Appalachian Mountains

No Fungi

I didn't find any morel mushrooms either because they were too hidden or being part of a novice forager-party we didn't know where to look. Though, I am glad I got to get my hands dirty looking through a carpet of dead leaves of deciduous poplar trees. The aromatic smell of earthiness in the mountains was unbeatable. We hiked to a waterfall during the mycological walk.

The great thing about the mountains is that these rare mushrooms are sold in farms and markets for half the cost of what they would be in fancy food shops. Although, there's a sense of accomplishment and excitement in going to the mountains and finding one's own, I still didn't have to spend a lot of money to buy them.

Two steps into town and I am turned into an absolute omnivore. The produce that's available to a gal living in Boston is fairly restrictive during this time of year, so it's amazing to be walking around a farmer's market in the mountains and trying different berries from earthenware containers, or walking the streets of a countryside downtown and crunching on a homemade pickle.

F is for foraging

I'm going to partake in a new adventure of morel mushroom picking in the Appalachian Mountains. I've always had a strange affinity for mushrooms, especially those hard to come by like the morel. Don't know what that is? They're resilient, crazy looking honey combed little fuckers. Google it now! This mushroom only blooms for a couple of weeks during the rite of spring. Case in point, the mountains are a fantastic place to discover uncommon species that can't be found anywhere else. And It is incredibly easy to spend days up there admiring the beauty of nature.

Terri Trespicio on the Today Show....Yesterday

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Weirdo Records- Niche Markets Never Die

Cambridge- Don’t be frightened by volumes of old records and cds, vintage toys, and posters of Japanese Beatlesque bands in this used record store; hard-to-find avant and experimental music is Weirdo Records owner, Angela Sawyer’s specialty. “If you’re curious and want to check out some weird stuff,” says Sawyer while updating her online record website, “You know that several people [record aesthetes] have spent a long time separating the wheat from the chaff.”

Like many record clerks, Sawyer is extensively knowledgeable. She had worked at local record shops for fifteen years when she decided to dabble with selling records online. Sawyer’s online business began in 2006. “It was just for fun, it was just two steps over from a my space page, no big deal,” said Sawyer. In nine months sales from her website were skyrocketing and her career working at a record store become a secondary income.

“The economy started to go to crap,” said Sawyer, “People were like you got that other thing and your not here any ways so …I got let go.”

In February, as her independent retailer business grew, Sawyer decided to launch a hole-in-the wall specialty record shop in Central Square. “So far business has been great,” said Sawyer, her clientele is mostly 25-60 year old male music seekers, “It’s been so busy that I can barely keep up with it.”

Sawyer is more than happy to recommend some great music to you. She is currently listening to world psychedelia from the sixties s and experimental noise. “For some people music is more important than food and they show it buy eating ramen all the time and spending all their money on it,” Sawyer said, “I listen to music when I’m awake.”

According to Almighty Institute of Music, a market firm, 3,100 record stores have closed since 2003. Sawyer isn’t concerned about music piracy, record stores going under, or the fall of the music industry. “If you look for music on the internet it’s almost impossible because there’s too much,” said Sawyer, she continued, “The way people’s heads work is not like a computer. There’s no place contemporary culture for aesthetics except in a record stores.”

As retail record stores plummet because of the recession, the niche market for record shops can perhaps remain strong due to the loyal market base.

“If the economy is the size of Central Square and the music industry is the size of this room. My store is the size of a microscopic spec on my fingernail. So even if it is sinking there is a lot of room for me to move around, said Sawyer.”

Volunteerism

Volunteer effort can produce important results. The problem is volunteering has declined in the US. "In these times citizen service becomes even more vital to the health of our nation's communities," said the Washington Post. There is growing recognition of the importance of volunteering from spending time reading to children, donating blood, or working at a soup kitchen can have a huge impact. According to the Washington Post, "If large numbers of Americans swapped one hour of TV a week for service, volunteer rates would skyrocket and communities would improve their social and economic well-being."

Personally, the rewards of volunteering have been significant. I spend my Saturdays volunteering at 826 in Roxbury. I learn to work with children who are less privileged than I was growing up. Volunteering has also given me a higher sense of community. I feel more at home in Boston knowing that I am working to improve the condition of my city.












Clip of Dave Eggers, founder of 826 National:

My cousin made it in the NYTimes.