And my first CSA drop off is here!

I woke up around 5 so that we could finish getting the orders ready (we ran out of bags the day before and had to wait till Jen's parents came, with bags, in order to finish bagging the shares).

It was cold and dark, but at least I didn't have a full day of heavy work ahead of me–just some social time with Jen, and a visit to the city.

We stop at the gas station first, and of course right by it there's SUMAC. Both Jen and I had an incredible urge to harvest them… but we resisted.

I guess I'm beginning to develop harvester's greed.

On the way down we listen to the radio which tells us over and over and over again that YES! Steve Jobs is INDEED resigning! Just in case you didn't get it the first 20 times, we MUST reiterate this point! Oh yeah, and there's a hurricane barreling toward your area with 65-100 mph winds. But really guys, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO APPLE!!?

geez. I understand why NPR did this. Steve Jobs affects, basically the whole nation. The hurricane only directly impacts the East. So, I get it. But you'd think something that poses a threat to human life would be more talked about. Because, if, for instance, you didn't hear about the hurricane because everyone was too busy discussing Steve Jobs and you left your apple laptop outside and it got destroyed, YOUR LIFE WOULD GO ON. And your laptop could probably be replaced. But if you decided to go camping that weekend because you didn't hear of the impending disaster…you cannot be replaced.

So fuck you too news people!

...

Oddly, when we entered the city, the streets are NOT packed with traffic. And we arrived at 9 am! On a Thursday! It works in our favor, but we were a little kerfuffled about why the city was so empty.

We make it to IIN, our first drop off point, park illegally, and Jen rushed to deliver while I sat in the car–making sure it's not towed and driving it around the block if I find it necessary.

After this stressful event, we move on to ATC, where Jen parks the car (we arrived before 10:30, so we snagged a spot due to alternate side parking!), and I set up tables.

This is basically the end of anything exciting, or would've been, had I not had a visit from Kate, Cadence, and Hazel. Otherwise, you just sit around until three. So we're advised to bring stuff to do.

So I go out to eat lunch with Kate and the girls. We go to a Fulllaffel place next to the law school, and then get some amazing Gelato for a lunch dessert. It was pretty good visit, and Kate ended up with a lot of leftover CSA yummies! Including rainbow carrots, which I pulled myself, and were my personal favorite!

Of course, while with Kate, we also stopped at a drugstore to pick up some emergency supplies. Apparently parts of NYC were in evacuation mode and hunker down mode. Which is why the city was so empty.

Going to lunch with my sister and nieces was… an experience I had never had before. And It didn't sink in until later how bizarre and new that was. Not once have I just gone to lunch with them. It's always a big extended event because it's such a hassle and a big deal for us to get to one another, considering we've always been 100s of miles away.

In a way, the visit to the city made it more apparent that I was no longer living with my parents.

Anyway, by the time we got back, Jen is in full panic mode about the storm. We not only have those humans inside to worry about–we also have all the farm animals we care for, all our plants, and the greenhouse! So many things could go wrong.

So, we began preparing.

(And to finish the day, Jen's parents made roasted chicken with some veggies! YUM! And we all ate out on the deck in the cool summer night air. And for dessert–chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels and lemon sticks… I opted for the chocolatey goodness! It was as perfect as any night good be.)

P.S.

These seem to be popping up on every aspiring farmer's property! (I say aspiring, because my father has one on the side of his house...and he is only, so far, an aspiring farmer.)