I'm consistently fascinated by acts of human culture that embody our deepest values in very practical, visible ways--not fascinated as an outside observer, detached in her analysis, but as a practitioner myself. Coming off a weekend conference about teaching Christian practices, my radar is especially tuned to such manifestations, which is in part why this quote from the magazine Dwell caught my attention. It's a very finely written tidbit from a small book review of Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture:

These buildings, some nearly a millennium old, are charged with the grandeur of God, as though their architects, suddenly doubting that it could be read in nature, decided to codify it in stone. The skyward vaults suggest their faith's holy order, the majestic possibilities of men working to glorify their creator, the intimation, the endurance of infinity.

One of the things we try to do each year with our students is help them see that, whether people claim to be religious or not, the things that hold deepest meaning for them (individually and as communities) come out in the ways they eat, the houses they build, the choices they make about their children, and so on. Architecture is the example we go to time and time again because it's such a powerful example in terms of its actual buildings, as well as its function as a metaphor. Add Heavenly Vaults to the reading list...

We have finally managed to move in to our apartment in Three Rivers! While much finishing work remains (trim, hanging doors, finishing windows, kitchen storage, etc.), we were able to move essential things into the space and begin staying overnight. How exciting!

A few weeks ago, we finished the floors--including painting the floor in the kitchen. As with so many steps along the way, it felt really good to have such a big piece of things finished. And it was fun to see how different elements we've been working on were finally clicking into place:

The furnace and ductwork were completed in the two weeks after the floor was finished; then our plumbing fixtures were installed. Last weekend we were able to turn our water on for the first time (with a pleasant whoosh!).

Moving our things in (and cooking!) started making the place feel like home:

As always, there are more photos available on Flickr.

Unfortunately, we recently had a number of things stolen from the basement of our building--which, of course, doesn't contribute to the sense of security home is supposed to have. Thankfully, the wonderful volunteers and board of World Fare have been very supportive as we deal with the consequences of the robbery.

On a happier note, it is wonderful to finally hang out in the place we hope to call home for a very long time. It's great to spend time in the space in non-work clothes, doing non-renovation activities; we felt we'd arrived the first time we walked on the floors in bare feet.

With the help of amazing friends and family, we moved out of our home of three years in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Thank you to everyone who helped (Kim, Chris, Kara, Ken, Gail, Michael, Alyssa, Dave, Julie, Cyndy, Duke and Beverly)!

Though the last several months at our house haven't been particularly enjoyable (given the circumstances), it was still difficult to leave. We figured out that this house was the longest place we've lived since we've been married. We'd done work in the yard--creating a stone border for flower beds; planting a rose of sharon twig and caring for it until it finally grew leaves and bloomed this summer--and lived life in the house, trying to be hospitable to friends, students and family. It's strange to still work in Grand Rapids and not be able to go to the house we called home since we moved here.

We are, though, looking forward to moving into our apartment in Three Rivers and calling it home for a long time. Unfortunately, it isn't quite ready yet, so we'll be relying even more on family and friends for shelter over the next several weeks. If all goes well, we should be able to move in to our new apartment in three weeks or so. More on the apartment progress soon ...

It's been a crazy summer for us here in Grand Rapids. Our housing situation went from stable to unstable to non-existent when the house we rent in GR recently sold before we were able to sign a lease through next summer. We have until August 21 to move.

We had already been planning to move back to Three Rivers next June (into the apartment we've slowly been renovating), so it didn't make much sense to us to find another place to rent in Grand Rapids for less than a year; the thought of finding a new apartment/house and then moving twice in 10 months was not a good option given our already-too-full lives. So we've decided to dramatically increase the pace of our renovation in an effort to finish our apartment in the next 3 weeks--a time frame which includes a week in Ontario for camping is not optional and a few Food Tour stops. Yikes.

I'll try to keep updating the blog with photos and descriptions of our renovation, but it's proving difficult to keep on top of everything going on right now. Your thoughts and prayers are needed and welcomed. Thank you to all of the folks who came out last weekend (including friends from TR, GR and my whole family from Chicagoland!) to help move things along ... you're all amazing and we're glad to have such a wonderful group of folks alongside us for this strange leg of our journey.

So lots of folks who are usually suspicious of big government conspiracy panics are perking up their ears lately and taking action regarding an impending bill that's currently in committee: H.R. 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009. The bill threatens, in the name of "food safety," to subject small farms and even garden hobbyists to the same rules as large agribusinesses, making organic and heirloom methods extremely difficult, if not illegal. Farmer advocate Alex Tiller (yep, that's his real name) has a good explanation of why this bill is significant, with links to LeaveMyFoodAlone.org, a web site set up specifically to explain the bill's dangers and help mediate our response to government officials through a petition. You can also read the full text of the bill and vote "yea" or "nay" at OpenCongress.org. Whether you do or don't support the bill after doing some of your own research, this is an issue worth looking into as individuals and as communities.

So it's really been hitting me lately how many people we know personally who are around our age and taking hold of Wendell Berry's poet farmer vision by both horns (or sprouts or branches) and putting down roots on farms. Fortunately for us, they've made the very un-Berry decision to post artifacts online so we can keep up with their inspiring stories. Moving from west to east...

• After a very cool tour of Mennonite churches to reinvigorate congregations' peace ethic and conversations, Matt and Elizabeth are pondering starting a CSA in Matt's hometown of Shickley, Nebraska.


• Dan, Julie and Harper just bought a 20-acre farm in Demotte, Indiana, after being involved with Victory Acres for a few years.


• Rachel, David and Henry are in Three Rivers, Michigan. We're looking forward to getting to know them better when we move back, but have already enjoyed their goat chevre.


• Steve has just moved to Franklin Farm, an urban agrarian intentional community in Grand Rapids.


• Mel and Steve and their brood are exploring infinite possibilities on a plot of land in Columbiana, Ohio (and they're looking for summer project participants!).


• Sarah, Henry and Moses have started Field Sparrow Farms in Cameron, Ontario.

And let's not forget our friends at Russet House Farm in Cameron and our friend Karla, founder of the Three Rivers Sustainable Food Group, who's in the process of naming her land, reclaiming her neglected farmhouse and envisioning possibilities for half a dozen outbuildings. I'm really excited to see how these projects go--and to have such neat people and places to visit!

I had a dream the other night about standing up and yelling in a church. As I sat down, I felt equally conspicuous and convicted about what I had to say in an attempt to "wake up" the congregation to its hypocrisies. But then I stood up and interrupted the speaker again, to let him know that I loved him, or that I was trying to love him, and ask if he would like to sit down for coffee with me after church. I needed to be prophetic, but also to create a humanizing connection.

It was a dream about a particular church for sure, but also, I think, about dancing and about telemarketers.

I'll save the dancing interpretation for another time, but I did want to put some of my questions about telemarketers "out there" to see if anyone has any words of wisdom. We've been receiving a lot of telemarketing calls lately--more than usual. My hunch is that it has something to do with the flailing economy; either a company recently sold off our information or companies are investing more into getting themselves into our homes in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

I don't feel badly hanging up on an automated voice or hanging up after the pause and before I hear the click that automatically puts my answer through to someone's line. However, I am troubled by the nature of interactions with very real human beings on the other end.

I have never, ever responded to a request to purchase or donate by phone. Even when my credit card company is trying to offer me "free" credit protection, I politely decline. And decline. And decline. The other day, I had refused credit protection twice, but the woman on the other end just kept talking, she just needed to confirm my information to be able to send out the packet of materials and enroll me in the program. And it wasn't a language barrier. So I changed my approach.

"Look, I understand your situation. This is your job and you have to try to sell me this thing, but I'm really not interested. I've gotten burned on a program like this before."

"I just need to confirm your information. Do you still live at...?"

I hung up. I can count on one hand the number of times I've hung up on anyone, telemarketers included.

Now, I'm sure telemarketers hear all kinds of things, including personal attacks, in the course of a day, so my hang up probably just rolled right off her back as the lights started blinking for the next call. But what if it didn't? What if she went home seething about the smart ass who "understands her situation," and yet refused to just enroll in the dumb program and cancel within 30 days so she wouldn't be charged anything?

There are several obstacles to showing love in these circumstances. The calls happen so quickly, and if we say something we regret, there's no opportunity for reconciliation because the calls are also anonymous. It's also very difficult to make a human connection in a situation which is inherently dehumanizing. On one end is a person who's been charged to make as many calls and sales during his or her shift as possible as a computer keeps relentlessly shuffling numbers along the assembly line; he or she would be replaced by a machine if possible (and often, they are). On the other end is someone whose sense of privacy and home is being violated in some foggy kind of way. (In fact, Rob and I often tell white lies for each other--"she's not available right now. Can I take a message?")

Because of the dehumanizing nature of the situation, some might argue that we're not under any obligation to try to transform it into something other than what it is. And yet, this is a small circumstance which seems to bear unrecognized possibilities. And I'm not talking about Jerry Seinfeld's snarky response: "I'm busy right now, but if you give me your home number, I can call you back later."

Am I taking this too seriously? Has anyone found an imaginatively kind way to deal with telemarketing calls or is politely declining the best recourse, even in a situation when someone is robotic-ally persistent?

For an interesting look at housing and transportation costs around the United States, check out the Center for Neighborhood Technology's Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. After selecting a region, it becomes quickly obvious that city dwellers spend less overall (as a percentage of their total income) on housing and transportation than do suburban inhabitants. I imagine this is most likely due to the increased availability of mass transit in urban centers, which allows people to live without cars (thereby significantly reducing their transportation costs). Interesting stuff ...

I wasn't planning to make an elaborate lunch today for myself, Rob and our friend Emily, but the fresh produce in our refrigerator was inspiring. Here's the menu:

• Hard-boiled eggs from Heritage Acres in Carson City, Michigan
• Mom's blueberry coffee cake made with fresh blueberries from the farmer's market
• Spiced apples with currants and toasted walnuts, sweetened with maple syrup
• Pomegranate green iced sun tea with lime

It was a delightful summer meal, eaten outside to enjoy today's cooler weather. Hearing the neighbor kids singing as they played over the fence was a perfect dessert.

Inspired by Rob's family tradition of having pizza on Sunday nights and the artisan pizzas of nearby Nantucket Baking Co., Rob and I have decided to go above and beyond frozen pizza to craft our own works of edible art on Sunday evenings. Before describing the two we've made so far, I should mention our Nantucket favorites. Kissing Da Silva has a curry creme sauce with green peppers, chicken, onions, mozzarella and red grapes. The Cultured Brute, Rob's favorite hands-down, has spinach, gorgonzola, mozarella, artichoke hearts and bacon. Our first creation began with word that there was a baker at the farmer's market a couple of blocks from our house who had amazing pizza crusts for $3. They are, indeed amazing. Here are the ingredients from our first pizza a couple of weeks ago:

• Bova Bakery Italian Herb crust
• Red sauce
• Artichoke hearts
• Pickled Garlic that a friend brought back for us from Gilroy, CA, garlic capital of the world
• Monterrey Jack cheese
• Red currants

You can see the Nantucket influence, although we don't usually eat meat at home, so our pizzas will primarily be vegetarian delights. For the one we made tonight, we had access to much more produce from the farmer's market, as well as our CSA share, which started last week. This one included:

• Bova Bakery Green Pepper/Tomato/Onion Focaccio
• Garlic butter bechamel sauce (recipe below)
• Farmer's market green pepper, asparagus and yellow squash sauteed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Fresh tomatoes
• Dill cheese from the farmer's market
• Scallions and spinach from our CSA share

We'll have to work on names that are half as creative as Nantucket. Here is a photo of the latest creation: