Be Thankful and Give Back

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Baby and I were at the market this week and saw that the Coats for Kids boxes were out again. I had a bag of coats in the back of my car waiting for the return of the boxes. Baby, a three year old boy, was so excited to give back. It really warmed my heart to watch him struggle to carry the heavy bag with a huge smile on his face, knowing his old coats were going to kids in need. So think about helping others in need this holiday season. In this economy there are many more families in need than in years past. While our family struggles we can't afford to give financially, so gently used coats and toys will most certainly be given to these programs. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Let's reach out beyond ourselves and think about those around us that are struggling. Donate some extra food, invite someone in your home to share your feast. So go and be the change you want to see in this world.

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." Samuel Adams

Support your local economy and join a CSA!

Last week, when I had a few minutes to myself, I stopped into the lovely Beth's Cafe for a bite to eat. I highly recommend a trip to Beth's to help support our local economy. But I am not alone in this recommendation, as she was recently in an article in the New York Times! While enjoying my yummy chicken salad on sour dough with cranberries, I saw on the wall a poster for a local farm called Alma Farm that offered Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA.

Community Supported Agriculture, aka CSA, is a great way to support your local farmers and growers. CSA is a group of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. More information about CSA can be found at Local Harvest.

I am very excited to peruse their CSA application and become a share holder. We are particularly interested in the meats we may be able to restock our freezer with.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Do you ever get the sense that you tick to the beat of a different drum or that you will never really fit in with society?

Two nights ago I watched a Night Line special called "into the wild" where they found and documented lost tribes of the Amazon. It touched me so deeply that these kind simple people are being driven to the point of extinction because of the motivations of big business. I am talking about the literal destruction of entire civilizations - the genome left to 6 elderly members - because one government is in pursuit of greater ranching lands or trees to cut down. Other civilizations still thrive, but face the imminent threat of extinction if the Amazon river is dammed - the fishing will cease and the people will die. Period. These people want nothing to do with larger society. They want the freedom to live as they have for thousands upon thousands of years.

This really got me thinking about how different life would be if we lived in a way that was closer to the land, with less focus on money, and more focus on family community. I think back on how from colonial times to the early 1900's we still lived in an agrarian society, with respect for the small farmer and a greater connection to those around us. I reflect on how I have never been drawn towards big business and how infuriating the current Wall Street bail out feels to me. I've never felt the need to pursue money, make a lot of it, or gather possessions. I want to teach or grow or help. That's all I have ever wanted.

Last year I started volunteering again. It felt wonderful to help - to find a group that needed help. The thanks I received was touching but more so embarrassing or unnecessary. This is after all what I have always wanted to do. I am philanthropic by nature, I donate services, time or effort to support a charitable cause. My life goal is to promote good and improve the human quality of life while having no interest in the finances of it all. I have learned to give myself to others and help others in need. I care deeply for those around me, the earth, and everything on it. I have nothing but the best intentions.

This fall, the league I volunteer for has merged with a larger league. In the past month, I have felt the sense of joy I get from helping slip through my fingers. What once was a nice charitable organization is now becoming a big business. I have been misunderstood and then called out in emails inappropriately, when a simple phone called would have cleared up misunderstandings, and allowed for clarifying questions. I have missed meetings only to then been told what to do without any choice. I have asked for things to be done, and then had the president dismiss my requests and state the direct opposite to the rest of the board. I feel uncomfortable in the meetings, I don't feel like I am having fun anymore. I feel constricted, micro managed, misunderstood and disliked.

Now clearly, I can stop what I am doing, I can cease to help and have a bit more time to myself. But this brings me to a sense that I am a stranger in a strange land. I don't like big business. I don't like hierarchies. I don't like teaching in public schools. I don't believe in cookie cutter teaching, cookie cutter housing, for that matter cookie cutter presidents. I believe in individuality, compassion, and sensitivity.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this. I just feel alone, horribly alone at times. I feel sometimes like I am so different from the majority that I stand out like a sore thumb even though I look like just about everyone else. I want to find the right fit. I miss the sense of community I once had. I miss the school I used to teach in. I miss the school my eldest was raised in.

I cried myself to sleep last night. I cried because I feel so different at time, and so alone. I cried for worry that we as a species are moving in a horribly wrong direction. I cried for my husband who loves me for who I am, wouldn't change a thing, and agrees that he too feels like the odd man out at time. He's just got a thicker skin and can play the game. I'm just not interested in playing the game. I'd rather walk away and enjoy my peace and quiet on my small piece of earth and dream of a better day when we all care to live in a more sustainable way.

I am in search of a fit and a greater sense of community. I have a deep need in my heart to know that we as a nation, we as a people, are headed in the right direction. I need to figure out a way how to navigate through my fear, my anxiety, and my sense of dread. On a more imperative level, I feel the need to belong to something, outside of my family, that needs and wants my contribution. I don't want to feel like a stranger in a strange land anymore.

Moving.

One of the many life changes around here is our need to move closer to my husband's business. We'll talk more about this later. If he was to drive to the office, it would take 80 to 90 minutes (yup that's one way!) and we do not, as of yet, have a hybrid (another change of the future). So, in search of the small family farm we are. This should be quite an adventurous year.

This move will also fall within 100 miles from Portland, but I think it is a MUCH smaller radius that we will be looking when we move. I think we only want to be north and east of Portland by then. I don't think we will want to live west of the highway corridor.

We're looking for some really great communities, with good schools for the kids, and enough of a rural life where we can find a small family farm.

How does one research potential communities from afar?

Any one have any hands on experience with mid-coastal Maine?