The story of "stone soup" exists all over the world. In my favorite variation, a hungry traveler appears in a village with nothing but an empty cooking pot, a spoon, and his appetite. When the suspicious villagers will not show him any hospitality, he sets up his cooking pot in the village square and begins to boil water with a simple stone in it. As the curious townsfolk pass by and ask him what he is doing, he stirs the pot and tells them that he is making stone soup. Further, he explains that at the end of the day when the soup is ready, everyone will be welcome to come and share it with him. Eventually, one person ventures that the soup might taste better with a few onions. Soon the villagers are each bringing a couple of carrots, a potato, a little salt, whatever they have on hand to add to the stone soup. At the end of the day, the whole town shares a delicious pot of soup (minus the stone, of course), and they have also learned a valuable lesson about the joys of shari...
Good day! I only have a few things to catch you up on this week. The first is a reminder that our friend Rachel K will be going to speak to the Ayer Select Board tomorrow evening, Tuesday June 2, about her Garden Gleaners. The meeting starts at 6pm at the Ayer Town Hall, and the Public Comment agenda item is near the very beginning, so please drop in if you can! Next, our friend Jin H has offered to do a drop-in workshop on Saturday June 20 during our regular pantry hours, 10 to noon. She will be assisting people in learning how to balance bank statements...and your checkbook if you still use one (I do!). She will help you make sense of all those numbers the bank sends you each month. No registration or appointment is necessary: just stop in, have some coffee and a donut, and get your questions answered! Everyone is welcome and there are no fees. Parking is next to Shepherd of the Valley Church, on Newton Street. Walk up Washington St to the first blue door and come ...