Gathering for a meal

Gathering for a meal. A human phenomenon that all of us, no matter our language, our religion, social status, dietary preferences, gender associations, rich or poor, inherently share.

To be invited into someone's home for a meal can be an extraordinary experience.

I've been going through the Nepal archives lately. It's part of the process of picking myself back up from the slump that a number of you have read about and seen. I'm most thankful for those who have dropped some love and phoned me directly. I promise I am significantly better now. I've got a lot to look forward to, and a good chunk of that is seeing/catching up with/venturing with some of you.

Nepal has been such an immense part of my life since 2015. When I say Nepal, I refer to the whole experience - the land, oh that sweet, sweet chiseled mountainous terrain we call the Himalayas, the elements, the people, the generosity, the chaos, smells, sounds, textures, the juxtaposition of life and death, deep ancient traditions with modern influences, and the squat toilets.

The meals, too, of course. The shared meals with the locals are something else.

#foodisfree

As I was packing up and before I left my parents' house this evening, I decided to do once more something no one really does in our neighborhood - I would pick dozens of sweet grapefruits from our backyard and encourage folks walking by to take as much or little as they fancy.

The concept isn't new to me. The @foodisfree project is one that I've followed and admired for years. It's one of thousands of wonderful ideas, if done and implemented at a widespread level, would and could move us to a real sharing economy, and as Shareable calls it - "sharing cities." That's the type of future I want to live and take part in. 

But where my parents live in suburbia Los Angeles ain't like parts of Portland, Berlin, Amsterdam, Seattle, or even the various small towns and rural communities I'd been a part of where neighbors know one another, spend time in their front pouches/yards, openly share resources and support one another, etc. No, this is one where there's not even a dedicated sidewalk, one where ornamental and non-native grasses dominate the manicured landscape, where the sounds of internal combustion engines from vehicles and mowers along with water-wasting sprinklers are the main sources of sounds throughout any day. 

This is the unsustainable American dream that so many people have bought into without realizing the disconnection it has brought forth from natural cycles and one another. 
The concept of food being free and the fair share of abundance (e.g. food) with everyone can be viewed as a socialist nightmare for many in the US. But I don't see it that way. I see possibilities where others see a pipe dream. I see the hungry and homeless having sustenance and shelter by the dissolving of greed and scarcity. I see these possibilities becoming a norm where we regenerate ourselves, each other, and our earth instead of extracting it as if it contains infinite resources. I see little acts like this - the simple sharing of fruits - a rebellion against a system so ingrained, so utterly off-sync with our true natural selves of compassion and empathy, that perhaps that is all it would take for someone to wake up from their trance. I'm ready to meet you there. 🙌🏽

Beacon Food Forest featured in MOHAI, Seattle

Several days ago, I visited MOHAI (Museum of History & Industry) in Seattle, where they have been showcasing an exhibition called "Edible City" since November last year. The Beacon Food Forest is amongst many featured in the beautiful exhibition telling stories of restaurants, chefs, farmers, and edible gardens in and around the region since the city was just a small port. The project has a special place in my heart (as mentioned in the previous post, too!) and I am very happy to have a couple of my photographs taken during my involvement with the purely community-driven, permaculture-inspired project. I can definitely recommend a visit if you live or are visiting Seattle in the near future. The "Edible City" is just one of several exhibitions at MOHAI, and it'll be on display until September 10 this year. Check out MOHAI at their site @ www.mohai.org