Floyd: Kale, Tomatoes, and Music

Monday, August 27, 2012

It looks like we are going to be in Floyd for the majority of our vacation. The latest news this morning was that the front cover of the engine is cracked and they won't be finished repairing it until "at least Wednesday."

 After considering all the possibilities, we decided to just stay here and wait it out. We are comfortable--Eddie has kindly given up his own bed to us (he does have a spare bed but it's a single, so he took that one) and Roxy is comfortable too. Joey and Eddie have so little time together usually, that we decided that this is a real treat, even if it wasn't exactly what we'd planned in terms of a vacation. It just seems the best option of all that we can think of.

So we went out earlier today and got a book for Joe to read, and some groceries including more dog food and the ingredients for Joe's wild rice salad. For the latter, we went to the natural food store.  There is a lot of yummy food around here (Ed and most of his friends are natural foodies) and the garden is full of tomatoes, kale, basil, and eggplant. I love the look of the chard, the contrast of those fuschia-pink stalks against the dark green leaves is stunning.  Last night's dinner was eggplant parmesan, with homegrown eggplant and tomato sauce--fabulous!  So the two of them are now happily cooking and baking, which is good therapy for Joe.

Yesterday was very lazy--at least for me. We took a walk to a nearby cluster of homes of folks (people who Ed knows, of course--he knows everyone!) who had settled here about 30 years ago, going "back to the land" as it were. We met a few, who were very nice. Their homes were rustic and lovely, and their gardens were aweseome! After we came back home, I napped for a couple of hours in the afternoon while Ed and Joe went to swim in a friend's pond. More brother time (insert a smile here.)

Tonight we will be going to a potluck music night--everyone brings food and musical instruments and sings together. Besides making his rice salad, Joe is brushing up some of his favorite songs on his ukelele.  He always feels lots better when he is cooking, and as Ed says, "You can't be bummed out when you are playing a ukelele!"

 Meanwhile I should/could be doing some preparation for teaching my Tanach class--I have my books here, and I find them fascinating. But I am busy following Ed out to the yard to watch him add the latest kitchen waste to the compost, and then taking photos of flowers and bees... time seems to drift by. It's almost 6pm as I type this and I have no idea where the day went! It's almost time to get ready to go out.