Chester Drawers
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3 Lessons Learned from Foxes and Farmers
Three lessons this week, as I work with intensity on shedding some old roadblocks, boil down to foxes….and farmers. Be like the foxwho makes more tracks than necessary,some in the wrong direction.Practice resurrection. I have been hyper-focused on this line from Wendell Berry’s “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” all week. I try to read a sampling from 2 or 3 inspirational books every morning before I start my day of paid linear thinking. In order to set and reset my soul, I require these early morning deep dives into reading, writing, music and absolutely no math. Wendell Berry has been in my stack of reading since college, but I…
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Essentials: Re-discovering the Daily Necessary
Does the current, um..situation have you rethinking your entire life? Maybe you’re just trying to focus on the essentials and get through this week. Either is ok. Photo by Elizabeth Explores on Unsplash I’m listening to the first few tracks of Sarah Siskind’s latest release, “Modern Appalachia” and already had the ugly cry. This is a good thing. There is something about the way she writes that triggers all the things. About 10 years ago, I drove 2 1/2 hours from Aspen back home with only “Falling Stars” on repeat in my car – after a really STEP IN SHIT eye-opening trip to visit someone I thought I had a relationship with. I…
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We’re Going the Distance
I notice while I’m walking on the trails near my house. I notice out on the open space just outside of town. We walk now with determined spacing, almost as if there is a natural repellant at work. Like ends of magnets pushing each other away. We have to distance. It’s becoming almost second nature Snap out of it! Holy cow. I took some time off from writing and most everything that is comforting, to wrap my brain around this crazy world that changed so quickly. Now, with some sanity oozing back in and my little home office properly set up – it’s time to rejoin the living. I hope…
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How to Support Your Local Farmer on a Budget
You’ve been wondering how to support your local farmer (and eat healthier!) without busting your budget. If I can, you can. Let’s do this! Sound familiar? You’re in line again at the greasy drive-through for something shaped like chicken and it hits you; Why am I eating this? The crackly speaker voice snaps you out of that dream and you get a warm bag with leaky ketchup goo at the bottom in less than 5 minutes. Drive away, one hand in the bag while your knee steers the car. I don’t know what the other hand is doing —maybe holding a quart of diet Coke. It seems cheaper and it…
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A Slow Learner’s Guide to Skiing Fast
I have a confession to make. I don’t actually enjoy the sliding down the hill part of skiing. Still, I go on most weekends, to learn to go faster – or maybe just to learn.As long as the temperature hovers around 30 or moreand the sun is shining. Let me explain It’s all downhill from here I got on the chairlift with a child who could not have been more than 6 years old. Seriously, her coat swallowed her like an oversized turtle shell and she could hardly balance the weight of her helmet as the attendant slowed the lift for her to make a little jump. She settled back…
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5 Tips for Adapting to Small Town Life
So.. you made the big decision to bail out of the city and live your dream life in a small town. Congratulations! Easy, right? Donate your dress shoes to charity, order some plaid shirts and all-terrain boots, trade your commuter car for a truck and an Amsterdam-style cruiser and you’re ready for the simple life. Front porches, neighbors, and farm markets. What could be better? Somewhere between finding that fixer-upper bungalow on a tree-lined street and unpacking your best farmhouse decor, you’re feeling a little lost. Uh oh. Where is the nearest Target? How on earth will you get Dim Sum delivered at midnight? Why is there only one network…