Wow, so week two is done and gone! Ideally I'd like to use a Kurt Vonnegut quote to neatly sum up my blog, but this week has been sort of all over the place so i've had to switch gears and go with Joseph Heller. Maybe I should stop it all together (the quoting I mean... it's pretty pretentious). Anyways, like I said- all over the place week. Picking up from the last blog:
THURSDAY
Cold, cold, cold! What gives global warming? It was in the sixties but with the thin atmosphere and gusty wind it felt unbelievably chilly. Not only was it cold-- it rained AND hailed. The mountain that normally hangs out in front of the farm was no where to be seen (it was hidden by the clouds and precipitation or left for warmer weather for all I know). The first part of the day we worked on bed preparation to plant peppers; but after the winds picked up a lot of our work was largely undone as irrigation tape went flying. As the temperature dropped (hello 40 degrees!) we had to quickly set up shelters for the young plants that can't handle the cold weather. Luckily through our handy work and the innovation of Adam and CJ (the boys who own the farm) distributing buckets of hot water throughout the field (sort of like a hot water bottle for the plants) every plant made it through the night.
One positive consequence to rain-- pretty thingsCold again! I think that all of the WWOOFERS are bummed out about the weather. It's interesting how used to 80 degree sunny weather one can get and how quickly one's mood sours when one is deprived of such things. I got to milk the goats today-- I'm a natural at squeezing things out of goats (i'll post pictures soon).I was for sure moving slow (a combination of blue mood and cold hands). But, but, but!!! The Avett brothers played a concert at the Rialto theater in downtown Tucson and Dan, WWOOFER Jen, and I got to go! CJ was headed downtown for a concert of his own so he dropped us off-- though it should be said for those interested in the ecology of Tucson I saw my first Tarantula (OH MY GOD!) hanging out by CJ's truck as we were headed for the show. He said she was probably cold (even locals can't stand the cold weather!) and was playing dead (she was in fact very much alive)-- anyways so, we went to the show and it was AMAZING. They played a few songs-- 3-4-- from their new album and the rest of the show was from their older stuff. I danced for the whole show and was very hoarse the next day. After the show (maybe like 11:00) Dan, Jen and several of Jen's farming friends, and I went to a place called the grill for a very late dinner/very early breakfast. It's diner food but much higher quality + a very hipster atmosphere. There was a band playing in the corner of the restaurant and they featured a saw player. Before you ask, I don't know for sure if he was any good-- i'll have to wait until I hear another saw player before i can draw comparisons. Dan and I separated from the group for our meal (I had french toast-- I know you were wondering). We rejoined Jenn and waited for CJ to come and pick us up. While we were waiting, the opening band for the Avetts-- The Truth and Salvage Co.-- came and grabbed something to eat at the booth next to us- very exciting! CJ came at around 12:00 with some of his friends from the show he saw. They tried to talk us into coming to a house party with promises of "a sauna!" Dan and I declined and Jen went with her farm friends for a visit. Dan and I went and slept in the truck bed as CJ went to his party. We got back to the farm at around 3:30 in the morning and immediately crashed.
I originally got Dan to take pictures of the tarantula (because God knows I wasn't going over there); but then he forgot the flash so I eventually got it together enough to snap a couple.
yes, yes, yes, yes!Because of the concert, Dan and I were near worthless for the first part of the day. Dan was feeling so bad that he took a half day. I perked up at around 9 am because the weather finally turned warm again. I changed out of my sweater and put on a tank top. A guy around our age, William, came to help out around the farm. He, Jen, and I worked on bed prep until early afternoon. When we broke for lunch I discovered that I was completely red. Up until Saturday, I had been diligent (-ish) about sun screen. I was just so excited to get out of long sleeves that i neglected my skin and paid the price. Bummer, right? Well, Adam made a bang up lunch for everyone so I ended the day feeling quite content.
SUNDAY
Market day! It's probably my favorite day of the week. There are tons of people with their dogs walking around so I get lots of people watching time in. I feel like the market deserves a post of it's own so I won't go on too much at this time except to say that I really enjoy going. After the market Dan and WWOOFer Tony and I went to the grocery store. We went to an Albertson's, which I think is kind of like a grocery + walgreens + starbucks. It's a very strange and good place. Interesting observation: You can buy hard liquor in a supermarket! Isn't that bizzare? I'm in no way advocating the practice... it just tickles me. There are even drive through liquor stores! I digress. Dan and I have been fascinated with the fast food in the area so we decided to try one. Whataburger- i completely okay burger joint with the creepiest slogan ever. Whataburger: there's one near you. The you is actually underlined as well but my blog isn't making that available. Creepy slogan, adequate food. After the snack we went to Trader Joe's (yes, yes yes!) for our favorite basics. Leaving Trader Joe's became a challenge when the truck died and we had to walk 2.5 miles back to the farm. Luckily we weren't in a hurry and Dan and Tony were sweet enough to do most of the heavy grocery lifting. We made it home alive with only slightly runny ice cream.
MONDAY
Dan and I decided to explore down town a little bit so we asked Adam to drop us at a bus stop. We actually started off at the wrong stop and waited for 30 minutes before we realized our mistake. We hoofed it a mile to the correct stop and made it just in time. We walked around 4th ave, which we were told was the big hippie hub of the area. It was pretty neat, though were disappointed by the size of the down town area. There are a few really great book stores ( I bought two used Margaret Atwood books) and a fleet of head shops and that was about it. We had a nice lunch and walked around some of the other avenues and then caught a bus home- sort of. There are two bus depots -one downtown and another towards the north end of town by the mall. You have to go to each of them when you are making the trip entirely across town. Going downtown it was no problem- you ride the southbound 16 all the way. However, the northbound 16 turns back into the southbound 16 at the second depot (mall). So Dan and I stayed on the bus and ended up going back towards downtown. Luckily we realized very quickly our mistake and hopped off the bus. We called Adam who was in the area and sweet enough to pick us back up. Thank you Adam, you are a life saver! The rest of the day Dan crashed and I cleaned up the WWOOFer house with Jen. So that was my week-- lots of thing that were more silly than not. Dan and I were reflecting on what we've enjoyed most since getting here. I think what i've enjoyed is having no choice but living in the moment. Because I don't have any pressing deadlines and have enough flexibility in my day when cars break down, parties run late, or buses go in the wrong direction I have no choice but to go with the flow. It's just a really different experience not worrying where you are going but just sort of trusting that you'll get wherever you're supposed to be. So, that's that in case you were wondering. I will post pictures tomorrow (my camera is charging and my computer is about to kick it). Good night!
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