Difficult Trip

This week, more beans tomatoes. The reds are done, the paste tomatoes slowing down, but the yellows march on, some very large and perfect, some a bit gnarly.

On Wednesday, we drove five hours to the Noon Family Farm outside of Springvale, Maine. We got Jean’s natural lamb. She says the llama who protected the sheep has self-retired and just hangs out with his flock. She has a donkey protecting against coywolves now, and it works very well. No losses with the donkey on guard. And her grandchildren like him.

Then we went down the road to the McDougals’ apple farm and got several kinds of just picked organic apples – some that woody likes (Cortlands), and some kinds I like (Muzu). Also, butternut and kabuchka winter squash, since only our delicatas produced this year. We’re having one tonight with swordfish and sauteed oriental eggplants from our garden. The trip back we stopped at a New Hampshire liquor store to get some Italian reds (Volpolicella) and white French Burgundies (prices are way up as we expected). And it’s the only place to pee between the farm and route 128.

On 128 @ 3 pm when we got there it was bumper to bumper and standing still traffic on 128. We got up @ 5:30 AM, left @ 7.  We left the noon farm @ 12:20, arrived home @ 6 pm. We had set it up so we had leftovers for supper and didn’t have to cook: sliced tomatoes and sandwiches with leftover steak.

I slept nine hours! Never do that, but I was exhausted. Our car is old so we took the truck. I managed until we were in endless traffic on 128, when my back started  to hurt. By the time we finally got home it was on fire.  I stumbled through Thursday and then had my poetry group that evening. It was useful and interesting as always, but I was half dead. When they left, I put on my favorite program, the Amazing Race. I watched half an hour, woke half an hour later and went to bed. I slept well again. 

We have company today: my former secretary Melenie, her friend Gretchen, who is making a birthday cake for our friend Stephanie. Yesterday, I did our personal laundry and wrapped Stephanie’s birthday gift. Her actual birthday was yesterday, but I couldn’t do it then.

My back is still a bit sore from the11 hour trip. Woody and I are still not quite up to our normal energy levels. It took a lot out of both of us. We used to be able to drive long distances, no sweat--once all the way from Knoxville to Wellfleet after a gig there. We always wanted to get home after a gig as quickly as we could. Of course, for most gigs, I had to fly and often ended up stuck some intermediate airport overnight.

We are definitely in the market for a new car (a Subaru Outback, I hope).