Empty Bowls

My favorite charity event was this past weekend: Empty Bowls. How can you not love a charity event where your donation gets you a beautiful, handmade bowl and yummy, handmade (?) soup.

These are the two we picked out: These are also the two my Dad would be proud of. Although even they are a little 'fancy' the one with it's shiny black glaze on the bottom, the other with the fancy little swirl on the inside. I love bowls. I get so very

excited when I see all the bowls, can barely contain myself! I just simply marvel at all the quirky little creations.

And of course my obsession leads to excess donations to charity, in the form of additional purchases of bowls. These my Dad will consider a little to precious, to which I say: Hey! At least I know they made little transfers for those precious little drawings which somehow redeems the fact that I Love Them. I LoveLoveLove them and will eat all of my meals out of them.

Oh, and the soup was good, too.

I forgot about the bugs

Living in the middle of no where means there are less people.

But, that does not mean there are less living entities. Rather, it means there are more bugs. I have been home less than 24 hours and have found: two ticks on the cat, an caterpillar in the bouquet of flowers that I left on the table, a centipede in the sink, and mosquitos in the house.

I can handle most bugs pretty easily, but the ticks and the mosquitos piss me off - and gross me out - because it has actually been far too cold for both to even exist, but there they are. Stupid wankers.

Chicago

I went to Chicago. Or rather, I went back.

For the first time in a long time.

I've been back to visit, but not really, not in the way where you have a lot of free time to spend in the city...which is not truly the way it was when I lived there, but still. This trip was a lot of free time, almost like living there, if living there meant you were independently wealthy and never had to work. Which would be awesome…

It can be an amazing city. I was staying in my old neighborhood, and was better at getting around than when I have stayed elsewhere within the city limits. As if my Chicago compass has lincoln park as it's center. And buses! I never used buses much in college, mostly because the majority of my trips involved direct routes on the L lines. And they were a hassle. Now they seem speedier, more reliable, and more importantly tell you the streets as you approach so you can actually get off on the right spot. They are also equipped with GPS and if you can find wireless while you are waiting for the bus, it will tell you exactly when the next one is coming – but IF you can find wireless. Most people have wisely secured their wireless, which for us would-be thieves is a big pain in the ass.

Chris did make a friend on one of the buses: a gentleman that would have fallen into the ‘drunken bum’ category, except he was not drunk, didn’t smell at all, had a bus pass that he used successfully, and actually seemed to be fairly knowledgeable, specifically about old cars and air cooled engines. He spied Chris’ t-shirt w/ the Volksrodder logo, and cam e over to chat. But in that uncomfortable way where you’re not quite sure if the person has all their marbles – and he did seem to have lost some along the way, but the ones he kept were interesting. And then the crazy started peaking out, with cars he invented but hadn’t built that would have revolutionized the world. Or maybe it was true, who knows. He seemed cared for somehow – someone was keeping him clean and fed – but we were curious what his story was…

I got to see old college pals, some I haven’t seen in a really long time. It was great to see that everyone was going so well – I feel so proud of all of them. Strangely (?), the majority of my college pals were guys, and they have meet some really amazing women, who also tolerated some nostalgia ridden ‘remember whens’ – which makes them very tolerant people, as well as interesting and lovely.

And I got to see an old gal-pal and her very cool little girl. She and her husband have been married since soon after college, and are so happy together. It made me feel better about the fact that Chris and are still ridiculously happy (almost three years of marriage!) especially amid all the recent splits that we’ve heard about. They make me nervous, like I should be looking over my shoulder at some mysterious thing creeping up.

And I got to see one of my dearest college pals get married to a beautiful and brilliant woman. I felt truly lucky to be able to be there, and celebrate the two of them.

Ah, Chicago. Why don’t I live there? There are so many good things about it. I sometimes forget, though, until I am there how - as one person put it – isolating and expensive it can be (sometimes those are the same thing). I do want to move back one day, but it is unlikely that it will actually happen. I like the amenities of living rural-ly – like big dogs, quiet, actual darkness at night, big gardens, and landscapes and vistas made from trees and mountains instead of buildings.

But good god it was nice to visit.

Back in VT

The garden has gotten a little overgrown this week, but still looks good. The cabbage worms are still winning the battle, and therefore the brusselsprouts look like crap. No worries. The beans are in, and the basil is huge: beans and pesto will be eaten and put up tomorrow. Can't make the stupid underliney stuff stop, so this looks a little odd...

























It isn't hot here. Which is one of the things I like about the north. I think a comparison list - north v. south - is coming soon. It was lovely being home, even under sad circumstances.

NOLA

I got sent to New Orleans on a business trip. It rained/stormed in the afternoon, and then cleared up. It was beautiful: I only really saw the warehouse district and the french quarter. So, to answer all the questions, no real apparent damage from the hurricanes in those areas. I mean, there were some building with windows still boarded up, and strips of closed shops, but nothing more that is typical in any big city.






I'm not used to big southern cities: big cities are usually places where I walk with purpose, don't make eye contact, put up walls. But, this is the south. It doesn't matter where you are or what time it is: you smile, you make eye contact, and you say 'hello.' Ah, the south.





Being in the south was nice: the heat, the light, all the things that are summer. New England summer is like a weak-ass version of summer. In some ways, it is lovely - I hate the heat, really, and it is nice not to drip sweat all day every day. But you miss the heat. The light, the way the late day sun slants. And northerners have a fear of showing skin, born of the constant coolness, i think? There was an abundance of skin. It looked like it was summer. People looked summery.

Exactly.

Local strawberries, picked up at a Walker's on the way home. Still warm, 'cause they were picked that day. Ah, spring. You sure do taste good.

Cows!

Cow butts! I love the Strolling of the Heifers parade. What's not to love? We quadruple out population. There are cows on Main Street. Free dairy products (cheese, ice cream).


Oh, and a petting zoo. The picture is blurry, but you get the idea: teeny spotted baby pigs. It is a miracle I didn't bring one home with me.