The Point of Return

Believe it or not, this is not the worst job I've done in managing a blog. One time I started a blog when I was in Morocco and I never posted.. NOT EVEN ONCE.

Instead of creating an exhaustive recount of everything that has happened in the past 7-8 months, how bout I just talk about what's happening now. Then perhaps later I will post a couple of blog entries that I hand wrote but never entered.

Michael, Sasha, and I are happily camped in Boonville, California at an off-the-grid pony farm. Well, there are things on the farm other than ponies, but if it is any one type of farm, it is a pony farm. The (separated) couple living on the land are called Wendy and Peter. Their 115-acre property is called Lone Tree Farm.. I really wish it was called Neverland something-or-other, but I suppose then everyone would think of Michael Jackson. Anyhow, most of their land is Douglas Fir and Redwood forest, and all of it is hilly and green and absolutely breathtaking. Michael and I stay in a lovely little cabin in the woods, which can be reached from the main house by walking down a rather steep path through a pasture and some forest. The cabins on the land were all built in 1910, and although there is no electricity or running water, it has loads of charm, as well as a woodstove and an outhouse.

Apart from breeding and selling Highland Ponies, Wendy and Peter make their living by bagpiping, running a CSA, and selling some of their produce and flowers at various farmer's markets. It seems Wendy also dabbles in several other small entrepreneurial ventures when she has the time- to name a few, riding lessons, greeting cards, and children's books illustrations. Wendy is in her 40s but from a short distance could probably be mistaken for an adolescent.. she is shorter than I am and probably weighs 100 lbs soaking wet, and also has lots of girlish qualities about her that make her 100% precious. Perhaps her adorability is amplified by her attributes as a manager: stern, direct, meticulous, and rather detailed in instructions-giving. Peter is an older gentleman who is as much a sweetheart as he is a curmudgeon. He is a bit of a loner and for the most part does his own thing, but when the timing is right he loves to tell stories about all manner of things, especially of his plentiful travels in Columbia and other parts of Latin America. To complete our little troupe, there is Jeff, another WWOOFer in his early 20s and a Californian, born and raised. He is a subtle and quirky fellow and has become a beloved source of entertainment, often pairing with Michael through some mysterious mutual understanding to weave obscure and evasive (but nonetheless delightful) comedy acts at the lunchtable. As long as we're on the subject, let me just say that from the instant Jeff set foot on the farm, there was an unmistakable brother love between him and Michael. It's a beautiful thing, really. And endlessly entertaining.

Hmm, now I suppose there is the matter of what we do on the farm. On a typical day, Michael and I wake between 6:30 and 7 and one of us starts a fire in the woodstove, upon which we prepare grits and eggs and coffee, or whatever else we have brought down from the main house for our breakfasting pleasure. Following post-breakfast cleanup and your typical morning routines, we walk up to the house to start our work around 9:30-10. Animal care, garden maintenance, and meal preparation are on a rotation, so we may begin with feeding ponies, mucking stables, uncovering and checking on planted beds, or whatever. Apart from the daily chores, we may work on mending fences, maintenance of electric fences, cleaning and organizing of one of the tool sheds, housekeeping, gardening, or up until recently, work on the septic line. Lately the main priority at the farm has been preparing garden beds for planting. Wendy was touring with her band Celtica in Europe for a good chunk of last year and there was no garden while she was gone, but we are doing the best we can to restore it. Digging, forking, raking, composting, and all of the things I'm sure you can imagine. So far we have planted carrots, radishes, garlic, beets, peas, and an array of salad greens. Wendy gardens in the French Intensive (aka Biointensive or Biodiverse) style, which means maximum use of small spaces (narrow paths, wide beds with closely planted rows) and a focus on rebuilding soil instead of depleting it (thorough digging, bed rotation, lots of compost and such added to the soil).

Oh yeah! In spite of the lack of veggies from the garden (other than some chard, kale, and green onion, which we went through in short order), we eat very well. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and honey and yogurt and tea, and of course since lunch and dinner duty is on a rotation, delicious homemade meals in plenty and multifariousness. I have also learned to bake homemade bread, which I do on a weekly basis. I would probably bake a lot more than I do, but the oven uses lots of propane so we try and limit oven use to two hours per week. On a similar note, in order to conserve propane the water heater is only turned on 2-3 times per week for showers. And while we're on the subject of water, allow me to point out that the tap water comes from a stream and is not necessarily safe to drink, so one of our daily obligations is to make sure there is enough boiled water for drinking.

Well, that is all I can think of to tell you and I'm sure it is enough for now. In sum, despite the absence of a few creature comforts and one highly disagreeable run-in with poison oak, we are having a fantastic time building muscles, appetites, and calluses. We love the place and the people and we are learning a ton. The current idea is to stay til May so as to get maximum garden-building experience before heading back to Texas, where we will hopefully replenish our (slowly) dwindling funds for a few months before setting off on our next adventure :)

We love you all!

Ok first post! Michael and I have been in Buena Vista, CO since last Tuesday night.. feels like much longer. We finally found our first gig but here are a few other things that have happened...

Day 1- We arrive at Didi and Dida's (Michael's grandparents') cabin after 17 hours of driving (I'm pretty sure 16.5 of those were spent getting out of Texas). Michael was pulling a boat behind his dad's truck and I drove my CRV- i.e., NO BREAKS in driving other than pulling over to make a tuna sandwich. It was exhausting. Walkie talkies saved our lives.

Day 2- The cabin is surrounded by gorgeous pine forest, with Mt. Princeton in the background. We take some walks, look at some birds, run through the forest, make Sasha tired, watch Spain beat Germany.

Day 3- Fishing attempt #1: RAINED OUT!!!

Day 4- We get up at an ungodly hour to go fishing and catch our limit in the first hour. It was quite cold and windy, and I must've had 17 layers on at first but it warmed up quickly and we had a blast. Mmmmm, fish for dinner.

Dida's sister and her husband live down the street and we all went for a mountain picnic. Tragedy strikes! Lily knocks a styrofoam plate into the creek with her tail- Sasha jumps in the freezing water and manages to grab it and we are all yelling at him about what a good dog he is and to bring the plate to us, and he gets so excited and confused he drops it back in the water. Styrofoam floats downstream and 17 turtles die, or something.

Day 5- Germany beats Uruguay (way to go Deutschland, 3rd's not so bad) and then Michael and I drive out to a bunch of rocks for camping. Before setting up camp we climb climb climb for a coupla hours, all the way to the very top- Sasha made it almost all the way, I was so impressed! What a good dog. Now maybe he won't be such a fatty anymore.

At camp we use our cooking set for the first time (thanks Claire!) and by the time the rice is finished there was a STRONG wind a-blowin'. Dark clouds came in and we thought for sure we were about to get caught in a mountainous (haha) thunderstorm, but it ended up just missing us- we actually watched it come toward us and then blow away over another mountaintop, it was pretty cool. Shoulda taken pictures. Oh well.

Days 6 & 7- More mountain picnics!

That brings us up to date.. tomorrow we are setting out for our first WWOOFing site in Crestone, CO. Ciao everybody, hope all is well.