And why the people in them keep on fighting for something better:

“By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

“What are we holding on to, Sam?”

“That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.”

It is indeed worth fighting for — the question is, what are the thngs in this world that we all ought to be fighting for? And how do we best do that…together?

Sometimes, the best way to keep moving forward is to pause and think about why you need to keep doing so.  Or to find a better motivation to dust yourself off and get moving again.  Or just to remember that you aren’t in it alone, that others believe in the very things which motivate you as well.  (more…)

Lonely beach via -Big Golf-.

These are a few of my favorite things:

– Empty beaches and time to take a long walk in the quiet while looking for shells and soaking in the sounds of the surf.

– Sage and Citrus and Home Sweet Home scented Yankee Candles.

– Chocolate.

– Hugs from The Peanut. Or from Mr. ReddHedd, for that matter.

– Getting to sleep in…and then waking up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

– Hummingbirds and butterflies visiting my flowers.

– The first fresh tomato, warmed by the sun, sliced thinly with some fresh mozzarella, layered on a pretty plate, sprinkled with basil and drizzled with some good extra virgin olive oil and a grind or two of sea salt.  Nothing better for lunch.

– Re-reading a good book. Last year, I re-read all of Jane Austin’s novels — nothing like a comfort read when life throws you a few lemons.  Same goes for Frank Herbert’s Dune, Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, and some early Anne McCaffrey — the Crystal Singer has been a go to comfort read since I was small.  Also the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Julie Andrews’ Mandy and The Secret Garden.  And the list keeps on going and going and going.

Hello, my name is Christy.  And I’m a book-a-holic.

What are a few of your favorite things?

Barack and Michelle Obama in Iowa.

How about we start Friday off with a little good news for a change?  See if you can keep from smiling after reading this:

"Ou[r] guests," Gibson said, "are people on the street, people usually look through them. We all see people walk by them. That’s why we call them guests — not clients because they are special. Mrs. Obama’s visit tells our guests they are not forgotten. That President Obama and Mrs. Obama care about their neighborhood and their neighbors who a lot of people don’t care about." 

"It’s tough being on the street. This says you are human," Gibson said. "They live on the street. There is danger at every turn. To have Mrs. Obama here says for a minute, we are all together. It will give people hope. They need hope. A lot are struggling with some really serious issues. For some of them, hope is what they cling to."

At 12:21 p.m., the rolling metal door to the service line rolled up. Behind the counter stood Mrs. Obama, in a guava pink sweater and plastic serving gloves, with serving spoon in hand.

The video is great, too – don’t miss it.  The White House released a transcript of Michelle Obama’s remarks to the guests at Miriam’s, which you can read in full here.

According to Paul West of the Baltimore Sun, who was yesterday’s pool reporter for the event:

The First Lady’s office arranged a White House-wide food drive that yielded almost eight cases of fresh fruit, delivered Wednesday evening, which should be enough to provide fruit for almost two weeks of meals, according to executive director Scott Schenkelberg, who introduced Mrs. Obama. 

At a time when that sort of example is desperately needed all across the country — much like Eleanor Roosevelt did in the 1930s – good for her.

Food banks across the country are experiencing unprecedented demand.  A lot of them are struggling to keep pace with the swiftly increasing requests for help, and are barely keeping donations and volunteer numbers above the desperate pace of need.

(more…)

Yesterday, first lady Michelle Obama visited a soup kitchen in Adam’s Morgan, where she scooped out food in the steam tray line and spoke with guests who had come to get a hot meal. Her full remarks follow:

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you, guys. Thanks so much. I am not going to talk long.

Yesterday evening, I posted a quote from George Washington’s first inaugural address. It struck me as supremely relevant in the current whirlwind, given the current economic and political whirlwind in which we find ourselves, and the aftermath of courage, chaos and hardship that led to that address from Gen. Washington. In response to the quote, Millineryman profoundly said: After reading the quote and detaching myself from this mess, I realize that the people who started this experiment must’ve have been faced with a lot of the uncertainty that we have now.

Don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve spent the day trying to dig through a lot of murky details, some of which leave me foggier than I was when I started the digging. Thought we could all use a break.

Vegetable market via computix.

Thought folks might like some space to chit chat, swap a few recipes, talk a little politics and just generally hang out. Because who doesn’t want a place to hang with friends on a Saturday evening?

If this works for everyone, maybe we’ll make it a regular feature.

Yesterday during one of my threads, we started talking about ways folks are planning to tuck a few more veggies into their gardens. Or their flower beds. Or into containers. Pretty much anywhere they can for some veggies through the summer to offset the cost of living or the potential loss of income from layoffs or worse. We started talking about the fact that I’m hoping to tuck a few extra veggies into my own yard among the perennials not just for my own family, but because I think some of our friends or family might be able to use them as well…