Bob's Red Mill

Love this company.

More function than feng shui,
our bulk supply of whole grains.

Anyone who visits our kitchen remarks on our bulk supply selection of Bob's Red Mill whole grains.  "It's like being in a bulk co op," says our neighbor.  The metal shelving and recycled white buckets provide easy access to our favorites: we eat oatmeal pretty much every day for breakfast (Gene likes dried fruit toppings; I prefer nuts and dried berries), regularly make 5-minute-a-day artisan bread (a shared pursuit and requested for most pot lucks), and often prepare an awesome 13-bean soup (Gene's forté) and lentil soup (my specialty, plus the soups go well with the bread).

To support our whole-grain habit, we head over to Bob's Red Mill Store in Milwaukie located just a few miles down the road from us a couple times a year and pick up some 25-lb bags of supplies. It's a really fun scene, has great products, and is even more fun to support since Bob turned the company over to all of its employees a few years ago.

Last fall, I had been hankering to take a tour of their manufacturing facility (just a mile down the street from their Store with tours offered every weekday), when serendipitously I attended Zenger Farm's annual fundraiser where Bob's Red Mill -- a huge supporter of Zenger Farm -- had offered a VIP tour as part of the auction.  I won the bid and get excited to go behind the scenes at the mill!  To prepare, I read Bob's inspiring book, "People Before Profit" by Ken Koopman, met with Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Dennis Gilliam and assembled a party of 9 friends interested in whole grain goodness. Last weekend all the planets aligned and we took our wonderful VIP behind-the-scenes tour.

Thank you so much to Dennis for your time on a rainy Saturday when you could have been paging through the NY Times, to Lori and Julie for behind-the-scenes cuing up, to my friends for joining me on this adventure (thanks Mitch for sharing your photos), and of course to Bob, whom I've met briefly at the store and admire from afar. For anyone interest in the well-being of the planet, be sure to keep your eyes open for OHSU's findings about maternal nutrition and wellness - fascinating stuff.

Dennis invited me to turn the corn sheller, a restored relic from days of old.  Famous hands have touched this piece of equipment so now I've joined the ranks!

This book is how it all began -- Bob's wife, Charlee, got into whole grains and nutrition, then Bob read this book and got inspired to try his hand at milling with his sons.

Meredith Sorensen and Dennis Gilliam connect over an antique quartz millstone.

We donned hair nets and went behind the scenes.

OMG
(Oh My Grain)

Friendly staff.

Surrounded by 300,000 square feet of whole grains.

This is one of their many bagging machines with the labels embedded into the film plastic.

Garbanzo bean flour, apparently very good for making crepes. Who knew?

Katie, Alexis, Meredith, Becky, Jonathan, Ethan, baby Amelia, Gusty, Mitch, Nancy, and Gene.
The good times continued to roll at a yummy lunch down the street at the BRM Store.

Parting shot: Looking forward to trying out the Irish Soda Bread mix.

Energy and Vitality

Energy.  That's what I'm noticing the beginning of this year.  Whether it's running through parks looking at the fresh buds pushing out on trees branches, creating collateral about anaerobic digestion and biogas through my work with Harvest Power, or connecting with family and friends in-between work trips, lately I have been keenly aware of the forces of nature pulsing through each of us and our environment.  A few energetic snapshots from January and February of this year…

Running through Tryon Life Park with triad-mates Hanisi and Katie

Tapping into Thug Kitchen's awesome spinach smoothie (thanks to amazing blender from Rachel) in Harvest Power pint glasses.  Yum!

Setting up Harvest's booth at the US Composting Council Conference

The Soren-Wald kiddos finding endless amusement with my luggage.

My mom pushing her ice boat out.

Aunt Sandy

Leigh and Me

It's such a cool landscape to be out on the ice.  This is in the middle of the Navesink River.

An ice boat has a flat bottom and is perched on runner planks with blades.  When the wind is blowing it goes so fast -- it's essentially sailing minus friction.

Yup, that's my mom.

Bill R and my dad rig up his boat.

Paddle Tennis Champion Sandy with Meredith, Alicia, Mark and Basil.  Such a fun, quick game!

Gotta squeeze in a walk on the beach.

Tony and his ball.

Molly.

Mom's painting of Thomas and Hannah in Argentina.

Snowed in at B'sie's in Connecticut

Snowy feeding 

Boston prank, looked way cuter in real life.

The next generation abounds!  Oscar, Victor, and Anne in Somerville. 

Holy moley Harvest Power was named 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company -- so cool!

Couldn't resist picking this up as a gift for a talented colleague.

Telly-ing with Sally outside of Eugene

A complete night o' fun with a Party Bus, Trampoline World,  and dancing with (clockwise) Gene, Johnny G, Becky B, Katie P, myself and Patty B.

2013 in Review

Taking a moment to reflect back on the waves and patterns of 2013, it seems like the year was full of Harvest Power, gardening, Gene, running, family, and friends.  Here's a recap of highlights:

January - Connected with Wellesley friends in Boston.  Mike made amazing croissants.  Also did Tellyfest at Hoodoo Mountain with Sally and Chris Bell!  So much fun.  Also, Gene and I became graduates of the Landmark Forum (if you feel a block in life, need to blow up your current paradigm of life, or want to get touched, moved and inspired, do Landmark).

Petra, Erin, April, Theresa, Ashley, Meredith

Mike's homemade croissants.  Oh my.

Hoodoo Telly Fest with Chris, Sally, Gene, and Meredith

February - On Amy Yates' bridal shower weekend getaway at the coast -- where Patty introduced us to the awesome game of lawn bowling -- I decided to commit to training for the Pac Crest Half Ironman which shaped the next few months.  Also marveled at our solar panels' production -- if you are in Oregon check out RS Energy.

Amy Yates.  Read her socks if you can.

Aw yeah!

This is the highest I've ever seen our 3.2kw array hit.

March - An 11-mile ski into Flagpoint Lookout with Becky Brun!  So nice to get offline for a bit, though it was hard-pack coming back down the hill.  Ouch.  Tahoe the Dawg often spends the day in my office reviewing important documents and giving very good advice.

BB at Flagpoint

Mt. Hood

Tahoe picks out some summer reading.

April - Harvest Power won the Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award.  I was particularly proud because I filled out the burly application.  Also, did a video shoot for some of Harvest Power's soil products.  Gene started finishing houses at the Waverly Commons project and I dabbled with soil blocks.

Video Shoot with Harvest's Superpowered product line.

The first house Gene finished at Waverly Commons.

Soil blocks

May - Training peak with lots of swimming, biking, and running.  I kept a sticker chart to stay true to my workouts (and also make sure I did good things for my body like yoga, massage, and chiropractic adjustments).  Gene was a champion supporter calling out in the early morning as I crawled out of bed, "Go Meredith. You can do it."  Katie P and I ran almost every Tuesday, Thursday and weekend either up Mt. Tabor or around the neighborhood.

My sticker chart to track training.

Katie P! 

June - This month was jam packed with good things. Backyard fun with friends from near and far (Reb, Huck and tractor, plus good time with Jess and Mark's Baxter and Sunny).  Catching up with colleagues on the east coast (see mulch). My cousin Alica Peake Henning married Mark Bublitz over an amazing wedding weekend in New Jersey (oh my, they are adorable -- see tennis court photo). Gene and I went on top of a neighbor's roof to stretch our calves.  And bros-in-law Chip and Zac kept it real (why do I take more photos of my brothers-in-laws than I do my sisters?).  After the wedding we got some more family time in timeless Point O' Woods, Fire Island (my parents jumped for the ferry as we left; it's a tradition but still, sheesh, that's love). The month got even better when my CEO Paul Sellew presented a TEDx talk in Boston; I went with my colleague Arjun.  Then, as a cherry on top of the June cake I got 3rd in my division in the Pacific Crest half ironman (1.1 mile swim, 58 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).

Huck loves playing with the tractor Gene had when he was a boy.

Reb, Huck, Baxter, Jess, Sunny and Mia

Baxter and Gene

King & Leigh's home -- new shingles where they got flooded in Hurricane Sandy.

My mom had one of her busiest years for her business.

King, Leigh, Meredith

Mmm…..mulch

Mark and Alicia, so cute.

Gene and Meredith and the Shrewsbury River / Atlantic Ocean

Chip and Zac.  (I need more photos of my sisters!!)

Lovely.

Ellis and Arden

Sandy and Gene

Arden and Eliza

PO'W Jump Part 1: The Wave

PO'W Jump Part 2: The Splash

PO'W Jump Part 3: The Wave from the Water

Paul Sellew of Harvest Power presents!

Meredith and Arjun in the TEDx crowd.  So cool to be a part of it!

Gene and Mer: Pre-race.

Meredith, post 70.2 miles.  Sore legs, happy heart.

July - Watershed Relay with Sally Bell.  The climb up was stunning: basically a steady quick pace up from the parking lot to lunch counter to meet up with Becky, Jonathan, and others just as the sun was setting.  The summit was a blast with costumes and high energy.  The descent turned into a long day when Joc broke her tib/fib but everyone made it out okay.

Meredith and Sally

At the summit with Johnny and Becky

August - Summer adventures with Katie (note matching shirt with wall). Becky's bachelorette weekend with covered the spectrum of trails (the McKenzie River trail with a crew of awesome ladies) and sparkles (oh my). Launching the Harvest Power Store complete with CLASSIC Food Waste Flip Flops.  Taking care of Ellis and Sevie, who came down to Portland OR for 4 days while Jenny and Chip went hiking.  A circum-nav run of Three-Fingered Jack with the Portland Extreme Picnickers crew -- so pretty.

A mid-ride breakfast stop.

McKenzie River Trail

Jess and Meredith: We clean up real nice.

A highlight, 3 wordplays in 7 words: "Step Up to the Plate: Recycle Organics!"

Our garden burst with a zillion sunflowers this summer.

Ellis, a voracious reader

Ellis and Sevie Doo

Sevie and Gene grab dinner from the volunteer squash plant.

The Trappist Abbey

3-Fingered Jack!  Patty, Anna, Amy, Meredith, Jason

September - Becky and Jonathan's wedding!!  SO amazing.  Becky was beautiful and poised as ever.  Jonathan was funny and present and loving.  All of us gathered together in a small circle in a clearing in the woods and while I almost bubbled over with tears at the beginning of the ceremony I held it together and officiated their union.  It was so powerful.  Crazily, I have about zero photos of this event.  We danced under the stars late into the night.  Later that month was Brooke and Darcy's wedding in North Carolina where a highlight for me was the rope swing (I think that's a photo of me).  Clearly I did not document September very well.

The rope swing at Brooke & Darcy's wedding

October - Ran the length of the Wildwood.  Saw Dar Williams in the Gorge!  Farm to Table auction at Zenger Farm's fundraiser with Bob's Red Mill.  At BioCycle in Columbus OH, I got to circulate the 3 videos we produced over the summer to promote compost and mulch.  Check 'em out --  Hilarious.

November - Friend time in Portland.  Birthday run with Katie (and the perfectly-toasted bagel at Albina Press).  Then family time in Oakland (the kids got crafty with leaves and a glue gun), a train ride up the hills, and then Thanksgiving in Truckee, CA with the Andersons and Sorenwalds.  Paddle boarding on Lake Tahoe was dreamy.

Jenny, Irving, Katie, Becky

Birthday Breakfast!!!!!  Albina Press toasts their bagels perfectly.

A cozy moment with Eliza and Arden, and Macki the dog-sitting dog.

Love this.

The kids know how to rally.

Amtrak up to Truckee: the way to ride.

Book worms Sophie and Reb

Spencer and Arden = Card Sharks

Spencer, Sophie, and Arden

Reb and the paddle board

December - Year end wrap up stuff with Harvest Power, and family time.  Onwards to 2014!