Very insightful. Super sad.

My kids just did a play of Stone Soup at their school, before the holiday break. The story went like this.

Three travelers came upon a village, where everyone in the village had been through some tough times. They had all become suspicious of strangers and even of each other.

No one answered the gate when the travelers knocked. No one answered their doors either.

So the travelers started to gather twigs. Then they built a fire and put a small pan of water on the fire. Then they looked for three round, smooth stones. They were going to make stone soup.

First a little girl curious about what they were doing, came out and asked them. The travelers told her they were making stone soup. But unfortunately it would just be a small soup, for they only had a small pan.

The little girl, inspired, told the travelers her mother had a much larger pan. She ran off to fetch it. Her mother asked what she was doing, and upon hearing of the stone soup she became curious. The girl and her mother came back to the fire together to learn more about this soup.

One by one, the villagers started to gather around the fire. First they learned the soup was much better with some salt. The mayor had some, so she ran to fetch it

Then the wise eldest traveler remarked that stones of this size and shape went very well with carrots. The grocer had some of those, so he ran to fetch them.

The youngest traveler mused how good the soup had been the last time when it had an onion added. And so someone ran to fetch onions.

Before you knew it, the soup had potatoes and tomatoes and peas and all sorts of delicious vegetables added. It bubbled and smelled so good.

When the soup was some, the villagers gathered in the square to share it with the travelers. They brought bread and tea. They lit lanterns and candles.

And together over their shared bowls of food, they shared stories and laughter and songs

At the end of the evening, the travelers found warm comfy beds being offered to them. In the morning, as the travelers left, the villager gathered to see them off.

They had remembered they were much richer when they shared.

I think, Michelle, what we might need in our little communities these days, is a nice big pot of stone soup.

We don’t have to agree to make culture together. And your story of the decline of the newspapers is spot on insightful truth. What a great read.