The Weblog
The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:
Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!
Franklin's Tower
In another time’s forgotten space…
your eyes looked through your mother’s face…
Wildflower seed on the sand and stone…
may the four winds blow you safely home…
(Franklin’s Tower-Grateful Dead)
Well, we really did make it through that very cruel weather that Mother Nature dealt us on Saturday. We had a mix of all four seasons, we had tornado to hurricane strength winds, we had the rain/sleet/snow combination, at one point, from my house, it looked like a total white out. My house was shaking, I watched shingles fly off of the garage, limbs were flying off the trees, and the wind was so fierce, I had to hold myself against one of our sets of back doors just to keep it from blowing open.
I was talking, later, with one of my oldest and best friends from the West End, and he told me that he was getting ready for the weather to hit him in Connecticut. Then he messaged me our favorite Dead lyric…May The Four Winds Blow You Safely Home.
This is my phrase for most of life’s happenings. When I think that I am at a point of not understanding where I am, how I got to a certain point, are my life choices all adding up to something, or are all signs pointing to disaster looming on the horizon, this is the lyric that I hold to my heart.
I think we all need something to ground us. To get us through. A lyric, a song, a mantra, a prayer, anything that represents a safe journey to where life may be taking you.
As I look back on my life, I have had many, many triumphs. But, with those, I have had many times that became learning lessons, necessary bumps in the road, to put me back on my course, and to direct me to where my path needed to now lead me.
This little local market of love can be our four winds, blowing us safely home, grounding us in this local community, and making the journey just a bit easier because you have friends who want to help take the stress out of anything that may be happening in your week.
When you order from us, you have the ease of online ordering, the trust that we bring you the best of the best of local products, and the love that you can only get from the hands of familiar faces…
Let us be the four winds for you, this week…
Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam