I'm mostly on Facebook or All Things Plants.

There's a lot of great advice here. I just wanted to share my first thought which is, "Yikes!" Additionally, here's a story/fable I've always loved that you could share with your family about a Mexican fisherman: An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?” The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.” “But what then?” Asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!” “Millions – then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

II’m still here…sort of. Mostly lurking because aside from the orchid GH I can't do much gardening. I was diagnoseed with stage 2 COPD a while ago and this and the heart disease are kicking my butt. Hubby helps me with the orchids and a few years ago when I got sick we created a new garden with mostly native flowers that take care of themselves with very little help from us. This flower garden is all we have but it's beautiful and butterflies love it!

Jay Foursee said, "Imagine the carbon footprint of that loaf of bread. Seems like a silly thing to do, when you can make a loaf of bread worth of dough for next to no cost in 5-10 minutes." The bread is sourdough, which needs a starter. I do not have the desire to create, and/or maintain, sourdough starter, even though sourdough is my preferred bread. And, with every new subscription, the company donates four meals to the Greater Boston Food Bank.