A short walk.

When my vision at the bench gets a little blurry or my mind obsessed with some facet or another, I try to take a walk, heading down familiar trails to see what the woods have to offer in the way of wisdom and provision - perhaps the same thing in the end.

What I am typically looking for in the summer and fall are the little orange treasures among the leaves, chanterelles.

My immediate object is dinner, and I am thinking to myself in business terms: these mushrooms are tasty, free and relatively easy to spot. I am still striving in a way.

Then clarity, and the breath that I had been meaning to take.

Our families have thrown in together so that we can make a kind of life, one where we can live a bit smaller and experience a bit more wonder. We find ourselves immensely grateful to the community surrounding Bloodroot for making that life a possibility.

We have the honor of serving a tremendous group of people, each with his or her own story, and we get to hear parts of that story in the process of designing, making, and sending. Thank you.

I walk back to the shop along the creek, grateful for all that the time had to offer and hopeful that tomorrow will bring new conversation and renewed vision. And maybe a few more mushrooms.