A Letter To Our Community Dear Red Ants Pants Community, Years ago when I was an Outward Bound instructor I led several courses where I was the only white person, and the only female. On one particular course with a group of Black students from Philadelphia, we had a …
Skids This week I learned the difference between a pallet and a skid. A pallet can be moved with a fork lift from all four sides, a skid just from two sides. A skid is a simpler design, although not quite as strong. The skid is the original version …
A Crowded Table This past weekend, we held another Carpentry Course, one of our programs of the Red Ants Pants Foundation. Taught by women, for women. Beginning carpentry was the focus, learning everything from pounding nails to running table saws. It’s a grand time filled with really strong women, …
On Song Writing Earlier this winter, I had an interesting experience at a songwriters festival down South. We were at a brunch venue on the Gulf Coast. It was a packed house, yet still intimate enough to view the performer from the bar, where we had managed to snag grapefruit …
On Letter Writing A friend recently wrote me a letter, typed on an actual typewriter. These days when we text way more often than write, this felt like a treasure. He mentioned that he gave his 9-year-old daughter a typewriter of her own for Christmas. He told her, “There, now …
On Ancestors and the Future It is the Monday eve of Thanksgiving. I am digging through a recipe box searching for my Mom’s pecan pie recipe. It calls for both bourbon and maple syrup, so you can see why it’s a good one. I sat down to write a …
On Neighboring When I was ten years old, a tornado came through and wrecked our farm. The three-hundred-year-old Cathedral Pines crashed down all around us, ruining fence lines and clipping the barn. I remember seeing the apple trees my great grandfather planted get uprooted and fly horizontally through the …
On Learning My goal before this snowy, icy, windy, miserable winter was over was to learn how to do a donut. A real one like the high school kids do, with a rear wheel drive car. Not sure how I managed to get through my teens without learning this right …
On Self-Reliance A jar of cider my friend pressed because he could. Enjoyed while taking a breather from cutting firewood. Running your own saw, working for your own heat, 3x over. A good dog and an old stick shift pick up truck. Knowing how to change your own tires. Getting …
On Hard Work Having a strong work ethic is something we value hugely here at Red Ants Pants. We toss the phrase around loosely and we certainly work hard, but we don’t spend much time thinking about it, or why it is so darn fundamental to our company values. Having …
Perseverance Hello all, this spring has been a challenging one for lots of folks in our circles. It seems that far too many bones and hearts have been broken. Perhaps it is the reality of getting older, as life seems to intensify with the years passed by. Or perhaps it’s …
Humor A reminder to us all. It seems this time of year we need a good laugh more than ever. Whether it’s busting your ankle from a fall on the ice, Or having to put down a damn good dog, Or supporting a neighbor through chemo, Or worrying about the …
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