Places of the Heart
THE READERS OF THIS MAGAZINE are a family of two lines: Arts 81 Crafts enthusiasts, who appreciate the Art That is Life and the artistry of craftsmanship, and bungalow owners and enthusiasts, who like to get their fingers into the soil. subscribe to the concept of a small house in a garden, and who also appreciate the artistry of craftsmanship. More often than not, the two lines are intertwined
within the same person.
American Bungalow readers have two other qualities in common: insistence on honesty and an affinity for Nature. So it follows that when these people travel or explore. they want to be where it’s authentic, natural or artistic. Or all of the above.
Me, too. I have been so very privileged, over the years, to have visited towns and neighborhoods across the continent while creating articles for the magazine. And wherever I go, my congenial local hosts always point me to the best little undiscovered restaurant in town and are always eager to share other hidden treasures of their immediate world. And what a great gift that is. Seen through a lover’s eyes, every place is beautiful.
But between destinations I encounter the same monotonous turnpike amenities we all do, and 1 find myself wishing that some philanthropic organization would fund a program to put signs at offramps to show where the best local fare can be enjoyed- and where one might stay without enduring long treks over miles of frantic carpets, watching the room numbers whiz by on either side. It doesn’t take long to see that such a local {are signage program could never be made to work. Besides, I can always
just open up the laptop, find a local a subscriber and call to ask.
Bingo. Epiphany. Let’s create a website where our readers can share their area’s most intimate restaurants or convivial chuckwagon dinners, its restored hotels and rustic fishing camps or B&Bs, its natural gems and local legends, local produce markers, independent book stores-in short, all that is authentic or unique to the area.
In the process we might help divert a little business away from the big box economy and back to the mom and pop store down the street, where mom and pop don’t ask us for 1D and their kids go to school with ours.
So that‘s what we’ve done. We’re calling the website BungaLocals.net, a light-hearted name that we hope will come to represent something quite important and meaningful. With your help, a network like this could help preserve and energize the
independent, sensible lifestyle we all hold dear, locally and on a grand scale. our small staff could never research and record the information this website needs to be useful and effective. Only you can make it work. Help make the Internet as supportive of local business and culture as it is to face less Amazon and Google. Take a minute to share your local treasures with people who think like you do by adding a few of your favorites at BungaLocals.net.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
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