Thanks for the positive blog. You are right on that we have a lot to be thankful for. Had a great day here also, hosting recording session for OCP Christmas CD. Since Christopher did most of the work I could just sit back and enjoy. Met some really nice, talented people and had a great time. Even got to spend some time with my grandson at the end of the day.

I followed your link to OCP (Our Community Project).  Very interesting what they are doing.  And what is so coincidental is that I am reading a book, Deep Economy:  The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Furture.  It is by Bill McKibben and he is talking about communities doing more, bigger is not necessarily better, prosperity is not just growth, etc.  You would probably like it.  I will let you borrow it when I am done.  Here is an interesting comment from the back cover:

"In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy.  Deep Economy makes the compelling case for moving beyond "growth" as the paramount economic ideal and pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment.  Our purchases need not be at odds with the things we truly value, McKibben argues, and the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own."

He does not have much good to say about Wal-Mart either!  There are some interesting examples and lots of food for thought.

Thanks Judy-

This book is now in my Amazon wishlist!

salaam-
paul