Connected!

Well tickle me pink. For the first time ever, I am blogging within the delicious comfort of my very own home.

That's right folks. I have free wireless (muchas gracias, neighbors), and now a laptop (muchas gracias, work) that can actually pick it up. It's a long story, so suffice it to say - I've spent countless hours in the last two months trying to figure out how in the hell I can connect for free.

So here I am, in my very own kitchen, posting to the blog.

Of course, the kitchen is far from my ideal place to connect. (to the internet, that is). But remember that part about "countless hours?" For now, it works!

I realize of course, that I am very behind in posting photos of all sorts... holidays... trips... etc...

And I am very behind on blog-reading...

But alas, those will wait yet longer. The tasks at hand for this fine Friday evening are to nap, and then to dance.

Buenas dias! (de Mexico y Guatemala!)

Greetings from San Cristobal in Chiapas, Mexico! I´ve been here and in Guatemala for the last week on a work trip (more about that later). This morning finds us with free time and internet access, so thought I´d do a quick post to the ol´ blog. I´ll post pictures when I´m home. Hasta luego!

You'll never understand a horse

Some of you know that I long to farm. I really, really do. Right now I live in the city without even so much as a garden. And I do love some aspects of city life. But one day, I need to farm. And I know I will farm--I can feel it in my bones. I have inside me what Courtney, a 25-year-old farmer near Louisville, recently brought to my attention is an undiscovered farmer, walking around, waiting to blossom.

So there we have it, and now you know: I want to farm. But if I didn't already, reading about Mark Gunther in Bill McKibben's A Grand Experiment (a great article on eating local through the winter, in Vermont!), reeeeaally makes me want to farm.

...because he says things like this:

"I'm trying to find out ways to increase the quality of my life—it just so happens that working with horses is—not better than working with tractors, but more fun. It's a more challenging, more dynamic relationship. You can understand an engine. You'll never understand a horse."

and this (about churning butter):

"Every Tuesday night I turn on some loud 70s rock and roll or some Latino rhythms and I get up on that [fold-up sofa] bed and do a modified jumping dance with my fifty pounds of stainless steel and cream. After six or seven hundred vigorous bounces I find ten to twelve pounds of butter ready to be rinsed."

and this:

"Occasionally I feel like I'm doing some work. But usually it feels more like entertainment for myself."