Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile know I am NOT a fan of single-use plastic. My feeling is that solving one simple problem (getting something home from the store or restaurant) and creating a much more difficult problem (polluted air, water, land!) is really insane. Last week my friend George sent me a link to this NPR episode:
How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
I highly recommend reading or listening to the entire thing but the sad takeaway is summarized in this quote from the segment: "Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true."

If you are like me you have been watching in horror as the Pandemic has brought a resurgence of single-use plastic. (My own local grocery store still won't let me use a reusable fabric bag.)  Then today I read this article:
Reusables Can Be Safe to Use During a Pandemic
and once again it is the oil industry shoveling misinformation for their gain and our collective loss. It makes me very sad.  Sorry. I just needed to vent.

It's been a long time since I have posted here (OVER A YEAR!). I guess I have been waiting for something that felt worthy to share. The creation of this monkey has been a bright spot in a rather dark (and smoky) summer.

This is a true story. It involves 6 people in various places.  It's a bit like that old telephone game but instead of gibberish at the end something special was created.

It began a few weeks ago when Maria (author and founder of Bear Mountain Books) asked me if I knew where she could buy an organic cotton monkey.  See, Maria's friend LeAnn had recently become a grandmother and wanted to get her grandson an organic cotton monkey. My first response was, "no," but then I remembered there was a local sewer who specialized in stuffed animals. I reached out to my friend Gail who was in close contact with her (Sylvia) and she found out that indeed Sylvia could make an organic cotton monkey if we provided her with the material and (organic) stuffing.  Sylvia is older and not tech savvy, so Gail put me in touch with Sylvia's daughter Barbara.  Maria shipped me the organic stuffing, I added the organic material from my studio and dropped it off on Sylvia's porch.

Within days Barbara contacted me and told me that Sylvia had finished the monkey AND made a Bear.  We had included extra fabric and stuffing since Sylvia was in need of fabric and preferred that to payment.  Sylvia had NO WAY of knowing that Maria's company is BEAR Mountain Books! I picked up the animals and mailed them off to Maria who now has a new bear mascot and LeAnn's grandson will soon have the monkey.

The way this all unfolded felt magical. LeAnn contacted Maria, Maria contacted me, I contacted Gail, who put me in touch with Barbara who was in contact with Sylvia! 

When I sent photos to Gail of the finished friends and thanked her for her participation she responded: "She (Sylvia) is awesome! Your friend can feel good about helping a 98 1/2 year old lady keep active. (She'll be 99 in December, God willing.) Sylvia is a blessing. She has macular degeneration, and serious hearing loss. But she keeps sewing.  Thanks for helping out with the fabric. I'm always looking for animal-friendly fabric for her to use."

I knew Sylvia was older but I had no idea she was 98 1/2!  It felt like this gift just kept giving in a circular way that touched my heart and made me happy to play a small part in bringing joy and smiles to ALL of us!

PS: Maria is the author of several books including the Moon Shadow Urban Fantasy series and the Sedona O'Hala cozy mystery series. I am looking forward to diving into the books she sent me and since I am trapped in my house (air quality issues) at the moment the timing couldn't be more perfect!  THANK YOU MARIA! THANK YOU GAIL! THANK YOU BARBARA!  THANK YOU SYLVIA!!!