A bunch of years ago I received an artist fellowship grant to write a book about, “Living locally.” $7,000 meant the world as I entered the long winter, my first season of hard-core farming concluded. I thought my second book would be easier. Quicker. Problem was, our family needed to build a sustainable life. Forging … More Lit Up: Out of the cubicle and into the real world
Behind the strip club, U-Haul and Budweiser trucks came together in a pincer formation. Relishing the challenge, our little red car slid through the gap with millimeters to spare. Making the parking lot, a semi had jackknifed itself into the loading dock. Deliveries to Canal Park are an adventure! Around every turn I had the … More Thank ya, big fellas!
This is a volunteer. I plant thousands of black oil sunflower seeds each week. Apparently one had a mind of its own, dropped through the cracks, and cast its future into the slipstream of fate. Washed downstream by some deluge, it took root right here, mere inches from the edge of all things. I spotted … More A Good Woman is Hard to Find
He reached out to me when the snow piled waist-deep, but I continued to resist long after the thaw. The pursuit endured for months, as with a pack of hounds. Finally, I relented. Unlike the fox exhausted to the point of death, my change of heart came when I caught the scent of a potential … More Joining the Symphony of Life through Partnerships.
I wrote the following piece for the Garbanzo Gazette, which is a quarterly publication put out by the Whole Foods Co-op for its 12,000+ members. I’m sharing it here, because it contains the germ of a critical message I’m continually working on in life and in my upcoming book. Here’s a 48-second video I filmed … More Indulge your idiosyncrasies. They make you YOU!
My new long awaited south-facing grow space has been seeing action for two weeks now, and it’s totally changing my life! It was a real trick getting this thing done before winter, but we made it just in time. Here I am painting the space on an unseasonably warm late fall day, which was a … More Open for business!
When the problem is larger than you are—your experience, skillset, wisdom, or imagination—the best course of action is to do nothing. Simply wait. My seven-year journey has demonstrated this again and again. Unlike Frodo’s course, our family’s quest has carried us away from the fires of Mordor, and all that corporate disfigurement, toward a sustainable … More Arriving at a solution vs imposing one
The best part of our family having carved out a niche through farming, writing, and the creation of fine art, by far, is having a seat at the community’s dinner table, which enables us to join the larger conversation. This brings immense joy, particularly when our contribution is the least important part, but somehow remains … More Finding a seat at the table
I purchased this sheepskin hat directly from the hands of the old man himself: Howard Joynes, founder of Joynes Ben Franklin up in Grand Marais, MN. It cost me $76—a pretty penny back in 1996… It’s the warmest hat I’ve ever worn, or seen on anyone, and that includes those atop the heads of explorers … More Changed my life
Six days into recovery from shoulder surgery, I’ve already experienced an entire crop cycle. Here are 10 thoughts of dubious import, post-surgery: “Everything is Figureoutable.” (Marie Forleo) Gilmore Worldwide Headquarters currently offers zero sick time. It was tempting to continue on with the bum-shoulder status quo, but life was being affected in real ways. Since … More Ready. Fire! Aim. 10 thoughts after undergoing surgical enhancement.
Ed's Big Adventure 