I'm visiting family in Virginia. Virginia is full of leaves-everywhere. On the grass, in the streets, in the driveways, in clear bags piled up against the houses. Some of the neighbors are using leaf blowers to blow them into the streets, but the wind is going to blow them right back into the driveway tomorrow. I want to take them all home with me. They don't appreciate them here in suburbia. Nobody here owns a compost tumbler. They all have three cars in their driveways. I think they may not have heard about carbon imprint yet. But the city does have a recycling program for just about everything man makes. The also have 'free cycle' where you can give stuff away to someone who wants it. I think it is a great idea. It doesn't have to go to the dump and it doesn't have to be made again. It's so easy to help others reduce their carbon imprint.

One troubling thing I saw was a so-called "health-food store" with every vegetable wrapped up in plastic, exotic foods from all over the world, all at a premium price. They had a coupon for $1.00 off a particular brand of butter, so I went to check it out. The price of the butter is $6.99 for one pound. I decided that the coupon would not help me to want to spend that much for a pound of butter during the holiday season when we will be using it all up quickly.

So far, no butter from the health food store and I'm not going to be able to take all the leaves in the city home with me either. But, I did meet some people who have a black walnut tree and they don't like black walnuts, so I gathered them all up to take home with me. This city has redeemed itself a little in my book.

I left my compost tumbler full at home. I hope someone is tumbling it for me while I'm here in suburbia drooling over leaves.

Saturday before Thanksgiving