Stay True

October is only few short weeks away and we as consumers are soon to be overcome with choices in pink.  We will have pink toilet paper, pink M & M’s, pink mouthwash and toothpaste (joking) descended upon us like a casual summer rain.  October in case any of you have been asleep for the past 7 years is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there is not anything quite like the pink parade of products that promote the political correctness of caring about women’s breasts.  With all the bells and whistles blowing in October I, for one wonder where does all the money go?  By the time companies, manufacturers, and organizations pay for all of their pink advertising costs and products how much is for their image and how much is for a cure?  I wonder.

Obviously I am not referring to the authentic breast cancer organizations like Susan B Komen, Avon, etc- I am referring to companies who claim to align themselves with being pink for one month.  Hopefully for each pink product there is a CEO who understands that beautiful women in all shapes, ages, and sizes everywhere are loosing beautiful breasts; nature’s most symbolic of all things feminine and nurturing.  Hopefully they have considered the single mom who now has to shuffle work, motherhood, and her treatments-who when she has a moment, turns on the television and sees an ad for pink M & M’s.  Hopefully the marketing department asks themselves would this mom be encouraged or infuriated by our pink product.  Hopefully these brainchildren of pink truly care and hopefully they have been told that 65% of all breast cancers happen in the left breast.  The left side of our bodies accepted as the feminine/receptor side of our bodies—and the left breast closest to our heart.  The heart in so many women bruised, closed, and hurting.

Perhaps by addressing this fact, the pink parade will somehow translate their consumer fluff into joy.  Pink products will be designed with the sole concept of bringing joy, for what women need most during recovery is the best heart-healer of all – the belief in and the experience of joy.  No strings attached complete and pure – JOY.

Stay True,

M

As autumn rolls around it reminds us up here on the grade (this is how we who live here refer to Harrison-Grade Road) that there are so many things to be thankful for in Sonoma County we begin by recognizing the bountiful harvest that is seen in our artisan farms, vineyards, and apple orchards.  We celebrate the abundance of the season by gathering with our friends for one last outdoor dinner party, one last dip in the river, or the neighborhood pool.  Each of us acknowledging how blessed our lifestyle is, how precious our friendships are, and how we like the seasons, change.

For the past three years I have been a very lucky girl up here on the grade.  My neighbors are a group of organic farmers and remarkable chefs who have created Sol Food Farm, a sustainable farm and CSA (community supported agriculture) serving western Sonoma County.  It was as if the gods magically and strategically placed them right next to me , arriving during one of life’s difficult moments—they brought with them beauty, joy, and their tender friendships.  The gods are always full proof—immediately creating conditions that necessitated the building of true friendships.  They in desperate need of more well water, me offering use of my well which, in turn, led to gates being cut into our fences, and they rest they say, “ is history.”

We became a family overnight.  Sharing our lives, our stories, food, wine, water, and Zane (my son) duty.  They changed my life, as an on my own parent in the country I suddenly had help, a safety net, for my home, my animals and my son.  Yes, very much to be thankful for indeed

This summer we’ve taken to making dinners and sitting out underneath our nighttime sky until the wee small hours—merrymaking, dancing, and singing. Our time has been even more precious as like the summer sun, they will be moving on, all of them.  Some moving east for cheaper farmlands, and a more dynamic CSA agriculture scene, some onto MBA degrees, and some may stay in the county, but not next to me.

How grateful I am during Sol Food’s last harvest this year to have been touched by young organic farmers, working each day to make a difference in our community and in our world.  Each committed to sustainability in all facets of life and nature, although the thought of them moving on leaves me with a heavy heart, I will look back on our times together as one the best . . . . . in gratitude—

Stay true,

M