Trying New Things and Taking Our Time
As our communities open up, they’ve experienced a flood of events, celebrations, weddings, and long-postponed travel. As much as I relish this new found freedom, the busy cafés and bustling sidewalks, it also seems necessary to venture out of our snail shells slowly, protecting our soft centers. Rules of how to function publicly have changed repeatedly in the last 18 months, a trend that will continue for a while yet as health risks spike and recede, and recommendations and restrictions follow suit. It seems like we continually need to re-learn how to interact. It is almost as if, after a long hibernation, we went out and sat in the sun, soaking up all those rays, only noticing that once we returned inside that our skin was tender and pink. Let’s all remember our sunscreen and venture out carefully.
Nature metaphors aside, it’s clear that, as individuals, we need to stay flexible. In this issue, we explore businesses which have turned to adaptation as a survival strategy. Trillium Café has remained busy in the midst of pandemic challenges by embracing their stunning garden dining space, providing excellent food while safely serving more diners than ever. Michael Foley and Sara Grusky are discovering what it means to be local legacy farmers in the midst of a drought. How do they continue their dream of producing exceptional vegetables and goods when the lifeblood of any agricultural venture is restricted? What does farming in the age of climate change look like? Focusing on that most precious resource—water—we look to local hydrologist, Anna Birkas, to explore greywater and other water conservation measures you can use on your property.
The pandemic has shown us what is truly valuable. Even as we yearn to leave that experience behind us, it has been interesting to see what has been transformed. The shut-down unveiled what was working—and what was not. It revealed and condensed the most precious parts of our lives. I have multiple friends who, as a result, are considering changing careers, moving to new locales, or re-defining relationships. Many of these changes are a direct result of the pandemic-inspired process of focusing on what is really important—loved ones, livelihood, shelter, and water. Little by little, we are re-learning how we do this living life stuff, venturing out of our shells and exploring what truly works for us.
Fall, typically a time of abundance, provides a perfect opportunity to put into practice attitudes and actions that reflect our newly clarified values. There is a whole lot of vulnerability in trying new things, revising how we interact. But if we’ve learned anything in the past year and a half, we know that we will figure this out as we go, even if it is at a snail’s pace.
Holly Madrigal, Publisher
Thank you, Cozette!
This issue we’ve been lucky to have help from an intern. The talented and capable Cozette Ellis curated and designed the art page; researched, wrote, and designed the center spread; and curated and wrote the Ripe Now column. Cozette is a senior at UC Davis studying design. She grew up in Boonville and has a passion for community-centric design and illustration. Cozette is director for the 2022 Whole Earth Festival, a community celebration of art, music, and dance, that occurs every Mother’s Day weekend in Davis, California.
