Got Food?

YES, do you have food?
I hope so! Many in Oregon - and throughout the U.S. - do not.
"Food insecurity" - better known as "hunger" - touches too many families. If you had a nice dinner tonight and don't have to worry about tomorrow's cupboard rations, you can be very, very thankful.
After watching the movie "Food Inc." I was looking around the Internet and googling places nearby that sell grassfed beef. That's how I came upon Mossback Farm in Yamhill, Oregon. After reading more about their farm, I see they even offer opportunities to come and stay, work and learn how life on a farm really goes. Very tempting, what with the exquisite scenery and all. I just might have to put that on my list of things to do one day. Rich, the farm co-owner, noted that he was blogging for food. I had already made a Valentines Day donation to the Oregon Food Bank, but wanted to let others know they had an opportunity to donate. (Or choose your own state's food bank. I'm sure they've got one!)
I know the "food" I show in this photo is not what one might serve for dinner, and half its calories come from fat, so it's truly not a good choice for your main meal. (The candy is actually in homage to Steve's recent blog/rant on Cadbury's and Hersheys. No mistaking the chocolate for a tea packet, Steve.)
But ... back to hunger: If you're like some unlucky folks, and you've already spent most of your income on rent, heat, lights, water and medicine, where else will you cut back? For a lot of people, they cut back on food.
Hungry is an awful way to live.
Children who are under nourished don't develop properly either - physically and mentally. What does that mean to our American future?
If you can all spare even $5 each, consider how much that can help the cause when it's all added up. Click on the beet/turnip (?) to the left and you'll suddenly be at the Oregon Food Bank. Donate and I can assure you it will make you feel much better about life with that good warm glow in your heart.
Now for something completely different: I FOUND my dragonfly earring that had "gone missing" in ... what? January? I have made many sorties looking for it and have discovered that I am completely demented when it comes to giving up on something I am determined to have! (Have I ever told you about the Mister's and my courtship? Well, another time, perhaps.)
Anyway, there I was at lunchtime walking in the sunshine, taking photos, and I suddenly realized I had dropped my camera bag. (See a pattern of losing things here?) I retraced my steps and recovered the bag, but now my walk had changed direction. I was headed where I had been walking when I lost that earring. I looked closely at the ground hoping something would glitter. I noticed a paper clip on the cement near our local BiMart and thought, "My earring is just about that big, so if I noticed the paper clip I surely would see the earring." Lo and behold, there it was about five more steps away next to the pallets holding clay pots. It's not difficult to determine which was out in the weather, is it? It will need some help before it goes back to work.
The weather here in Oregon has been awfully pretty lately. The witch hazel is almost finished blooming, so I'm glad I got a picture of it during my walk. There was a magnolia ready to pop, so I'm sure you'll be seeing that soon.
And this tree bark that naturally separates into what could be "sheets" of parchment for a book. I wonder if I started pulling it apart if I would be arrested. (It does not belong to me.) Isn't it going to fall off anyway? Such a great project piece! I used Photoshop on the tree, so it's not totally "real" but close enough - femminismo