The kitchen was bright, sunny, and messy with the preparations for Sunday\u2019s roast beef dinner. The whole family would be home, and the young boy was helping his mom chop vegetables and fold napkins, all while chattering away about frogs and his older brother and tree forts and asking \u201cwhy\u201d every couple of minutes, as every boy of a certain age does.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can\u2019t I have a frog? They\u2019re not THAT noisy and I SWEAR I\u2019ll clean up after him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I hafta fold so many napkins? Uncle Jim says that\u2019s what jeans are for.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t I wear jeans tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n Mom was able to answer each one of these quickly enough and decisively enough to keep the work and the banter moving.<\/p>\n While prepping the pot roast, \u201cMom, why do you cut the end off and put it into another pan to cook?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Spooning savory sauce over the two pieces of the pot roast she replied, \u201cWell, kiddo, that\u2019s the way you make a pot roast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUh, that\u2019s just how it\u2019s done…something about seasoning getting to all the parts and pieces…or cooking faster or…\u201d She paused and looked over at Kiddo, \u201cThat\u2019s the way Grammy always made it. Maybe we should ask her.\u201d Passing the buck is not so hard she thought, sliding the two pans into the oven. If Grammy can feed him sugar, she can give him some answers, too.<\/p>\n When Grammy arrived, Kiddo barely let her get her coat off before asking \u201cwhy\u201d. \u201cGrammy, Grammy, I\u2019ve got a question I\u2019ve been \u2018membering all day and Mom says you are THE ONLY ONE who knows the answer.\u201d And he asked her. \u201cWhy does Mom always cut off the end of the roast and put it in a separate pan in the oven? It seems weird.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well, I don\u2019t know why she does that, Sweetness. I always cut up the roast and put the end into a second pan because otherwise it wouldn\u2019t fit into my small oven.\u201d<\/p>\n Mom looked up, momentarily confused, then unwrinkled her brows and smiled. \u201cWell, imagine that. I never thought to ask.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Question, and be greener,<\/p>\n Jodi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The kitchen was bright, sunny, and messy with the preparations for Sunday\u2019s roast beef dinner. The whole family would be home, and the young boy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,18,147],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-1274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-commentary","category-inspiration","category-is-it-sustainable","tag-change"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/B510DCCC-4326-4830-946F-20B51B42D375.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s40KlT-why","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1306,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1306","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":0},"title":"A Fine Line","author":"greenerjsa","date":"September 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I struggle, nearly every day, to find the right place for the line that divides know-it-all lecturing from leadership. 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Wicked \u201chigh\u201d energy costs. http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/justice\/2013\/12\/06\/3031951\/marijuana-prohibition-growing-carbon-cost\/","rel":"","context":"In "Energy"","block_context":{"text":"Energy","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":764,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=764","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":2},"title":"Catch-up, Guilt-free","author":"greenerjsa","date":"January 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have not posted for a couple of weeks. Okay, 4 weeks. But this ties in to some things I have learned over the holiday season. Be in the moment. I haven't posted because I have been doing the things that mattered to me at the time. 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Are you achieving based on your best you?","rel":"","context":"In "Inspiration"","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=18"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":785,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=785","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":4},"title":"Nature of the Space","author":"greenerjsa","date":"January 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I am currently fascinated by the \"Nature of the Space\". This title captures\u00a0four of the 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design as defined by Terrapin Bright Green in their accessible, informative and useful on-line publication. The nature of the space includes prospect, refuge, mystery and risk\/peril: all of the elements that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bio-synergistic design"","block_context":{"text":"Bio-synergistic design","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"shelter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shelter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":855,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=855","url_meta":{"origin":1274,"position":5},"title":"Step One Is This:","author":"greenerjsa","date":"April 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the issues holding us back is arrogance. We have no time and not enough resources to continue to think we know it all, and I mean \u201cwe\u201c as a species as well as \u201cwe\u201d as each of us individuals in our own work and lives. 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