Labor Day weekend, often called the workers’ holiday, is time to take a break from our everyday jobs (special thanks to restaurant servers, toll collectors, gas station workers etc. who are working!)
Typically on Labor Day weekend, we spread out on the beach, picnic in the woods, barbeque on our patios, or perhaps join Tracie Adams in “We Built a Porch” where she describes herself “lounging on the porch listening to the swaying branches, the neighing horses, the greening pastures.” (To read more of Tracie’s inspiring writing, check out her website and her latest book: Our Lives in Pieces.)
Old-Fashioned Advice.
Rejecting the pull to go-go-go, buy-buy-buy. Turning off the news, the shows, the ads. Finding inner peace. All of it, small acts of rebellion.
Like eating food we grow ourselves.
In Punk Rock Produce, Greg Santollo writes, “We believe food should not be a luxury. That preserving the harvest by freezing, canning, drying, and storing—isn’t [just] some old-fashioned hobby, it’s a survival tool. One our grandparents used because they had to. And maybe we should too.”
My family eats produce from our backyard and local farms. (The tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers, melon, sunflowers, & herbs in the image below are all grown in our NJ yard.) Tending the garden, chopping the vegetables, cooking and eating the meals: we do it together. Just like our ancestors did. It’s nurturing both in terms of nutrients and fulfillment.
Hoping you, your family & friends enjoy some old-fashioned good times, especially this long weekend!
What old-fashioned advice do you recommend?
Wonderful piece Liz. Thank you, hope you’re having a wonderful weekend with loved ones.
Happy Labor Day, Liz! 🙂