Weeding Garlic




Yesterday I spent some time out at Meadow Rock Farm weeding garlic.  Susan, who lost her husband only a short while ago, is hard at work keeping the CSA running on her own.  Her aunt and uncle and their honey-colored bassett hound were there hooking up some truck-based watering systems, washing out bins, and just generally helping out.  I did not get to stay for hot meatloaf sandwiches, which is sad since it sounded better than sitting in the bleachers watching a soccer game with a lot of suburban live-through-your-kids types.   I'll be going back soon -- I have more garlic to untangle.

My weeding skills are a little rusty -- especially when you're facing a plot that's had some heavy growth.  Thistle and dandelions, I was prepared for.  But wild geranium plants with carrot-like root structures were driving me crazy, especially since they like to grow right up against the garlic root bulbs.    I wish I could run back up there today and do the other two thirds of the plot.   But I'm supposed to be writing the book and indeed, my writing skills -- at least this kind -- are as rusty as my weeding.    Needless to say, here I am writing something that takes a lot less hovering and fussing.  I just wanted to get this out on paper to prove that I could and to possibly see if this voice could travel back over to the other page.  In the book manuscript, started to write a sentence that said "people crossed over a threshold into our lives" and I thought, is that sociological? academic? too bloggy?  My blog and other writing reads a lot more "academic-y" than it should anyway.    Point is, I want to just take this voice, the good weeding skills that came back after an hour, and bring it off the posting and onto a piece of paper. 

Wish me luck.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
I just returned from a food studies conference and some vacation in Alaska, which seems like as arbitrary a time as any to return to this venue after a number of years.  Since this picture was taken at 3 am, you get to decide whether it's sunset or sunrise. Here are some things I learned while in the 49th state: 1. West coast oysters are very good. 2. Anchorage, while still a white-majority city, is one of the most diverse census tracts within its racial-ethnic groups: the public schools are among the most diverse in the US.  Of course, with 227 different indigenous/native groups identified in Alaska, maybe you would not be surprised, but the diversity of the Anchorage census tracts comes from global populations and migration, too.  Each of my Lyft drivers were from different countries.   For such a small city, there's surprisingly diverse food options. (I did not intend to make this one about food, but oh well). 3. You should make noise and not run from a bear ,
Read more

Sharp Shinned Hawks and Other Distractions

Image
The other day I was walking the dog in one of our usual places, which is very wooded, but rather contained -- in fact, it reminds me of what it might be like in an area set aside for "the hunt" in medieval times -- it's wild but it's tame.   You know you're going to run into some deer (inevitable) and possibly other creatures, but also other people, usually mountain bikers (okay, that ruins the medieval image right there) and sometimes other folks with their dogs.      It was quiet that morning and so we went pretty far back into the woods (knowing it's got a boundary -- this is a park, owned by the state, that was once someone's estate, complete with ugly mansion on one end, paved pathway with women in jogging suits around the perimeter, and of course, a holiday light extravaganza you can drive through for $18 while you listen to "the Twelve Days of Christmas" on your car radio.)     I can't describe the way the forest has a medieval cast to
Read more

Destinesia

definition: you have applied for so many jobs that you forgot what your core competencies are. (source: http://artataq.wordpress.com ) I would like to say a few things about core competencies, but I am having trouble.  I don't know if I've forgotten (so I'm not sure you could say I have destinesia...) but I definitely can't be sure they're functional.  I did walk into a classroom of 40 people yesterday and manage to teach a whole session and no one ran from the room screaming, so I suspect it was fine.   Some of them even talked to me after class, so I stand a chance of remembering their names.  It isn't their fault that some of their professors are only tangential to the larger workings of the institution, so I do feel the usual (and entangling) pang of responsibility for their intellectual well being while they are in my care.  Perhaps this is my core competency?  Lately it has felt more like a big anchor tying me to something I love to do but which offers ver
Read more