Categories
Community Happiness Our Life Self Reliance

Going Retro

“Here’s your radio!” Lyle beamed, fishing out his phone with a flourish. I knew he was right but that’s not what I wanted to hear. “I want a real radio,” I whined, “with dials and maybe a hand crank. A solar panel even.” I pictured myself hunched over a garden bed listening to talk radio […]

Categories
Community Politics Population Self Reliance

Moving Ahead

It’s okay, I tell myself. This is real so deal with it. Surely you know how to handle unexpected upsets by now. Yeah, I usually deal by running away. Like a horse. I keep Cecilia’s words in my pocket, turning them like a stone. “I even do have land with olive trees in southern Italy…You […]

Categories
Community Cookie's Bliss Observations Politics

The Invisible Shoe – the elephant on the counter

Unbidden, my hand picked it off the cluttered thrift store shelf. It may have been the zebra stripes. Or the stiletto heel, tricked out with silver rhinestones. I tried to put it back. This just wasn’t my type of thing. Plus, it was a whole two dollars. But when I turned it over and discovered […]

Categories
Community Cookie's Bliss Dear Nana Happiness

Dancing with Nana – Those were the days

The sun is low in the sky as my Polish Nana and I settle into her living room with our customary after-dinner wine. The enormous picture window frames the lush oak-shaded lawn beyond her rose garden. The wall on the other side of the room is stone and wood, a magnificent fireplace flanked by custom […]

Categories
Community Food Self Reliance

Pepper Fest – Annual Celebration of Local Abundance

“Wow!” I think, walking to the back of the line, “I’m doing that again.” My sinuses are infused with rosemary and roasted red pepper. A flake of pastry lingers on my lips. I snag it with my tongue and savor the perfect blend of shortening and flour. The aftertaste eludes me. Is it garlic, nutmeg, […]