I have five non-biological siblings: men and women with whom I’ve spent the most formative years of my life building trust, defending each other, looking out for each other, coming to each others’ sides in times of need. I have only one biological sibling. He and I can draw blood over cranberry sauce. I don’t […]
Documentary filmmaker looking for Radical Homemaker stories
Do you have a story you’d be willing to share about your journey to become a radical homemaker? Do you want to be a radical homemaker but don’t know how to extract yourself from your job, medical insurance or way of life? Was it hard to learn what you needed to know to become a radical […]
A letter to my daughter
For over a decade, this has been a purple blog: a mix of red readers and blue readers. Inevitably I periodically anger half of you with my political views. That’s okay. Because like my family and community, you continue to be part of my life. Today’s post, an open letter to my 13 year old […]
Beer, Coffee, and The Great American Novel
I gaze out the side window as Mom drives me home from the train station. The girls are in the back. Bob rides with Dad. Technically, I’m still on vacation. I shouldn’t have to think about what she’s saying. I shouldn’t even have to listen to her. “I think we need to open the cafe […]
Ghosts or souls?
Apparently there’s not just a ghost in the basement. There seems to be more than one. “It’s like a room full of noisy children down there!” My friend Joellyn, a psychic, gave us the macabre news shortly after the cafe opened when she was coming by to purchase meats. “They’re harmless,” she assured me as […]
Stupid Idea
I learned a lot this summer. I learned to put customer numbers on guest checks to keep track of orders. I learned to use guest checks. I learned that a farm can grow the commons as well as it can grow meat and vegetables. I learned that it helps to clean up and set tables […]
The Open Flag
OPEN flags are like babies. They change you for life. Just as pregnancy hormones alone started unraveling the do-good school girl in me, causing me to suddenly challenge doctors, stare down speeding cars when I approached a cross walk or stand up to pushy people; so too did the mere knowledge that the OPEN flag […]
Customer Service
There is no Pepsi in our cooler. We offer regionally-made kombucha. There are no Snickers bars on our counter. We bake fresh pie every morning from local fruit. We don’t fry eggs to order. We can’t grow enough eggs to supply our local customers’ demand for fresh eggs as it is. We don’t sell sandwiches. The […]
The Luxury of Necessity
I approached the start of this year’s homeschool season with reservation. Over the course of the summer, Bob and I seem to have each adopted yet another full-time job with the new cafe. Mondays and Tuesdays were supposed to be our days off, but they went toward receiving orders, bookkeeping, training, and catching up on […]
Blackberries
I’m writing today to celebrate the blackberries. Bob and I have been lured into the brambles each morning on our daily walk these past two weeks, as we discover plump fistfuls hanging under the shadiest leaves. Our one hour ramble stretches out to two hours as we fill our fists, our cheeks, our hats, a […]
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