New Camera Mania

Here are a few pics from work this

week.

This is a roof top garden I maintain in a fancy neighborhood in lower Manahattan. One of my co-workers did all the plantings and, for now, I go weed and water once a week. It is nice to pretend that I live in a fancy building with a private rooftop garden. I also like seeing all the other rooftop gardens around me as I work.

This is one of the areas that I rotate through for watering it is called hoops and frames. It is my favorite place to water because I get to be alone, I get to do a lot of grooming, and you get to experience plants that are in a variety of life satges i.e. seedlings, diseased, dormant, rooted cuttings, damaged, and etc.

This is a pic of potting up which were grown from digitalis seeds, common name fox glove, that I had collected about five weeks prior.

Here are some cuttings that Will and I did. After trimming them off the plants and dipping them in rooting hormone we firmly plant them in these trays and then they get put underneath a mister for a few weeks to a month.

The first pic is of an Eryngium species that I collected seed from and the second pic is the seed separating process.This is super fun process which reminds me of grade school science class when you dissected a marigold to understand all of it's reproductive parts. If you have a magnifying glass it is also fun to take a closer look at the seeds. The magic/science of a seed is so amazing to me. The power in nature around us is truly inspiring.

Here I am working at the potting bench dividing Bromeliads. This was fun too, but I felt like a bone doctor when they have to

break something to repair it. The roots are very dense and not easy to cut through, I actually broke a sweat. Bromeliads flower and then they send out new baby Bromeliads which are called pups. Once these pups reach a certain size some people prefer to go in and remove the mother plant, which is what my goal was here. At Wavehill they don't have enough space to keep every mother plant and all her pups. If they did eventually they would be known as Bromeliad Hill. HA!HA!

Here is Diana's plant of the week Berlandiera lyrata in the Asteraceae family.

This was Rachel's family of the week Thymus. There are many different species of thymus in the dry garden so she chose to do the genius as a whole.

Osi chose Salvia discolor which is in the mint family Lamiaceae.

Jen chose Lavendula which is also in the mint family Lamiaceae.

I chose Santolina but I can't fit anymore pictures into this post.

Have a nice week/end y'all!

Birthdays and over due Blogging

Well Well!
I just got back from a great trip to Chicago and southwestern Wisconsin. I go home for my birthday every year because I like spending it with my family. I need that grounding that celebrating my birthday with my family gives me. We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden and I got to test out my new digital camera. I also had a very nice visit with the director of Horticulture, I felt like my dad and I got as close to VIP treatment as is possible for not knowing anyone in the hort dept.

As per usual the CBG was in full swing looking beautiful despite a staff decrease, pay cuts, and benefit cuts. It is hard out there for public and private gardens right

now. They just aren't getting the funding that they are used to. I know we are going through the same thing at Wavehill Garden in the Bronx.

At Wavehill Garden none of the gardeners took pay cuts but they had to reduce their staff and take unpaid furlough days last winter. Anyway I got a little excited about my new camera so please pardon all the plant photos.

I had to snap a shot of this beautiful Copper Beech they have, which

is looking very healthy! I always liked this tree as a younger person and now that I am working in the horticulture field I have a even greater appreciation for this tree. The name Copper Beech comes from the color of the newly emerging foliage in the spring. The copper color of the new leaves is quite a thing to see as the light passes through them. Though it only lasts a few days as the foliage quickly turn to the deep red green you see in this photo. Unfortunately many Copper Beech trees are dying because of a higher incidence of bleeding canker and a type of fungus that both affect the bark and trunk area. This tree is probably half the age of the ones we have at Wavehill.

This plant smells amazing! I

couldn't believe the aroma that came into my nose the moment I stuck my face into the thick leaf growth of this commonly known Curry Plant!

First time seeing this super cute vine. It has a great chartreuse color and asparagus fern/cypress leaf feel.

This is not all I saw but I don't want to make this post to long. Lets just say the more I learn and do in horticulture the more I like it. I was staunchly against growing plants for non-edible purposes. But now my ideas about that are changing and I am understanding the validity in propagating ornamental plants more and more.

Gardening and things

Well!
It has been a while since I posted anything I guess I have been busy. I just got back from a very lovely weekend in Pittsburgh! I love that place! It's a beautiful city full of people I adore. I am moving into a new place this week and the internship is going great.
Today I spent the day working in the shade border planting. I have been doing a lot of weeding lately and I feel like I am pretty darn good at IDing weeds right now. I also have successfully rooted three cuttings from a curly willow. Which I hope to turn into bonsai over the next few years one for my dad, one for my boyfriend and one for me. But if even one grows with success I will be happy.
It's so easy with this particular plant. I just stuck the cuttings in a glass with some water and let them go.
I have now worked outside all day in the pouring rain, the blazing humid sun, and cold windy overcast days. I have to say while not always pleasant I love being outside. Experiencing all weather is, I feel, one of the beauties of life. Although I do prefer to watch the rain from a porch or a window, I can honestly say working in the rain makes me feel alive.
Wavehill is a beautiful place and I feel it is and honor to work there. I know I am an intern, which means I do a lot of hard labor, but most days it really isn't that bad.
Thats all I really have to say. One of these days I will get a camera and I will be able to show you all the beauty that I help tend to everyday.
Peace and love'
Tronners

Wavehill Spring

last week was nice,
And the week before that for that matter. The weeks seem to be flying by and I can't keep up with blogging all that I have learned. At first I was blogging everyday and then once a week and now it seems every two weeks. The work days are so full of different activities that need to get done, because it is spring, that before I know it is is Friday again. Another thing I have been dealing with is getting used to the schedule. I am so tired at the end of everyday, If I didn't live with my boyfriend, who is amazing and has dinner ready for me when I get home from work almost every night I don't know what I would do.

Well lets get down to it. Pricking is the process of pulling apart tiny little seedlings that have grown up together and potting them up into tiny little pots. This is a big task this time of year because of how many seedlings Wavehill does each season. Unlike other gardens they still propagate a huge amount of their own plants.
I have also been working in the dry garden on divisions of different herbs, mints, and oregano. I also learned the three d's of pruning, meaning you can prune anytime of year if these conditions are present. Thd d's are disease, dead, and damaged.

I will be starting a new watering area this week which is kinda sad because I have become very attached to the palm house. But I will still be working with the same gardener I worked with last week. Also this weekend will be my first weekend that I work. This means starting today I will be working seven days in a row.

Have a good week folks!

Wavehill Week 3

Well Well,
Another gorgeous sunny day in the Bronx or should I say Riverdale. By the time I got home form work last Thursday at 7:30pm I was cursing New York up and down. I was pissed about my hour and twenty minute commute, my measly pay, and the high coast of living in New York, the lack of produce at Traders Joes, plus the super long lines at TJs, and of course walking home tired and wayed down by dirty work clothes and groceries. But then the weekend came and it was fabulous, I went to the MOMA to see Marina Abromavic's retrospective, ate cheap idian food, ate cheap mexican food, had lovely espresso with my man after a great bike ride, and went to my beekeeping class. So I love New York again and all is right until the next super deadly slow commute day hits me again.
Anyway more to the point what did I do last week at Wavehill and what did I learn!
Well I worked with one of the full time gardeners most of the week weeding, dividing grasses and things, staking peonies, grooming plants, potting up cuttings, taking cuttings, weeding some more, dug out a tree and a vining euonymous, and had plant of the week.
My plant of the week this week was Equisetum ecripoides which dates back about 375 million years.

All in all a good week but a late post about it.

peace y'all

poem sunday ;)

my heart
wrapped up tight
in the flesh of your skin
settles in between
tight airy places,
the life wrinkles of palm,
the crevice of elbow meeting arm,
the envelopes of hairy thighs.

my heart
becomes a warm water
when looking upon
your Mediterranean eyes
and that strong boned nose

my heart
wanders over our bodies
as we sleep
and makes
quiet love between
our touching toes

After the Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RniiekRdbZg
this is hottttt!

nostalgia for Pittsburgh

I am here in New York.
Living my life moving forward, learning things.
But I miss Pittsburgh.
I have been lucky enough to live in and visit many cities around the world.
But never have a felt the passion for a place like I have Pittsburgh.
Surrounded by three rivers and filled with large areas of green space.
It's a post industrial jungle, like the wild west at times.
You can mold the city into whatever shape you like because space is a plenty and cheap.
No other city has as much access to waterfront to the general public or as many free cultural events.
Never have I felt the warmth of a great community of young and old people anywhere else.
Yes there is plenty to complain about and when you have lived there for a while and maybe you can't even see how awesome it is anymore, which is why travel is very important no matter where you live.
That is why I plan to move back as soon as I can.
Because I miss what I had there, I miss my rivers, my parks and cemeteries, my neighborhood gardens, my friends, my co-op, my warm summer night bike rides across the 31st bridge, my studio, my inexpensive rent, my bad memories, and my good. I love Pittsburgh like I love summer; when you got it you want it to be cold and when you don't got it you want it to be hot
Peace and love ch'all ;)

Week 2 at the Whill

Well I have been bad about logging my experiences this week I must admit.The tasks this week have been very spring cleaning centric.

Mon. was filled with cleaning out the pond while it was raining as was Tuesday. Cleaning out the pond, which hadn't been cleaned out in recent Wavehill staff history, had us interns and gardeners shoveling muck and gravel out of the bottom of the pool into buckets and then dumping those buckets on various parts of the grounds. While some people were doing that other people were using push brooms to push water and watery muck towards the garbage pump, that we had rented to help move the job along faster. We also removed some thirty or so buckets, often very heavy, from the interior of the pond that held water plants. I am telling you this wasn't an easy task but I really got into it. Even in the rain I was singing along, you know that song form Mary Poppins Chim Chimney Chim Chim Cher Roo? I like to keep busy.

The rest of the week I helped one of the other gardeners in the greenhouse and I learned about dividing plants today. We divided a clump of Miscanthis, a clump of pansy pink iris, and a clump of phlox. It was cool because I had never done that before. It made me feel bad for the folks at the High Line though because now I understand what kind of work they have cut out for them, with all those hundreds upon hundreds of clumps of grasses.

We also had our first Plant of the Week Thursday. Which is when each of the interns pick a plant and give a short presentation on it. I chose the Iris reticulata. I think it went well and I also really enjoyed the presentations of the other interns as well.

Things I learned:
1. I learned how to divide grasses and bulbs.
2. I learned about the plant Iris reticulata.
3. I learned that the good life is keeping your hands busy during the day, your mind busy in the evening, keeping your belly full, and having someone you love to kiss on before and after work.

peace out :)

Roses

Roses are for Lover's,
That is people who are in love with Roses. We spent the better part of the day pruning roses on Friday, which thankfully only has to happen once a year. When I first gazed upon that thick thorny patch of new and old growth intertwined in a mass that no human would venture into. I thought WTF what kind of internship did I sign on for. After we were shown how to approach pruning the plants we set off on our own corners working our way into the center. At first I moved very slowly but then after being pierced through my leather gloves a few times, and learning that this particular kind of rose can be cut back quite vigorously, I had at it. By the time we finished pruning I started to think it wasn't that bad. And maybe when these beasts start to bloom I will really understand why folks are so in love with roses.

Things Learned:
1. when pruning roses cut back old branches and thin growth
2. work from the top of the rose bush and then the bottom
3. use a rack when screening compost to help move the sticks and stones around with more ease

Urban Farming Reading

Here is a link to a good new website I found on urban-farming news.
http://www.thecitygreens.com/2010/03/17/farms-in-the-sky-a-new-york-city-roundup/

Wavehill and Sick

Wavehill is Great!
It is such a beautiful place and it is about to burst with flowers and colors of all kind. Yesterday was great except for the fact that my nose was dripping all day and I was constantly sneezing.
It was a very windy chilly morning outside. So we bundled up, grabbed our felcos and our buckets and started pruning the lavender bed. Which has at least ten different varieties of lavender. I grabbed some of the dry fragrant clippings, brought them home, and stuck them in a fuzzy sock in my bureau. Then we moved onto screening some compost into the backs of a couple gators and driving it up to the flower bed where we took turns sprinkling it on the garden. After that we went to the terrace and cleaned up and composted the beds. I think our tasks in the coming weeks will mostly be spring clean up.
What did I learn?
1. Take compost from the top of the pile if it has recently rained.
2. Use sparring amounts of compost on spring soil that hasn't birthed its perennial sprouts yet.
3.Take the day off if you think you are getting sick becuase you will just end up taking the next day off which I did.
4.When a plant has been in storage all winter without much sun exposure it is good to burlap it when it first goes out doors so the new exposure doesn't give it sunburn.

Today wasn't as great because I missed out on the first plant ID walk but I do feel much better. The remedy to illness is sleep-in/cuddle, have someone who loves you make you something with eggs and good coffee, clean(that is probably just me), and lay down and read alot! ;)

Also for super long commutes my new fav is crosswords

peacals y'all

Wavehill Internship

Hello Folks,
Well I started my internship at Wavehill two days ago. I have been on unemployment all winter and it is time to leave that safety net behind and re-enter the work force. Although I did go to the Labor office of New York today to try and see if there was some way that I could maintain a portion of my unemployment anyway. The answer was of course a big fat NO! I am nervous of course about how things will work out but hopeful for the future.

We spent our first day raking up a lawn area that had a whole bunch of sweet gum seed pods on it. At first I was admiring these soft spined balls of auburn, but as the day wore on a grew tired of what seemed like their unending numbers. We, me my boss and the four other interns, pried all of the sweet gum balls, that had wedged themselves half way into the soft wet spring soil, out. It was quite the task but rewarding and a good team building exercise. Today we cleared out another area, referred to as the conifer slope, removing sticks, pine cones, leaves, and the like. I had to leave early to go to the labor office so I missed our time in the greenhouse, BUMMER!
Oh and we also removed some under-story saplings, that kinda look like yews, and replanted them to an actual under-story area.
The people are just as nice as the folks at The High Line and the Garden is gorgeous. It is the only time in my life that I wish I had a car. This is because my commute is an hour and twenty minutes each way. I have taken to doing crosswords and of course reading. My book right now is biomimcry, interesting so far.

Well otherwise things seem as right as rain ;)
peace out!

beekeeping New York

Here is s a article on Beekeeping in New York. Hopefully it will be legal soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/science/earth/15bees.html?emc=eta1

Yogamazing

I just came form a yoga class in the East Village. I was very uneasy about the idea of going to this yoga studio. 1. it is ny and everything here, everywhere you go is super crowded. 2. I am officially off on my own again away from my folks, thus very poor. 3. I have been practicing for the past three months five days a week at a tiny studio with low attendance in a suburb outside of Chicago.
Well, I hadn't done yoga in a day, and I was craving some movement. So I tried out Yoga to the people on st. mark's and it was great! Yes really crowded but none the less fun. The teacher was encouraging people to make funny noises and breath loudly. She created an inhibition free environment. The teacher was there more as a guide through the yoga practice and less as an instructor. Although I don't think that is bad I do worry about people who haven't practiced much yoga. There are some positions where you can hurt yourself or just not get the full expression of the pose if you aren't familiar with the way to correct yourself in the pose.
That aside Alternative health care is really catching on and this quote from an article posted on The American Academy of Family Physicians shows that many people seem to agree , "A recently released government report (15-page PDF; About PDFs) found that U.S. adults are spending almost $34 billion a year on complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, products and therapies, as well as on visits to CAM practitioners. And that popularity can translate into extra dollars for family physicians, says one FP.
And webMD says that yoga has many benefits such as less stress, strength, more calm and mood stability, better breathing techniques which allows one to get more oxygen in there body, flexibility, posture, and heart benefits.

Anywho folks! Think about it! It may be fun ;)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gloria-steinem-visits-yale/id200065355?i=19814112
This is a great lecture I just listened to on Women's issues, patriarchy, and empowerment.

Taxes turns to therapy

Over the past year and a half I have moved from Pittsburgh, PA to my parents house in IL, to New York, to Homestead, FL, to New York, to my parents house, to New York, to Pittsburgh, to New York,to Brooklyn, to New York, to my parents house, and now back to new York. If you have a hard time getting motivated to do your taxes imagine how tough it was for me to get started today.
I am using my father's income tax filing program to file this year because I thought I might need a little guidance. I have worked four different jobs in New York and Pittsburgh, collected unemployment, and paid student loans. None of this was done in IL. But since my father's program was downloaded to his computer in IL, the program kept trying to make me file in IL.
So I called this company which helps you to file your taxes and talked to a lady who wasn't helpful so I called again and thats when Matt answered the phone. And tax filing time slowly turned into marriage counseling. Matt's marriage is seeing some tough times right now. His partner of 20 years is committing adultery and says that she doesn't love him anymore. They aren't sleeping in the same room and she is contemplating filing for divorce. Matt had a lot to tell me about his current situation and I listened. I tried to help and tell him to honor himself and also, if he wanted to, honor his marriage.
But then he asked me what I would do?
Now I have cheated and I have been cheated on and it isn't an easy thing to deal with on either end of the spectrum. I told Matt that you have to be a good person, you have to try and work with this person, but you have to have a level of self preservation as you go through all this. If you need space, take the space, if you need time, take the time.
Anyway we never fixed my tax problem because we got so lost in his life and also my mom had dinner on the table. But I think I really helped Matt this evening. He may not have helped me finish filing my taxes but he did help me to remember that life is hard sometimes. Life doesn't always go the way you want but you must be thankful for what you have. Stick to the positive side of things. Because once you loose that you loose life.
I guess I will finish my taxes tomorrow ;)

Keep it busy

You know,
Life is not easy, it is hard getting through sometimes. Thats why I like to keep busy. The busier I keep myself the better my brain is, on all levels. I don't worry, I don't think crazy unhealthy things like my boyfriend doesn't love me or I suck or somehthing like that.
Moving on then in an effort to keep my mind from wondring to the negative side of my psyche I read some more chapters of Farm City by Novella Carpenter. Who is my mini hero until I find the space in my life to start my own urban farm or join some kind of urban farming initiative.
Today I read about the nineteenth century urban market plots, about 2 acres in size, that Paris had available for its citizens to farm. It was estimated that from 1,800 plots 100,000 tons of produce was harvested annually. So much that they actually exported produce to other countries.
The more I read her book and check out http://www.cityfarmer.info/, my new favorite blog, the more I find that our world has a deep history of urban farming.
Many immigrants to the states kept pigs and chickens in and around their urban dwellings, during war times people in Great Britain and in the US were encouraged to turn their yards and limited green space into Victory Gardens, in New York in the 1970's there was a city initiative that supported community gardens throughout the city in abandoned lots, Havana, Cuba has been a urban farming city for quite sometime and their urban farming only becomes more prolific with time,"Shanghai raises 85 percent of its produce within city limits." Farm City, and urban farming is also encouraged in Poland and Tanzania.
Many people in cities in the US have slowly been getting their feet wet,even more so in recent months since the recession started in late 2008. With the poor only finding it harder to survive and the federal aid becoming more and more scarce for the growing numbers on unemployment, urban farming is sounding a lot more enticing to many people. When you're unemployed what you don't have is money but what you do have is a whole lot of time. Might as well spend it outside making yourself useful. Unless you have a allergy to the sun I don't think it will hurt you.
Don't have soil start making it yourself. I have a wormbin at my parents house and my boyfriend and I's apartment. It is so easy and they are the most low maintenance pets you'll ever have. Worms eat My Garbage by Mary Applehof is a great way to get started. You don't have to buy the super expensive 20 dollar lb. bag of worms either, most bait shops sell red wigglers, $4 for 50 worms. Feed them eggshells and in no time you'll have a pound of worms.
anywho I have to get back to painting folks
Peace out
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Rabbit seminar

Whoops! here is the full article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/dining/03rabbit.html?ref=dining
and yes it mentions when and where. I ams till very interested in if there will be another work-shop.
I guess it happened in Nov. which is a bummer becuase if I had known I so would have gone to that.

peace out lovlies

Rabbit harvest

Here is a link to a NYT article/slide show about butchering rabbits in Brooklyn, NY.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/03/02/dining/20100303-rabbit-slideshow_index.html?ref=dining
Cool photos and Novella Carpenter ran the butchreing part of the workshop. What I want to know is when did this happen? Doesn't say in the article, but ifit happens again I am in!

Dive and Urban Farming

Howdy Y'all!

I saw a great! short film this weekend at The Peace on Earth Film Festival called DIVE! It was about dumpster diving for food. Since I have dumpster dived before this concept was nothing new to me. What was new info though was the amazing numbers they presented on food waste. In all my diving experiences I never saw the amount of food that the people in this movie were able to produce. In one night they were able to attain, from the dumpster, enough chicken to feed themselves for one year. That is RIDICULOUS!

The other big issue/topic they were working with, in the documentary, was getting the stores to donate food to homeless shelters or food banks. Many of the stores in their area said that they donated food but then when they would go to check the store's dumpsters they would be full of not donated food.

All in all a very good short documentary that was serious, but it didn't make you feel guilty, and empowering. I give it a thumbs up ;)

Also the other documentaries were good as well Homegrown Revolution and Namaste. I unfortunately didn't make it to the sat. and sun. portion of the fest so I can't really comment on that, but judging on Friday I would say that those films are probably worth looking into as well.

Okay second topic ;)

Urban Farming, which is a great passion of mine, is a subject I am always searching the internet for. Whatever snippet I can grab I like to follow like news articles, groups forming, and active folks in general who are more inclined towards a sustainable future with a focus on urban farming and urban homesteading.

Anywho, I was reading an article in the Seattle Times about a great new group that just formed called the Alley Cats. Whose mission it is to grow food on donated empty plots on Beacon Hill and they hope to spread into other areas as well. They have people who are trained in soil sciencs, landscaping, and folks who are switching careers as well. Here as link to the article http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011220435_urbanfarm01m.html

It is just so empowering to read this stuff and know that there are so many other people out there who share similar views on community, health, impoverished neighborhoods, and creating more sustainable cities.

Some books I am reading right now that you may enjoy.

Farm City: An Education of an Urban Farmer

No Impact Man

Silent Spring

Medicine as Meditation

and a book I just got from the library that has great big pictures of crazy looking poultry, which I can't wait to do some drawings of. I swear animals are the only thing that give me that feeling like, "Oh! you are so cute I just want to bite your head off!" Sounds a little crazy I know but hey! Sometimes things are really f....ing cute.

peace out folks :))))))))

After exploring the topic on family and community yesterday I started to get jealous of my own ideas. SO I went to a potluck with my brother and it was a delight. There were about 15 of us all running around like chickens with our heads cut off chopping, sauteeing, backing, washing dishes, and finally eating.
Menu:(all hand picked recipes by my brother from Lydia's Italy website, I just love her cooking show!)
Rainbow chard, bread, and potato soup
whole wheat spaghetti with a apple tomato sauce
vegetable stuffed crimini mushrooms
chocolate cake
red wine
coffee

what a wonderful night full of dancing, talking, smoking, eating, loud and spirited sing along, and of course pictionary, which I thought I was good at but apparently I am a better guesser.
Anywho a night like that makes you never want to be alone! Although I do enjoy my uninterrupted studio time quite a bit.
I am working on a few paintings write now, that are all going well. One is of a musk ox face with a sort of psychedelic background, and the two others are both of a praying mantis.
All in all I have to say art, reading, eating, hanging with friends does a happy person make!
peace out yo!

Facebook | Mildred's Daughters Urban Farm

Facebook | Mildred's Daughters Urban Farm

Urban Farmer - Vancouver Sun blogs

Urban Farmer - Vancouver Sun blogs

Ghost Town Farm

Ghost Town Farm

Running from Camera

Running from Camera

Devolution of Family

I was thinking as I was sitting on the toilet, the best place for ideas. Why do people in their 20's/30's feel so lost, unprescribed, or unimpassioned. Why is it that I have so many friends who work their asses off, up to sixty hours a week, are unhappy, and trying to find something meaningful to do with their lives. Only to come to some kind of resolution that they need to change things and find out that they can't make money if they did what they truly wanted to.

I believe that it has to do with the lack of a family unit. We are told to make money that will allow us to lead a comfortable life, give us security, and make it so we can raise a family on our own. The only problem with making money our main goal in life is that it often results in us moving away from family. Why? well we first get trained to do something that we are interested in. This training's purpose is to show us how to do what we like or what we are talented at and make money off of it. So then, we need to find a job doing this thing we've been trained for and if we haven't left home for the training we will probably leave home for a job. To end up in some major metropolitan center, only to get caught up in rent money, bills, food expenses, social activity expenses to take our mind off of work, traveling expenses to see family, and money to go towards whatever habit you've picked up to cope with life in general i.e. smoking, drinking, yoga, racket ball, or whatever.

This I believe is the main reason why we are separated from our family and our community. (Though many of us who grew up in suburban upper to middle class america never really experienced a real sense of community to begin with.)

Why is moving away from home sometimes a bad thing?

1. financial support

a. by providing housing

b. work in the family business

c. sharing meals together

d. babysitting each others kids

2. emotional support

a. it is important to feel loved

1. by friends

2. brothers and sisters

3. neighbors

(this support can't just come from your boyfriend or girlfriend or worse just your co-workers it is to much pressure!)

My point is that family or community can provide a much healthier environment for people to live in. How many of you have been to a potluck, that warmed up the house or apt. on a winter day, where people stayed so long that everyone got hungry again, where the food was so bountiful the hostess could eat for the rest of the week, and where afterwards you felt full and warm inside but not just because of the food. It was because of the sharing, the conversation, and the jovial love that spread through that event.

Maybe I am focusing to much on a singular event. The point is everything and I mean everything! would be so different if we cared for each other, if we did what we loved even without the thought of financial gain, if we weren't so self-centered. ;(

SO lets do it!! Lets cultivate community, family(call your mom or dad right now and tell them you love them or better yet if you can go, give them a hug!), life!

Sorry I got preachy there but really it's important to create a healthy culture, I believe that our future as humans rides on it ;)