New York, New York

    Shortly after "the Rents" came to visit, Cas and I took a weekend to see Jamie for a change in NYC.  New York is an interesting place and I can see how it would be impossible to really get a feel for it in three days, but crazy enough we did!  We visited many of the "spots" but our objective was more to just walk around and see people and feel the vibe.  We walked around China Town, traipsed to the center of the Brooklyn Bridge and meandered through a farmers market.  I recognize I could of course be wrong, and hope that I am, considering more than 8 million people live here, but it felt like the whole point of New York was to just sell crap.

    Everywhere you looked and every possible crevice people had set up some kind of shop to peddle their wares.  From knock-off bags and clothes to plastic wrapped toys scavenged from the bottoms of cereal and Cracker Jack Boxes, it was so overwhelming the combination of nausea and consumer euphoria was very confusing.  And yet I can't help but recognize the similarities to communities and lifestyles all over this country, not least my own.  It's good to get these perspectives time to time so I can better be aware of the choices I make in my purchasing habits and attitude towards consumerism.  The simple lifestyle Cas and I have adopted can sometimes mislead us to believe we hold some kind of false benevolence that is completely undermined when we allow ourselves to judge. If we are to truly attempt to make this world a better place, we have to take our everyday, ordinary life - our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering.  The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

    Although NY was a great experience and seeing new places is almost always exciting, we were very relieved to get back to the island, the quiet, and the simplicity.

Mountain vs Island

So after the Iowa Parent Palooza, Joann, Rick, and Gloria stayed with Chandra and the grandkids while we hit the road with Nathan's folks. We have wanted to take a trip with Kaye and Ed for a long time, so I had been planning for weeks how to squeeze in every bit of fun into this 4-day trip as possible while still being able to relax, as these days we are accustomed to our laid back island lifestyle. We were going to tour towns and hike on trails by the salt marsh, go to a nice restaurant, tour the Thimble Islands, and retreat back to the island for 3 days of paradise. Or so I thought. At the last minute before leaving Nick and Chandra's house, we had decided to throw out the plans and do something wild. In Nick's words "You can't go wrong with Vermont!" so that's where we headed. We drove and drove till reaching our destination at Mt. Ascutney State Park. We were to hike 2.2 miles up the mountain while enjoying some great scenery. Little did we know, "Future Trail" went practically straight up the side of the mountain. About a mile up, we did enjoy this amazing view in the photo. If we were smart, we would have stopped there and gone back down. Guess what, we're not that smart. While finally reaching our destination of "Out of Service" Restrooms. We decided to take an easier way down by taking the road back. Again, not realizing that the plummeting concrete would be worse than the trail. After hiking over 4 miles of rocks and road, we were sore, blistered, and pooped and so decided to call it a night by finding a campground. That didn't happen either, but we did find a bunch of hill folk. Hours later around 11pm we found a hotel and treated ourselves to a hot shower, a warm bed, and a continental breakfast. Thank God!! Then drove and drove till reaching the sanctuary of Outer Island for the remainder of their trip. We celebrated with bonfire, fishing, food and drink. We really enjoyed their company, but wouldn't be surprised if we never returned to see the beauty of Vermont.

The Iowa Parent Palooza!!

To our astonishment after a series of phone calls, we were informed that all of our Iowa parents had decided independently to come to Connecticut to visit their children at the exact same time. Oh, crap. So Chandra, Nick, Nathan, and myself, with some nervous giggles and a bit of nail biting, were wondering how we were going to spend enough time with Nick's mom, Joann, Chandra's and my parents, Rick and Gloria, and Nathan's parents, Kaye and Ed, to give them each special attention for making the long trip out here without neglecting the others. So Nick, being the engineering genius he is, came up with the brilliant idea of the Iowa Parent Palooza! The first day that all of the parents were to arrive, we planned to put everyone together for a picnic at Nick and Chandra's house. Great idea you think? It was . . . except for the fact that none of the parents actually wanted to do it. They didn't want to have to come all the way from Iowa to share our time and attention with someone else. Well, too bad. We made them do it anyway, and it was great. Chandra was glowing with pride at having the ability to host such a great family get together with amazing food, her kids were going nuts with joy at having all of their favorite people in one place, and for me, it felt like a good old fashioned family reunion. The parents were very well behaved and tolerated, if not enjoyed, each other's company. Chandra is an amazing cook, Nick put on great music, we had lots to drink, and the kids were a blast to play with. The Iowa Parent Palooza was probably a once in a life time deal, but I know that Nick, Chandra, Nathan, and I will never forget it.

To Be Young Again

    For my fourteenth birthday my parents handed me a card.  I opened it with the fervency of any young person who has begun to grasp economics.  Inside was not the placid green portrait I had anticipated, but rather the bane of any birthday young or old.  I stared bleakly at a slip of paper that read "This coupon entitles you to GET A JOB!"  I looked up, head cocked to the side like a dog who's been given an unknown command, to see my parents beaming at the dish they had just served colder then the ice cream that was melting in my lap.
     Last week Cas and I spent two days and one night with a group of high school youth that had sought out, applied for, and been hired for a competitive program called the Youth Conservation Corps.  I had no idea young people of their caliber existed.  Come to think of it, I don't know that many adults that would spend their summer camping out doing manual labor at minimum wage out of little more then the simple desire to do so.  These kids weren't forced to do this, and they truly seemed to enjoy it.  There was no ladder to climb.  When asked, they didn't seem to register how good it would look on a resume.  One kid put it simply, "I would have just been sitting around all summer otherwise."  Well yeah!
    The time I spent with these kids made it easy for me to forget that I'm nearly twice there age, which was mostly good.  It also reminded me how much I liked hanging out with kids that age and how much they get it, and how much adults don't.  These are the people that are forming the world we live in today, and will be making the decisions for us in the next thirty years.
    I can look back now on my adolescent time and realize that was the lesson my parents were trying to teach me.  That it's not enough to just sit by and let everyone else foot the bill.  And that coupons for your birthday suck no matter how old you are.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I don't know how to explain it!  I haven't done a single thing different.  Same rig, same bait, same spot.  Earlier in the day maybe, or later in the season?  I guess I have been doing one thing different....

Happy Anniversary!! Here's some Cheese.

Saturday was Nate's and my 6th wedding anniversary! We sold our truck topper on Craig's list and then headed out to the UConn Dairy Barn and then to Bush Meadow Farm. Nate and I have always been interested in homesteading and since our friends Jenny and Jason are soon to start their homestead, it has us thinking about that dream again. Nate has always wanted to have goats, and that is the one animal, besides ostrich, that we did not have on my small farm growing up. So with the intention of growing our education we visited the farm to explore their operations. They have a commercial kitchen where they serve food that they grew or raised themselves. We bought a half gallon of goat's milk, which is the best milk I've ever tasted. And the nutrition and health benefits of goat vs. cow milk is no competition. They get more business than they can handle because of the growing awareness, especially by people with serious digestion issues. They gave us a free container of Garlic and Spinach feta cheese spread. It was amazing, store bought will never taste the same. Thanks Bush Meadow Farm! Support your local farmers!! They also cut all of their own firewood that supplies energy to their radiant floor heating and hot water throughout their buildings in the winter. They're also planning an ice cream operation soon. Checkout the pics of all the goats, the babies were so cute! The owners were super nice and offered us possible workamper positions for this winter. We have yet to discuss details, but I can't help but think that it would be a great opportunity for us. Not only will our restaurant experience and my forestry and Nate's carpentry skills be useful to them, but for them to teach us all about the goats and goat dairy and meat products would be invaluable to our future. We'll be praying about God's will for The Smocks Winter 2010!!

Home Sweet Camper

So this will be our new home starting on August 21, which is our anticipated departure date. Against the advice of my former boss, Ms. Betty Hammel of Craig's Place Deli in SC, we went ahead and brought home our new truck camper on Sunday. There were some difficulties in getting the camper mounted to the truck and getting the lights hooked up correctly.But after hours of sweating in the sun, while I sat inside with the lady of the house drinking lemonade, Nate and the seller got it all worked out. I am so proud of my hard workin' man. How will we live in this small space you ask? Well, I'm not sure yet. We will have to, once again, get rid of more stuff. But it is wondrous knowing that I have the capabilities to cook almost everything in one pan. The fridge is really nice and larger than our other camper fridge. It has a built in CD player, a rear camera video for backing up, a wet bath (which means you can poo and shower at the same time!), a place for a microwave and tv, plenty of storage for what we need, and early nineties decor (which Nate doesn't mind, but I can't stand). So we are already thinking about all the things we need to do for our next adventure which is . . . . going back to Iowa. See you soon!