The Versatile Blogger Award & The Sunshine Award

I am honored to have been nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award by the poet silentlyheardonce — thank you.  Check out in particular her amazing poem, The Vanity of the Adept.  With my spirit ally Eve at my side, we stand in awe of this piece.  Read it to your mom on Mother’s Day.

Many moons ago, I was also nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award and The Sunshine Award by the extraordinary Jueseppi B., the Obamacrat.com.  Jueseppi never fails to put a smile on my face and I am inspired by his ability to do as my writing mentor long ago suggested: “talk about the hard stuff with your truth.”  I am also consistently grateful to Jueseppi for his support in the form of likes, comments, reblogs, and awards; but more for his intense enthusiasm for keeping this blogging realm thriving.  Thank you.

When the Universe comes knocking at my door twice, and in the form of two people whose work I respect, I must get up off my ass and answer!  At the time I received the nominations from Jueseppi I was so new to WordPress I didn’t feel I could accept because each award requires that I in turn nominate other bloggers, which as an introvert feels squirmy to me, and which more to the point at the time I couldn’t do with any sort of quality control.  But I’ve changed my mind on that and here’s why:

Thought matters.  Words matter.  Shared words and thought matter.  What is it to be human if not to engage the process of gathering and integrating knowledge?  And how terribly important that this process be engaged by each and every one of us.  There is great power in owning our story, in being the ones to get to tell our story.

So in the spirit of celebrating this community that fosters that ever so important human task, I am going to accept and offer up the best I can give in this moment to fulfill the duties of each award, at least in sum.  Many of the great blogs I follow aren’t on this list because they have either received these awards countless times or I sense in them my own introversion and want to respect their privacy.

To my nominees: I’ve decided that these awards given by peer bloggers are so much more than chain-letters — they are instead what we call in magic “stirring the cauldron.”  Essential work.  Therefore, despite the squirm-factor I feel when my actions create an obligation for someone else, it is with great spiraling stirs that I take my turn.  Pick up the ladle if you will, leave it if you must — it’s all good.

To my readers: I hereby nominate the following blogs in no particular order.  I invite you to visit these interesting parcels of The Commons to see what bubbles up for you.

The Versatile Blogger Award

1. visionsofapollo — Ariadne’s Daughter is a friend of Persephone, and any friend of Persephone is a friend of mine.  If you are an explorer of the inner realms, you will find here a fellow traveler.

2. Rolling Down Rodeo — I am blown away by this blog.  Read it and see for yourself.  The versatility is most definitely present, as is the author.  For a rare gift: a little translation of Hesiod anyone?

3. Kinds of Honey — As promised on her About page, Erica’s beautiful photos and writings shimmer with honey’s golden hue and leave a sweet tang on my tongue.

4. Tiny Farm and Garden — I find something daily on this site that either helps me do something on my tiny garden better or inspires me to a new project down the road.  A delightful offering of nuts and bolts how-to intermingled with cultural and historical tidbits — there is simply so much here of value.  The author has been writing since 2009 under Town and Country Garden and only recently moved to his new plot.  Do check out this site and be prepared to answer at the end of every post one of the world’s greatest questions.

5. The States United — It is this author who has prompted my current re-reading of 1984.  Clear thoughts and two of my favorite subjects: language and liberty.  Check out in particular this concise post on healthcare.  Okay, you’ve read it?  Understand the difference between care and insurance?  Now let’s really start to talk about what this country wants.

The Sunshine Award

1. Today in Heritage History — Political correctness and stupid people – bad.  Many thanks to the ill-humored author whose posts fill my day with neither, and typically leave me with nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.  I’m also guessing if this Heritage History gig gets boring for Peter Kevin Connell there’s a job in Orwell’s Records Department that could benefit from his skills.

2. soilentgreens — The voice in this blog is fabulous!  I love reading my getting dirty in the dirt information from such a down-to-earth, knowledgeable, irreverent source.  In the author’s voice as she writes about contemporary issues pertinent to our food supply, I hear my own passion and incredulity.  And if you are interested in doing your part to support small, local farms so that none of us end up having to eat soylent green, consider making a donation to support soilentgreens’ farm.

3. gettin’ fresh — Sharon and her sister are practically my neighbors and it’s thrilling to know they are just over the North Carolina line in Virginia scratching in the dirt along with me, usually in pretty much the same weather!  In the fight for our food supply I am cheered by stories from the front lines.

4. Penny’s Garden: a harvest beyond my front door — It is also comforting to know that across the globe in Australia someone else like me is venturing into the great unknown of their door yard.  I read Penny’s blog not only for this companionship, but also for great gardening ideas and even for the tinge of jealousy that comes from hearing of her fresh zukes when it’s dead of winter here.  It is after all that longing for fresh veggies that makes the blisters worth the while.

5.  Aquaponic Family — this has got to be the coolest family on the planet (okay, except of course my own).  But really, check out their site and the awesome way this family is growing their food.  And no, not in Hawaii . . . on their back porch in Acworth, Georgia.  If my gardens fail, I’m heading south.

I conclude with the sharing piece each Award requires, for a total of 16 shares, 7 of my own making and 9 prompted:

1. My favorite color is green-blue-white-brown: the color of the earth from space.
2. I love any food that is warm and mushy and full of fat, like mac & cheese, fettucine alfredo, or mashed potatoes and stuffing.
3. My favorite non-alcoholic drink is Jake Juice, water with a splash of 100% cranberry juice.
4. I am not on Facebook or Twitter.  It isn’t the virtual aspect of those communities that bothers me, but rather that they foster the creation of fake community namely to sell products.
5. I write a blog for a local moving and storage services company.  And no, we aren’t on Facebook or Twitter . . . yet.
6. If I could meet any poet, alive or dead, I would choose to meet Wallace Stevens and I would ask him to read me The Plain Sense of Things.
7. I am a practicing witch studying in the Reclaiming and Feri traditions of magic.
8. I prefer to give gifts.  Do not ask my husband about this issue: I am not at all good at gift receipt.
9. I was adopted at birth and I have a relationship with my birth family.  I have A LOT of moms and dads.
10. My favorite number is 38.
11. I have seen the musical Les Miserables too many times to count, not sure why, though I even caught it in Prague in Czechoslovakian; it cost one USD.
12. Friday is my favorite day of the week.  I like the way the energy feels in the early evening on a Friday — it tastes free, potent.
13. I believe in fairies.
14. I am passionate about love, beauty and breathing.
15. My favorite animal is the human.
16. My favorite pattern is the lemniscate.  It is, after all, the equation we’re all riding.

© Jennifer S. and harvestliberty.net, 2012.

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*The Versatile Blogger Award carries the following duties:

• Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.
• Inform them of the nomination.
• Thank the person who nominated you and maybe add a link to their blog.
• Share 7 things about yourself.
• And you can add the award’s logo to your blog.

*The Sunshine Award carries the following duties:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog.
• Answer 9 questions about yourself: favorite color, animal, number, non-alcoholic drink, pattern and day of the week; preference for Facebook or Twitter; preference for giving or receiving gifts; and articulate your passion.
• Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers who bring sunshine to your life.
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
• Share the love and link the person who nominated you.