pink is my pasta. Beet greens turn things pink. Nature is fun.

And, as they say – Voila!

About 15 or 20 minutes total. And it could even be made the night before to take to work for lunch the next day. I think it would be delicious cold and blended together.

Simple. Packed with nutrients.

There is also some local organic red romaine in my fridge – and I think that’s for dinner.

I guess what I’m getting at is there is no need for a mystique or memorization surrounding the kitchen or eating. And you can nourish your body and soul (look at the pictures of my lunch!) for pennies and in minutes.

But then that would not fill a cookbook or an hour on television.

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Posted in Being Organic, Being Seasonal, cooking, Feeling Connected, food choices

The week in photos (June 13-19)

Posted on June 20, 2011 | 2 Comments

It has been a hectic week and I have blogged on the light side. But, in an effort to redeem myself a bit I have put together some photos from the week to share with you! So, sit back and enjoy…..

 

When I got home on Monday this bird's nest was waiting for me in a tree by my front door. Sadly, Mother Nature chose to create predators for these eggs and they were gone the next day. :(

Tuesday night, Citizens for Easton - a local land preservation group, put together a tribute to Will Tressler (sitting, center). A rough cut of a film about Easton farms was screened. Standing in the photo - left: Tom Herrmann, Easton First Selectman; right: Dan Tressler.

Driving home after the tribute I was captivated by the full strawberry moon. I pulled over and took this photo at The Old Bluebird Garage in Easton, CT.

Thursday, I stopped by the Westport Farmers Market.

I stopped by Skinny Pines brick oven pizza at the market for lunch, natch.

They use fresh, local ingredients.

Chef Jeff cooks all the pizzas in his brick oven.

My pizza was DELICIOUS!

There's a nice, shaded seating area at the market.

This is a favorite view of mine. Just outside the Westport market.

Later that day, I stopped by Sport Hill Farm in Easton, CT.

Farmer Patti Popp works hard so we can enjoy fresh, organic produce.

Chef Jeff stopped by while I was there to pick up his family's CSA share.

A turtle tried to hitch a ride on farm equipment. You can't see it in the photo, but cars had to be stopped to allow the turtle to cross.

Children love feeding the chickens. And the chickens love being fed (they told me so.)

On Saturday, I drove up to Litchfield to sneak up on Alicia Ghio (The Natural Princess) doing a cooking demo at Kitchenworks.

Alicia talked to a lot of people who came by to sample her salsa recipe.

And she smiled for my camera!

Finally, today (Sunday), after running around for a while I drove by the new Whole Foods Market in Fairfield, CT. The store is so large I had to go into the Home Depot parking lot next door in order to get the whole place in the frame!

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Posted in Community, Simple pleasures

A lyrical moon

Posted on June 17, 2011 | Comments Off

I am so proud of my Facebook friends. They always “like” the full moon photos I post. And there are always conversations about the beauty of the full moons.

It makes me feel that I know people who can appreciate nature’s beauty and power.

The moon, after all, is one of nature’s little helpers.

I think there are many, many of us whose moods and emotions – and sleeplessness – are brought about by the cycle of the moon. I think the moon can cause highly visceral responses spanning several emotions.

Musicians have long been using our connection to the moon to elicit emotions in their music. And, in honor of this week’s full moon, I would like to applaud the following five songs for doing it for me consistently over the years —

1. Full Moon – The Kinks

A haunting, rhythmic ode to mans relationship to the cycle of the moon. How emotions are pulled in different directions by its force. And, yeah, The Kinks are my all-time favorite band.

2. Harvest Moon – Neil Young

A sweet, nostalgic song reminding one of the power, and joy, of falling in love under a full moon. The follow-up to Neil Young’s “Harvest.” Any song by Neil Young is a classic!

3. Moondance – Van Morrison

“What a marvelous night for a moondance…” Thank you, Mr. Morrison. “Fantabulous night to make romance…” Need I say more? Magic, indeed.

4. Bad Moon Rising – Credence Clearwater Revival

One of the most fun songs about the moon. Used in a number of films and television shows. One of the most-played songs on the jukebox at the dive bar from my college days.

5. Blue Moon – so many different artists and renditions

Another fun moon song. This one has a slow, romantic, melodic version but also several kinda sick and twisted parody-type versions. Perhaps most memorable for me is its use as background for the harrowing transformation scene in “American Werewolf in London.”

Well, that is my Top Five Moon Song list. The next time you see a full moon imagine our ancestors using that very same orb to tell time and plant and sow. Imagine how its brilliance was just as bright back then and through the years. And take some time to revel in its magic.

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Posted in Feeling Connected, music

Healing with nature at a Vermont dairy farm

Posted on June 8, 2011 | Comments Off

The road where Annie and Catlin live and farm.

Annie Claghorn and Catlin Fox’s path led them to the serene beauty of Vermont 25 years ago where they found 90 acres of farmland to be their own little slice of heaven. And to preserve their connection to nature they employ organic practices and homeopathy on their dairy farm.

A notice in the event calendar of University of Vermont’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture led me to the couple’s Taconic End Farm in Leicester for a study group on homeopathy for animals.

Annie and her friend, Bay Hammond (another dairy farmer), lead the group. I had called the day before to find out what the group is like and if it would be okay if I sat in despite having no farm animals to practice on. I spoke with Annie’s husband, Catlin, and as it turned out he is originally from Connecticut (New Milford). Small world! And I was most welcome.

When I arrived the following day (a little late) the group of four were already sitting around the big kitchen table sharing a meal and chatting.

After some introductions and background discussion the conversation turned to homeopathy for animals.

I have been using homeopathy for myself for many years now. It took me a bit to understand how it works but once I got the hang of it it made so much sense.

Homeopathy works – like most natural remedies do – by stimulating your body’s own immune system to heal. There are many, many homeopathic remedies. And they can be extremely specific. So, for instance, ten people with coughs might need ten completely different remedies to address their own set of symptoms.

It would go to follow that if homeopathy works for humans it would work for animals. The challenges, I imagine, would be communicating about what the symptoms are and getting an animal to take the right dosage.

Three of the farmers at the study group have dairy farms with cows, one has a farm with goats. All of them have found ways to integrate homeopathy into their animals’  wellness routine.

One of the ways they give remedies to the animals is by diluting the remedy pellets in some water and spraying the mixture on the animals’  noses. Another is to mix it in with their drinking water. According to these farmers, it can sometimes take a bit of trial and error – but that is the case with humans as well.

Three little two-month-old calves.

And even though animals don’t speak they do communicate and perhaps even more naturally – organically – honestly – than we humans. Anyone with a pet knows that you can have a well-understood exchange with them.

At yesterday’s group they were discussing different remedy ideas for dealing with the onset of the hot weather. It can raise challenges with staving off dehydration and heat stroke for the animals. (Not to mention us humans.)

It was an extremely interesting discussion and a really nice group of people.

After the group was done, Annie gave me a tour of the farm.

It turns out they grow a lot of their own food and live off the land in that way. They also raise a couple of pigs. It looked to me like running the farm would be a lot of hard work. Particularly since neither Annie nor her husband Catlin were raised on farms themselves. But they seem to enjoy it and thrive there.

Here are some more images from my visit to their farm:

Catlin mowing the section of a field where the full-grown cows had grazed. The cows were subsequently working on a different section of grass - in the backrgound of this photo.

Hay for the cows for during the winter months.

The calves also roam free.

So green and serene!

The Milking Room.

Their vegetable garden, in the background and amidst the backdrop of the Green Mountains vista.

One of their two pigs, seeking shade on a hot and sunny day.

A two-day-old baby calf.

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Posted in Being Organic, Farm spotlights, Feeling Connected, Flirting with nature

A moment in the sun

Posted on June 6, 2011 | Comments Off

(Very) high tide at Lake Champlain.

We need to respect Mother Nature for being cool and catastrophic – all at the same time. And I do.

And I was also grateful for one moment – an afternoon – of complete and utter joy brought about by the wonder of nature.

This past week when I was up in Burlington, Vermont I, like many others, was enraptured by how high the tide and rough the waves were on Lake Champlain. It looked more like the Atlantic Ocean than a lake.

It was an anomaly of sorts. A very cool variance.

However, at the same time …

Areas around the lake were flooded and homes were damaged.

But in the downtown area it was more like an amusement park than a flood zone. And with the sun shining and people banding together in fun it was a great moment.

Walking along the boardwalk I repeatedly got soaked by the spray of the surf hitting the rocks lining the shore. Waves would tumble onto the wood planks and everyone was enjoying the cool water on a hot day.

There were smiles all around and people reveling in the shared experience of Mother Nature at her playful best.

And yet just a short distance away there were home owners panicking about flooded houses. Farmers distraught over ruined fields. Roads impassable.

Soaked boardwalk did not deter this runner - or anyone else, as far as I could tell.

Me and many others were marveling at how wild the lake was that day and how cool and fun. And it was.

But should we have been so oblivious? So lost in the moment?

After all, Mother Nature is not all fun and games. Do we owe it to ourselves and other who might be suffering to always be on alert?

Or is it okay to just have fun in the sun sometimes?

This past winter took a huge toll on my area of Connecticut (among other locations). There were monster, unprecedented snow storms. I remember waking up the morning after the overnight when we got THREE FEET of snow. I was sick with the flu and when I opened my shade I thought I was imagining things.

It seemed really cool at that moment in my half-awake, groggy and sickly state. Really cool and unreal.

But in my neck of the woods people were completely unprepared for what was coming next.

And it wasn’t long before reality set in. That three feet of snow had come on the heels (and on top of) about a foot or so of recent snow, not to mention a number of other storms before it. And pretty soon people started to learn about ice dams, collapsing roofs, buckling ceilings and impassable roads.

Adventurous man para-surfing in the sealike lake.

And yet the snow kept coming. And nothing melted. Walls of ice and snow formed on our homes and properties. We all learned to drive on roads made half-as-wide by walls of imposing remnants of storms.

I’m shuddering now just thinking about it.

Mother Nature was relentless and seemed heartless in her pounding of precipitation.

Ever since the snow did finally melt and the grass and trees did eventually green, I have been relieved and grateful. Oh. So. Grateful. Well, that is once I got my home back in order.

So, that beautiful, warm Wednesday last week when I walked along the boardwalk that lines the downtown Burlington shore of Lake Champlain I soaked up the sun and revelry. It was a moment of enjoying the weather and being glad to be alive. After months on end of…. Well, I’d rather put all that behind me.

The sun felt so good to me that day. Mother Nature did seem to be inviting me to play. Finally. And maybe the lesson for me is to soldier through the storms because the sun will shine again.

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Posted in Feeling Connected, Flirting with nature, Learning from nature

Does “the local food movement” stop at the refrigerator door?

Posted on June 6, 2011 | Comments Off

I sometimes imagine people looking at my blog and thinking, what the heck does this have to do with eating local and organic? What does this have to do with returning to the way things used to be for our food system?

Ya see, sometimes, now and then… oh, pretty regularly I write about things other than food and farming. And I named my blog, A Return to Simple, rather than something with the word “food” or “farming” in the title.

And it is because of what I have come to see as I have gone further and further into writing this blog. As I have been exploring how the heck we have gotten to this point in our food history.

And I have found it is not just about food. Or farming.

The move away from small, local farms has run parallel with all sorts of other societal changes. And we, as a people, have changed… individually and collectively.

Which came first – the individual changes or the collective? I don’t know.

But I do believe that we as individuals can create great change collectively.

We have some fundamental needs for survival – and for thriving. And one of the biggest emotional needs we have is the feeling of belonging. And I don’t think it is a stretch to recognize that our emotional well-being is directly tied to the physical.

And vice versa.

And let’s not forget the spiritual.

All of these things merge when we eat fresh, local food produced organically from the soil where we live. It is a part of our feeling connected.

But it is not the only part. We need people, too.

Just sometimes we, as people, individually and collectively, do great harm to the planet and one another.

And I think a part of that has to do with being out of touch with ourselves. And getting lost in the shuffle of life.

When we are happy and fulfilled we have the greatest capacity to make positive choices to communities and for ourselves.

So, I explore these issues and believe in their relevancy. And it helps me to understand myself.

When I started this blog I never imagined revealing so much about myself.

There have been times when I have posted something and just could not believe I wrote what I did. Over time, that has gotten easier. And, naturally, there are a lot of things I don’t post about that are more intimate. My friends off-line and family are the recipients of those tidbits.

It is just that I am coming to see how important it is to communicate. Honest discourse is perhaps the most important aspect of creating the types of communities that are true to who we are.

And doesn’t it naturally follow then that we will be more fulfilled and connected?

I totally, wholeheartedly consider this to be an important part of getting back to our roots.

As always, thanks for indulging and encouraging me by reading this blog.

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Posted in about my blog, Community, Feeling Connected, society

No i-pods please, we’re friendly

Posted on June 4, 2011 | Comments Off

The time I have spent in Burlington this week has been punctuated by surprises – but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of people en masse without i-pod earbuds secured in their ears.

Coming to Burlington, Vermont? Leave your i-pods at home!

Nary a one. No kidding.

Well, except for me, and once I noticed I was the only one I got really self-conscious and tucked them away in my purse.

Hmm, wait, I did see a couple of runners using them. But, like, maybe two total. And there were people on bikes, people walking along alone, people sitting on benches, in Starbucks, etc. etc. with their ears open.

The land that Apple forgot. Hallelujah.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my i-pod Touch. I really would not want to imagine life without it.

But just for these few days, I decided to walk the streets of Burlington without the plastic obstructions shutting out the world.

It was revolutionary. And, no kidding, mind expanding.

Haha, I have only had my i-pod Touch a year and a half but it took me just days back then to get addicted. And years ago I was a big Walkman girl. Basically, I sometimes think I like music more than people.

Ah ha.

This leads me to something though. Is it people I don’t like or is it unfriendly people that do me in?

I would have to say the latter is most likely the reality. And I just cannot stomach miserable people anymore.

Here in magical, mystical Burlington, Vermont people are friendly. Someone told me it was voted Happiest City in the country. I read someplace it was declared Least Angry City in the country.

There is no need to shut out the people.

Being here has felt like another planet for me. Or, at least, a different country. At first, I was suspicious of people striking up conversations with me. Of them being so nice and friendly and I wondered what they wanted. What did they want to sell me or how did they want to screw me over.

How sad is that??!

But when your ears are free to hear what’s around you here in this place, it is not shouting or lots of traffic or other irritations. It’s water lapping on the shore by the lake. It’s people visiting with one another, dogs running, kids running and laughing. I even saw people just sitting on park benches looking happy and contented.

These are people it’s easy to connect with once you hack through the walls built up by all the years of crappy behavior.

I think people need connections with others in order to be happy.

I think connection hinges on communication.

Out in the real, non-Burlington world I see people way more attached to their electronics than their surroundings. Imagine my surprise here when I saw parents and children interacting instead of parents glued to their cell phones and children waiting for their attention.

Oh, yeah, some people here do talk on phones in public but not many.

I saw exactly two people on laptop computers at the downtown Starbucks.

It’s all very interesting to me.

Imagine a world where you might make good relationship choices because you’re not starved for any seemingly positive attention.

It boggles the mind!

I wonder which came first, the disconnect or Apple electronics.

During my time in other places I have had conversations about how people only really need family and a few close friends. That people generally suck and there is no point in worrying about other people.

And I have said those words myself.

Even though I’ve only been here in Burlington a few days I have been shook (or is it shocked) out of my hole and a part of me has been awakened to the friendliness inside myself again. I had hidden it away because of what people “in the real world” do with it.

I really am a people person after all. I just need those people to be genuinely nice and friendly and I have found a lot of that here.

And maybe we do need to feel there are nice people around. That there are more friendly people than sucky ones. That people are happy to be living where they are nested.

Here in the (relatively) tiny hamlet of Burlington I have found a vibrancy coupled with a laid back mentality that is really appealing.

A girl I met from New York (“down south”) who moved here a few months ago said that the pace of life here is a little slower, the focus is not on stuff… that people are active and friendly … that it is more of what life should be.

I tend to agree.

Yesterday, I went and checked out the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which is an extension at University of Vermont. I will be researching more and blogging about this wonderful group soon!

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Posted in Community, Feeling Connected, Nourishment Reunion, society

What price happiness?

Posted on June 2, 2011 | Comments Off

You cannot simulate happiness in nature. And you cannot fake the feeling you get living someplace where the people enjoy their natural habitat first and foremost.

Beautiful Burlington, VT.

I have always felt that folks in nature-rich Vermont are happy – and nice – for the most part. That this is a big difference between the people where I live in Connecticut and the ones I encounter in Vermont. And what’s not to be happy about in the country’s only state without a McDonald’s in its State capital – according to something I read online – true or not I like it. In Vermont, you live among nature at its finest.

On my most recent trip to the Green Mountain state I have gotten even more specific about the happiness chasm between the two places.

What I have come to see is that people in Vermont smile because they’re happy – while those in Fairfield County, CT smile because they’re supposed to somehow.

While roaming the lakeside pier in Burlington, I started chatting with a girl about life in town. It turned out she is originally from New Milford, Connecticut, which is near me. She moved to Burlington ten years ago and loves it. The same things that are motivating me to consider relocating are the reasons she has stayed in Burlington.

Might running into her be synchronicity?

I got to Vermont with a scowl on my face. It had been a long, hard winter in the Nutmeg state (CT) and a really difficult spring. My reserves were depleted and my nerves extremely taxed. On Day 4, I felt my spirits lift, the blood returned to my face and the deadness inside was replaced by new life.

Now, Laura, you might be saying, if you lived there year-round it would be different. And that is likely true to some extent. But I have spent extended periods of time in the mountains of Utah and it is a much easier life than in pampered Connecticut where supposedly everything is done for you.

Or can be done for you. On the material level, that is.

And maybe that is at the crux of the issue.

The people I encountered in Utah were incredibly self-sufficient. With everything from cooking their own meals and cleaning their own homes to shoveling snow off their own roofs in the winter. And of course I know people in Connecticut who don’t hire others to do everything for them.

But they seem more the exception than the rule.

And, actually, I once met a woman in Park City, UT who is originally from Vermont and says she would never go back. So, go figure. Maybe we’re supposed to wander the earth until we find the right place for us.

I know it can feel that way at times for me.

But, something I have come to see is that it seems to me that people who choose to settle in places which are a touch more outdoorsy are generally happy people. Happier than those who want a life someplace which is all about man made stuff.

I call this photo "The winds of change" - but, really, the usually placid Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT is behaving more like the Atlantic Ocean.

Because when you have more stuff than you can take care of and need all your time to work to afford the excess – and when you’re not doing your job you’re hiring other people to take care of your overflow… Then, yeah, it becomes more about your stuff owning you and less about taking care of yourself. And enjoying your life.

There is a lot I love about Connecticut. It all has to do with nature. The green and lush quality of the topography. The landscape in some areas is gorgeous and open and I feel connected.

But then there are the people. And I want to distance myself.

I do have some wonderful friends but it’s like the walls of the state are papered with the rest of ‘em.

I imagine that it might be discovered that a driving force of the economy in areas like Fairfield County, Connecticut have to do with money earned from taking care of other people’s stuff.

Well, I’m getting tired of talking about this issue. It’s exhausting just thinking about it. But then I can sometimes be accused of thinking too much. Then again, if that were not the case this blog might be a lot less full.

Thanks for continuing to indulge and encourage me by reading what I post in this space!

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Posted in Nourishment Reunion, On the road, Simple pleasures, society