A child's ability

My mother and I spent thanksgiving in NY with Kate and her family. Apparently during a trip to Kroger, my mom found some window paints and bought them for Cadence and Hazel.

I found the paints next to the window and absent-mindedly drew my name and a heart, and then turned back to my computer.

A little while later Cadence began playing with the paints again and asks if this is my heart, and I say yes.

She then drew a circle around it and said, "I put a circle around it to keep it safe. I will never erase it."

Due to my current situation, that nearly brought me to tears.

Oh how amazing a child's ability to stir the emotions can be.

I love you, Cadence. I am thankful for you and your circle.

NYC tourist weekend part 2

6:45 and we're up. We all trek down to Cadance's Blue School to meet her teachers and see what she's done in class. It's a really neat place! Lot's of learning by doing, which as I've said before, is my favorite type of learning.

We met one of the original blue men there, too. Cadance is good friends with his son, so even though we were technically meeting "a famous person," I just knew him as scouty's dad.

Ali left to go to her cousins for the rest of the weekend, and James went to school, leaving Duncan, Hazel, Kate and I to mosey around downtown. We attempted seeing the 9/11 memorial, but never found a way in. We did look down on it, through a raised walkway. That was good enough for me. I think I just needed to see that it wasn't ruble anymore. The last time I visited that spot it was a very gray and dusty place.
We did visit the little museum type visitors center that was right next to the memorial. They had a video playing about the memorial and a few stories of the heroes and some artifacts. One of those artifacts was a recovered wallet, along with a wedding band that was also found in the rubble. I looked over those items and began to read the note that described them but didn't get to finish because I was suddenly overcome with despair. I had to turn around and force myself not to start sobbing. And then I began to wonder how everyone else was so composed. It wasn't an elaborate museum, but nevertheless there's these items that survived the crash when their owner didn't. And, and maybe it was all of it. Maybe it wasn't just that man's belongings, those are just what triggered it. But I felt 9/11 then. I felt how I would've felt 10 years ago when it happened, if I had understood.

That was a little shocking. I wasn't expecting that emotional response at all.

But once I was able to compose myself, we moved on and looked at the seaport and the old mob-run fish market. We also ate lunch at Made Fresh Daily, a slow food restaurant that serves amazing food! Since being on the farm I've gained more appreciation for places like this. I really don't understand why restaurants would be any different.

I am for slow food America.

Oh yeah! we also went to the wall street protests!



After picking Cadance up, we took a ferry to Brooklyn, but then Duncan and I got off early and walked across the bridge so that we'd have plenty of time to meet Michelle at grand central, which truly is grand!

Once we all met up and were settled into the apartment, we made plans for that night. It was Michelle's first time in the city so we had to bring her to tourist mania, aka Times Square. We went ot Stardust for dinner since Duncan was going coo coo over that place and listened to mediocre karaoke while eating tasty, yet still way over-priced food. All my friends may love that place, but I do not. I personally agree with my sister on this one. But hey, a tourist trap is indeed a trap and it seems to be working. I'm all for my friends being gung-ho about it, I just hope to never eat there again.

I felt kind of the same way about Times Square, which is how I know I've past the tourist phase and have now just become a "New Yorker" so to speak. Walking down 34 st was no longer awe inspiring, it was just annoying and crowded, with materialism in giant capitalized blinking scrolling shiny letters. I was fine being there though since it was Michelle's first visit, and I remember my first time with the lights…it was almost magical. So I wanted to give her the same experience.
We did stop in Toys R' Us, and I showed them around while visiting my own memories of being there. It hasn't changed much in 9 years, only I have. Unfortunately, I am still afraid of the giant moving T-Rex on the lowest level.

We somehow ended up at Hooters at the end of the night which just totally compromised my morals. It was more degrading than I had even imagined, and ultimately just made me angry at the women working there and our country for allowing such a place to exist. We spent our time there with Duncan's West Point friends and then eventually found our way back to the apartment, finally crashing asleep around 3:30 am

NYC tourist weekend part 1

The great trip to the city began when I successfully let myself into Kate's apartment and opened up my computer to get on Facebook. Yes, I'm a wee bit addicted again.

However, today I was glad of my addiction, because I saw that Alison had commented on Duncan's excited status about NYC "When? I'm going tomorrow…"

I called her up and within 3 hours she had arrived at Penn station, after my prodding that she come a day early to see The Blue Man group with us (though it was originally her idea).

Duncan, Alison, Kate, James, Cadance, Hazel and I all met up at astir place and then went to Chipotle before the show. It was really great having all of us together again. Like a BG reunion.

The neat thing was that we were able to get in to see the show for free. Well, almost free. The catch was that 2 of us had to be part of the show–as the late arrivals. And since I'd seen it before we decided that it should be the two newcomers.

We had a blast, and it was really cool being so close to the stage. I've seen the show twice before, but never that close. It was a totally different perspective. As usual, the show was amazing. I loved hearing Ali an Duncan laugh though…it confirmed that I was "showing them a good time."

Afterwards we asked the house manager, who was the one who let us in, who is a close friend of Kate's, if there were any dessert places nearby and he directed us to chickalicious, which was indeed DELICIOUS!! Pricey, but oh-so-worth it. Duncan purchased a caramel dream typa yummy, Ali delighted in a yummy pumpkin puff pastry,and I ordered my usual: warm molten lava cake. It was heavenly. There's something about the cold ice cream with the warm chocolate that creates a foodgasm.


When we got back outside it was sprinkling, and chilly, and windy. And we had to try to figure out how to get back to the apt. by ourselves. And we were on the lower East side and wanted to get to the upper west side. We spent a long time looking at a map not realizing that it was actually a bus map and eventually mapped a route that ended up taking us to 148 lennox station… which wasn't exactly where we wanted to be–but it was close. Only about 5 blocks away. The annoying thing was that we planned to get off at 145, but the doors just didn't open so we rode it to the end of the track…it was very odd.

While we were waiting for the 7 to get us crosstown there was a man in the subway playing the sax that must've been on some sort of drug because he would play some, then slouch over and act like he was about to fall asleep only to pop back up after a few minutes and play some more. Yeah, well he started playing sexy sax man and we all got really excited and nostalgic.

Once we made it back we rejoiced with a little chit, Duncan fell asleep on the couch, and Ali and I finally went to bed around 2.

Countdown: One more week

I didn't give any written updates of last week, therefor, I have no idea what I did last week!

I know we finally finished haying the garlic field, meaning that we are done in the lower field! About a month of work and it's finally finished! The rest of that week is… an abyss in my memory. I went to Kate's that weekend and then got back to the farm on Monday which is when we OH YEAH I remember the end of the previous week. We planted HT1 with transplanted peas, lettuce, beets, chard and spinach. I still don't remember what we did on Friday though.

So, anyway.

This week consisted of tilling, planting, cooking, pulling and hanging lettuce to dry for seeds, and a long action-packed weekend.

The most notable achievement on the farm for me was roasting my first bird and making gravy. It was a very tasty faux thanksgiving dinner. I surprised myself with how well the chicken came out!

I brined it with lemon, apple, lime and onions. Roasted it in a bed of garlic, onion, celery and carrots and stuffed it with the brining companions.

It was amazingly tender. Cutting off the drumsticks was unnecessary since the meat came right off the bone. It was juicy and yummy and the perfect texture. I'd say a serious success.

The gravy was not my favorite, and I did have a little trouble getting the texture right, but all-in-all, it was pretty good. I definitely need more practice with it, but I did indeed made perfectly palatable gravy. It really wasn't bad, just very winey tasting (which I like, but I'm used to a darker flavor).

I surprised myself when I first opened the chicken. I've always been a little ooked out with blood in my meat and I've never wanted to be around when my parents prepared meat. So the fact I was able to handle the bird with my bare hands and stick my hand into it to pull out the neck, heart, and liver is amazing.By the way, liver feels… interesting. Rubbery and smooth.

The other exciting part of the week was the tilling and planting of shallots. Thursday morning I had a mission. It was to get those shallots in the ground as quickly as possible because that afternoon I was heading to the city to begin my super packed and crazy weekend. So I ran out while Tess had breakfast to see if the tiller was attached to the 2 wheeled tractor. Unfortunately, it was not. This meant we would have to use the mantis, which is a smaller hand tiller that packs a lot of power but is exhausting and takes much longer than the big tiller attachment.

So I decided to screw the mantis, and try to figure out how to change attachments. Let's just say it was a feat of memory and chance, and we were able to till upper Edgar thoroughly with the 2 wheeled tractor tiller in and hour and a half. The feelings of euphoria and achievement were overwhelming. I was so terribly proud of Tess and I. We were even able to get all the shallots planted by 10:45. It was an incredible feat. Something we didn't even know we were capable of.

So I was able to take a shower, eat lunch (leftover chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy that I made!), pack, and get on the rd. by 12:30. Unfortunately, I had problems with gas and debit cards so I didn't get to the city until 3. Regardless, I made it there with plenty of time to get my bearings and gather the troops for the blue man show that we were going to see for free that night.

And I will continue the explanation of the long weekend on my next post.

By the way…I'll have to start packing my room in the farm house. I don't think I'm ready!

Also, this happened at some point.

Pictures that didn't make the posts!

dilapidated chicken house in the snow.

Our farm hussy! haha-nah, just laundry day

October...

My paws are c-c-cooold!

Product placement

Teddy's masterpiece! Aunt Flo

Tess, the cat.

Rainbow after a torrential pownpour

Kale!

What the finished product will look like.

What we've done so far (beds are shaped and rows are hayed)

A farmer's life for me

I'm overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed as my date of departure glides nearer; overwhelmed as I come closer to stepping into my unmapped future.

Leaving the farm will be much more difficult than I anticipated. Back in August, when I first arrived, I looked at my calendar, willing it to suddenly drop September from its list of months. Three months seemed just too long. I was going through some "leaving the nest" anxiety and I couldn't fathom how I would ever feel as comfortable here as I did at home.

Yet somehow those three months passed without any time for me to realize that this place was not only comfortable for me, but it was becoming my new home. I didn't know it was that simple to enter into someone else's house and feel as part of the family.

But stronger than the personal connections I've made here is the part of me that craves this lifestyle. On a whim, a hopeful desire to discover my interests, I interned on this farm. Yet because of that, a piece of my soul was revealed to me.

There is a purpose to life when I'm here. A purpose that I can see and feel. I play God in many respects–choosing what to bring to life and what life to end. And I care deeply about each of those decisions because every single one of them is important. A farmer has to care for much more than just his or herself. He is responsible for every living thing he creates. Every plant, animal, bug…. And on top of that it is his/her job to feed the world. And that is no small task.

Yet still, beyond even that–my love of the work and my feeling of purpose–the piece of my soul that has been unearthed has a deeper root. A root that is forever entwined with the land. It makes sense that my time here has been void of the negativity that used to cloud my head. I am human, after all. This is what I was made for. Sustaining myself and, if possible, sustaining others.

In a very strange sense I can feel my long-forgotten ancestors within me, helping me move, helping me breathe, helping me live with this world. And that is exactly what I am doing. I no longer simply live in this world–a force moving against her. I live with her; taking what she gives, but giving back as much as I can, leaving her unharmed and hopefully even more beautiful than I found her.

I used to say that I didn't believe in soul mates, yet I now believe that I've found mine. Earth, this planet that breathes life and beauty, is my true love. She is a gift I have learned to cherish and my deepest sorrow is that many of my fellow kind seem blind to the unending love and splendor that she provides.

So it will be hard to step out of touch with the land, losing that closeness that I have not found anywhere else. Marveling at the sunset simply doesn't fulfill my lust if I eat food grown in a manner that is harmful to her or to her creations.

And as the date draws nearer I can't help but wonder when I will again be able to exist in this relationship as a partner rather than a leech. When I will be able to give back everything that she deserves. When I can run my hands through the dirt and feel it throb with life. When I can care for the creatures that's she's given me to survive. And when I can love her back with my full being.

My unmapped future is much harder to enter without an answer to these musings. The only thing I know is that my future must hold some form of commitment to the land–a time when I give my full self back to her, to reap what she sows and live within that pattern. It is the only way I will remain sane.

Until then, I must fight for her. I must fight for her because without her I cannot live. Without her nothing can live, not those that see her abundance and her power, nor those that are ignorant to it.

She is my love. She is my passion. She is my world.

And I live for her. My only wish is that others would let themselves feel the love she offers and live for her too.

Snow and Halloween

There's this song that periodically comes on while I'm listening to my iTunes called college by Animal Collective. It has a habit of coming on when I'm thinking about college and the majority of it is just odd noise with "oooing" going on. But at the end they sing "you don't have to go to college."

Sometimes I take that as a sign. Maybe they're right!
Oh Animal Collective…you're trying to brainwash me.

Onto the snowy day fun!

That night, as the snow gathered, Tess made sugar cookies out of her leftover pie crusts and I began my pumpkin pie filling…I didn't get very far though, since peeling a roasted pumpkin takes a huge amount of patience and once I finished peeling 3 roasted pumpkins, my attention span was worn out.

All the while we listened to the final book of the Twilight saga, not knowing that we had actually skipped the third book, and were thoroughly confused. I must say that Stephanie Myer got way too into her writing in the fourth book. It drags on and on and the plot is stagnant. At least with the first books she had a moving plotline! sheesh!

We continued listening to the riveting story of Bella's deathly pregnancy of a half vampire fetus while we carved pumpkins. This was my first year not using a pre-drawn carving, and I'd say it turned out pretty well. Here is the lil guy:
one of his ears fell off…that, i assume, is why he is so mad.

And Tess did an Edward pumpkin, complete with the swoopy do.
It turned into a pretty awesome night. And the next day? It was our day off! So I slept in until 8:30 (i'm sure my college friends are laughing at me) and laid in bed reading until about 12:30 when I finally gave in to my grumbling tummy. It was a beautiful yet blinding day. There was about a foot of snow on the ground, which made the whole house seem much cozier. But the sun was also out, so if you looked out a window for any length of time, once you turned around you would have spotty vision. It was really neat though. Kind of like being at a ski resort.

And what's even better is that shortly after I descended from my "apartment" Jen and Kai's friends, Tom and Robin arrived with tons of food and conversation. They're really neat people and guess what? Tom is Amy Cash's uncle! Mrs. Cash was my algebra 2 teacher, so it was crazy meeting her family… so insane. I still can't quite get over it.

After much chatting, a tour of the farm, and an amazing late lunch, Tom and Robin loaded their cats up and left on the journey back to the city. I was glad to not have to take care of their two big ol' cats anymore. They were perfectly fine, but Sophie was diabetic and had to have a shot of insulin twice a day. Once I got used to actually giving the shot it just became kind of annoying having to add on an extra 15 minutes to the chore routine. Now that they're gone chores take a good… 3 minutes? I've gotten so lazy. Chores used to take at least an hour. With the colder weather, though, the high tunnels don't have to be raised and there's nothing in the greenhouse to water, really. We give the amaranth a dose of water when the hose isn't frozen–which isn't all that often.

So the day off was pretty eventful and fun. I'm glad I decided to stay at the farm. Oh yeah! And it was Jen's birthday. So in the morning we also had bacon…MEAT. And Robin brought over an assortment of meat and cheeses…I was in heaven. I'd recently been craving some meat and to my amazement, my wish was granted. Halloween was a pretty awesome day too. Tess and I transplanted some of the pea plants into high tunnel 3 since so many of our sugar snap peas were eaten as seedlings… boo you, rodents!

We also thinned some of the Kale that we planted in high tunnel 3, we moved it from the crowded upper row to the deserted lower row. We also cut more wood. It was then that I realized how little physical work I've done here lately. The chainsaw was difficult for me to hold up for a long period of time!! And on Sunday I noticed when I crossed my arms that I couldn't feel my muscles as well… and then when I showered that night I also realized that my belly was getting smaller again too. UHG. All the changes my body went through since I've been here are just withering away right before I go home. No one will believe I ever looked any different. It's frustrating, and even though at first I complained about gaining weight, I would take my muscles along with my slightly tubbier belly any day.

So I've got about 2 weeks left of the internship. As a coming home present I need some 30 lb weights. That'd be really nice! And a massage…good heavens do I need a massage.

Did I mention–about 2 weeks left of the internship!!? That's insane! Time has flown by. Just FLOWN. I can't communicate how crazy the fact that I'm almost done working here is. It's simply inconceivable.

Now let me get back on track…halloween… after lunch we sat around wondering what to do about costumes. I had nothing to work with. Just my farm clothes. But then Tess and I began playing with the mustaches Jimmy gave to Sebastian and I decided that I could go as a dude. Simple enough. I often look like a dude on the farm anyway.
So I was a dude, Tess was a cat, Jen was a farmer, and Sebastian was batman. We were a motley crew. And we went into Jeffersonville, did some trick or treating and then became part of the parade which went about two blocks and ended at the firehouse which provided cider and cookies. It culminated in a costume contest that we ducked out of and instead ordered pizza, went home and watched Harry Potter.
I was surprised with the number of people that did double takes when they'd walk by. There were also a couple of people who complimented me on it. I would've probably done pretty well in the costume contest.

While we were waiting for the pizza 3 girls walked in, probably all about 15, and mind you, there's snow on the ground. And they are dressed as…skanks. The youngest looking one actually had her butt hanging out of a dominatrix cross cop costume. The kid working behind the counter, also probably around 16, was so mesmerized that he gave Jen's change to the dominatrix chick!

And I just wonder…what kind of mother would let their daughter go out like that!? It's insane. I'm glad I never had the urge to dress like a superskank. It's embarrassing.

On the way back to the car I carried the pizza, and that was when my costume was complete! I just needed the prop-a pizza box. And it all came tougher. I was a pizza delivery guy. Simply perfect.
It was a pretty awesome Halloween. No, there weren't any parties. And I never did the Time Warp along with a bunch of other crazy kids my age. I didn't get much candy and I still even worked. But the company I was with made it amazing. I have so much fun with Jen and Tess. We are a humorous crew. I'm really going to miss them. They've become my friends.. my family even. And if we're all in good spirits a day which starts horribly can end with me feeling high from laughter.

What's weird is that when I talk about Jen to my friends I say she's my boss. And that's completely accurate, and I respect her and everything she asks me to do. But I feel like it's a deeper relationship than that. But it has to be, ya know? We've lived together now for almost three months and you can't live and work together without forming an intricate bond.

Oh man, and I lied. Monday we pulled all the tomato plants from high tunnel 1 and the greenhouse. It was Tues. that we worked with seedlings and cut wood. And after lunch on TUESDAY Michelle and her son, Nicholas (a good friend of Sebastian's), came over and we all learned how to make mayonnaise and ketchup. Tess and I also whipped up some fries and that was our dinner! Fries with our homemade dips. And after I had already gone up to bed, Tess told me around 9 that she was making her fudge cake…so of course I had to go down and eat it, and while I waited I made cinnamon rolls. Didn't turn out quite right, but they're okay.

And that brings me to today, which was truly uneventful. Just packing for CSA, showering, napping… we shall see what tomorrow holds.

Inspiration

I'll get onto my week in a moment!

Today while I showered an idea popped into my head... a very wholesome, very giving idea. I don't want to give away what the idea actually is on this public forum, simply because it's supposed to be a surprise for some people. But I now have a project for when I get back. A very big project. I'm thinking it may suck a lot of my life up.

Oddly, I'm a little afraid that I'll be too busy doing this whole living life thing to really focus on my college applications. Dammit colleges! Why can't you just know me, love me, and give me enough financial support to learn in your facilities! :p

I'll balance it i guess. I have to, so I will.

Last year I didn't apply because I was scared and not ready. This year I'm having trouble applying because I'm so damn busy with my actual passions, that applying to schools seems... horribly unimportant. Even though I'm 97% sure I want to begin school next fall.

meh meh meh.

So anyway, this week has been pretty uneventful.

and BAM! That did it...

Let me explain:

Thursday morning, Tess and I were continuing work on the garlic field, planting, haying, shaping the beds, and I was off in thought about what I was going to write for my blog this week. And I tried to recall my week... A horrible falling out with Parker, an awe-inspiring drive back to the farm Tues. morning, picking tomatoes, baking bread, CSA pick and process day where we made carmel popcorn balls for halloween, and then working on the garlic field... overall a pretty uneventful week.

And that's what did it. As soon as I thought that one measly sentence: "it's been a pretty uneventful week," the fates decided that that was simply unacceptable. And it started to sleet. And then snow. Remember, this whole sleetsnow thing is taking place on OCTOBER 27!

No one expected it. We had no warning and Tess and I even had our evenings mostly planned. We were going to have an early dinner, I was going to take a shower, and then go to bed and get lot's of sleep.

Of course, that didn't happen. Because of the snow we decided it may be a good idea to check the weather forecast and as we suspected, there was a hard freeze warning for that night.

It's a good thing I remembered 3 weeks earlier, when we had a hard frost scare, Jen said that we'd have to pull all the tomato plants. We tried calling Kai but couldn't get ahold of him immediately, and there wasn't time to waste, so we got to it, picking all the tomatoes in HT1. The snow started at 4 and by 5 the ground was already mostly covered. And by 6 the sun was down! Jen arrived home just as we finished picking in HT1, and we all immediately started pulling and picking all the tomatoes and peppers in the green house. We shined the truck lights on the greenhouse to give us some light, but even with that we mostly worked in the dark.

It was... cold. Freezing, actually. And miserable because of that. OR it should've been. My old Bowling Green self would've hated every minute of it, but this me realized the true importance of it, of the task, and was able to enjoy it because she was working towards a very important goal. Life or death, really. If those plants weren't harvested, we were going to lose everything they produced, and that wasn't fair to us and that wasn't fair to the plants.
So we worked tirelessly in the bitter wet cold until 8:30-driven by that fact.

The house was kind of destroyed in the process of saving everything from the frost. We left the door open in an effort to save time and the cats got in. They ate all the butter in the butter dish and left kitty prints on the kitchen table. Mud was tracked all through the house and the library and dining room were overtaken with pepper plants, herbs, and tomatoes.

But we did it. And then we had hot apple cider to celebrate while we watched Edward Scissorhands. Damn him…why did he decide to start with the ice sculptures so early!?

The next day we heard that there was going to be 6-12 in of snow on Sat. and our priorities immediately turned to finishing the garlic fields!! We spent all day planting, but we did get it done. Now all that's left to do down there is cover the entire field with hay. I'm glad we're almost through with that field-it's been a long and laboring task.

On Saturday morning we woke up to green grass. The fates decided to give us a little more time to prepare. So we harvested the potatoes and tot soy, made an agerbond cover for Joey in the hopes that it would keep the snow from crushing the seedlings and did a similar type cover for the suatee mix bed. And as we were wrapping up, the snow really began to fall. We were ready just in time.

I'll stop there for now. read on for our fun snow activities! And Halloween at Channery Hillgarlic field! under snow...

Update!

It was Oct. 27 and we got our first snow. None-a-that KY snow that are just little flurries, but enough to cover the ground. The next day it all melted.

Today. We have about 12 in of snow.
Today. It is Oct. 29.

Yes, folks. I am in Narnia.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Well folks, ,it's been quite a week. We've had some pretty awesome ups, but some punch-you-in-the-gut downs.

Monday and Tuesday Jen went to her friends house to watch TV for hours on end. I don't blame her, I'd need a break too. And Sebastian went to the city with Kai for the week. SO it was an intern house for the first part of the week. We did smaller tasks like picking huckleberries while watching scrubs and digging Edgar potatoes, cutting wood, and watching more scrubs… Scrubs is awesome. I didn't realize how much I liked it until I started working here. Maybe it's just because it's my only form of TV (even though it's TV on DVD), but watching Scrubs seems like the best thing on earth. I take no shame..

Wednesday was pick and process day, however, it looked like the apocalypse outside. Dark, cold, extremely windy. So we decided not to process and keep ourselves inside as much as possible. We still had to harvest our greens, though. Mustard and chard. But a WHOLE LOT of mustard and chard. The CSA bags this week were full to the brim. We also chucked in some garlic, baby cabbages, broccoli, and/or cauliflower.

After we finished work for the day I went to my room and took a nap. It was the most glorious feeling EVER! I always crave sleep from the time I wake up to midday. And this time I was actually able to satisfy that craving! It was awesome.

Thursday Jen and Sebastian went to the city and as a nice gesture, Tess and I made dinner all by ourselves! I felt so accomplished! It ended up being a nacho dish. Tortilla chips, rice, beans, salsa, cheese, green peppers, olives. And it turned out amazingly well. I also made more bread that rose so much the top of it hit the top of the over and I couldn't get it out… Jen had to pull out the rack from under it while I held onto the bread. Tasted awesome though! And now I know to never put the bread on the top rack.


We wanted to have dinner actually ready by the time she got home, but unfortunately we were still working on it. But when she came home and asked what we were making and we answered with "dinner" she got really excited. She later said that on the way home she was trying to think of what to make for dinner but kept drawing blanks. I was glad to help out. I knew she'd like to have someone else cook for once since on the way back from NYC that first week I worked at the farm, she said that what was really exciting was that her mother was making dinner, so she didn't have to!

Friday Jen, Kai, and Sebastian went to Connecticut for Jen's dad's birthday so Tess and I again had the house to ourselves…for a little while. That evening Jen's friend Deb, and her friend, Sue, came to the farm. It was interesting hosting these guests that I didn't know in this home that wasn't really mine. I guess it truly shows me how my age doesn't matter…i mean, here I am, taking care of a whole entire farm and playing host to 40 something yr olds. And doing both successfully. I'm 18, remember.

We chatted about college and application essays since Sue was an english major. I've been going through one of my many "All my friends are amazing therefor, I suck" phases. And this translates into: I will not be able to write a good app. essay.Which is stressful, because I'm pretty sure my app. essay will make or break my acceptance into most of the schools I'm applying. GAH. college. I don't know how I would've been able to apply last year when I had no desire to go.

Saturday was the day. It was when Teddy and Katie came to the farm, when Deb and Sue left, when everyone went down to work on the garlic field, when the tractor got stuck, and when Didjeriedoo died. Yes, folks, one of our beloved kittens–my favorite, actually–died mysteriously.

I'll break it down from when the tractor got stuck…
Kai was bringing down a hay bale to the lower lower garlic field and got stuck in the mud, but in trying to get out ended up sliding farther down hill and being stuck IN the part of the garlic field that we had just finished readying to plant. Damn you, fate. After about an hour of trying to get it unstuck, Kai was thoroughly frustrated and obviously felt horrible so we finally called the hallorans and had them bring their tractor down and tow it out. A small bit of the field was ruined but there wasn't any serious damage. Everyone was safe and the tractor made it back up to the garage safely.

Unfortunately, while we waited for the Hallorans to arrive, we all went up and began chores. While Tess, Teddy, and Katie put away the tools I headed to the chicken house and in my path I saw a lifeless kitten…. It was more shocking than anything else. I can't quite explain the feeling I had when I found him. It was just… finding something that shouldn't be. I ran back to the milkhouse and told tees that a cat was dead and all of us ran to the spot where I found him. He had blood from his mouth and nose and his left eye was almost popped out of his skull. We all tried to figure out what could've happened but came to no conclusions since there were no other visible injuries. Teddy went and told Jen and Kai who were just as shocked as everyone else. And eventually Tess and I continued with the chores while Teddy, Jen, and Katie laid him under a dead apple tree in the pasture.

It was a solemn rest of the evening. I told Jimmy about the events of the day and his response was spot on: That's a sad day. People always try to romanticize farming, but neglect to highlight the potential emotional drain that goes along with it.

Very very true. Working on a farm hardens you. It's impossible to raise chickens from their baby chick phase and then soon after turn em over for slaughter and NOT form some sort of emotional shield. Or plant 5 rows of a crop and only 1 row actually survives… there are many different things.

So R.I.P Didj. You had a short life, but you touched mine greatly.

The next day was hard and slow getting started. I was still trudging through my grief of Didj when we began working at 9:30. And it was a missing Parker day. Our whole day was made up of remaking the part of the field that was wrecked by the tractor and haying and shaping the rows. It was a long tiring day. At the end of it Tess and I began salivating at the thought of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and then jumped up on a couple hay bales and tried willing them to fly us back to the house (the walk from the garlic field to the house is a long steep hill…go figure). So that was a lot of fun. And then that night Katie and Teddy made tacos!! OHMIGOD they were so delicious. Just thinking about them makes me swoon. After dinner, Tess and I stayed up and chatted with the guests while Teddy made a portrait of Jen's "ancestor aunt Flo."

I'll get a pic of that and put it up here when I get back to the farm. Basically Jen wants anyone who visits the farm and wants to-to paint a portrait of some fake ancestor so that we can add a bit of history to the farm. Such as, oh aunt Flo, she would always hunt out chickens…that's why the family couldn't actually have any chickens for 20 years… ya know, weird stories like that.

Somehow I also ended up driving Katie and Teddy back to the city this morning, since I was heading there and they needed a ride and vuala! They're really cool. Teddy is going to begin traveling this Feb. in India and on my journeys I may even meet up with him if I decide to go to India. who knows!?

And there it is again, the other my-age-really-doesn't-matter thing. I would say that these two folks that I gave a ride to could possibly be considered friends. Or at least, they would've been if there was more time for us to actually hang out. And these two folks are in their late 20s? Katie is married. And Teddy seems to have had enough time to spend four years in school and then a good amount of time traveling since he's been to thailand, laos, and India. I'm 8.5 years younger than my sister, but I hang out with people that are her age. weird.

So all of us went to breakfast and then we parted ways, I traveled the city for the first time by myself–took the uptown train from 103 to 145 so I could get back to Kate's appt. And now I'm in the city just getting some of my much needed R&R, watching the kids play ball and readying to go shopping for making candy apples. I'll spend the night, wake up at 6 and head back home tomorrow morning…with just a short stop at dunkin donuts! I'm excited about the rest of the day. And ya know what? I have less than 4 weeks left of working on the farm! That thought is bizarre. And kind of scary, because then I'll have to enter the rest of my life which is ALL completely unplanned.

Next time I post there'll be 3 weeks left, then 2, then 1… so I guess that means there's only 3 more blog posts! man. Time sure does fly...

Just life

The rest of the week was slow, too. At least, slower than usual. Or perhaps slow isn't even the right word, maybe less packed would be more fitting…I'm not sure. Anyway, because we didn't have a CSA last week we put a ton of stuff in this week. Though, nothing that needed to be refrigerated and nothing that had to be picked since we had so much stuff left over from the frost.
We packed:
tomatoes
potatoes
tomatillos
carrots
radishes
garlic
peppers

So lot's of goodies! And it was nice because we could just sit in the living room and sort–so we ended up watching Scrubs all day. And it was AWESOME!
I had forgotten how much I loved Scrubs. And it reminded me of home…

Thursday was one big surprise.
Normally Jen and Sebastian wake up at 6, head to the city, make the dropoffs, and come home around 6 or 7. Never in the history of this farm have only interns gone. But today? This was the day that changed. I woke up, went to the chickens, and immediately asked Tess why the jeep was still here and she said that Jen was sick. So I thought-ah, another day here with Jen. But then Tess also said, and she wants us to do the dropoffs. And at the moment my jaw fell and I couldn't stop repeating: "what?!"
For some reason that was so beyond the realm of possibility to me, but lo and behold, within an hour I was driving the jeep straight to NYC–the institute for integrative nutrition to be exact. And it all went pretty smoothly. Tess and I even stopped at dunkin donuts on the way back. Oh! and to make it more interesting we had a cat delivery that day since a couple of Jen's friends are going on a vacation and so we're watching their cats. They dropped them off at ATC, our second dropoff point, and we lugged em back to the farm with us.

Woo!! so that was one fine day. At least I now have a grasp on the grid system. I'm feeling more and more like a native city person.

Friday was cold and wet. So we cleaned out a bit of the barn and moved the temporary cats in there, Tess and I cleaned the chicken coup and I made more bread! This time I mad War Bread, which is a blended grains dough with a bit of wheat flour, molasses, and rolled oats. It's pretty tasty! The dough is a whole lot harder to knead, but I think it's worth it since it makes more bread and it tastes better, in my opinion.

And Saturday was awesome. Everything about it just felt like I was at home. Not BG home, but a new yet just as comfortable home. We made green tomato pie, some sugar cookies with leftover pie dough, and everyone went out to the old cow pasture and we picked apples! Or rather, Kai climbed the tree, shook it, and everyone else gathered the fallen fruit. It was awesome.

And After lunch we went to a slow food event where we made apple cider out of our apples! It involves a couple big machines to produce as much as we did, but it's essentially pulverizing the apples into a pulp, and then putting a ton of pressure on that pulp to push out the juice. It tastes amazing. Best apple cider I've ever had. And we brought home 4 gallons of it so that'll probably last us 3 days. It made me really excited for the christmas season when I can have hot apple cider made by my dad. It's really yummy! The whole day actually reminded me of christmas. It was awesome. But did make me anxious to go to home home.

As soon as we got back from the slow food event I hopped in the car and drove to Princeton to visit with Alison. I must say, Princeton is beautiful. Best architecture I've seen on any campus. Last night we saw Drive with Ryan Gossling. It was really entertaining…I couldn't peg it as any one style of movie. I suppose it was action–but it was just…different. Anyway, now I have a celebrity crush on Ryan Gossling. He's perfectly hunky. :)

oh yeah, and the movie, soda, and popcorn were free. So that was awesome.

We also went to Hoagie Haven, which is apparently quite famous, and split a Sanchez, extra dirty. It was a sub with cheese sticks, chicken, and french fries…and lots of special sauce. It was crazy. I regretted eating it afterwards-but it was altogether a good experience.

And now I'm chillin in her dorm, having my daily argument with Parker, eating cookies on her bed. Ahh, real life–not good, not bad. Just life.
All day we've just been sitting in her room basically, but it's all good since I need some just sitting. It's my favorite activity! :p

and Brunch here? amazing! They have chocolate fountains!

the end. Tune in next week for next weeks update!

Plowing plowing plowing BREAD!

Beauty. True beauty. It exists.

This evening I looked across the valley at the neighboring hillside and couldn't comprehend how such an amazing sight could really be so close to me. Now I understand what inspired artists such as Monet. And until tonight I had to look at a picture to see even a glimpse of the magnificence that nature can conjure.

There was a big full moon right above a mountain rich with the colors of fall. Never in your life have you seen autumn's splendor at such a scale, I can almost guarantee.

And then I turned around, looked up our hillside, and saw the sky painted a deep pink. I've seen plenty of sunsets, but none like this; none of such radiant color and texture.

I couldn't take it all in. It's similar to when I went with Duncan to see Gabriel Iglesias and I felt as though I couldn't possibly express how funny I actually thought something was…like even though I'd be laughing as hard as I could, it didn't feel like enough.

That is why, at some point, I want to take some time to learn how to take it all in. Just be with nature. I know that sounds very cliche' and hippie-like…but it's the only way I know to describe it. Just be with nature. No cell phones, no music, no school, no farming. Simple. Time, Space, Earth. That's it.
I believe that would be the only way I could learn to deeply inhale such sights.



… so, on to my week since, yes, a week has passed since I began writing this entry.

I already explained the majority of my Yale visit, the only things I didn't mention were that Michelle and I did have dinner with Bernardo and later I met one of Michelle's friends, Kimo. He's my favorite of everyone I met there. Genuinely interested in me as a person, didn't seem at all stuck up, and very sweet. He also didn't try to recruit me, which was a bonus.

And dinner with Bernardo? Well that was really fun! Bernardo's a really neat person and it still seems strange to me that we haven't seen each other in 4 years or so, because it honestly feels like we've been good friends for my whole life. I know this isn't true though since he definitely didn't like Michelle or I in elementary school! He crossed our faces out of the yearbook.

I got home late that night, around 11:30 and I was exhausted! So exhausted that my subconscious conjured a dream in which Tess texted me: "Jen said you could sleep in since you got home so late." Because of that dream I ended up sleeping past when I normally do and actually getting up at 8. With another intern around I feel especially horrible when I do that because then she has to start the chores alone and I look lazy in comparison.
I'm just not a morning person!

It was a slow morning anyway–a good one though. Kai was home because of Columbus day and so he made some super delicious pancakes and all of us sat in the kitchen and chatted. Have I mentioned how much I like the people I work for and with? They're very intelligent, very fun to talk to, extremely patient, and don't treat me like I'm a child, even though I'm the youngest in the household, besides Sebastian.

After Breakfast Kai and Jen both had to run a couple errands so Tess and I journeyed up our hillside. I hadn't been up there since my first day working here, so it was quite a sight to behold. It's amazing how much something can change in such a short amount of time. The view which was just a month and a half ago a sea of green was now a mix of oranges, reds, and yellows.

Seasons. Oh how I enjoy them.

At the very top of the hill there was a drop off, and at the bottom of that drop off was tons and tons of trash. It was disheartening to see so many glass bottles that could've been recycled, however, it was interesting to see all the different brands from various different years. There were some really recent things like Sobe and other very not-so-recent ones. Kai later told us that this was the old trash dump and that every farm has one..

The rest of the day we plowed and moved rocks and plowed… always my fav. activity! :p

And the next day? We plowed! Even though Kai wasn't there, Tess and I got on our big girl boots and plowed away. It wasn't easy. But a lot less agonizingly horrendous as I had remembered. In any case, I don't like that machine. It frustrates me to no end. Which is funny because for Tess? She could deal with it, but she hates the chainsaw–I however, love those spinning teeth of death!

We were almost finished, only about 10 more passes to go, but we checked the blades and they were worn down so much that we were hesitant to continue. So we brought it up to the house, looked at it, determined we couldn't fix it, and then proceeded to move it to the barn garage. But as I was moving it, the plower attachment just fell off! So after putting the rest of the tractor back in the garage and hauling the plower to the side of the driveway, we were tired of machines.



So, I made bread! It was called: the first loaf, and it was a simple yeast rising white bread, but I was so damn proud of it! When it came out of the oven and I cut that first slice…it was amazing! And shocking…I don't really understand how the crust can just end up as the crust and the middle is so soft. Anyway, I MADE BREAD!

We also made homemade pizzas again, which were just as delicious. And I made most of the sauce and sauteed the peppers! Ahh cooking. How I love it now. And right before college too–so it's gunna blow not having a kitchen.

Oh yeah, and Tess decided to "powder" her face with my leftover flour...

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. The last part!

Saturday was AWESOME!

In the morning we cut up the rotten potatoes and got them ready to become french fries! Which we would do for lunch.

But before we could actually make the fries, we had to cut some wood so we could get the wood stove going. At first I was really excited about that, but then I learned we'd have to use the chainsaw, and that scared me just a wee bit.

But I'm not going to say, "no! I will not learn how to use a chainsaw!" So I learned, and it was AWESOME! I feel so accomplished now that I can use it! And I'm still definitely a beginner, but I'm surprised by how well that machine and I got along.

Sometimes it wouldn't start for Tess and I'd go over and yank it-and for some reason it would start up right away. Who knows….

I also got over my fear of using the chainsaw. They're certainly dangerous, but as long as you're really careful and pay attention, you'll be fine.

So the whole morning was spent cutting wood. It was exhausting and we got filthy from the wood chips, but I really enjoyed it. I think we may cut even more wood on Monday, so I'm excited about that.

I really just feel like a total badass now that I can use the chainsaw.

Badass.



Jen told me to do this one. "Do a sexy chainsaw pose!" Best boss ever.



The rest of the day was spent making french fries from the rotten potatoes we had cut, and chatting with a photographer from Germany that was part of a workshop in Sullivan county sent on an assignment to capture "transitions" with the camera. I didn't get a lot of time to chat with him, but what he said was very interesting. He talked about the protests on wall street and said it was odd that the American people are so afraid of their government. He doesn't think it should be that way. I agree. He seemed to be saying that the protests gave him some hope about America. I wish it could give me the same hope. Maybe in time it will, but right now I still feel like there's no way to save...everything.

And now, I'm caught up!

I've told you a little about Yale already. It's buildings are beautiful. And seeing Michelle is wonderful. Frat parties are gross. And I'm so 100% in love with the dining hall buffets. AHG SO MUCH AWESOME FOOD!

Soon I will go with Michelle to have dinner with Bernardo. And then get back home so I can begin another busy week of farm work. yippee!!!

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 6

I'm so close to catching up on my blogging! woohoo for Michelle having to study!
I mean, I'd certainly rather be spending time with her since it's super awesome being able to visit her. But we both have some much to get done that I think this is working out well. And in an hour we will be heading out on the town for some food and we may even meet up with Bernardo!! Which is absolutely crazy since he moved away so long ago and I haven't seen him in years. It doesn't feel like that though. For some reason it feels like Bernardo never really left…idk.

So this week was filled with less chaos but still lot's of fun!

On Monday we picked another 250 lbs of tomatoes, so those pups are really are their prime. It's awesome! CSAers are going to get a hell of a lot of tomatoes next week.
The contrast between last week's picking and this week's picking was odd though, since last week we were all freaking out, "257 lbs! Oh my god!" Now we just take it in stride, "Oh yeah, that's a lot."

Also on Monday I achieved a good Zen(n). It no longer felt like work, instead it just felt like…life. And that was amazing. And liberating.

Tues. morning we found out that there was supposed to be a frost on Wed. night, so for the next two days, we prepared. We picked all the corn, carrots, and radishes and washed and stored all of them. We put hay around the greenhouse and pulled a lot of our herbs and potted them. We also potted some rice plants! And our final task was to put the agerbond over Fergie, which was much easier than the first time we put it up for the frost we had 2 weeks ago.

The really weird thing about this week is that there was no CSA! An Italian couple came by the farm to drop off some wood on Tues., and the wife told us that it was supposed to get down to 25 Thursday night! So Jen made the decision to stay home on Thursday and help us ready for the hard frost. It didn't help that the jeep is having problems and we're not quite sure when that can get fixed. So there was no picking and processing! Just readying for frosts.

Thursday morning, Jen came out the greenhouse to check on things and told us that the weather was saying it was only supposed to get down to 34 that night, so we could spend our day doing other projects which turned out to be haying the front yard: project kill the grass!

That was actually pretty fun. I really like having Jen come out and work with us. It just feels right. And taking a break from the field is always nice. Plus, this was the idyllic farm scenario. Pitchforks in hand, we filled the wagon with hay. It was what you imagine when you think of farms.

Eventually though, we got tired of the wagon and just began rolling the giant hay bales down the hill. That was a good bit of excitement. We ran into a tree and a rose bush…
And no, you don't need machines to roll hay bales. Yes, they are huge. Don't underestimate human strength.

We finished that job and went in to eat lunch. But after lunch we stayed inside-away from the hay that was making us wheeze, and made Pizza. FROM SCRATCH!



Tess's shaped pizza

My shaped pizza

It was really fun! Tess and I made the dough. It really wasn't that difficult. I'm not sure why making your own pizzas doesn't happen more often. The only difficult part was kneading it, and that's because it never got elasticy like the directions said it would. So even though the cookbook said to knead the dough for 8 minutes, we ended up kneading it for at least half an hour.

It was all good though since we had Twilight to listen to! haha. Jen goes to the library and gets books on CD, and last week she got Twilight. Listening to that with Tess and Jen is probably one of my favorite things to do. It really is a brilliant comedy. :p I mean, come on. Bella + Edward = BEDWARD. Clever. Oh Stephanie Myer, how you astound me. Jen has said on multiple occasions now, "I just wanna punch Stephanie. I really do."
Teen Erotica at it's worst. That is Twilight.

The pizzas turned out wonderfully! The sauce was made from our tomatoes, basil, arregeno, thyme, garlic, onion, etc… and the green pepper topping was also from our farm. I'm pretty sure that was the best pizza I've ever had. And while we were eating it, Horse even came up on the porch and looked into the living room, as if to say, "can I have some?" It was hysterical.

On Friday Kai came back from the city and so we were planning to rotary plow the whole day (HELL), but other things got in the way. For instance, Sophie, our cow, got out of her pen somehow. So her and her calf, Horse, were chilling in the hay we just put down. It was about time we returned Sophie to the Hallorans, so we figured we would just walk her back to their farm then and there. (The Hallorans let Channery Hill borrow Sophie for the summer, but it's time for the cows to go home.)
It was really fun walking the two cows down the road. Similar to walking a dog, but…on a larger scale. haha

We were all sad when we finally had to say bye to Sophie, though. I almost teared up myself and I never even milked her!

Thank you for being such a good cow, Soph.

The rest of the day we went back to purgatory and continued moving the endless amount of rocks from the newly plowed lower lower field. Tess and I were going to give Kai a break from plowing and do a row, but Tess went first and when she got to the end of the row and I was about to take over she said, "DON'T DO THAT. IT's HORRIBLE. Just don't do it." So, I took her advice and continued throwing rocks.
By about 6:30 it had deteriorated to us just trying to throw rocks as far as we could. We were practicing our baseball pitches. :)

Friday night was also the night we finished Twilight while fishing out rotten potatoes from the potato bin. We're ready for the next part of the saga!