Rainy weekend

It's cold, dark, and damp, and for the past two days, I have retreated into my cocoon, reading, cooking, and surfing the internet. It hasn't been completely unproductive.

I've been able to try some new recipes --a "dutch baby" apple pancake and a friend's slow cooker Italian beef. Today, I'll be roasting root vegetables...the latest local harvest.

By net surfing and reading my eyeballs out, I've learned a lot about other communities'  GO LOCAL programs-- something I would love to see happen here in Chautauqua county.  We have some unique locally owned businesses run by community-minded people. They are the ones who build a community and keep it humming. These places are far more interesting to out-of-town visitors than the usual ubiquitous chains. But where do you find critical mass for this kind of GO LOCAL program in a county whose Chamber of Commerce includes the  "local" WalMart in its version of a "shop local" promotion?  So much to ponder.

It's the "usual suspects" like Bellingham, WA and Austin, TX that have the most  fully developed programs up and running.  Sonoma county, CA also has some great ideas.  Feel free to explore these links and do your own brainstorming and dreaming of what could be.

And I WILL get out of the house this weekend.  On Sunday alone, there are choices like Oktobenefest at Southern Tier from noon till 4 to benefit the St. Susan Center; "Seed Saving 101" workshop from 3-4, led by Sharon Reed and Jim Wilmoth, Chautauqua County Master Gardeners, at Friendly Kitchen in Dunkirk;  and a 7 pm Music Salon featuring a JAZZ QUARTET at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown. 

Staying home and watching football is an option, but it's not the only one.