Green Gratitude
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | October 23, 2008
I’m really digging how autumn is a time of snuggling inward, of regrouping after what always seem to be crazy non-stop summers, of slowing down and coming back to a quieter place. Plus, crunchy leaves and long, warm scarves are just pure joy. I’ve also been feeling more gratitude and thankfulness lately, towards many things and people and situations of all kinds, and have chalked a new favorite saying onto the blackboard in my hallway: “Fill it with gratitude!”
So: the theme for the November Green Moms Carnival is “Gratitude/Three Most Favorite Green Things Ever” — and on that note may I present you with our answers:
1. Karina and I both agree on this one: we are grateful for Tiny Choices! We love that it has built a community of readers and commenters and folks who feel similarly to us and folks who feel differently than us, and that we get to engage with ya’ll on a daily basis. It’s an incredible experience and we appreciate that you’re out there reading along, writing us back, and grooving on the TC love. Tiny Choices is the vegan marshmellow topping on our local, organic sweet potato selves.
2. I asked Karina what she’s grateful for, and she said: “I really love water right now. Tap water. I just love it, love drinking it, loving knowing where it comes from. Any day of the week I will choose a different thing; today my favorite thing is water.” So: thank you, tap water! And thank you to our local municipalities for providing deliciously drinkable, safe and healthy water right to our very homes and offices– how lucky are we?
3. And I am really grateful for: Farmers Markets, for making it possible for me to eat Food. I am in love with each and every farmer who wakes up at the crack of dawn (or probably before dawn, even) to tend to their crops, who spends days encouraging bright berries and leafy greens and gorgeously wonky heirloom tomatoes, and then! as if that’s not enough! drives some distance to bring their highly nutrious food practically right to my doorstep. I love wandering through markets in every season, from the bursting overflowing decadence of summertime to the hearty, thick, root-vegetabley sparseness of winter. And I love that I often see dirt under the fingernails of the farmers who hand me back change from my purchases. As a city dweller, that dirt serves as a reminder of life beyond these concrete streets.
What are you feeling green gratitude for lately?
[Image by Hryckowian via Creative Commons]
Topics: General | 26 Comments »
wow! i love this post and the way you both lovingly guild us to think to the future, thank you. the farmer’s markets are awesome, and my CSA, and with help, i have tried lots of new things. like Karina, (it must be genetic:) i love tap water, and am so grateful to be able to live in an area where i can get a cool drink any time. right now i am grateful for the choices i have in our society, choices to make mistakes or not!
I love that we are local and organic sweet potatoes!
Jen this is beautifully stated, I too am digging the snuggling inward and I am thankful that we get to ” carnival ” together.
Today I am grateful to my little flock of backyard chickens for turning my food scraps (and culinary disasters) into eggs.
Hmm…nuggling (as my 2yo would say) inward is about right! Grateful right now for composting and worms to rescue, as martha puts it, my culinary disasters! Also happy about visiting our CSA farm and its old fashioned cheeziness for my kids. Grateful for still having the luxury (time, especially) to make conscious choices despite the craziness of the economy.
I feel absolutely grateful that I live in a neighborhood where I can walk to coffee, post office, little tiny markets, the farmer’s market (across the street! on Saturdays), and even the place where I bought my winter boots– which I walk around in endlessly! I love that I can walk to the bus stop to take me where I can’t walk to, and I love that I can walk to where I work and learn. I’m so grateful for living in a community that values alternative forms of transportation. I’m grateful for the bicyclists who zoom by me, even if I think they should wear helmets.
And I’m grateful for Tiny Choices because I like green optimism.
ooh TC, water and food are all good ones! i’m grateful to be working on municipal water supply projects.
i’m also grateful for my dogter mookie, who gets me out and about and makes me take notice of my surroundings. and in the mornings she gets under the covers and curls up next me keeping me nice and toasty. too precious.
Here’s mine:
http://knerq.blogspot.com/2008/10/gratitude.html
Great post. I smiled when you mentioned dirt under their fingernails since I am a gardener myself. Since I hate gloves, my fingernails are always dirty during growing season and my knee that I kneel down on this wonderful Earth is forever stained. So, I am thankful for for Mother Nature that enable me to have such joy in my garden to watch the birds, butterflies, and bees play in the sun. And to continue to marvel when that seedling that I plant, becomes a plant with veggies that I eat. It is just amazing.
In addition, I am grateful for the sisterhood being created at the green mom carnivals, yours included.
i love you TC girls!
i’m grateful for:
the dirt under my husband’s fingernails because it means we still have veggies to eat from our garden (amazing!).
my family making their own tiny choices – sometimes all by themselves (i.e. little sister stealing recycling bin so she can recycle her papers easier)!
tap water!!! (it also keeps me employed!)
carpooling with my husband.
the list could go on and on – but those are the tops, these days.
Ask me again on November 5th?? Hopefully I won’t be in tears.
In the meantime, I’m grateful for the opportunity to write from home, thereby saving gas, carbon emissions and my sanity! Also, I am grateful for fall veggies, organic coffee, local tomatoes and living down the street from the library.
Most of all, I’m grateful for being fortunate enough to not have to worry about getting enough to eat. If only everyone could be so fortunate.
I am grateful that i figured out how to paint with poke berries – since I can’t be around toxic chemicals/paints, etc… and poke berries are sustainable, easy to grow, considered a weed, and grow right in my back yard!
I am grateful for autumn bringing me the vision of watching my growing boys still frolicking in the leaves and tossing a football to each other, even though it may not be the “cool” thing to do.
I am also grateful for the abundance of fresh, clean water that we have unlimited access to, and the awareness that we need to protect it and appreciate it.
I am also grateful for my mom who is in the autumn of her life. As the one person who taught me to love water in all forms, she continues to amaze me by her strength, courage, and ability to grow in the wake of losing my dad.
Ok – maybe they’re not all “green” but they all share a common thread. Let’s appreciate those things that we have by nature…
I agree with Julia on the common thread and appreciating what we have in nature. Great post!
I’m with you: crunchy leaves, refreshing tap water and delicious goodies from the farmer’s market are the best!
I’ve grateful for Tiny Choices too! You guys are awesome!
Me, too!
thank you! we so very grateful for this community!
Well, I blogged about my favorite green things, which happened to be cleaning products that day – probably because I was in a rare housecleaning frenzy.
Today, I’d say that my favorite things are my kids, who are fighting about who’s bugging who over my head upstairs while I try to work downstairs. I got out of my chair to go up and tell them to quiet down and then changed my mind as I realized that – in a few years – it will be very quiet around here because they’ll be off on their own adventure.
I’m thankful that they can learn at home and go to a home school co-op where like minded folks and their kids form a community that values permaculture and sustainable, mindful living.
Most of all, I’m grateful for all the cool, Green people online and off who give me hope for the future of This Old Planet. Thank you, Karen, for introducing me to the Green Mamas and this neat carnival.
Shine On,
Lill
Oooh! You made remember the turn of fall leaves and crunchy piles just right jumping. On mornings where you could see your breath in the air, bundled up with warm sweaters, hand knit mittens and funky sweater caps, my sister and I would venture outside just to jump in piles of leaves. I can still smell the wood smoke in the air, and almost taste the frosty air.
I’m grateful for that memory!
Jennifer
I like the water comment. We take it for granted but really we should be very thankful we have clean water to drink and bath with.
I, too, am very grateful for water. I especially love that my kids are starting to realize how important and precious it is. I often hear them getting on to one another for wasting the water when their brushing their teeth. You’re never too young to learn good habits!
Oooh, water. To drink, to swim in, to frolic in! We’re lucky enough to be able to use rainwater in our home for drinking and bathing (we have a catchment system with a cistern & filter) – I now have a new appreciation for clean, fresh water – it is such a gift! And I MUST agree with Lill, and second her appreciation for all of the cool, Green people online and off who give me hope for the future of This Old Planet!
Love the name of your blog…that’s what it all comes down to isn’t it? Tiny choices every day that make the difference. Water is such an overlooked commodity here in the States. Thanks for reminding us to appreciate it.
I REALLY crave a good Farmer’s Market. I miss my weekly trips to the one in Minneapolis.