ARE YOU MY GRANDMA?

If life were fair, we'd all have wise old relatives who lived nearby, and we'd have wonderful memories of spending time with them in our youth, as they shared their bountiful wisdom with us and passed along all the tools we would need to live a simple, green and frugal life. My friend Paula had a grandmother like that. Paula and her sister Ginger grew up in the heart of Houston, but pretty much every weekend was spent on her grandmother's farm near Normangee, which was surrounded by those of all her aunts, uncles and cousins. There were no TVs or movies or such there, so Ginger (the tomboy) spent her time hanging out with the guys - riding horses, fixing fences, taking care of animals, shooting snakes and such. Paula spent all of her time either with her nose in a book, in the kitchen with her mother, or in the vegetable garden with Granny. I'm sure there were many times that they whined and begged to stay in Houston to hang with their buds, but you would be amazed at the wealth of knowledge that those girls absorbed during those weekend visits!

Alas, I had no one like that in my life, which is why I am ever so grateful for the blogosphere - the source of most all of my good-life mentors. If it weren't for blogs like Down To Earth, Towards Sustainability, Eyes of Wonder, Lifescapes and Beauty That Moves, I would never have traveled so far, so quickly, from being a big city suburbanite bent on consumption. And so, I want to thank each of these bloggers (and so many more!) from the bottom of my heart, for adopting me so to speak. For taking me under their wings, just as any loving granny would do, and making my journey just a wee bit easier.