Colliding Worlds

Several of my worlds collided today in a good way.  There was the thread of my working world, there was the thread of my SEOPCO board member world, and there was the thread of my Irving School world.  All three of those threads were woven together into something pretty special.  I spent most of the day at the Whole Foods Market - River Forest Barrie Fest booth, plugging the upcoming 5% Day for the Irving Schoolyard Project.

While we spoke to the parents about shopping at our store on November 1st, when 5% of the day's proceeds will go for grass for the Irving playground, the kids worked on a craft project.  They traced their hands on old posters from the store.  The cutouts of the hands will become a new mural that will be displayed in the store's cafeteria later this fall.

As a SEOPCO board, we always try to have a "green" element to Barrie Fest.  This year's green project was pretty cool, and it came together because of my colliding worlds.
Earlier this year, Whole Foods in River Forest began a composting program in its store.  It's been part of my job to make sure my department is properly sorting its garbage and composting appropriate material (that's fancy-talk for part of my job is sorting garbage).  Anyway, as part of this project, I was able to go on a field trip to Land and Lakes' composting facility on the south side of Chicago to see where the compost goes once it leaves our store.  While touring that facility, I discovered that the compost from southwest Oak Park's pilot composting program also winds up there.  That's when the wheels in my brain started turning.
SEOPCO has had several "green" forums over the past few years, and we'd been thinking it was time to move our green activities out of the talking stages and into something more practical.  We thought it would be really great if we could give away some of the finished compost material that starts out as food and yard waste in southwest Oak Park.  Land and Lakes, in conjunction with Waste Management, graciously offered to donate quite literally a ton of the organic compost material for us to give away at Barrie Fest today.  Our Irvin Girl Scout troops helped shovel the dirt into bags so people could haul it away.

Honestly, I had no idea how much a ton really was, or how many bags it would take to dispense with all that organic soil supplement.  Would we run out in an hour, or would we have half-a-ton of leftovers?  Oh, the thoughts and concerns that go into a project like this when it's executed for the first time!
I learned that a ton of dirt fits nicely into the bed of a U-Haul pick-up truck, but the truck sits pretty low once the dirt's dropped in.  I found out that one case of eco-friendly garbage bags (donated by Whole Foods) wasn't nearly enough to bag a ton, especially since we had to double-bag because the bags were ripping under weight of two shovel's worth of material.  The girls filled about 70 bags and the truck was not even half empty.  I panicked a little (How in the world am I going to get all the rest of this out of the back of this truck?), but I shouldn't have worried.
People in Oak Park (at least in the southeast quadrant) really love to garden, and they were downright giddy to get free compost.  This group is also resourceful, and many brought their own bags or wagons to haul away the compost.
When it was all said and done, the truck was about three-fourths empty.  My friend and fellow SEOPCO board member, Michelle C-R, had the brilliant idea of giving any remaining compost to Irving School for its garden project.

The Irving Garden Ladies were thrilled to get a pile of high-quality, organic compost, and we dumped all that was left at the edge of the garden, where it will rest comfortably until the harvest is complete.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my community?

The State of the Corn

Those of us who live in the Midwest can all agree that the weather here is crazy.  This year seems to have been crazier than most.  We had an entire week of 80+ degrees in March, then nasty, seriously-below-freezing cold in April, then a summer that was so hot and dry it rivaled that notorious summer of '36 that I remember my grandparents talking about.  Reports have been trickling in that the Midwest's corn crop has been decimated this year due to the excessive heat and drought conditions.  After spending some time at Mom & Dad's, I can confirm how bad it really is:

The corn is quite literally dying in the fields.  It's not supposed to be brown and bent over at this time of year.  The ears of corn on the stalks are small and shriveled.

There are a lot of "gloom and doom" people out there who are predicting food prices will soar because of this drought.  I actually see a potential silver lining in this.  "Field corn," as Iowans refer to it, gets harvested, processed, and put into processed food:  everything from cereal to bread to veggie burgers (xantham gum is the "glue of choice" that holds all those veggies together in burger form, and one of the key ingredients in xantham gum is a corn derivative).  I think if the price of processed food skyrockets because of this drought, it may be just the thing to turn people back to cooking fresh, unprocessed food.  That would be a good thing.

Labor Day at Sandy Creek Acres

Sandy Creek Acres is what my parents named their "estate" when they built it several years ago.  It's sort of a family joke - there's no Sandy Creek anywhere nearby (it's actually closest to the Wapsi River).  It just sort of fits with the schtick that also marks the "scenic photo op" sign that's posted on the lane.  And while it's true their house sits on 75 acres, most of that is actually tillable land that's rented out to another farmer.  Don't get me wrong - I love my parents' house.  It's just that, if the name Sandy Creek Acres brings to mind a well-manicured estate complete with silver and servants, that's just not the case.

At any rate, we went back to farm country this weekend to celebrate two of my niece's birthdays.  I haven't been together with all my siblings and their families since Christmas last year, so it was really special to hang with them all.  One of my favorite things about my extended family is the way the cousins, aunts and uncles all seamlessly hang together.  I think Cousins Camp has a lot to do with it!

SCC Unplugged @ Willow

Steven Curtis Chapman is one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists.  While I've enjoyed hearing his songs for the past couple of decades, I've never had the pleasure of hearing him live in concert.  Until tonight.

We found ourselves available to head out to Barrington to Willow Creek this evening, and scored 5th row center seats.  What a treat!  Steven is one of the most unpretentious performers I've ever seen.  He realized 20 minutes before he was supposed to be on stage that the concert started an hour earlier than he had thought.  Then he broke a string on his guitar a few measures into his first song.  The crowd was patient while he re-tuned one of his other guitars, and it was smooth sailing from there.

His music is based on ordinary life, but he also isn't afraid to describe the pain that comes with loss, and the hope that's possible in spite of the pain.  He's a great singer, songwriter, and musician.  Thanks, Steven, for an unforgettable, inspiring evening.

Labor Day Weekend

It's Saturday of Labor Day weekend, what better time to work on a few household chores?

Baird and Drew took advantage of the cooler temps to do some gutter repair work this morning.

I love my handymen!