December 2011 Blog Posts (4)

After spending a number of months without passing south of Burlington a trip to eastern Washington provided me with a number of realizations. 

Communities throughout the US are making great steps towards local resiliency, food security and addressing an uncertain future.  But the intensity and innovative energy present in our corner of the north-north-west-west goes above and beyond the current standards of our nation.  Our civic leaders are pushing the envelope of green development. …

The garden catalogs are arriving, seducing the gardener with glossy food pornography of next year's harvest. Now is the time to sit down with pencil and paper, recipe notes and old shopping lists and think through what you are going to eat next year. We are conditioned to think in terms of a week's shopping. Stop for a moment and think of a year's eating. Most people have family favorite dishes, repeated several times throughout the year.

What do you need to grow to have the makings…

Wow we are approaching the shortest day of the year and official WINTER. I go for a walk at 6am three days a week with a friend in Whatcom Falls Park. We do not use any lights and this time of year it is sometimes a challenge to see where we are going. We refer to it as walking by brail. It is clear that we slow down some because of this and that reminds me of what the natural world is doing, slowing down and resting getting ready for another summer. It often brings up questions for me about…

I am currently part of a small study group using material from the online "PDC+++" course on the "People Care" module.  Last week's class looked at why groups fail, and also discussed some communication strategies.  One of the things that came up in our discussion was when we think of…