#flashforwardphilly

Clearly, I'm still adjusting to new social media.

We've bagged trash, we've measured, we've talked and talked and planned and talked and pulled more weeds and had brief moments of discouragement that were quickly blasted away with the excitement of projects.

This past weekend I rented a BIG TILLER to get things done. In a couple hours two plots were prepped for cover crop. Most of the soil tests have come back, and other than balancing the PH, the nutrients needed are in pretty good shape.

We finished the outside perimeter of the 22nd and Oxford lot last night. Lots of brush clearing, lots of trash bags hauled, lots of grateful and excited neighbors. Throughout the week we were given appreciation, waters, insect repellent and apple juice. It's been really fun to meet and talk with folks we would have never met otherwise. We spent part of yesterday looking at each other and grinning ear to ear.

We spun some Go! Team and Mo Lowda and the Humble while we worked, and I got some sweet Donny Hathaway and Teena Marie albums yesterday from WEBB'S music store down the street. Teena's presently playing up here in the LV at the store I work at, and two girls from some sports practice just walked in with their mom and said they liked it (and how loud it was). Righteous.

The Hold Steady crush New York City from this West 4th Street rooftop, busting out the hits from their brand new album Stay Positive. And yup, if you're wond...

It's a little like this - less booze, more brush-clearing.

Folks walk past and stop to look and ask questions. Some little girls came over to ask if they could help - we'll see if they come back Saturday. Yesterday a man brought us a couple bottles of water. The owner has a rototiller and an idea of what he'd like the inside to look like. Then there's the matter of that attached building, currently windowless and a hot mess but huge. Potential? Fingers crossed. But even if this isn't the magical space, it's over here somewhere.

We went to Harbor Freight and got some more tools and piles of gloves. So put on your junk clothes and sneaks and come out to 22nd and Oxford after 3pm on Saturday and play.

Here are the rules:

1) Get excited. 2) Be friendly. 3) Don't let anything discourage you. We just want to be friends and make friends here. 

How do you help heal a city? You feed it. You feed its people and its body and soul with good, beautiful food and art and music and life and love.

How can you do this? You reach, you smile, you talk, and you do not allow yourself to be afraid. You see things and people in your life and think, “Yes, I need to be a part of this. Yes, I need to START this so others can be a part of this. And this is why I met you, and you, and you.”