I’m the sort of girl, I’ve been told, who needs a project.
I was pleasantly surprised to have a couple of friends tell me they’d been checking in on the blog and were surprised to see I hadn’t been posting.
Getting two horses through a 100 mile ride = project. That kept my wheels spinning and my mind churning and my talent for worry occupied right up until the point that the horses were home – safe, sound and well — and the mission was accomplished.
And then there was the lull period.
So I’ve spent lots of time scratching horses and whispering to each one that they are, in fact, my favorite. Lots of time unpacking and doing laundry, and catching up with friends who had been neglected as I worked on the 100 mile mission. Lots of eating of all the leftover goodies packed in the trailer in case they’d tickled my taste buds at 84 miles or so. (I think the mini-Snickers were the best.)
Our delightful truck deciding to develop an acute need for a new clutch just before the Vermont endurance ride meant skipping my absolute favorite ride of the season, a disappointment that was tempered by a terribly hot and humid forecast and the knowledge that a 50 miler just three weeks shy of finishing his first 100 was probably pushing it a bit for Ace.
This period corresponded with a heat wave in our neck of the woods, so I also dedicated a good portion of my down time to “catching up with my nieces” who are 10, 12 and almost 14, and just happen to live in a house with a pool.
Add the usual summer chores of harvesting stuff from the garden, putting up hay, and I’ve had an enjoyable period of industriousness and utter laziness in just the right mix.
But in the last several days, I’ve found a new project tickling the edges of my gray matter.
It’s fascinating how certain people come into your life, or certain books or TV programs, or magazine articles or lengthy email chats with like-minded friends happen in such a way that they seem orchestrated, in retrospect, to prompt you to take action.
A husband with a fairly recent (and rare) diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, which has meant shifting of an already pretty-healthy diet and added a feverish counting of carbs and a new consciousness about what we’re consuming.
A garden coming to fruition that not only changed my tastebuds for food that is truly fresh, truly local, truly nutritious, but a desire for more of the same without actually turning our entire property into a vegetable or free-range chicken farm.
Time spent, on line or in real life, with friends for whom nutrition and food production has become a way of life — one with a business producing whole food supplements for horses, another sharing the efforts to produce organic grains/hay/straw with her partner, another who has gone vegetarian in recent months and finds herself seeking much the same produce and products, locally, that I am.
Time spent reading or re-reading various books and articles by Michael Pollan, or Barbara Kingsolver, or watching the HBO movie (finally, it’s been on the DVR for months) about Temple Grandin.
Time spent perfecting recipes for my husband and tasting what can only be described as SUPERLATIVE homemade pizza crust, made with the organic flour harvested by our friends, and accompanied by a salad which was picked just moments before from just outside our front door. Literally.
One lunch conversation led to a couple of emails which led to a bit of reading and then the usual contemplative time spent mucking stalls and tossing hay, to another conversation and another email, and an idea.
Why not start a local farmers’ market in our area?
Not a huge, massive affair, but a small, intimate gathering of farmers we know or get to know, on perhaps a monthly basis, with a network of consumers who pre-orders produce or eggs or free-range chickens or organic flour, then browses for additional products from the farmers on site that evening.
The wheels are turning, I’m asking lots of questions, brainstorming with the husband, talking with Anita and Rachel and Tigger, and just letting the idea grow and develop, and we’ll go from there.
It may turn into nothing, it may be too much trouble, too much risk and too much time for a woman with a full time job (Anita) and another with a small consulting business to run. But we’ll let the idea run it’s course and see what comes of it. We are doing our best to keep it low-effort, low-labor, low-BS and just a way of introducing farmers to people who appreciate what they’re producing on a local level.
Have ideas? Suggestions? Advice?
Drop me a line and let me know.
(Sorry I’ve been away for so long!)
–Patti
PS Next endurance ride, assuming the truck runs, the weather is not ridiculously hot/humid and we aren’t getting a hay delivery — Ride Between The Rivers on August 7th near Elkin, WV. Taking Sarge and Ace for the 50. Can’t wait!