Christmas 2020

 There is a lot we would all like to forget about this year. But it had its high points too for me and my family. I got married and being Patrick Holladay's wife is definitely a high point! We moved into a dream house with boys and dogs and even planted a garden. I found out just how blessed I am in my family, friends, mud family, work family, and this community. 

So I hope we remember to love our neighbors, lend a hand, drop off supplies, and shop close to home. Let's keep seeking out local farmers, local art, and local services. Our community pulling together and supporting each other is something I don’t want us to forget.

It does my heart good to know and support the makers and farmers that helped make our Christmas 2020 breakfast beautiful and delicious. We started decorating the table with foraged greenery collected near Village Creek Landing and added heirloom placemats made by Patrick's Grandmother, Mama T and cloth napkins by Dot & Army, and Guale inspired plates by me. We enjoyed eggs and potatoes from Uncle Don's Local Market topped with micro greens from Green Way Gardens LLC. It just wouldn't be Christmas without citrus and these satsumas from Grassroots Farms were a real treat! 

Here's to remembering the high points. 

"When you care, you conserve."

Quote Serving Bowl and Loggerhead Bowl 20131121_140324, a photo by Elizabeth's Pottery on Flickr.

"When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world." John Muir

Years ago while I planed to take a large group of friends to St. Catherines I asked them if there was anything anyone particularly wanted to do. Of course I wanted to go walk the beaches, see the lemurs fed, tour the Button Gwinnett house, see south end settlement, visit the mission, and have drinks admiring sunsets over the marsh, maybe even crabs for dinner. Any other requests? Then my friend Kari asked "Elizabeth, what do you want us to get out of this visit?" I was touched, I thought only a moment..."I just want you to care, to care about this place."

"When you care, you conserve."

When you care you will find your own way to take care. No one has to lecture you to reduce, reuse, recycle or to eat local organic food. No one need explain the evils of plastic, power lines, pollution, or paper mills. Things like not walking on dunes, turning out lights on the beach on summer nights, choosing sustainable seafood for dinner and refusing that Styrofoam to go box are just decisions you make more and more. This list of dos and don'ts is different for every individual according their passions, backgrounds, and abilities. It's important to follow our hearts. If you sit down to dinner with me you may notice a great deal of my heart is on an island.