I have done it...

Well ladies and gentlemen, I set out to travel across the country, and to make my way to Port Angeles Washington, in order to intern on a farm. Now that I'm here, it's more than a little surreal. Who would have thought I would actually do this crazy thing I said I would. It's clear that there is going to be a necessary period of adjustment. This being madness, and all that. I arrived on Late Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning they put me to work.

The day started out with a little light construction work. We put the finishing touches on a sty for the piglet, eight of 'em, which we went and picked up that afternoon. The following anecdote is not for children or the squeamish, if that applies to you, skip to the next paragraph...so, as I was saying, we arrived at the farm to pick up the pigs, and the gI rizzled woman from whom they were being purchased led us over to the trailer where they were being temporarily housed. We stood to one side, and peered in at the piglets. They were larger than I thought they'd be, the size of a small corgi, perhaps. "You're standing on the testicles." The woman said, casually amused. Kelly and I looked down, and sure enough strewn on the ground were five pairs of pig balls. "I figured the dog or the crows would have gotten 'em before you got here." Welcome to farm life, Aaron.

Kelly spent some time chasing the porkers around the back of the trailer, and handing them out to me as he caught them. I loaded them into the dog carriers, and we then loaded them onto the truck, and brought them to their new home. I spent the rest of the afternoon learning the ropes, Kelly showed me the greenhouses, and explained how everything works around here, and what we've got in store for the coming months. I'm excited, but this is going to be some seriously hard work. I spent the last two day weeding the garlic. All day long. Two days. There's probably another two days worth of weeding to go. Me and several of their part timers worked at it on Friday, and will probably finish it off on Monday. In the meantime there's a barn dance tonight, that I have somehow allowed the kids I'll be working with, to talk me into attending. It should be, interesting...

A few pictures to leave you with, to help you imagine what my days will be like.

Chickenses:



Orchard, well part of it at least:



So much garlic(fourteen more rows just like this one):


Mesclun? I know it's not triple washed and bagged, but I suppose it will do:



How can you tell it's springtime? Rhubarb!:

Well innat pretty?:


As soon as the pigs will come out of their little enclosure I'll try and get some pics of them, and of Bowie the miniature pony from next door. He has a friend, a Newfoundland, who he chases around the yard. So I'm adapting, slowly but surely, and by the time you hear from me next I should have gotten to do some farm work that doesn't involve weeding garlic. I'll give them this, though, the lunches are good enough to make a morning of weeding garlic look like a pleasant distraction.

Fun Farm Fact #1:

If you allow sprouting celery, or carrots, to wilt, they'll never be as sweet as they should be.

It appears that I am on a farm...

A wrap up of what went on in Portland for the twenty hours I was in the city. Not nearly long enough. I will be going back there, regardless of what the future holds.

The only landscape shots I'll trouble you with, though I took plenty more:



VooDoo donuts, and the infamous maple bacon log:





Powell's Books. Worth moving to this town, just for this place. I spent an hour here...OK two...three maybe, and if I hadn't been on my very best behavior I might well have bankrupted myself:



This made me smile, in a nerdy(I'm not a hippie, damn it!) sort of way:


I went to the Rogue brewery and distillery; I hadn't realized that they started working with spirits, but I skipped trying any, given that I'm not J, and wouldn't be able to recognize a fine gin if it bit me on the butt. I walked around a lot, and rode a bus, and generally enjoyed as much as I could cram in, in the short time I was there.

The drive the next day was easy, and relaxed even though since the trip was mostly around the perimeter of Olympic nation park it rained, a steady drizzle, almost constantly. It was beautiful, perhaps the greenest place I've ever been. I arrived at the farm, and it was not quite what I was expecting, but given some hard work, we're going to get this place in tip top shape before I know it. It will be exceptionally hard work, but the rewards will be well worth it.

I'll probably wait until I've done a couple of days worth of work before doing a post about life on the farm, but I'll leave you with one ridiculous image, and insist that you all feel free to make fun, harass, and otherwise denigrate me all you wish, in the comments.

I am in Portland, and I am in love...

My view from the car window as I left Grandma and Saba's yesterday.

This place, this state, this city, are too cool for words. So I'll not even try. After a long day driving yesterday, I had a short one today, and now I'm going to relax, and go see what I can of this cool new place, and enjoy myself. Some pictures for your amusement.







A brief anecdote from yesterday, and then I'm off. I stopped to pump gas in LA, at the very end of Sunset Boulevard, which made me think of Miah. I pumped the gas, and saw that my total was exactly seventy five dollars. I thought to myself, that'll never happen again, only that afternoon, I pumped my gas, in the middle of the desert in the middle of the vast expanse that it California, and my total? That's right.

I don't know the best way to express how much I love this place, or Grandma Pooh and Saba. La Jolla has always held a special place in my heart, and their home is without a doubt my favorite place on the planet. Whenever I'm here, I feel at peace, and I know J and Rach, feel exactly the same way. I'm always so happy to arrive, and so sad to leave, but leave I must. I'm on a journey, and perhaps, I'll be back this way sooner, rather than later. I'll do another series of journal excerpts since I chose not to do daily posts while I was here, but even if I were to paste them here in their entirety they could never hope to capture the joy I've felt while I was here.

On dinner and a show, Friday night:

There was salmon, topped with diced fennel and fronds, a little Riesling, and baked in a packet, en papillote style. There were big fat spears of local asparagus, perfectly ripe, and delicious, especially when dipped in the dill mayo, served with the salmon. Boiled potatoes with butter and parsley, and, thank you god and Ruth, apple crisp for desert. It was a perfect meal. As delicious as any I've ever, or likely will ever, have. It left me feeling satisfied in places other than my belly is what I'm trying, so ham-handedly, to say. After dinner we loaded into the car, and headed over to the neurosciences institute for a concert, a Mozart duo for violin and viola, which while not thrilling, had a nice second movement. The middle piece was a Schubert trio, which to be perfectly frank, was a little boring, except for one piece, in the second movement where the cello took the lead, and the other two strings played off the theme. The final piece was a Beethoven string trio, and it was magnificent. Exciting, and beautifully performed.

On Opera and expectations:

It(La Traviata) was quite an experience, not really what I was expecting, and I while the first act didn't grab me, after that it picked up, and I rather enjoyed the rest of it. More than I had hoped to. The music was lovely, and the woman who played the part of Violetta was amazing. Oddly enough I found myself humming snatches of the music to myself for the rest of the day. Like most opera, I assume, it had it's funny moments, but was after all a tragedy, and ended poorly for all involved.

At the opera I met the Gulls, Einar and Sally, good friends of Grandma and Saba, they were fascinating folks, and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them better.

It's Monday evening, and I've been driving pretty much non-stop since ten this morning. I haven't made it nearly as far as I'd have liked, but I'm going to drive for another hour or so, before I crash for the night. I made some poor navigational decisions earlier, and am now in a position to make some choices about the course of my trip. I want to drive through San Fransisco, but that will involve logistical challenges. Maybe I'll do it, and damn the troubles.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Grandma and Saba for putting me up, and for supporting me, and I can't wait to see you both again in September at Rachel's Wedding. I love you all, and I'm really excited. I'm almost there.

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the Desert...

What a great day. Beginning to end, a series of experiences I wish wouldn't end. I woke up in Vegas this morning, and did my daily writing quota, and the Fern and her daughter Carly took me out to see what little we could manage to, given the fact that I was only in town for half a day. It was nice to get up, and to be able to relax for a little while instead of getting straight onto the road. They took me to the Bellagio, to see the Chihuly ceiling and the arboretum, both of which were quite impressive. Then we walked over to Caesar's palace, and had lunch at Mesa grill. It was really tasty.

All too soon it was time for me to leave, but I really wished I would have been able to spend some more time there getting to know everybody. I want to thank them all for their hospitality, for putting me up on essentially no notice, and for taking such good care of me while I was there. I felt really welcome, and it was all I could have hoped for in a brief Vegas interlude. I can't wait to go back.

I hit the road, drove south and west, and was in California in no time at all. The drive today was so much shorter than any of the other day's I've had that it was inherently more pleasant. Even stuck in California evening rush hour, wasn't that bad, relatively speaking. I arrived at Grandma and Saba's house at about eight, and Grandma was putting the finishing touches on dinner, and what a joy it is to be here. I really love this place, like no other on Earth, and it really is an inherently relaxing place for me.

This will probably be the last blog post until I get back on the road, on Monday, because I'm going to take these last few days to really enjoy myself, and to relax, before the final push, and then the work will begin in earnest. I'll still be keeping up with my journal, so I'll share anything fun and exciting with you all when I return.

Oh, and I did indeed stop in Barstow to get gas, because really, I'm a big nerd, and how could I resist?

With apologies for the interruption of service...

Wow, I was down yesterday. I am more optimistic, and hopeful today, and I fully well plan on ensuring that I enjoy this leg of the journey more than yesterdays. I'm not sure exactly what made it more miserable, but think it was probably entirely a matter of attitude. I was high strung, and to properly experience a journey like this one I think you must go at it from a place of acceptance. Yesterday i fought what came my way, and today I'll just allow it to happen. I have no plans for adventures, but if they come up I'll ride with it.So I'm at my first stop for the day, and what a difference a day can make. I've had a lovely morning. Colorado is beautiful. Even more majestic than I had imagined. The only thing I'll say on the subject is that it seems as though this place was designed as a reward for those who managed to successfully make it through Nebraska. The driving is slow going, the mountains are huge, and an eight percent downgrade is massively steep. I have no doubt my gas mileage is even worse in this terrain than it is normally. C'est la vie.

One thing I've noticed, and I'm aware that this is a superficial outsiders impression, but it seems that this place has no middle class, or at least has no visible place to store them. The only housing I've seen are trailers and hovels for the poor, and lodges and chateaus for the ultra-riche, and oddly enough it seems perfectly suited to the area.Well, I had an eventful afternoon and evening, after writing the first part of this post. I finished driving through Colorado, and it was magnificient, but shorter than I thought it would be. The biggest surprise of the trip so far has turned out to be how much i enjoyed driving through Utah. It was surprisingly beautiful, stark and unforgiving, open and empty, in places. It was a land of desert and mountains, and in the course of the afternoon I saw the sun, and the rain, and the snow. I loved every minute of it. I post just a few of my favorite pics, but you have to understand that photography has not, and won't be my primary concern on this trip.


It was while driving through Utah, that i had a revelation of sorts. As evening began to fall I saw a sign. An actual sign, thank you very much. It said that I was just over two hundred miles from Las Vegas, and I thought to myself that it would be really cool if I could make it that far, but realized from a practicality standpoint it just wouldn't work. That's when it happened. Connections in my brain re-jiggered themselves in a way that made it make sense.

Mindy's best friend Fern lives in Las Vegas. Mindy is totally supportive of this journey of mine, and will do anything she can to make it a better experience for me, of this I have no doubt, and sure enough, one brief phone call later, and I had a destination. There is nothing better to motivate oneself, I've found. I drove on into the night, not stopping, making my way through the rest of Utah, which I reluctantly said goodbye to. Into Arizona, and almost literally, ten minutes later out of Arizona into Nevada.

I don't think I really mentioned this earlier, maybe I touched on it, but I feel it's a salient fact, and okay to reiterate. I love the mountains, they are my biome of choice, generally speaking, but hiking, or observing them from a distance as things of beauty to appreciate, is very different from driving down them in a tottering, top-heavy van, as wide as a semi. So it came as a relief when I finished my final descent from Rockies, and into what i presume was the desert of Nevada, but having driven through it at eighty miles an hour in the dark, I couldn't say for sure.

It's true what they say; even from seventy-five or eighty miles away, you can see Vegas visibly lightening the sky, and it was a welcome sight, to say the least. When I began to descend into the valley, with all the lights stretched out as far as the eyes could see, it was like a triumph. It's odd how affecting the little victories can be. I might well have whooped aloud in the car, in sheer joy, over the brilliance of the day I had just experienced.

Many thank yous to Mark and Fern for allowing me to show up at their house, in the middle of the night; I mean it, it was really late, and for greeting me some warmly and welcoming-ly. They made me feel right at home, and they fed me, and beer-ed me, and made me up a room in which to rest my weary head. I am immeasurably grateful for their hospitality.

So here am I in Vegas, and I'm going to enjoy myself for a couple of hours before I get back on the road for the last leg of this part of the journey. La Jolla, here I come.

Long days and pleasant nights

I had a very interesting day. Long. I wrote a blog post, and published it, and you may have read it, but then I deleted it. It just didn't read true to me, not that any of it wasn't true, but it seemed forced, and I'd rather wait until I'm ready to relate the things I talked about, rather than doing so out of some sense of obligation.

I drove through three states today, and I got my first speeding ticket ever. There was a minor debacle at a gas station, and I gave in and got a hotel room. The next Wal-Mart was too far away for me to make it there safely, and at this point I could use a shower anyway. I'm going to shower now, and then sleep, then I'll be back onto the road well before the sun is in the sky. If I'm feeling more optimistic tomorrow, I'll try and do a more complete post, but for now, just know that I'm alive and well, and I love you all.