Noonday Notes

Volume 2, Issue 3

May 29th, 2026

I'm a twin. I feel created for companionship in a way that I imagine only a twin can. To have someone with you, by your side, since the womb. A true ride or die. My Thelma. Whenever there's a word that keeps resonating with me I dive into the etymology of it. Companion is “com” which is “together with” and “panio” which is “bread”. So it literally means someone you break bread together with.

When I wrote the mission statement for Noonday Farms I specifically chose the word companionship, tapping into how I felt when working at Meals on Wheels. But I didn’t do the deep dive on the word. Until this week. On a quest to find companionship in the Word I landed in Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy. It’s got a very “Hey, I’m about to die, can you get here by winter?” vibe. He’s still mad at Alexander, still checking on Prisca and Aquila. But it’s often the obscure characters I drop into. This time: Onesiphorus. Don’t ask me to pronounce.

What is said about him? Well, that he “often refreshed me” and was “not ashamed of my chains” (2 Tim: 1: 16-18). I mean, wow. To have someone in your life that refreshes you. To make you cool again, new and fresh. And he’s not ashamed of you, he even looks you up when he’s in town and you’re in prison. Paul felt seen by him; known and not judged. Sounds like my twin.

Companionship on the farm though, because all things come back to the farm right? This whole thing got started in the cucumbers at Noonday HQ, a place I am in Every. Single. Day. Specifically, the flowers in the cucumber bed. The nasturtiums I had planted amongst the cucumbers to fulfill their duty as “companion plants”. They’re often called “trap crops”, because they attract the bad guys from the crop and bring in the good guys like pollinators. Nasturtiums have your 6 for sure and they’re edible. I planted marigolds and basil with the tomatoes and peppers to do the same thing.

Losing a companion in life can feel like a lifelong journey of grief, at least that’s how divorce has felt for me. My hope is that through the work of Noonday Farms we are being nasturtiums and marigolds to each other, Onespirophus and wombmates to those we serve, meet, and nourish. My prayer is that you, the reader of this, have people in your life that make you feel refreshed and seen, that you have companions you break bread together with. And if not, reach out, you got a friend in me, and your Creator.

Read the rest of the newsletter here.