August harvest

Morning harvest in our garden. Leeks!

zinnias, leeks and tomatoes beyond

Lindentree CSA pick up this afternoon

Corn

raspberries

Spider at home in the raspberries

Butterfly in the zinnias

The sound of crickets is loud tonight. As EB White writes in Charlotte's Web, it is the job of the crickets to announce that summer is over, even in these last days of August. A spider spins its web and lays eggs that it will never see hatch. A snake outgrows its skin and leaves it on my woodpile.

There is a fullness at this time of year. The harvest brings huge tomatoes, ears of corn, watermelon, cantalope and cherry tomatoes too many to pick. Gone are the days of tender lettuce, arugula and crisp small cucumbers. Everything is over done, abundant and ready to be stored for the winter. I stuff my mouth with raspberries knowing these will be the last local berries until next year. I eat tomato sandwiches at least two times a day.

We are already planning revisions to next year's garden. Cucumbers by the fence where they can climb, more parsley, less arugula, and let's plant carrots next year and pumpkins and beets!

I will miss picking food from my front yard garden. Before long there will be snow. But let's not rush things. I've got to find a place in the refrigerator for the large leaves of swiss chard that I got at the CSA. As for the tomatoes, why bother storing them, I think I'll make another sandwich!

moving day

The rain held off for the big day. The contents of Carrie's New York apartment is now out of our barn and residing at 118 Holden Green Apt C, Cambridge, MA. 02138. Tim has moved up from DC. They both start work this week at Harvard Graduate School of Education. It is so nice to have them nearby.

tomato heaven

right in our own front yard!

my west coast family

Eliza, Ruth from Oregon, me, Don from Boulder, Colorado

Ruth, Susie, me, Teddy and Don

We missed you, John!

Life at 10,152 feet

The final destination of my road trip was Leadville, Colorado; the highest incorporated town in the United States. Eliza is working as an apprentice in French and Wilderness trips for The High Mountain Institute this fall. This program offers a fully accredited semester of high school (like the Mountain School and Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki) for students from all over the country, but mostly from the northeast. This HMI video describes it better than I could for those who want to know more.

As for the altitude, it didn't effect me very much but I had eased into it gradually starting in Denver at a mile high; 5280 ft. Then I went to Boulder at 4320' from there to Allenspark at 8521', Taos at 7000' and finally climbing to Leadville at 10,000 feet.

I got used to seeing bags of chips blown up like balloons, ordering pizza and having it get cold very quickly, hearing my heart beat in my chest when I climbed stairs and yes, boiling water for morning tea happened more quickly but the water is less hot. To avoid altitude sickness which can come on at any time, even when you have been feeling fine, I drank a lot of water and stayed away from alcohol. I am told carbs help, too. Even so, I will admit to a tinge of queasiness in Leadville. Nothing a nap couldn't cure. Living is different at the top. Kind of exhilarating.

And....there is NO humidity!! Yeah! The sun was hot in the open but just step into the shade and there is instant relief. I'm having a little trouble adjusting to sea level.

Taos

The Mabel Dodge Luhan house is the site of the writing and meditation retreat in Taos, NM. that I attended this August. It is built on the edge of pueblo land. Taos pueblo is the oldest continually inhabited community in the United States. People have lived here for over a thousand years.

Taos mountain, sage growing in the foreground

cottonwood tree

The Penitente Church

Indian, Anglo and Spanish live side by side in this part of the world

why I write

From time to time in every writer's life she asks herself, "who is my audience?" This question arises often as I write my blog. For whom do I write; my friends, my extended family, my students, my daughters, myself? Of course I write for all of the above. I often write an entry with someone in mind and then realize that it is of universal interest. In general, I try not to make it too personal. I usually omit photos of people unless they are doing something enterprising like making a garden or building a clothesline. But when I did a piece on the Brooklyn Bridge, friends asked, "where were the pictures of YOU on the bridge?"

Most blogs have a theme. People share photos of their young children. Others write about food and recipes. There are blogs on gardens, books, and Michelle Obama's wardrobe. You name it, there is a blog about it. Mine is not on just one thing. Sometimes I worry that my students who read it think, "I'm not here to see family photos! I thought this was about writing!" Family members log in and see photos of exotic vegetables at my CSA and just want to see the photos of my visit to the cousins! I started this blog a few years ago as a way to continue to write. To keep my hands moving across the keys of my laptop knowing there was an audience out there. It makes a difference if you know someone is reading your work!

With Eliza away this fall, I will occasionally use this forum to post pictures of home and of course the dog and the bounty of our vegetable garden. She can't sink her teeth into a fresh BLT full of produce from our garden, but at least she can see the possibilities of so many tomatoes! The blog has a wonderful way of keeping far flung family members together. I met my two new grand nephews this summer and I felt I knew them already, having checked the family blog frequently.

So, with those disclaimers, I am back at it. Sometimes I wonder who is out there reading. I have a few regular followers who give me feedback on line or in person (or email!) but I have a feeling there are others out there, also. I hope you are enjoying my ramblings!

colorado!

first rest stop

gone are the green acres of Iowa and Nebraska

Heading northwest towards Boulder, HAIL!

...and there they are; the mountains.

As I drove up the road to the first of my destinations on this trip,

I looked up to see a full rainbow. It didn't seem like a good time to take a photo with cars zooming by and weather a mix of rain and hail and sun but it felt like an appropriate welcome!

celebrating 24 years!

Happy Birthday, Eliza!

She is hiking and camping in the Colorado Rockies until August 10.

I hope the group raised a cup of purified water to toast the birthday girl!

2,000 miles

flat out on the western plain

I spent most of the day driving along the North Platte River on Rt. 80 in Nebraska. It is marked with a red line on the above postcard and also on my map. The evening brought a staggering sky and I promise I was driving carefully. I just had to photograph the clouds tonight. This is the wide open western sky we easterners hear about. The clouds have been dramatic all day in a puffy clouds kind of way, but as the sun started to sink, they were illuminated.

In the last four days, I have driven through Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. Tomorrow I meet the Rockies.