"a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it"

Last night Iowa City wowed me again by hosting a reading by the man who started Homeboy Industries, an incredibly inspiring (and cool) gang intervention program in Los Angeles. Father Greg, a Jesuit priest, came to IC along with two of his homies to read their poetry and talk about his book, "Tattoos on the Heart."  He didn't read from it but rather shared stories of what Homeboy Industries is and what it is doing to challenge the demonizing of gang members and the belief that some lives are worth less than others. Faced with all of the overwhelming problems destroying lives in inner city Los Angeles, Father Greg and Homeboy Industries are providing real solutions that transform the people and communities that need them most. They offer jobs at their 4 businesses and around town, free tattoo removal, and a bevy of classes and rehab services. "Nothing stops a bullet like a job" is their motto. Check them out, G.

A Celebration of Local Iowa Wines & Spirits

You can only live in Iowa for so long before you are drawn inexplicably to the surprisingly numerous and, rumor has it, not unpleasantly sweet local vineyards that dot the rolling hills of the prairie. We were called to one such place, Fireside Winery, in celebration(?) of my last day of work yesterday. The winery itself was a few miles down the road but the store and wine-drinking settings were quite pleasant, and the staff super helpful about what to sample next.

 They offered at least 15 wines, and while I managed to sample 'em all the clear winner in our crew was the "Night Cap," a port-style wine that was sweet in the best of ways - Iowa grapes mixed with Iowa brandy made a few towns over - that we found as snuggly as a slanket on a cold winter's eve. Even though it was way sunny and warm out.

We also took in the fantastic outdoor wine-ing area with a bottle of "off-dry" white and a view of some ground squirrels and hay fields - just an all-around excellent summer afternoon.

Not to be outdone, Iowa's prolific breweries and fabulous beer brewing tradition called to us from the Historic Amana Colonies, where Millstream Brewery had a knockout Hefeweissen on tap that we enjoyed on their lovely beer patio overlooking the actual mill stream and surrounded by old-school Amana Colony historic-ness. Then we took a horse and buggy home.

Finally some real veggies from the garden!

June has brought us much, much rain, but also some beautiful food in the shape of Carrots, Broccoli, Garlic, Broccoli Raab and the last of the lettuce (finally!).  After months of peering at seedlings and trying to determine what they were, we have plants that have made food!  It felt amazing to pull my first-ever carrot out of the ground - and there are many more to come! As long as the rabbits, worms, gophers and deer stay away.

So far we have had the carrots in salads and a mixed greens stir fry and boy are they sweet!

The row of garlics we planted in November (!!) is getting bulbous and the broccoli, while on the small side, was delish in a quiche.