Library BookMobile = Mobile Fun

 I love Washington.

I love farmers' markets. 

I love libraries.

So, imagine how happy I was to see that the King County Library (an inspiration in many ways) sponsored one of the themed weeks at the Auburn farmers' market this summer. I've included a photo of storytime. The bookmobile had books for check out, and there was a costumed production of The Owl and the Pussycat.

Florida folks, yes these are jackets in August. :)

Environmental Events - Free and Fun

Environmental activist and author Bill McKibben is speaking at Eckerd College at 7:30 on Wednesday, October 12. It’s amazing the number of free resources available if you live near a college. Take advantage of it! http://www.eckerd.edu/news/index.php?f=detail&id=3133

I’ve had the opportunity to hear him speak twice before, including once at a conference this summer where he spoke exclusively to independent school teachers about making their schools more sustainable. He's a visionary in the field, and he might change your way of interacting with the world around you.

One of the interesting things he said is that people have 10 times more interactions with other people at farmers’ markets compared with grocery stores. The Bradenton Farmers’ Market has now returned for the winter, and last Saturday I spoke with 5 people that I know for four different reasons…and none of those reasons was Saint Stephen’s, which is my largest social circle in the area. As I listened to potential customers ask a farmer about mache (a type of lettuce), I knew that his answers would have a better success rate at getting people to try the item compared with reading about it online. There’s something about the tactile nature of a farmers' market that encourages people to experiment with their eating.

This ties directly into my support for Geraldson’s Community Farm. I like knowing the farmers, watching the plants shoot up from the ground, and having my dinners depend on the weather from the previous months. If you want to learn more about the farm or the types of vegetables you can grow in Florida, you should come to Geraldson’s Open House this weekend from 9am-2pm. There will be games for the children, farm tours for adults, and you’ll leave with your own seedling to plant at home. http://geraldsoncommunityfarm.org/documents/OpenHouseFlyer11.pdf

Enjoy the harvest season in Florida. Eat locally, and take part!

No More Bean Sprouts, Please

I love shopping library discard piles because you never know what you're going to find. And I've recently been amused by some of the treasures of my library's discard pile that people have been thrilled to find over the past week.

Yes, weeding can be hard but it has to be done. We need space for the new! Plus, there are some awful books out there, many of which you can find on this site. http://awfullibrarybooks.net/

Here's a new favorite that I picked up last week.

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"Every day, when it's time for lunch, James finds the same food in his lunch box - bean sprouts, wheat germ, soybean sandwiches, and unsweetened yogurt. But when Uncle Wesley sends James a very special lunchbox for his ninth birthday, everything changes. James and his friends discover that the red lunch box is magic. It can change ordinary healthy food into chili dogs, brownies, or anything delicious." One day, the lunch box disappears, and James suspects Mean Mitchell, the class bully, is the thief. But will he get the magic lunch box back? Or will they have to eat healthy lunches forever?"

I think this is one that will be making the rounds this fall. It's entertaining, and off-the-wall. (Also, while I laughed over the Amazon review I found, I assume the reviewer meant that the book is "transgenre" not "transgender." Whoops.)

Unlike more recent children's stories, I challenge you to find a moral here. If anything, the moral seems to be that everyone loves junk food. Note that I'm not saying I disagree...