Local Florists Grow Communities

If you know me then you know that I am someone who loves flowers and plants. No matter the season, flowers are always in my home. They are bright, welcoming, and please so many senses. While I am happy to grab a bunch now and then from my local grocery store or farmer’s market, when I have an occasion to send flowers, I want to send something beautiful, something special.

If you want the best flowers then you should go through an area florist directly instead of the big internet sites. Doing so not only supports local businesses (often women-owned businesses), but it guarantees you will get more value for your money and better customer service. 

Big internet companies like 1800Flowers, Telaflora, and Avas Flowers aren’t actual florists; they are order gatherers. They have mastered SEO (search engine optimization) and use their well-honed marketing strategies to dominate most online searches, but they don’t actually know or handle flowers. They insert themselves between customers and the actual florists, charging a hefty fee (and sometimes even charging the florist a finders fee). The result is that you may think you’re ordering an $80 arrangement, but by the time the middleman takes a cut, the amount the actual florist in the area receives might only allow for the arrangement to be worth $50. Everyone is disappointed, except the order gatherers. 

Florists are creative artists who know their trade. They know what’s fresh, what’s seasonal, what looks beautiful. They know where their product comes from. They know their area hospitals, funeral homes, and wedding venues. They know their neighborhoods and their neighbors. It is worth your time to dig a little to find brick-and-mortar shops in the area where you are sending flowers. Avoiding the big businesses listed above, I use google search, google maps, and then I read reviews. From Seattle, to Vermont, to Florida, to Tennessee, this is how my family and friends get their beautiful flowers.

If you are looking for a florist in the Haverhill, MA area, I happen to love Welcome To Floristry. It’s become my happy place and my absolute go-to for gifts, seasonal decor, and of course flower arrangements. You can find them online at  https://www.welcometofloristry.net/ and on Instagram and Facebook.

Changing the Game: Gender fluidity, the pronoun revolution, and how it has the potential to end sexism

Imagine you are playing chess, and suddenly —  out of nowhere — you’re playing dodgeball. The carefully crafted rules you thought you were following no longer apply. Instead of sitting at a board with 32 pieces, strategically using your 16 to kill the queen and take the king, you now need to be on your feet, nimble, open to moving quickly and adapting. 

I think something like that is happening as discussions about gender neutral expression become more common. Some people are having a difficult time wrapping their head around the gender/identity revolution that is taking place. Younger folks, per normal, are quicker on the uptake of these types of situations. Quicker to accept people as their authentic selves. Quicker to defend people’s right to be their own truth. For some people on the far side of 40, it’s more of a challenge. 

The yearly update, with a pandemic twist

Right. So, in many ways Facebook killed the family blog, and I can’t pretend that this site is anything more than an annual check-in site for posterity. This year, I’m a little late (April instead of March) but there’s certainly happenings that warrant mentioning for the history books. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Covid-19 (aka the Corona virus) has all but halted the world. As of this writing, we — and those near and dear to us — are all healthy and sheltering in place to the best of their abilities. We are fortunate for a million reasons.

A quick family update

Elliot is in the final phase of his high school. He received two conditional acceptances to his choice schools in the Netherlands. He should hear in a month if he’s been accepted. They are limited on the numbers accepted, so even though his predicted grades are excellent (43) there’s a chance he could not get in. That has him a bit tense.  Meredith has just returned from a school service trip to Mumbai, India. It was life altering for her. She’s taking a very active interest in her finances and is hustling for babysitting jobs. Meredith decided to dye (temporarily) her hair blue. Both kids need their passport renewed, and that means Elliot now gets an adult, 10 year passport. He also had to register for the civil service back home now that he’s 18.  Larry continues to be recognized at Akamai.  And I am very busy with volunteer work, part time work at the school, and all that goes into our own strategic planning and operational requirements. Our hosting season and travel season quickly approaches, and I am very excited (and a little nervous) at what the next six months have in store for us.

Nice to see I am consistent

So it looks like every March I remember we have a family blog. Good, good.  Between the kids’ increased desire for privacy (within their control) and the convenience of Facebook for the quick updates, the family blog has fallen by the wayside. But In talking with Larry, I may take on the project of backfilling on our travels and our guests, at least. So that we can publish a blog book when we leave that will give us as much happiness and joy and all our previous ones.

Packing it all in

(Warning: This post is a bit nerdy as I delve into the art and science of packing for travel. If you only pop in here for the occasional chuckle or picture of the family, feel free to skip this one.) 

Egypt: Trip Summary

I’ve been remiss in keeping the ol’ family blog updated. In some cases it’s the same old domestic banality just in a foreign land and language (where hilarity and daily doses of humiliation ensue).  In other cases, it’s trying to respect my kids’ request for privacy (soooo hard and sooooo boring). More often, it is a overabundance of blessings that keeps me from documenting every single trip. But Egypt was different. It was different in so many ways. And even though I could write for days on our very short time there, I will start with a brief overview and some pictures for posterity.

My answer

When people ask what I’ve been doing for the last two years, here’s my answer. I have been exploring villages, cities, back roads, mountains, and canals in these countries.

*Monaco is later this month, but it was aesthetic and convenient to add it here, now.

 

a simple night I don’t want to forget

We just had dinner, just the four of us. A simple meal made up of all vegetables and mostly leftovers. It’s been a beautiful, busy winter break full of family and friends and travel and adventure, but this evening felt normal and quiet and wonderful. Just us. We talked as a family about travel, and the pros and cons of where we might like to go over Easter break. We laughed. A lot. We shared wish lists. We talked and researched and would branch out to converse two-by-two, but then pull back to all four. We dreamed together. The kids morphed to a geography memory game (and actually did pretty well). Larry and I started looking at my two favorite websites in the whole world:  Google Maps and Google Flights. While talking, Larry cleaned the kitchen. While researching, I hung laundry. Elliot cracked jokes. Merrie shared images of amazing locations. Simple. Happy. All present. Such a present.

An authentic day in Bavaria

We were fortunate enough to attend a 500 year old tradition today (which was special enough for me to dust off the blog and remember my password for WordPress 3+ months after the last post). The four of us drove out early this morning to the small village of Fischbachau/Hundham to attend the annual Leonhardiritt, a horse-riders’ and carriage procession, including an outdoor service in the meadow with a special blessing for the horses at the end. It was a beautiful costume parade that was absolutely authentic. You won’t get more Bavarian than the day we had.