So Long, Milwaukee (for now)

Hello,

Thanks for reading along this past summer, if you’ve been following through.  If this is your first read, thanks for being here. Everyone, please feel free to read old posts (just keep scrolling down, or look in the archives to the left) and comment (share stories, critique, compliment, whatever you like).

So, as I’ve gotten through a lot of writing here I’ve realized this is a sizeable post. But please, know I’ve tried to format it in such a way to make it easier to navigate and recognize information.

Very quickly, here is brief recap of how the summer began:

I have left my car back in Green Bay, where I attend university studying Nutritional Sciences.   I came to Milwaukee to intern with the Victory Garden Initiative (VGI).

I left my car back in Green Bay because I wanted to see what it would be like to live in a city without a car.  Everything I came to the city with (below) fit into the back of a Pontiac vibe:

• A commuter bicycle rig, helmet, bike tools, and floor pump
• Timbuk2 Tandem Panniers (bicycle saddle bag full of stuff)
• A bag of pantry items (flour, quinoa, chia seeds, Farro)
• A bag of bedding
• A suitcase full of clothes and shoes (for farming with VGI, supervising at CMC, swimming, cycling, yoga, and everyday life)
• A backpack with a laptop rig and my coffee setup

To be clear, I came to Milwaukee with not a lot of stuff.

What is this last post going be about then?

Well, great question.

Scroll to the very bottom to see the before vs. after internship photo taken on the farm.

Well, I came to Milwaukee with a few questions and intentions (some of which found in the about section):

1. Would I like living in:

A city more than living in a rural area (hometown Plainfield, CT) and/or a big town (university town, Green Bay, WI)?

2.  What will it be like:

Commuting by bike and bus only, without a car?

3.  What does the city of Milwaukee have to offer for

lessons and fun?

4.  What experience can I gain in the food system

by interning with Victory Garden Initiative (VGI) and working at The City Market Cafe?

These questions were answered, and of course I learned more along the way – too much to really keep it all concise and interesting (I’ll stick to the highlights promise).

So, let us begin with the first question:

1: Would I like living in a

city more than living in a rural area (hometown Plainfield, CT) and/or a big town (university town, Green Bay, WI)?

Well, I can say that I don’t want to live in a rural area, for certain.  But, here is the story of how I decided that I would prefer living in a more compact, densely populated area, like the City of Milwaukee.

I’ve been fortunate enough to live in a variety of areas, and I’ve learned that I don’t like rural areas, and big (spread out) towns are not so bad, but cities are great.

I grew to dislike rural areas as I got into adolescence, when I began wanting to hang out with friends and do things independent of my parents.  This of course wasn’t so easy when I shared a car with my step father and most friends were at least 20-30 minutes drive away, of course that wasn’t everyone.   But, I still liked being there because of those friends and sports.  With a lower population density, there were fewer opportunities.  I say this because I realized that with more people in one area, more micro-cultures and groups emerge and they often establish in such a way that others can easily find and join them.

Moving on to big towns, I’ve been living in Green Bay, WI for three years now.  Perhaps to the upset of some others, but I don’t consider Green Bay to be a city in my mind.  In my mind, cities are densely populated, have a prominently used public transit system, and it usually works out that having a car is un-necessary and even a hassle at times with parking, traffic, and wear-and-tear for day-to-day driving.  Where riding a bike is more commonly accepted because the space between things is quite reasonable for every-day riders.  Green Bay is not quite any of these things.

Green Bay is a sprawled town that is holding on to a manufacturing industry in paper, meat processing, and food processing and distribution – and of course a NFL football team.  All of this makes Green Bay a very busy big town with some city-like features, but it still doesn’t make it in my mind.  However, over the years I have seen Green Bay grow a bit, and its been interesting.  Many in the small business world in the Broadway District talk about how downtown Green Bay will be growing quite quickly over the next few years.

Anyway, time to talk city – where I would like to live most.  One reason really motivates me to want to live in an area where it is geographically small and opportunity dense.  Cycling.

This summer, I didn’t have a car and commuted via bike in MKE.  I loved it.  Throughout the whole semester, I looked forward to my commute, instead of being annoyed like I often was with driving.  In fact, I did in fact drive a few times when my girlfriend was in town and when VGI needed me to drive a truck.  These experiences were very re-affirming for my preference to cycling.  Cycling is good for mental and physical health, as it creates more joy and less stress for me – and of course gives me more daily exercise.

Which, leads into the second question:

2:  What will it be like:

Commuting by bike and bus only, without a car?

Well, if you read above, you’d know cycling became pretty important to me.  To get to the point though, it was AWESOME!

Riding with a Burley (kids bike stroller) for a grocery run

I loved commuting via cycle, and I only used the bus a few times.  To my surprise, every single bus driver I encountered was incredibly sociable and most were really funny.  Anyway, it was fun to pedal through the city, and there were a few key positives that made it so.

1. I often felt safer on a bike than I did in a car in, Milwaukee.  Let me explain…

On a bike, I feel more in control.  If I need to stop, I can do so quicker than a car.  If i need to dodge something, my cycle is far more agile than a car.  With agility, I also gained a better sense of where I and my cycle are in space to a level I never felt with a car as it is hard with such a large object.  If I want to make sure a car sees me, I just have to take the lane instead of ride the shoulder.  Sure, some may honk but it keeps me safe and I have a right to do so as a cyclist.

Often, many people will say something along the lines of “Well if another car hits your, while in a car, you have a protective shell so it’s safer.”  Well, duh, there is no debating this.  However, to be safe is not only to minimize harm done in an accident, but to be safe is more importantly about preventing and avoiding an accident. On a bike, I feel I can do a better job of that than in a car.  Also, a big way cycling can be safer is that I am not putting myself at risk on the highway at speeds I could only obtain downhill on a bicycle in the draft of a semi-truck, with a tail wind (a situation I would avoid).

2. Other than safety, a majorly attractive feature to cycling is that is changes how much stuff you have with you.  A car can essentially be a rolling house/shed/house (in some cases), which can be useful.  But often, the access to excess secure storage capacity leads to having too much stuff, which I learned is a bad thing.

On my bike, I at most carried a few bags of groceries that I didn’t want to ride far with.  For everyday riding, you carry less because it weighs you down on the ride.  Well, while each ride is a short-term event, I’ve begun living my life with less stuff because of it and I’ve decided I want to live this way for the long-term.  I’ve found more time and happiness with less clutter, fewer distractions, and less to clean – having to find entertainment and joy through interactions with other people, simpler activities, and personal growth.

3. In the city, I can get around on a bicycle as fast as the bus system or faster if I really push it.  In traffic, a bicycle is almost always faster than a car.  The main reason for this is that  you don’t get a queue of cyclists that is even 5 people long at stop signs/lights while its common to see queues of 20 or more cars. In the odd event that a large number of cyclists converge at one light, I’ve often experienced that they will communicate to other cyclists saying “Going!” when the light goes green and all the other cyclists take off at the same time.  As opposed to, when we sit at a stand still in a car and wait for the movement of the car in front of us, then we take time to react.  The time to react adds up to many extra minutes in a commute as one thinks about the number of green lights we miss as it takes forever for an entire line of cars to go from a standstill, through an intersection.

So, commuting via bike and bus in Milwaukee has led me to a major decision, I want to commute year round mostly via cycle, even if it means bundling up and riding a bike with monster tires to float me over snow.  I will keep my car, use for when I actually need it (long trips or heavy&big loads).  It will save me money, promote my happiness and health, and be a more sustainable way of living than using a car for everything.  I hope this encourages others to try using a bike more often, but I really think with the right attitude and a good bike (which DOES NOT have to be expensive see mine below), it will enrich many lives.

 

Approximate cost to start = $300 (1.5 car payments)
Running cost (new rims/tires/intertubes/cost of labor) $100-200 per year (3-6 fillups at the gas station)

 

Bike when I first got it, without fenders, single speed, and no rack. Turned it into a fendered, seven speed, rear racked commuter.

3.  What does the city of Milwaukee have to offer for

lessons and fun?

Well, in terms of lessons, Milwaukee, and more specifically interning with Victory Garden Initiative and working at The City Market taught me A LOT.
Here are 3 “big picture” lessons I learned:

1) Work ethic is to be appreciated. This ethic can seen in multiple qualities:
strong commitment, seeking to improve at all times, communicating clearly, and prioritizing work obligations.

Lets dive deeper into communication…

The value of communicating clearly and fairly with others was something I learned to appreciate deeply throughout this summer.  I noticed that people who were clear communicators, recognized that communication is a feedback loop and that as a professional one is responsible for not only delivering comprehensive messages but taking the time to listen to, contemplate, and properly reply to messages received.  Interacting with these professionals almost always felt more streamlined and thus less stressful and productive.
Which leads me to team work ethic.  Such ethic takes time, experience, and most importantly feedback to improve on. Being highly functional in a team is valued for a reason, and this summer taught me to appreciate that attribute in others. I worked with a handful of people day-to-day, and with many volunteer groups who were small teams I got to be part of for a day. I hope I’m a better team member from so much interaction and observation, because I certainly was humbled by some feedback I got for my actions.

2) Volunteerism expressed by others helped me see good in the world. Honestly, I was so touched by not only the impressive attendance of well over one-hundred volunteers, but also by their drive to do a good job and to learn. In fact, some volunteers showed me some of the best work I’ve ever seen, and were instructional to myself and others! I hope to commit myself to volunteer efforts this semester in Green Bay, for the short-term and in general for the long-term.

3) Kids just need direction for their energy and curiosity.

Along these lines, working with kids demands understanding and communication, first and foremost. Not controlling or ordering. Kids, no matter what their actions, believe in justified action, and it’s everyone’s (kids and adults equally) job to attempt to understand their motives and communicate the acceptability of them, in terms clear and relevant. These tactics have helped me to enable kids to exchange poor, even harmful behavior for positive, enhancing behavior. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and in the moment – I had no idea that this is what I was doing at first but luckily it still worked. Nonetheless, throughout the summer, my internship coordinators and their feedback (team ethic) helped me become conscious of this. Of course, while we can give kids opportunity to act positively, and enable them to take it, they will still make mistakes and revert to other behaviors, so while it’s exciting and inspiring to see positive behavior in a moment, it is wise to know that now is only one point, one choice, of many in a long and obscure journey through life and kids just don’t have all the tools (and neither do adults) to navigate.

Some fun lessons I learned:

• People really appreciate someone working a register, who honestly greets them with excitement and curiosity. I learned this as I poked at a screen at the City Market Cafe. Asking people about their day, plans, and life definitely made my life and work more enjoyable, plus it earned me and my team extra tip money.

• Stuff happens. Like getting two flats, and a bolt snapping, one that holds your bike seat (aka saddle) onto the seat post, over the course of two days. It’s a fun lesson because being reminded of this helped better plan for contingencies, and laugh while getting over them instead of stressing as they happen.

• I love gardening, and it shall stay in my life.  Things like fresh food and seeing booming sunflowers turn a fun hobby into hobby pleasurable at many levels.

• You really don’t need to be perfect to be part of something big. Further, I learned that many professionals I worked for and with were flawed. Sometimes, even the head of operations had been incredibly frustrating due to their flaws. But, their strengths overcame some of their weaknesses, and their team filled in the gaps. Even someone I highly respected and imagined to be infallible was actually faulted too. But, this is actually inspiring. I can be successful like those I look to even with some faults. So, while I try to overcome as many I reasonably can, I can rest assured that highlighting my strengths and working with a team will take me far.

The city in general offered me fun in a variety of ways.

I had a great time cycling, of course. Outside of commuting
being part of the Milwaukee Underwear Ride was great. Doing hot laps with some Riverwest 24 riders was really fun and has me wanting to participate in the future.

The MKE coffee scene was incredible. Through personal exploration and the Milwaukee Coffee Guild, I was able to enjoy many regions, roasts, and practice more brewing methods. Through connection with the Guild, I got my first event-barista gig at the All City Swim Meet with Roast Coffee Company. I hope I can have more opportunities like this, where I can really express my skill/craft, meet new people drink great brew. Truly, it was a pleasure to enjoy the true roasts from Stonecreek, Colectivo, Anodyne, Valentine, and Hawthorne – as well as roasts from businesses outside of Milwaukee such as Johnson Brothers, New Roots, and Just Coffee Company. After visiting Green Bay and having such smaller selection – in fact only one small batch, high quality, coffee roaster within a 20 minute drive – I realized that Milwaukee is lucky to have so much great coffee.

Working at The City Market was a blast on the days I simply worked the barista corner, delivered drinks and food, and bussed tables. Even though my co workers thought me a coffee-nut/snob, it was a real joy to deliver some excellent, straight, espresso to customers who appreciated it, and latte art to those not anticipating it. The pleasure from this work taught me that I really want to work as a barista throughout life as a side passion. I’d love to roast coffee, but I dig that businesses want roasters who see roasting as their main occupation, not just a side thing. In fact, I suppose that roasters worth their salt are the ones who do so. I digress…

4.  What experience can I gain in the food system

by interning with Victory Garden Initiative and working at The City Market Cafe?

Well, I gained a lot. At the Concordia Urban Gardens with VGI, I learned how to better convert scrap foods, dead vegetation, and carbon into nutrients through composting. At The City Market, I learned that there is a huge potential for capturing nutrients in food scrap from pre-consumer waste and plenty of carbon available from paper towels, napkins, and newspapers used by customers. All of which aren’t fully soiled, or even aren’t unsanitary. Most often, I was disgusted by the stacks of napkins people would bring to their table, and I’d have to recycle due to policy, as it wasn’t accepted to place unused napkins somewhere for other customers to use. So, for the future, as I get involved with more composting operations, it will be my goal to partner with restaurants to secure carbon (paper/wood stuffs) and nitrogen (food/vegetation stuffs).
The farm can often use more stuff to create soil, through compost, to grow more, and healthier food in less space. The theme of the Concordia Urban Gardens.

By working the farm, I learned how hard the work is to grow food intensively on a 1.5 acre plot, organically, without a tractor, only a lawnmower and a weed whip to speak of for power equipment. Don’t get me wrong though, I enjoyed the work as long as I was in company with other hard workers. The work was awesome with happy volunteers. But to get to the point, I now more appreciate food that reaches me, and am now a bit more frustrated by food waste.

Beyond food production and waste management, I was able to experience firsthand the role that community played in the Gardens.  Finally, I have begun to better understand the reason community involvement is brought up time and time again in sustainability readings – if the community isn’t behind VGI at the Gardens, then the garden will collapse after the current leaders leave, or worse it will be rejected by local citizens.  Of course, VGI has begun getting traction with connecting with the community, but it was a legitimate concern for me as an intern as I farmed the plot in a neighborhood that so few local residents visited.  Anyway, the community’s role, or relationship with, the a community urban garden is one of support through volunteerism, purchase, and protection.  Protection is key, and after cleaning up hundreds of dollars of destroyed plants (dozens and dozens of seedlings left overnight at the farm), VGI learned that its high-time to earn/improve the respect and commitment to protecting the gardens, from community members.  The great thing is, while there is a lot of room to grow, the relationship between the Gardens and the community was strengthened over the summer.

So, what in short did I get out of all of this?

I feel like I have a clearer path to pursuing my passions, and where they fit in life.

I’ve become a better problem-solver and trouble-shooter by being given the hands-free treatment from Gretchen Mead when I asked for her assistance.  To clarify, she used her hallmark trait of empowering me with confidence so I would accept a task she felt I could do, and then turned me loose with minimal instruction.  This left me tackling challenges without guidance, without hands prompting and pointing me in a direction after the initial acceptance of tasks.  In fewer words, there was no more hand-holding as I learned and tried new things.

Fun co workers who balance their cat&ice cream drawing goofy attitudes, with serious game faces when the going gets tough are super appreciated.

Life is better appreciated and the role of fun and relaxation has been better positioned.  In short, I think I’m approaching a more balanced life, with a bit more play and still plenty of work.

I love cycling.

I definitely want to live even more minimally, because having very little stuff in my life throughout the summer was more economic, emotionally relieving, and thought freeing.  On the longer time scale, I feel more confident in my decision to build and live in a tiny house.

Blogs are a great way to solidify learning, and offer lessons after-the-fact.

Well, this is it.  Last post.  I enjoyed my time writing, learning, and sharing.  However, I must be frank, at times it was very difficult to commit to posting and the fun wasn’t “all there.”  But, we made it, and I would recommend writing a blog for anyone looking to learn more from life, despite occasional distaste for writing.

Thanks so much for reading.

Best of luck out there, in the big world.  If you see me, feel free to ask me about the things I never had time to write about, heck invite me to coffee and I’ll to my whole story if you’d like.  I only ask that you share your stories too.

Cheers,

-Alex

Concordia Gardens After – compare the top left region here to the “before” – look for growing plants and mulched regions.

Concordia Gardens before the internship was well-under-way.

A Barista Pedals Into a Golf Club… And Stumbles into Monday

Friday August 1st:

4:40am: Wakeup

6:20am: Pedal off to catch bus, 20 min ride

 

6:50am: Departure to Madison

 

8:30am: Arrive at the Chazen Museum, FIND FOOD

Google’s photo was not taken at the time I arrived (that would have been too epic)

8:50am: Pedal off to the Roast Coffee Company Barista Kiosk (Shack) at the Nakoma Golf Club for the All City Swim Meet

9:40am: Arrive at Shack for orientation, learn from Ryan

Thanks to Ryan’s ability to teach and thoroughness, he set me up for success as a catering-barista

[Commence solo barista operations]-10am brewing Anodyne Coffee

4:00pm: Juggle: Make last-minute drinks, cleanup and closing up shop

T-Minus 14.5 hours until re-launch of barista-ing

5:00pm: Pedal off to the house of a friend, of a friend – Andrew (host)

5:30pm: Arrive, kick back, sip beers, relax, chat and cook

Some random time: Fix bicycle, un-trued rear rim (totally sketchy, shuddery ride due to un-true-ed-ness)

          Update:Turns out the hub bearings (stabilizes the rim) were loose..

Another random time: Raise socially-acceptableness (shower)

10:00pm: Say thanks to Andrew for hosting me, let him know he is awesome for doing me such a favor

10:15pm: Finish a “thank-you” message left on Andrew’s chalkboard (yes a chalkboard – it was pretty awesome) PASSOUT

Saturday, August 2nd

4:40am: Wake, stumble, FEED

5:50am: Pedal back to the shack

6:10am: Fight back the tired parents, warn them that I need 20 minutes to brew and prep before the shack would be kicking

[Re-Continue Barista operations] 6:40am

Some hours later: Help (Danielle-not a barista) shows up to take coffee orders, pour&brew black coffee, and deal with my high-strung barista attention to detail

Once help arrived: 

Objectives

1. Stick face into this machine

• Don’t leave it until delivering epic espresso drinks
• Repeat
•  Occasionally run to stock ice
• Repeat
• Thank Danielle for awesome help and tell her things that she can do to save me from falling behind

Bonus Objectives

• Attain milk, without a store nearby, from the Golf Club

(Success, thanks to teamwork with event staff)

• Draw boats and flags and on the “Pirate Ship” Latte drink
• Bite tongue when people order “Iced Cappuccinos” ….
  • PLEASE STOP IT

Noon: Wave bye to Danielle, thank her again for helping survive the onslaught

(Needlessly) worry about running out of stock (stuff)

Running out of ice cups in 85+ degree weather was a nightmare than never came true

4:00pm: Commence clean up, attempt to leave the space spotless for Ryan, and brew drinks (reluctantly while cleaning)

4:45pm: Thank Ryan for AWESOME opportunity, sprint off to Andrew’s

[CEASE BARISTA OPERATIONS]

5:00pm: Arrive, catch Andrew on his way out to a gig (guitarist) and thank him

Sprint back to the Chazen Museum (10 minute ride in 5)

5:05pm: Get on bus, call family, ride

5:30pm: Depart MADTOWN 2 hour ride

7:30pm: Arrive in Milwaukee, struggle pedal home on dead legs and a turns out cracked rim (20 minute ride in 30)

8:00pm: Roll into the garage, intend to quick eat and go to sleep

Spend multiple hours chatting/cleaning/eating

11:00pm: Step out of a tub full of hot water and lavender essential oils and epsom salts, dress for bed

PASSOUT

Sunday, August 3

5:50am: Peel eyes open

6:00am: Brew coffee, cook, sip and eat

7:15am: Try to hide in the barista corner all day at the cafe

Some time later: Get asked to work a double,

Say “yes”

11:30am: Get bad feelings about the decision, take 1.5 hour break, pedal to Roast

11:45am: Silently sip iced aeropress by Intelligentsia whilst blogging

1:05pm: Pedal back to work to finish shift, want to sleep

7:00pm: Finish shift, pedal back home,

Hang with the host fam:

FEAST ON TACOS

 Jam on guitar and do card tricks with the kiddo’s

9:45pm: Lay down to sleep, pass out in moments

Monday, August 4th

4:40am: Wake to Zox on Pandora

4:45am: Brew coffee, cook, eat sip and do laundry

6:00am: Fret about rear rim condition as it shudders on the pedal to work

6:15am: Arrive at work, commence series of mistakes related directly to my overworked state of being

2:15pm: Remember to keep chin up after rookie-mistake-riddled shift, THANK MY AWESOME CO-WORKERS FOR STEPPING UP

2:30pm: Lay down for 20 minute nap

3:45pm: Wake up from a “20 minute nap” Pedal to Truly Spoken

4:00pm: Step into shop dripping wet after a soaking ride, ask for immediate help and education as to what is wrong with my MAIN SOURCE OF TRANSPORTATION (aka, necessary lifestyle-tool)

4:45pm: Thank Anton for the good prices, education, and service

4:50pm: Arrive at Fuel Cafe, order tea

[Commence the finishing of this post]

 

Hey, thanks for reading this different style of post, whoever you are.  I had a great weekend in Madison.  The adventure alone was worth it, although less so after a shift like today’s, but still nonetheless.

What I learned:

Chase your passions. I would emphasize the plural “s” in passions more, but WordPress doesn’t make it to easy to do so.

Why the emphasis? Well, because I learned this weekend that I have a passion for coffee and barista-ing, particularly enjoying the appreciation people express while/after watching me brew/construct their drink. And guess what, I still have a passion to get into sustainable food systems and helping shape our future.

But you know what else? I don’t see the logic in dropping this passion for coffee, because I can pursue my career changing our food systems while enjoying my passion for coffee, and other things I am passionate about.

I re-learned this importance of pacing one’s self.  This became more evident after today’s shift filled with simple mistakes – overmaking drink (someone orders “[black coffee] To GO // caramel”and I mis-read in a rush, making a caramel latte).

But, I know that the main contributing factor for things such as this is in my control.  So, I don’t have to worry, and I won’t. I don’t have any crazy-packed plans like these past few days in the horizon, but of course Friday and Saturday in Madtown (start reading at top if you missed out) only occured because TJ from the Milwaukee Coffee Guild mentioned it to me one week prior.  Certainly, there is no guarentee that I can even offer myself that this sort of extended full-tilt pace won’t happen again.  Anyway, Ryan gave me a chance as a barista he has never seen work. Which leads me into my next lesson, trust.

Ryan, owner-operator of Roast Coffee Company trusted me to be a representative of his business, brewing drinks in the name of Roast. Ryan has a lot invested in his business, beyond capital costs for the construction of the coffee-kiosk I worked in and the equipment in it.  Ryan has his heart and soul in Roast, and he is moving up with the business’ capacities.  So, he was trusting me with a lot, but he is so laid back (or at least outwardly) that I don’t think he let himself worry about it.  But, he is successful enough to tell me that odds are great that all of this crossed his mind.

That  is all for now. The summer is coming to an end, as well.  I have less than two weeks left with Victory Garden Initiative in my internship and then I am back to Geebs. Then up north with the girlfriend and her fam, then to Bozeman, MT. But, that will be another story for another time.

6:59pm: Finish post, order “The Buttacfucco” at Fuel.

Cheers,

-Alex

 

Milwaukee’s little lessons 7

Welcome back to the “little lessons” series. Its great to be writing again for it, and there is a bunch to share. Thanks so much for reading, commenting, and sharing.

1) Grit:

So, this past Tuesday into Thursday was far more of a challenge than anticipated.  In short, I dealt with:

• Tuesday after interning: Flat tire, preventing me from going to yoga
  • Replaced it (woo!)
• Wednesday morning: flat tire (boo)
  • Replaced it (woo!)
• The bolt that holds my seat to my seat post, sheered. Mid ride…
  • Rode around without a seat for the rest of the day (boo)
  • Nearby bike shop couldn’t have a part I needed until Friday, when I was to participate in a group ride on Thursday (boooo!)
• Thursday afternoon: Went to a second bike shop, and a hardware store – fixed the seat (woo!)
• Thursday night: Participated in the Milwaukee Underwear Bike Ride for July (WOOOOO!)
  • (There was a pool party mid way through!!)

Okay… Okay…

So, to put it all in a sentence:

There were ups, and downs, but it all ended with me spending my night, half-naked with hundreds of other cyclists in similar attire. I’m okay with this.

1: So, why is this lesson called grit? Well, because not only did I have to chin up against problems, but I had to keep striving, against the grit.

2:)The potlucks to attend:

Are ones that all invitees are motivated to eat/promote/appreciate/create good (nourishing+ delicious) dishes. Want an example?

“Yes.” Said no-one (yet.)

Okay, how about this:

Dinosaur Kale + foraged berries + fresh salad + a touch of vinaigrette = big hit

BOOM.

Thanks to a Victory Garden Initiative potluck attendee, Gabrielle, I enjoyed one of these bad boys. Thanks Gabrielle.

3) The lessons we encounter and must grapple with are more than often not the ones we originally sought after.

This lesson was solidified at a great meeting with my internship coordinators.  We sat down to chat about how the internship has been going (great). What can be done better so VGI can better enable interns to gain knowledge, wisdom, and skills for the present and future.

This meeting was so instructing because I realized that I not only was gaining knowledge, wisdom, and skills presently, but all the current interns were in the position to help VGI develop their internship program/model.  In short, I was directly affecting the sustainability/efficiency of VGI by informing/participating for management.  If you know me, you know my heart beats with pride and hope because I get to part of something so big as this.

Heres to the lessons and week forthcoming!

-Alex

 

An Unintended Circumstance

The adventure began with 40 minutes of pedalstroking

down from Shorewood into downtown Milwaukee. The original destination, of course, was not where I ended up. (Isn’t this how life tends to go?)
At first, I was trying to go to the Milwaukee Bike Collective. Forty minutes of pedaling to meet with a bunch of fellow cyclists to turn wrenches. Which never worked out, because it was Lady’s Night at the Collective. On such nights, they reserve the shop for ladies only in order to foster a sense of security and help lady-cyclists develop their capacities as DIY bike-fixers. Awesome! Well, yes. But not if you’re a male who just sweat through Milwaukee streets, hammering it out on the pedals because you didn’t want to be late.

So where did I end after being turned away by the Ladies at the shop?

Great question
Answer: Anodyne Coffee at their roasting location on Bruce Street in Walker’s Point.

The brew: A pourover of their Honduras Beneficio Santa Rosa roast

Solid brew of their Honduras, a lighter roast with darker bakery flavor notes (syrups, caramel,) that came out once seriously cooled

The learnins’:

• Anodyne has a cool story, similar to Luna’s. In fact, I learned that the owners of both businesses used to be college roomies. That’s pretty neat. Of course, things scaled differently for both companies, with Anodyne seeking a larger presence and Luna seeking to stay small and local – both taking their different paths for solid reasons. Anyway…
• The atmosphere is very relaxed and open here. I dig it, a lot. I was even lucky enough to chat up a nice barista, Jason, and learn the history above and much more.

In short: Awesome first impression of Anodyne, their employees, and how they operate. I am looking forward to more time spent here.

Cheers!

Growth, growth, growth

Without a doubt. This past week was incredibly productive at the Concordia Gardens. Thanks to generous volunteers, our farm director (Cullen), and the camaraderie us interns share we’ve gone far.
As Montana (picture below), an intern that has been around Concordia for a couple of years, put it “This is the best it’s [,Concordia,] looked.” Pictures to come soon. I promise.

Montana has an eye for foraging (chamomile in this case)

What did we get done? Well we finished a huge berm (cardboard laying and woodchip laying), the same one that the kids helped with. We built new berms for our expanding rows, and transplanted loads of tomato and pepper plants into them. Its going to be a big harvest if it all pans out.

In addition to changing our landscape, this past Thursday we (hopefully) changed the outlook that a few Harambee neighborhood (where Concordia is) residents have for us over at the farm around the corner.  To do so, myself and another intern, Tom, took care of a problem (hopefully) at the Gardens…  We have too much food.

Tom and I harvested over 10 large paper grocery bags of greens beets, and a whole lot of sugar snap peas. And shared the over abundance of food we had with the Harambeeans. There were many thanks, smiles, and laughs. There were some sideways acceptances of food people have never prepared  before (e.g. swiss chard). Nevertheless, what matters is that we were able to share (and save) fresh food and some community members will hopefully be having their fresh produce today at their 4th of July get-togethers (or at any other occasion outside of the 4th).

However, the day definitely did not start out so wonderfully. In fact, the morning was a bit agitating at moments.
I won’t leave you in the dark about the time, but I won’t dwell because, well, we don’t need that.
In short, I was the only intern at the farm until about 1:30pm, I arrived at 7:45am. Farming alone is not enjoyable moment to moment. Especially if you are used to working at a trailblazing pace with your intern pals. Nonetheless, the farm does look cleaner, is smoother to drive on, and there is a new row.
What I will focus on is what I learned from the experience.
1) My farm director, Cullen, has set me up to succeed. He has done so in the sense that I now know how to prioritize projects and problem solve before I get to work. Basically, he has taught me to pragmatically imagine workable solutions/actions for all of the projects and then execute. Basically, I can better pragmatically plan with several moving projects before me. On that day, I had to use these skills, because I didn’t have Cullen to so it for me. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m no master yet, just without training wheels and now seen with eyes of trust more than concern.

2) I further learned the importance of better reacting to reality. Basically, as Sara put it in her comment in the Crisis Managment post, we can control how to respond to things, and can’t control other things. In my case, I couldn’t control everyone else’s schedule. Thus, I tried humbling myself as I bitterly moved a ton of soil by shove and wheelbarrow. It worked, to a degree. Nevertheless, I will keep working at it, thanks Sara.
3) I actually enjoyed some moments of solitude on the farm. Yes, others weren’t so pleasurable, but some were. In a nutshell, this lesson from the solo morning was some solitude for internal reflections and concurrent outward observation is good every now and again.

Thanks for reading. If it is the 4th on the day of your read, happy 4th. If not, sure hope it was a fun time for you.

-Alex

Milwaukee’s Little Lessons 6

Hello! It has been a exciting week! Here are some fun, light-hearted lessons that stuck out.

1) When one works a farm, you eat A LOT of seasonal food.
For example, I eat at least 2 salads, this size, everyday.

All because we have a flush of lettuce, swiss chard, and spinach. (I am super excited for snap peas, tomatoes, more herbs, onions, and peppers).

2) A lot of plans just need leaders/actors to happen. Simple to complex, it really comes down to the passion, initiative, and grit of people to pull things together. As Will Allen has said, “We need more do tanks.” Consider this a re-committed to be more like that.

3) Kombucha is super awesome, why did I ever stop brewing? Heres to the semi-carbonated, probiotic-rich fermented beverage!

Thanks again for reading.
-Alex

Milwaukee’s little lessons 5

1) Don’t pull punches (when managing)

I’ve learned, in the past, that you just have to be direct as a manager.  But, of course, I didn’t utilize this information as I stepped into my first manager role.  Without getting into toooo much detail, I learned that hinting at tasks or, shedding light on a task to be done will not work for everyone.  Some people I manage (for the record, I dislike the idea of saying I manage others) don’t need any prompting, some just some direction, others (who are the reason for this post) need a specific tasks delegated directly to them.  As far as behavior/work ethic, well lets say I’m on a steep learning curve and I’m trying hard to learn how I can help the people I manage work with bring their best.Not pulling punches seems like something I will have to do with this, in tandem with being clear and fostering participatory management.

2) Young kids causing havoc just need direction.

Specifically, at the Concordia Urban Farms, I was with the intern crew and after visiting a nearby house (that may become a homesteading home for future interns), we found a bunch of kids having fun.  Having fun, at the expense of farm equipment, and my garden.  Yup.  It got personal.  One kid climbing on top of a 500 gallon rain barrel, warping the lid, another knocking over my trellises and pulling my tomatoes out of the ground….. And the rest chasing eachother around.

One, in her pink pj’s and powerful little voicebox, screeched “They’re baaaaackk!!!” as I approached.

Without getting into the details, I let them know they were acting out of line and that nobody was going to be nice to them if we had to talk to them again for acting up.  Then, with lessons from professors and past work/internship, I let them know what they could do instead, be welcome guests, but not vandals.

Then, well, that is when things went crazy, nobody saw it coming…

 

 

 

These busy guys and gals became super helpful hands.

Bucket by bucket, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow

Its been said many times… But, seriously, kids just love to dig.

Yup, thats what happened.  We got help.  Not even bad reactions! These awesome people decided to bring out what makes them special.  Helpful, fun, and caring kids, I tell ya.  They just need direction.

But, I will be honest, I never asked them or gave them the option to help us. They took that on themselves, thats all them.  Obviously enough, we were all very moved by their collective gesture and actions.

3) I’m conditioned for high obligation/responsibility loads.  This can’t be said for the opposite.

I’m giving it an earnest shot at relaxing this summer, after the past 3 years of being blistering, fun, rewarding, but overall – kind of stressful.  So, I’ve tried to leave my schedule more open for opportunities to kick back.

What I noticed is that I tend to spend most of this spare time eating, brewing coffee, pacing, goofing on guitar… All of this should make me more relaxed and overall happier, right? Actually, not really.  I just feel lethargic, and unproductive when I think of all of this – and thats not easy for me to see in another way.  Thanks to the previously mentioned 3-year long drive-drive-drive load (plus the rest of life and things I’m probably not recognizing).  As always, my character is a work in progress and I’ve got time to figure things out.

 

Cheers,

-Alex

(P.S. I know I said would try to keep these “little lessons” posts light and fun, but its hard not to drive at the deeper lessons of life for my critical mind. Not an excuse, but at least an explanation for anyone curious.)

Intro to Milwaukee Coffee

GOOD MORNING!

This post is fueled by Just Coffee’s Humdinger roast (an Ethopian Sidama) I’ve fallen in love with.

Later I might grab a coffee at Stonecreek Coffee, or even Colectivo. Maybe I’ll go for some Valentine instead, though – might be a good day for a smoky, dark afternoon cup of coffee.

Okay, so, getting to the point. Milwaukee has quite the array of choices for coffee. This is super exciting! The names above are of only the big name coffee roaster, there are plenty of solo cafes and smaller roasters kicking it.

To compare, the only roasters in the Green Bay area is Luna Coffee Roasters (actually in De Pere), and LaJava A Roasting House in far west Green Bay. Two, that is all.
Milwaukee: four big names and several small batchers.  That rocks.

However, quality before quantity. And I must say, Luna has nailed at #1 on my most enjoyed roasts with their session roast of Costa Rica la Derva, a micro lot with incredible flavor that very noticeably evolves from toffee to a pleasant citrus as the cup cools. Okay, coffee geek/romance rant over.

Back to the roasters of Milwaukee. Each, so far, has their unique environment they create around coffee, but it’s bottom line the same general routines for roasting/brewing.
However, Just Coffee’s transparency is astounding and unmatched, earning my utmost respect. Plus, the Humdinger (mentioned above) is amazing.
Colectivo’s personality is a great touch, attempting to be personable, crunchy, reliable, and kickass all wrapped in uniqueness. I say attempt because it only shines through when the right employees believe and embody this that it all works. 
The more reserved neighbor, Stonecreek, who creates a professional, calculated, grounding atmosphere filled with people who know coffee and are ready be real, unfiltered personalities that just so happen to also be detail orientated.
Valentine is only a roasting company (like Just Coffee) that sells to cafes/grocery, but they do cook up some quality coffee beans. Of course, with this, it is a challenge to score some fresh roast, freshly brewed at the cafes.

The take away? Milwaukee is a great place right now for my coffee interests, as higher quality roasters in Wisconsin are concentrated here. Next time you’re in Milwaukee, be sure to sit down and enjoy a fresh, hand brewed cup. In fact, if you contact me, I’ll share my favorites.

If you don’t like black coffee, you haven’t had someone try to brew you a roast that fits you.
Cheers,
-Alex

Milwaukee’s little lessons 4

Week 4, already. Wowzers. Well, here’s to more lessons learned. Meet some interns at the bottom of this post (before running into the next post).
More to come next week, of course. Got a similar story to share? Please, do so. This has been cool to interact with people with. A few individuals have even decided to follow this blog email, thanks for that. I challenge all, and especially those committed to subscribing, make a comment, go ahead, you can do it.

1)Dumpster diving is productive. On Tuesday, we had to turn picture 1 into picture 2, and we needed to acquire loads of cardboard to do so. Why pay for bed lining when people are just throwing away (not in a recycling dumpster) perfectly usuable resources?!

Cardboard 1st, then base layer soil

Picture 1

Tons upon tons moved in one day, #internpower

Picture 2

2)A drinking habit, at restaurants/bars is very expensive. How does anyone without a full time, well paying job afford it? How do people with high alcohol tolerances afford it? I’m not looking to pick it up, but a few drinks over the past few months has costed quite a bit more than I’d expect to be reasonable.

3)Riding a bicycle is more preferable in the city than driving, for me. My girlfriend was in town Thursday into Friday, and it was a great time. I, however, didn’t use a bike either of these days, as I have been. Instead, I drove her car, this was not a great time. Between Thursday night and Friday morning, I learned I prefer my bike over driving, and I actually don’t enjoy driving in Milwaukee.

4) The city allows for more niche (sub)cultures to thrive/exist. In Milwaukee, I notice that there is opportunity for nearly all walks of life that I’ve encountered. I.E. if one wants to be a serious business person, that can work out, love being an environmental advocate? There’s plenty of that. Big into beer? Coffee? Baseball? Plenty of all three. Work in construction? I could go on, but, bottom line, it seems that cities truly offer metaphorical tons of opportunities for those willing to work for them. I like that.

Finally, meet some interns.

After a hard days work, we knocked out tons of work with the direction of Cullen (farm director and photographer)

From right to left: Hugh, Montana, Soumya, Roy (not really an intern, but a committed volunteer), and me)

Cheers,
-Alex

Milwaukee’s little lessons 3

Okay. So, this one isn’t as light as the other Milwaukee’s Little Lessons posts. Fair warning, its a bit more purposeful of a post, but useful for those looking for info/reminders about personal relations/communication (aka, me, daily). Enjoy.
Please, remember, if you have a story similar to one of the 5 below, please, share. Again, this blog will rock if it is a diablog.

1) Communication is key.Literally.
Today, I would have had the keys I needed to enter a building, to get other keys in said building, if there was better communication. In short, I needed keys to a truck, which were in a locked office. Communication can go all ways, but in this case neither of us (the keyholder and I) thought of the office possibly being locked on Saturday morning at 6am.

2) CAROB. WOW. I’ve never had carob covered almonds, or carob until I got here. If you haven’t either, make carob happen for you. What’s carob? Carob as most know it is a choclately, flour like result of crushed carob bean (A bean native to Arabia). It rocks. Seriously, it takes directed willpower to put carob covered almonds down.

3) Leaving your familiar community means an opportunity to grow familiar with another.
Yes, I miss my friends. I’d like to grow more familiar with them by hanging out over the summer. But, Milwaukee offers me the opportunity to grow familiar with strangers, sounds sketchy, but it’s great.

4) People of Milwaukee are more welcoming than Green Bay
Honestly, I’ve had 6 people welcome me, outside of those I’m living/working with. To compare, I don’t remember ever getting such greeting within the first two weeks of living in Green Bay.

5) Even in the city, one can settle into a self-imposed “nothing to do,” regimen
Let me clarify, I know there is lots to do, but there is a certain struggle to execute because of my perfectionist/detailed nature. For instance, treating my recent bug bite (which led to enlarged lymph nodes) took a long time because I was so bent on finding a natural treatment for it. Update, all healed up.