I love this quote from Bette Midler. The revelation that composting helps you see your place in “the big picture” is simply brilliant. Simple and brilliant.

This is a simple comic. . . with a nice twist of thought at the end. Not brilliant, clever maybe. . . but a simple moment that has a much deeper meaning. If you read the previous comic, Doris was thankful that her neighbor, Wiley was mowing her lawn, so she had the idea to make him an apple crisp in appreciation. . . but the apples weren’t crisp. . . a little mushy even. . . and that’s a subject for another day, why we’re buying apples in July that were packaged in Washington state back last October and they’re not edible . . . Back to the buy local and in season mindset/mantra? Yes.

Anyway. . . today we find that Doris likely brought the over ripe apples out to her compost pile where other creatures could enjoy them, like Wormy and Link. Our critters get a nice snack, but this is also a place where we can take a look into the “big picture.” What else is implied here? Now, I’m going to freely admit that this comic is “just a comic” and not anything other than a small moment where, if we’ve connected, you get a little smile and hopefully take a moment to think about who Granny Smith really was or what she may have looked like. . . or not. But it’s those small moments that matter. The tiny seeds of other stories that we connect. The threads of memories that sew themselves into a different piece of our human fabric.

Part of my fabric is the experience of growing up in a small neighborhood where neighbors helped neighbors. Where the little things mattered. If your lawn mower wouldn’t start, the neighbor would lend you theirs, or maybe mow the lawn if they knew you were ill or unable to. The reciprocation of baking a pie or crisp or coffee cake to say “thank you.” The caring for each other in small but meaningful ways. There’s something beautiful about stopping to say hello when you see each other, to share a brief story or check in on their lives and it makes us realize that we aren’t alone. We aren’t that different. Yes, we’ve all had some neighbors that we learn to just wave to and not interact with. . . some more bad apples that we’ll talk about another day. . . but that’s not the norm.

As humans we innately fear the unknown. The people that look different from us, that communicate in language we don’t understand. . . apples of another color. If all you’ve ever known is the Granny Smith, how are you supposed to accept a Macoun or Honeycrisp? But if you never introduce yourself to the amazing Farmer’s Market of Humanity, you are depriving yourself of many delicious interactions and the fruit of life itself.

Soooo. . . . . FINALLY, I’ve gotten to the introduction to a video and song that I want to share. I mentioned in the last blog that I would have A LOT more to tell you about JJ Heller. . . an artist/singer/writer/Mom/wife and neighbor I’d like to introduce you to. I’ve spent a few hours in the past few days, listening to her songs and watching her videos. I shared “Growing Older” as part of the previous blog, connecting to Doris’ thoughts of aging. . . and today I’m going to share “Neighbor.” I’m really moved by this song and the message. Probably because it (and the song “Gardening”) relate so much to what Peter and I are intending to do with “At the Green House.” We have a talent (talents) and a view of life that we want to share with the world. We want to share positivity and create messages of joy and connectivity. We want to help build a community of kindred spirits who share ideas and stories and songs that help make each other’s days a little greener.

I hope to soon reach out to JJ and her husband David and thank them for sharing their stories and music. . . and to also help other friends of ours connect to them. I feel like we’re all in the same place of spiritual awareness. . . that we’re here for each other, no matter if it’s connecting through the internet, over the fence or in our backyard. We’re all connected in the garden and maybe even more so in the compost pile. That awareness, like the Divine Miss M said, is the “epiphany.”

I hope you enjoy this song and reach out to tell JJ that you do. . . I will and I’m grateful to be part of her neighborhood.

Peace,

Brad

What to make for dinner? What to do for the next 20 years? Peter Menice and I are working on the recipe for what we want to leave as our “legacy” or. . . just like your dinner choice, what kind of flavors want you to recall when you think of us. Today we start our new version of a comic concept we started over 20 years ago.

We began by selling “The Green House” to newspapers. . . yes, those actual paper periodicals that we’d find on our doorsteps or in our paper box each morning. Unfortunately, times were changing and this “internet thing” was becoming the hot way to get your morning news. Our core group of 30-ish papers were starting to disappear, and the reality hit that we weren’t going to make a living with this feature. . . at least not in the failing media market of the early 2000’s.

Long story short. . . brevity is key in the comic world. . . it’s now 2026 and Peter and I are in much different places in our lives and still have the desire to create. We want to spread positive messages. We want to tell stories and share our characters with like-minded people who think there’s something special about “the simple life” and getting back to a greener lifestyle. We want to share our passion for a simpler, greener, more conscious life. Plus, we like doing it and it’ll “keep us busy!”

We want to create a community of people who share ideas, stories, thoughts and yes, recipes! We have a lot of ideas and plans for integrating our readership into this feature, but it’s going to take a little time to get that all working. It seems though, that this internet thing that helped bring down the first “Green House” could actually help a lot of kindred spirits come visit us “At The Green House.”

Here’s a little about our plans. . . what if we could build a large email list and send you our comics directly 2-3 times a week? . . . and what if we could share a larger format version of At The Green House (a Sunday comic version for those of a certain age) and some other great green comics by other artists on the weekends? What if we could create and interactive website where we talk about great Green companies and individuals and share their stories? To be honest, we’re kind of old and not really experts on this Social Media stuff, so we’re reaching out to friends for help and advice. . . basically what we want the future website to be. . . help us help each other. We’ve found a great person to help direct our “office” and help with pulling all the ideas together (Scott!). . . Next we need to find people who love to do Social Media stuff. . . love to direct content . . . love to put together videos. . . etc etc . . . and it’s all going to take a little time.

Today we’re planting a new seed and we’re going to see what grows. What Peter and I do best is write and draw stuff. . . and talk to people. If you want to share your thoughts, please DO!

Actually, to get back to the “recipe” metaphor. . . a recipe is just a list of ingredients, like characters, story lines, humor, visuals. . . we’re fairly good at that stuff, but how you put it together matters. . . the spices, the presentation. . . . the people you share it with. . . if the dog enjoys licking the plate . . .

If you’re interested in helping, just sign up for our newsletter. We’ll share more details there. . . as well as in this blog, but it’d be easier to just send you our thoughts in an email along with this week’s tasty comics. Oh! I almost forgot. . . one of our other ideas is to share a quote with each comic and a Green Song of the Day. . . and we’d love to get YOUR input on that stuff. . . and credit you for the ideas. We’d accomplish that by sending you a pencil sketch of an upcoming comic. . . one that will be finished and published 4-6 weeks later. If you have a quote that you think adds to the content, let us know! If you know a singer, group, great song that “kinda sorta” relates to the comic material, or would just brighten up someone’s day, share that! There’s so much talent out there, we’d love to have you share yours with us. We’d just attatch a YouTube link or other link to each email and to each blog post and credit the creator/author and of course, you. . . our talented neighbor “At The Green House. ” Whew, that was a lot.

Thanks for staying and reading. . . and hopefully sharing. We’re starting off slow, but we will definitely grow! The big question is, will Todd like the stew?

Peace,

Brad & Peter