quote from the book I'm currently reading...

"No single decision you ever made has led in a straight line to where you find you find yourself now. You peeked down some roads and took a few steps before turning back. You followed some roads that came to a dead end and others that got lost at too many intersections. Ultimately, all roads are connected to all other roads. So break out of the mindset that your life consists of good and bad choices that set your destiny on an unswerving course. Your life is the product of your awareness. Every choice follows from that, and so does every step of growth."

-The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra

peace vigil

The Scarritt Bennett Center (near Vanderbilt) is hosting a series of events leading up to the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Peace on September 21st. One event took place last night, and it was a silent candle lighting service/peace vigil. As I sat in the grass with my candle, I was all of a sudden reminded of a candle lighting service that took place on the lawn of Vanderbilt's campus right after September 11th. I hadn't thought about that night in about ten years, and there I was, doing the same thing in basically the same spot. It felt very full circle and appropriate. (My candle at the peace vigil pictured.)

It is difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a home-grown tomato. -Lewis Grizzard

Johnny and Tara have family visiting, so I worked The Green Wagon booth at the West Nashville Farmer's Market yesterday morning. Such a beautiful day and got to see lots of people from when I used to work there every weekend. Tomatoes pictured above are from Sulphur Creek/Bells Bend Farm.)

How Miss M Imagines My Birthday Party

Miss M and I were chatting yesterday, and the topic of birthdays came up. I told her my birthday was coming up very soon, and I asked her how old she thought I was going to be. She confidently guessed 9. (Gosh, I love that child.) She asked if she could come to my birthday party. I told her I wasn't sure I wanted to have one. I might as well have told her that I was going to chop off my own leg. She was horrified, and insisted that I HAD to have one. Then she said we needed to make a list, and that she would help me plan. With an orange crayon on the back of a drawing of a puppy, I wrote this list while she dictated it to me:

Miss Jennifer's Birthday

1. Everybody has to wear handsome and pretty clothes

2. cupcakes

3. juice boxes

4. any kind of presents for little kids

5. everybody can have whatever they want without asking permission (including cheetahs and cheetos)?

6. popcorn (she specified that it should be plain)

7. a bowl of nutritional yeast (?)

8. many mac and cheeses

9. pancakes

10. chocolate milk

11. everyone has to play mom & dad

"Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you."
— Rumi

Book/World Trip Project Update....

So, I've been dragging my feet on finishing and launching The Green Wagon's online store. I couldn't figure out why I had lost steam and motivation for something that I used to feel super-charged by, so I started asking myself what I have been feeling passionate about lately. I do have passion for the book project/world trip project I've written about on this blog so far.

I was talking with The Green Wagon web guru, D'nelle, two days ago about this, and it all suddenly clicked together. I'm forming a non-profit that will (through donations and a % of sales from the website), fund the projects the grassroots environmentalists are working on all over the world....the grassroots environmentalists that I'll be interviewing, volunteering with and writing about on that trip around the world!

So much has changed in my life since I first opened the doors to the first Green Wagon almost three years ago, and I need the whole thing to evolve a little bit with me. Fusing these two projects together creates a symbiotic relationship that just plain makes sense & infuses both with more meaning and with the passion and motivation I've been seeking.

It is funny how if you sit with something long enough and patiently, it will start coming into focus! So, I'm introducing to you the non-profit branch of The Green Wagon that I am tentatively calling (until the paperwork all goes through & I know I can use that name) The Lorax Fund. This is my next step. I am as sure of it as I was of The Green Wagon when it was just an idea in my little ole noggin. Feeling happy and inspired today...and now I get to go play with Mister J, Miss M, and Baby N. I'm sure they'll give me some hilarious and insightful words of wisdom today that I can share later with you. Stay tuned.

Last night I met a dear friend for dinner at this amazing new restaurant called The Wild Hare on White Bridge Road. We've been meaning to have dinner for months, but both are in financially difficult situations right now. We are also busy, feisty small business owners, but we managed to make time last night. At the end of our meal, the waitress came up to us and told us that someone had taken care of our tab. It was such an unexpected and wonderful surprise that meant so much to both of us.