We’re leaning into autumn around here. The weather is glorious. The skies are blue. And we get to listen to the crickets and the peepers in the evenings before their songs end for the year.
We’re still in a drought. Strangely, that means some things on the farm are faring better than they have this time of year for years. The last couple of years, pest and disease pressure from the super wet conditions have wreaked havoc on our gardens. Don’t take that to mean I want to continue in this drought – we really, really need more rain. But a gentle, steady rain. Please no deluge!
There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and plenty of it is heavy. But I’ve been trying to lean into the little things that spark joy, amazement, wonder – and honestly, there have been a lot of them lately. So I wanted to share three things that were bright spots in my week.
The first: I recently took a four week beginners stand up comedy class through Pittsboro Parks & Rec, and I have to tell you, it was SUCH a bright spot in my week. Our class was small, with the teacher and 4 students. We did things that were really awkward and hard to do in front of strangers, and it was the most fun, supportive class ever!
Second: speaking of cool people – as you know, the cool weather came in on Tuesday with a nice, rainy day. I went for my usual walk along the river when I saw two people sitting in the rain in the amphitheater. They asked me if I was there for netwalking. Now, I’d seen the netwalking flyers around the Mill and wanted to go to a meet up sometime, but never got around to it in the year our kids Elliott and Aby have been going to Hawbridge. So I found it really delightful that I stumbled upon it on the first rainy, cool day of the season – a nice walk along the river, and a chance to learn a bit more about what folks around here are up to.
And third, the biggest one: a bright spot from our CSA. I put a call out to members at one of our pick up locations in Wake County. One of our longtime members was in a pretty bad car accident and can no longer drive. Her daughter’s friend picked it up for her last season, but couldn’t do it this season. More than half of the people at that pick up location signed up to bring that member’s share to her for at least one of the days – and some people volunteered to do it every week. And two of the volunteers are brand new to our CSA!
Sometimes I get a little sad about how we don’t get to see our members face-to-face on the weekly anymore. And they don’t generally see each other at pick ups either, so those kinds of connections are missing. But this most recent act of support among our community members has been really heart warming and confirming that we are building community with this whole CSA thing.
This has been quite the rambling post, but I just really wanted to share some of the bright spots I’ve seen in my week with you – whoever you are on the other side of a screen reading these rambles. I hope you are finding the bright spots in your week – and I would love for you to share them with me, and anyone else in your life you think would appreciate some points of joy.
Here’s hoping for more gentle rain, and here’s to neighbors who show up.
