It’s pouring rain outside. Again.

I love Eugene, and I’m a Northwest native (“Clan of the webbed toes”) so rain doesn’t really register most of the time, but after a spate of gardening last weekend I’m getting a bit fed up with February, and March is threatening to march in this weekend looking suspiciously similar to it.

I concede that I have nothing, comparatively speaking, to complain about. You East Coasters are having a winter for the record books and the most recent storm means that many of you can’t even see this post because the power is out, and I really, truly, feel for you.  Weather over there has gone from “inconvenient” to “Dorothy’s house just flew by the front window,” and you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Nobody on either coast, then, would fault any of us for daydreaming about warmer, drier climes.

Getting to those locales is weighing heavy on my mind, though. Notwithstanding the cost (both financial and environmental), we all know the real truth: food on airplanes is mostly pretty wretched stuff. To add insult to injury, now we have to spring for it.

I was pondering this dilemma awhile back, and my wool-gathering turned from the destination to the journey, and what, exactly, I’d pack in my Lunchsense lunchbox for the trip.  I realized I had a few constraints, as follows – all the food would have to be:

1) Relatively non-perishable since the FSA would confiscate the ice pack (although we CAN pack ice in the drink bottle, then dump it out before boarding the plane, then get more ice on board, if absolutely necessary);
2) Lacking in any liquids or gels in quantities over 3 oz.;
3) Free of un-neighborly foods like allergens (i.e. nuts) or really aromatic stuff like, oh, limburger; and most of all
4) A meal that will be the utter envy of my cabinmates. A meal that will make the security guards that x-ray the lunch box stop the machine and stare in awe. A meal that will have passengers climbing over seat backs to get at it.

I realized at this point I needed professional help.

I needed a chef.

Enter good friend Andy Roybal, who took my constraints and weighed in with this response:

I would not worry about the temperature control because food has a 4 hour window in which it is safe and you would want some of the items to come up to room temp for better flavor.
The menu:
Rice is out because cold rice sucks but I would do Inari Nigiri – Sweet Rice wrapped in Fried Tofu Skins, it is normally served cold and three pieces would fit nicely into one of your containers. Along with that I would have a container of Soba Noodle Salad (again served cold) with julienne Green Onion, Carrot, Cucumber, and Red Pepper in a Soy-Ginger Dressing. Then you need some veggies… Soy Beans to the rescue! Edamame seasoned with Hawaiian Sea Salt, Toasted Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil would be a nice. Here are a few more ideas… no harm in more vegetables, so let’s add a small side of Seaweed Salad available at most Asian stores already prepared. If you still have room… some home made Teriyaki Chicken would be nice… you can eat it cold and that rounds out your meal with a bit of protein. You do get to bring on 3 oz of liquid, so in the small salad dressing container, I would fill it with some Sake!

That would be my meal. I hope that helps… if you don’t like that one I was thinking of a Middle Eastern Lunch of Falafel, Hummus, Baba ghanoush, Tabbouleh, Yogurt Sauce and lots of Pita Bread.

Thank you, Andy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

(Aside to Andy: The last line about kills me – “if you don’t like that one…” Oh fer heaven’s sake, Andy, have you FLOWN lately? Do you know what you’re up against?)

Can’t you see it? You get on the plane with your tidy little lunchbox, and about midflight when your cabin mates are prying the plastic wrap off their nine-dollar “club sandwiches” and trying to discreetly open little mayonnaise packets with their teeth you pull this feast out, smooth your cloth napkin (included) on your lap, smile graciously to them, and dig in?

So – what would you pack?

To all of us – hang in there, spring’s just around the corner. In the meantime, I’m going to daydream about warmer, drier, beautiful places. Like Eugene in August.

p.s. Stay tuned – Andy says he’ll come up with recipes for the goods above.

p.p.s. And if dreaming about good food isn’t enough, slide on over to foodgawker for a visual, virtual orgy of good food AND good photography.

I’ve got a confession to make.  I’m not the Greenest person in the world.  Wait!  Before you strap me to the back of a wild orca, or string me up a Redwood tree, hear me out—please.  I’m not that bad.  I haven’t cashed any kickbacks from ExxonMobil or Dow.  I recycle, I carpool, and I (usually) walk my boys to and from school each day.  I live in Eugene, Oregon for goodness’ sake, a haven for organic, natural fiber, tree-hugging types.  You can get publicly flogged for tossing compostable foods into a trash can here.  So what’s my environmental atrocity?  I’m a stay-at-home-dad who needs to prepare two reasonably healthy lunches every weekday morning before 8 a.m., and I’m not a morning person.

Still doesn’t sound so deplorable?  Well, it started years ago while I was working evening shifts at a local newspaper.  I simply wasn’t getting enough sleep, and it slowly became harder and harder to perform my morning chores as a walking, slit-eyed zombie.  My wife would wake the boys and set them up with a cereal/oatmeal/bagel-type breakfast before placing a cup of strong, black coffee on my night-table, shoving me (hard) and slingshot-ing herself off to work.  I would often stay in bed until the last possible second when I would force myself upright, slurp down one, then two cups of java and frantically prepare my sons for school.  In this weakest of possible conditions, I abandoned good sense and succumbed—to individually packaged, grab-and-go food items.  Yes, I really should have known better, but (please forgive me) my boys just gobbled those fruit cups, yogurt tubes and energy bars right up.  The worst part?  I don’t work the night-job anymore, yet I still (occasionally) ignore my want-to-be-Green conscience and opt for convenience.  This is an inexcusable exercise in poor judgment, but there are no two ways about it—“it’s not that easy being Green.”

In 2008, U.S. residents, businesses and institutions produced 250 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), commonly referred to as “trash.”  This amounts to about 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day.  We recycled and composted 83 million of the 250 million tons.  The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that residential waste (you and me) accounted for 55-65% of the total MSW generation.  Containers and packaging made up nearly 31% of the 250 million tons.  Only two manmade structures on Earth are large enough to be seen from outer space: the Great Wall of China and the Fresh Kills landfill.

So, should I hang my head and skulk around with a Scarlet Letter sewn to my guilty conscience?  Yes, in all honesty I probably should, but we at Lunchsense like to view the Green Movement as just that—a movement; a progression from a toxic, yellowish-neon shade to the deepest emerald hue.  Clearly, you can’t plot me on this Green graph next to Ed Begley Jr., but by recognizing and addressing my own waste problem, I am heading his way.  Rather than dodging the Green Police and fretting over whether I’m “Green” or not, I’m simply accepting the continuum and trying to become Green-er.  Now (thanks to Nancy), I utilize reusable containers much more frequently, and I also buy bulk when I can.  There are a number of tasty items available in this under-appreciated section of the supermarket.  And remember–you can buy as much or as little as you need.  Ask yourself how you can limit the amount of waste you produce each day and share your own confessions/suggestions with us.  By increasing our awareness and making the most of our Lunchsense, we can all grow Greener each day.

There are moments in running a biz that generate an “I have arrived!” feeling. They include:

- my first sale
- getting the patent on the lunchbox
- my first TV interview
- my first newspaper article
- my first “hey, I saw somebody with one of your lunchboxes at work and they said they loved it!” from a friend

They are moments that give me a huge boost: I really like what I do, and I know I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing at this time in my life, but it always helps to know other people occasionally agree with me.

This is the latest: Lunchsense lunchboxes got a very nice mention in the latest cookbook from Jennifer McCann, “Vegan Lunch Box Around the World, 125 Easy, International lunches Kids and Grown-ups will Love!” available here.  Jennifer is also the author of the Vegan Lunchbox blog, veganlunchbox.blogspot.com – a fine stop for anyone looking for lunch inspiration, vegan and otherwise (the latter category being the one I land in). Please do check out the blog and the book!

With the New Year well underway, it seems like a good time to do a little accounting. No, I don’t mean finally opening the credit card bills you’ve been hiding for the last several weeks (though you should at least take a peek before attempting your next purchase). I’m talking about considering your Karma account. “Karma account?” you might ask. Yes, that’s right, and we all have one. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, in my world I have my own version: “It takes a bunch of friendly neighbors to get me through my to-do list.” Sure, some of you (those without children, of course) might be more independent than that, but honestly, don’t we all get by “With a Little Help from Our Friends?” Where would any of us be without an occasional favor? The luckiest among us live in vibrant communities full of helpful neighbors, and the best way to keep ourselves on the right side of this vital group is to pay attention to our Karma accounts. If yours is anything like mine, it looks a lot like the check-book after Christmas . . . “I owe, I owe, I owe.”

Okay, so we’ve all been getting, and it is our turn to do a little giving. What do we do? Obviously, there is the ever popular returned favor, like for like: you picked-up my boys from school last week when my washer exploded and flooded our house, so I’ll get your daughter this week while you are waiting for your son’s broken arm to be set. It’s all nice and tidy, Karma in/Karma out. But, perhaps you are few favors down. Or, you really want to gift a close friend. Maybe you want to get the attention of a new friend or co-worker who (if you are single) also happens to be very cute. I’d like to suggest that timeless Karma classic: treating someone to lunch. This might seem like an obvious choice to some, but before you make those reservations at the swankest hip spot in town (remember those credit card bills), or (Heaven forbid) start jotting down orders for the nearest drive-through, consider the word: “treat.” Yes, it implies you’re paying, but what else?

To treat also means things like to care for, to entertain, or more suggestively, to heal (as in, what ails you). Synonyms for a treat include delicacy, ambrosia, or the simple, charming goody. Any sandwich that starts with the word “Big” and ends with a trademark symbol hardly fits this description. Even that $12 Club with the awesome cup of French Onion that’s available at Swanky Swanks falls short of truly caring for someone.

Consider this alternative: taking a few moments to thoughtfully prepare a healthy, lunchtime snack that you can serve to your friend and enjoy on the fly. Treat inherently implies something special, so be creative and add a personal touch. Cut your carrot chips into stars, whisk up your famous vinaigrette, or maybe a little spinach dip. Include that awesome ginseng tea, or a fresh berry smoothie, and don’t forget the homemade oatmeal-raisin cookie because for many (all the kids in my house) treat means something yummy and sweet. Stack them all neatly into your Lunchsense lunchbox and find a special spot, preferably outdoors, but anywhere quietly adjacent to the beaten path should do. Invite a friend and celebrate your greenness (more Karma points) with a trash-free treat while sharing an appreciative smile. If you use your Lunchsense wisely, your Karma account could overflow.

My daughter (she’s 11) and her friend begged me to let them use my laptop a few weeks ago to watch a movie in her room, since my boys were watching some movie with stuff blowing up. I relented, but requested that they use earphones so the boys wouldn’t know. My gal pulled out the pair she’d just bought with allowance money and lent her original pair to the friend, then they turned to me and asked,

“Do you have a splitter?”

I said no, my laptop has two headphone jacks so we wouldn’t need one.
Then it occurred to me: “how come my 11 year old knows what a splitter IS and what it’s FOR?” I certainly didn’t when I was her age. So I asked, “how the heck do you know what a splitter is?”
Her friend turned to me and said, very gently,

“Nancy, we’ve grown up with this technology. WE (gesturing to herself and my girl) are natives.”

“YOU are an immigrant.”

Ouch.

But so very true.

On that note, I’m introducing a new face, a new name, and a new voice to the Lunchsense blog. Meet Chris Naugle:  Born on the East Coast and raised and educated  in the Midwest (Uof Missouri) and Northwest (U of Oregon), Chris now resides quite happily on the West Coast as married father of two elementary age boys.   Chris says he is living the Great American Novel before hoping to someday commit it to paper or at least the internet.  And this is what I get for asking for a bio at 10 pm and receiving it around midnight: He is mostly exhausted.

He also happens to be a dynamic, opinionated writer who can not only complete a sentence, he can even turn a phrase.

Perhaps you assume,

“Oh, Nancy (being an immigrant) needed a tour guide to navigate this online, technology-infused world, so Chris is the go-to guy.”

Um, no, that’s not it. Chris is also an immigrant. He’s joining me on this undertaking because as a small biz owner there’s just not enough of me to get everything done, and he’s a fine writer to boot. We immigrants to ANYTHING just need a little extra help now and then to “keep all the plates spinning,” as the old saw goes.

So then, say hello to Chris, and wish him well (and a little sleep).

Here’s that pesky postscript: after my daughter, her friend and I had that above exchange, my girl said, “Mama, don’t put that on Facebook.” This has become her stock statement after anything funny, embarrassing, or even mildly insightful and interesting comes forth. As always, I agreed to respect her wishes and keep it off Facebook.
But she never mentioned the blog.

I spend many waking hours and more sleeping hours than I care to admit working on the lunchbox biz.

This blog is meant to reflect that which I’m passionate about, including (but not limited to) good food, waste reduction and running a small biz.  I’ll readily admit I’m passionate about at least a few other things (starting with my family), but I’m inclined to keep them clear of my ramblings.   However, I had a day last year that definitely involves my family, and has absolutely nothing to do with the biz, but was so…noteworthy…that it warranted a posting.  It happened on a no-school day – President’s Day, maybe? – and involved not only my crew but a handful of local families.

Happy reading.

The Participants:

Me, home for the day.  I have three kids: Delainey (10), at Kayla’s house; Noah (8) and Evan (6), both  who are at home with me.

Lisa, also home for the day; she’s mom to Hannah (10), at Kayla’s house, and Mason (8), Roscoe (7), and Alex (6), all at home

Kayla (10) and her little brother Kai (5), both at Kayla’s house with Delainey and Hannah

Fisher, Noah’s friend, at his own home

Alexandra (10), friend to all the girls, and her mom Joan, also at their own home

My husband Mike, at the high school where he teaches, overseeing a chess tournament

The action:

Yesterday: Lisa suggests that we take a bunch of kids to the dollar theater to see “Bolt”.  They don’t get many opportunities to go to a movie in a theater, and we’re happy that it’s something ALL the kids might enjoy AND it’s at a very attractive price.

Today, 9:30am: Noah complains of general malaise; I give him a dose of Tylenol, figuring he’s just tapped out from a long weekend and will rally with the extra attention anyway, but the Tylenol won’t hurt.

11am: Lisa calls me – Mason is on task to complete his homework, but has two pages to go and will not be allowed to see the movie until he finishes.  He’s digging in his heels, and Lisa wants to know if I’m going to the movie and could take Roscoe and Alex so they don’t get punished for Mason’s transgressions.  I agree to this; I have no interest in seeing Bolt but (as most parents would know) that doesn’t really have any bearing on the day.   Since I first have to deliver Evan and pizzas to the chess tournament around noon, I can make it to Lisa’s in time to scoop up Roscoe and Alex for a 2:10 movie.

But what about the girls? Delainey wants to get together with Alexandra, and they may want to see the movie, and Hannah and Kayla might also want to see the movie, so I add it up: me+Noah+Roscoe +Alex+3 girls will fit in my van, but only if Evan agrees to stay at the chess tournament, and he’s undecided; I can’t manage a 4^th girl, and since Lisa can’t go anywhere until Mason finishes his homework, we’ll have to see if Joan can drive.

11:15: I try to call Joan, but that call is interrupted when my cell phone rings.  It’s Delainey calling from Kayla’s: she wants to know if I reached Joan to confirm her get-together with Alexandra.  I tell her I haven’t yet, but there’s a possibility we’d all be able to go to see Bolt, but it hinges on having another driver, which could be Lisa if Mason comes through or Joan if she and Alexandra are interested.  I agree to call her back when I know more; she has to check with Kayla and Hannah to see if they’re interested in the movie too.

I call Joan back: Alexandra’s itching to get together with Delainey, and any other friends would be just great, and yes, she might be interested in the movie, and yes, Joan thinks she might be able to drive.  I count again: me+Noah+Roscoe+Alex±Evan (pending chess) leaves me room to spare, if Joan could drive all the girls.

11:25: I call Delainey back, and she says they’re all interested in going to the movie.  I agree to stop by Kayla’s house and scoop up all three girls, deliver Kayla and Hannah to Lisa’s house and Delainey to Alexandra’s, do the pizza run to the chess tournament, return to Lisa’s and get the boys at 1:45, then take them to the movie.  Kayla and Hannah, meanwhile, will walk up to Alexandra’s when it’s close to movie time and Joan will drive all four girls.

Easy, easy, easy.

11:35: I call Lisa back, and she says Mason’s definitely NOT going to the movie because three other friends just arrived and Mason is playing with them and she is certain he will not get his homework done in time (and probably won’t care either).  I tell her the plan with the girls, and she figures it will work.

11:40: Fisher calls, wants to play with Noah.  I count again: me+Noah+Fisher+Roscoe+Alex±Evan (pending chess) would still fit, so I offer to take Noah to Fisher’s now, then to swing back to Fisher’s house at 1:30 to get them before I go to Lisa’s to get the other boys to go to the movie.

11:40: I load up the van with the trail-a-bike (so Evan can get home from chess with Mike), and Noah and Evan, and go to Kayla’s house.  I go in to get the girls, and there stands Kai, who also wants to go to the movie.  I count up again: me+Noah+Fisher+Roscoe+Alex+Kai±Evan (pending chess) will still fit in the van, so I say sure, he can play at the Lisa’s while I go deliver pizza to the chess tournament, then I’ll pick him up and take him with everyone else to the movie.  Besides, he’s altogether too cute and good-natured to refuse.  So Noah, Evan, Kayla, Hannah, Delainey, Kai and I pile into the van and we go to Lisa’s house.

11:45: I drop Noah at Fisher’s house with instructions that I’ll return for them at 1:30.

11:50: Joan calls, tells me that she doesn’t think she’ll be able to drive after all because she’ll need to be around for her son’s activities later that afternoon.  I tell her that the girls will probably understand, and perhaps even Lisa will be able to drive if Mason gets his act together.

11:55: I drop off Kayla, Hannah and Kai at Lisa’s house with the promise to return for them at 1:45 and instructions for Lisa and Joan to work out the girls’ transportation to the movie.

12:00: I drop Delainey at Alexandra’s.

12:25: Now with only Evan in tow, I get pizza, go to the high school, and join Mike and the chess team for lunch.

1:15: Evan has decided he wants to go to the movie, so we load up and head to Fisher’s.

1:20: I call Joan to confirm the movie transportation plan.  She doesn’t think it will happen as Delainey and Alexandra have now made other plans.

1:25: I call Lisa to tell her that those girls will not be going to the movie after all.

1:35: I pick up Noah and Fisher, and (after doubling back to get Noah’s glasses) we head for Lisa’s.

1:40: Lisa tells me Kayla and Hannah were so disappointed that they wouldn’t get to go to the movie after all that she has agreed to throw Mason and the two remaining friends of his in HER van and she will deliver Kayla and Hannah to the theater if I will keep tabs on them.  I agree to this.

1:45: I reach Lisa’s house, where Roscoe, Alex and Kai pile into the van with Noah, Fisher and Evan, and we head to the theater, following Lisa’s van with Hannah, Kayla, Mason and his two friends.  After half a morning of scheduling and rescheduling, we are FINALLY ON OUR WAY TO THE MOVIE.

1:55: Noah (in the front seat) announces to me he feels awful and thinks he might throw up.  I check, he looks ashen.  I hand him the trash bag and figure that two hours sitting in a dark movie theater won’t kill him or anybody else.  Ultimately, he does not throw up.

2:05: We arrive at the mall and hike over to the theater ticket window, where we meet Hannah and Kayla, whom Lisa has just dropped off.

2:08: the 2:10 showing of Bolt is sold out.

The two ten showing of Bolt is sold out.

THE TWO TEN SHOWING OF BOLT IS SOLD OUT.

2:09: I call Lisa and tell her the news, and she cracks up.

2:10: Lisa doubles back to the mall, picks up Roscoe, Alex, and Kai.

2:11: I return to the van with Noah, Fisher, Evan, Kayla and Hannah, then on the drive back I try and call Fisher’s house (as I don’t want Fisher to be at our house with Noah in his condition), but as I can’t reach Fisher’s parents I call Lisa and ask to leave Fisher there.

2:25: I drop Fisher off at Lisa’s.

2:35: I drop Kayla and Hannah at Kayla’s.

2:40: Noah, Evan and I return home.  Noah immediately heads for bed.

The necessary postscripts: I’m usually not this cavalier with a sick kid.  Noah was low in the morning, but rallied; he was low on the way to the movie, but the prospect of FINALLY getting to the theater had just too strong a pull on him.

Lastly, these are all wonderful kids and I’m happy to take them to the dollar theater when the opportunity arises.  Most of the time the outing does NOT turn out like this one did.

Thanks to everyone that came by my booth last weekend at Eugene’s Good Earth Home, Garden and Living Show. Thanks also to all the Lunchsense lunchbox users that waved and hollered out an impromptu testimonial!

Ever wondered what it’s like to work a booth at a trade show?  I’m happy to spill  – here goes:

T MINUS TWO DAYS: SETUP

In the two or so days preceding the show, all the vendors arrive and jockey for parking places, pushcarts, and aisle space to bring in carpeting, shelving, and cartons of sellable stuff as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Imagine moving an entire room in your home to a new location, multiply that effort by the hundreds of vendors occupying the 10’ x 10’ booths, and you’ll have a sense of what goes on before the doors open to the public.  The building management oversees this hive of activity, and at the nice venues they provide free coffee, cookies, pushcarts and handcarts, and they might even let the vendors drive onto the show floor to unload their vehicles right by the booth.  Hard work, yes, but as we’re usually pretty excited about the show, it’s not a hardship.

OPENING DAY, T MINUS TWO HOURS (OR SO)

This is when the media often make their rounds – local television, papers and radio that want to feature the show or promote a few booths.  If the booth is ready to go and the vendor is “in” they might score some free publicity.  This is also the only time that it’s actually kind of peaceful in the building, too.

Many vendors (including me) staff their booths for the duration of the event, so we get to know one another and often swap stories, do a little professional networking (though you’ll note the good trade shows never put competing companies anywhere near each other), and cover each other’s booths for bathroom breaks.  It’s a lovely little community we create there in our aisle, borne of mutual need and benefit, and it’s often all we see of the entire show.  That community begins at this time, when we introduce ourselves, check out each other’s wares, and (in the true spirit of “trade” show) we may even start bartering our goodies with one another – in fact I scored a FABULOUS pair of shoes and a hat last fall at a show.

SHOWTIME! THE FIRST DAY

Vendors are fresh and ready to talk to visitors, booths are clean and stocked to the rafters – the first day is a great time to come through a trade show!  Many vendors don’t usually stop to catch a breath until the doors close, and when they do it usually hits us that after move-in and set-up, followed by hours of standing and talking to visitors, the only thing we want is a quiet room and a soft bed.

SHOWTIME – THE REST OF THE WEEKEND

The rest of the show is usually a blur of talking to visitors, restocking shelves, making change, dashing to the bathroom in a slow moment, sneaking a bite for lunch (or dinner) in between visitors, lending a hand to a parent with a tired child, refilling the candy bowl, talking wholesale account possibilities with other business owners…and repeating.  We can get a little punchy too, so when there do come momentary lulls in the traffic we often lean on our vendor neighbors for comic relief.  ‘Ever see a rubber band zoom by and nail the boothsitter you’re talking to?  Yeah, that’d be from one of us.

And so it continues for the day the show opens to the last hour.  Here’s an insider’s note: considering that most vendors would rather sell their inventory than carry it back home, if you cruise through a show in that last hour you might find vendors who are ready and willing to make deals on their remaining inventory.

AFTER THE DOORS CLOSE – THE LOADOUT

If you linger at the doors at the closing minute of a trade show you’ll likely see the vendors shift into breakdown and load-out mode: staff dash to the venue storage areas for first dibs on pushcarts, others dash to their vehicles for cartons, and others take down signs, fold up displays and table coverings, and pack up inventory for the trip home.  Obviously, load-out is set-up in reverse, though it tends to be much less organized.  Vendors have one thought in mind and that’s to load everything back in the vehicle – in any order, usually – and get on the road towards home.   After a full weekend, the load-out is backbreaking, exhausting work which really doesn’t finish up until the vehicle is once again unloaded back at home base and all the inventory and receipts are tallied.

So why do we do this?  I think that as an online vendor, trade shows are the best, fastest, most efficient way to meet customers face-to-face and get feedback on my stuff.  As a fledgling biz, shows are a great way to get a little exposure and show the world what I’ve got to offer.  Lastly, shows are about the only time I get to network with other entrepreneurs.  Note that for me, at least, trade shows are less about making gobs of sales (though I don’t mind when that happens, certainly) than about making contact, since you, the lunchbox users, are the best source of suggestions for improvement.

Once again, for those of you that stopped by last weekend, thanks! For those of you that visited me at some other show, thanks! And for those of you who have never seen me at a trade show, stop by and say hello if you do, I’m always happy to chat!

I remember those words from my grade school days, and the perky owl that offered them up in between Saturday morning cartoons.

I look back now and realize what we were being asked: we were supposed to not drop our trash on the ground, but to actually put it in a garbage can.

Throwing trash on the ground seems downright cretin by current standards, don’t you think? Now we check labels for recycled content, and we sort all our materials, and we compost our kitchen and yard waste, and we take our electronics and leftover paints and such to drop-off sites, and maybe we even demand that producers create less packaging, not only reduce pollution but to reduce waste in the first place.  It’s exhausting sometimes, and frustrating, and often feels like a moving target.

So I’m offering this quick post to remind us all of something we are well-served to remember: We’re making progress.

Before I go, please forgive me for postscripting this chance to pat ourselves on the back: we are making progress, but not all of us at the same rate, so let’s be gentle with those that have a way to go.

Thanks!

My newly minted middle school gal came home from her first trip to the school library last week toting a beauty of a book: “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child et al.  She even admitted she whooped for joy when she stumbled across it on the shelves.

Yay.

She’s already agreed to cook dinner one night a week.

Again, yay.

Perhaps she’s finding in food what I found (at her age) in fabrics, patterns, and clothing construction: a marvelous creative outlet, not without rules but with plenty of opportunity to improvise along the way.  Follow the rules, and get very satisfactory results; take the rules and bend them, and get creations with your own personal mark.

Stay tuned, I’ll let you know what she comes up with!

I’m glad you found me, and many thanks to our fine local paper for the story.  Thorough answers to common questions:

The occasional Lunchsense delivery vehicle

How can I get a lunchbox and not pay for shipping it across town? Simple – just order up on the website, then enter your zip code at the checkout page.  The site will (by default) add a shipping charge, AND offer you a drop-down box to change your shipping option.  Open that box and select “no shipping, I’m local,” then recalculate the order and the shipping charge will be removed.

How do I get my lunchbox from you? Once I receive your order and I see that you’re in the area, I’ll give you a call or drop you an email and we can arrange a time and place to meet.

Do you make a Duck lunchbox? The forest green lunchbox is a Duck favorite!

Do you make a Beaver lunchbox? The blaze orange box is a Beaver favorite!

Do you make a Husky lunchbox? Umm….