I have always craved more of the "stop by" to combat the feeling one can get of isolation in a city where we have no blood relatives (well, now a cousin has finally moved her, yay Ace Levenberg). While I still don't really understand the famous Seattle freeze, I do know that in our busy lives we can go days between dear friend sitings, let alone neighbors.

Our times on Vashon have been good reminders to practice slowing down, talking a bit longer with a stranger or new friend, getting comfortable with more simple days and building community just about everywhere- at the Bill's bread display at the grocery store, on the porch of the coffee roastery or while eyeing the tomatoes at a roadside farm stand.

As we've been back and started the daily ritual of walking down the hill to school and up the hill to pre-school, I had noticed that Wallingford has a few more places for us to stop, slow down and connect. The fruit trees are amazing right now and stopping to climb up and grab beautiful apples and plums had provoked conversations with strangers about best recipes and ways to get the worm free apples from the top branches. The little urban libraries scattered about provoke us to think of what books we might want to share with neighbors. The sweet flower stand (have you seen the orange umbrella and the table on 42nd street?) of a neighbor allows for you to pick a bouquet and pay what feels right, what you can. I call these velcro points- ways for us to connect and to feel community.

This week, I have created another community spot for us to share. The Greater Good Granola porch program went live and I delighted in hearing footsteps on the stairs from new friends and old who are coming to grab their designated jar of granola. I have often popped out to say hello. The girls intentionally sat on our porch swing to wait and see who was coming to our porch next so they could chat with them and tell them any/all important details about their day. I heard from neighbors and friends via phone and email and shout outs from the street corner about how much of their two pound jar they had consumed in just the first day (two of you sent me a photo!). And this is the greatest gift- to be in better touch, to have the spontaneous short connective chat, to know that I'm delighting people with this delicious jar of yum and starting a pot of donations to offer to Familyworks at the end of December. This is truly the Greater Good.

Should I have a cooler on the porch with milk, bowls and spoons so my granola subscribers will linger a little longer? (or partner with Smith Brothers?) Perhaps I'll do that down the road. For now, I look forward to seeing more of you on my porch to grab the granola, to have a swing, to sit on our bench, to connect.