By the way

All Col and Rose will remember about our camping trips when they’re 40:

The big stand up:

Col, contemplating, as Dan and Rose go ever higher:

Father and daughter, approaching what’s next, hand in hand:

The picture that Rose made us pose way too long for, plus why is she turning the camera sideways, oh, just let her go for it, we’ll erase it later, but hey, it actually turned out pretty good:

By the way, the delightfully exciting thing that is happening here in this household is that the kids and the parents are meeting at the precise crossroads of intersecting movie tastes. Which means family movie night need not include the predictable foibles of an animated, whining monkey. Though, it does seem to include Rose asking approximately twenty question per scene.

We all recently gathered on the couch to watch The Right Stuff, a historical dramatization of the early inroads of NASA’s space program. We all loved it! It had aviation excitement (for Col), and relationship subtleties (for me and Rose), the intense rigours through which astronauts were put in hopes of being selected (Dan), and an interesting look at striving in the name of national pride, and (holy moly), the extreme risk-taking personality laid bare. A lesson in so much.

We also recently loved, Wild Horse, Wild Ride (instant play on Netflix), a documentary on a program in which people are given 100 days to tame a wild mustang. The film follows several different contestants and their horses, detailing their different approaches, and ultimately their love and connection with these large, wild and soulful creatures.

I would love any suggestions you all have for family friendly movies. Col is 10, Rose is 8. 

I also want to recommend the memoir, Merle’s Door: lessons from a freethinking dog, by Ted Kerasote. It’s a beautiful story chronicling Kerasote’s adoption of a feral dog near the San Juan River, and what he learns over 14 years of honing his communication with the dog. They build an unusual relationship, based more of mutual understanding and compromise (much like the kind of parenting I strive for) than the typical insistence on obedience. I read portions of this to Col and Rose, which they also loved.

Book recommendations welcome, too, as always.

Also, I am teaching two upcoming classes, to which I’d like to invite you:

Fermented Beverages: Kombucha and Ginger Ale

Tuesday, July 14th 6pm – 7:30, at Durango Natural Foods Co-op. (970) 247-8129. Co-taught with Jennifer Smith.

Learn the art and science of making these easy, delicious, living & nutritionally-beneficial drinks.
Participants will sample both drinks, go through a step by step process to make each,
learn how to obtain a kombucha scoby & go home with a ginger ale starter.
Free scobys [an acronym for Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast] available to first 7 sign ups!

* little known fact: I’ll be bringing the latest batch of chokecherry mead. Potent stuff.

* other little known fact: Jennifer Smith, my co-teacher, is a wealth of nutritional information.

$17/Co-op member $20/non-member
Space is limited, so prepay/sign up with one of our friendly Co-op cashiers.

Wild Weed Identification and Cuisine

Soaking dandelion greens and purslane: our daily multivitamin.

Wednesday, July 29th, 6pm – 7:30, at Durango Natural Foods Co-op. (970) 247-8129

Common garden weeds are packed with nutrients, adapted to native soil conditions and natural rainfall. Meet at Rachel’s in-town garden to identify common, edible weeds, discuss history, culture, philosophy, learn the best time to pick them, which parts are edible and how to prepare them.
Learn which common weed has Omega-3 amounts to rival flax seeds; and which plant has more nutrients than spinach, though will never ask as much from you as a gardener.
Learn appetizing ways to introduce these nutrient dense plants into your meals.
Return to the Co-op to enjoy delicious creamy amaranth-artichoke dip as well as a diverse wild weed salad!
Recipes & handouts included.

$17/Co-op member $20/non-member
Space is limited, so prepay/sign up with one of our friendly Co-op cashiers.

Amaranth: gorgeous and free.

I absolutely love teaching this class on edible weeds. Eating the highly nutritious plants that flourish without fuss feels like one of the most revolutionary acts we can perform at home.

With love,

Rachel

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