Party on the Farm

I did, eventually, make those muffins. I do so love a potluck, because it's such a good return on investment. I make one thing and in return for that contribution I get to sample a buffet of food? Sounds good to me.

We headed out on our bikes, since the main entrance is from the bike trail. I really can't get over how damned charming it is to cycle along a bike trail flanked by fields with horses and weeping willow trees, and old school wooden fences. The trail follows a little creek, and periodically you go over quaint little bridges that always make me think of Anne of Green Gables.

It's a short ride to the CSA, and when we got there the party was already going full swing. The farmer, Luke, had the grill fired up and was providing complementary hot dogs, burgers, and veggie burgers. Local beer was on tap, also flowing freely. Dogs were roaming about with their families, and babies and kids were running all over the grass and lounging on blankets under the trees. There was, of course, a small army of bicycles clustered along the fence. We added ours to the group.

Aww, lil' trailers to haul your nuggets on the bike!

 We picked up our share for the week- lots of yummy greens. Kale, lettuce, and spinach came home with us.

 Field of organic veggies  + dad and baby + bike. Basically a perfect picture overview of the hippie/green culture of our town.

We added our muffins to the buffet table and loaded up our camp plates with communal food. Thanks to a lot of people we didn't know, we ate very well that night. Our fellow CSA'ers were super friendly on top of being good cooks. We spent an hour or two there, re-filling our plates, chatting with different groups of people, and petting whatever dog happened to stroll by. Right about the time we finished our food, thunder started rolling and rain started falling. We cycled back in the rain- just enough to be more than a sprinkle, but not enough to be miserable. Once home we threw open all the windows, turned off all the lights, and lit some candles. We sprawled out on the floor, enjoying the breeze, being lazy listening to the storm and watching the sun set through our back patio door. There is something so soothing about listening to a storm, hearing the trees sway in the wind while the rain beats down on their leaves. I don't know if it's just because I grew up in Texas with a good 3 months of heavy thunder storms rocking me to sleep every year, but it's like an auditory sleeping pill. Altogether it was a pretty excellent night. I already geek out over the happiness that fresh picked, dirt covered veggies give me, and when you add in a nice get together, good  food, a bike home in warm rain, and an evening thunderstorm? It's almost more simple joy than I can handle.

A Few Things

I'm typing this in Panera bread, courtesy of their "free" wi-fi. I say "free" because we all know it's not free, you have to buy something, but it's a nice perk. A not so nice perk is the couple that just sat down behind me. The woman is in a windsuit and with every move it's swishy-swish-swishing (the back of our chairs are nearly touching). Her partner is chewing loudly, smacking on whatever he's eating, as he talks with his mouth full.

Anyway. Excuse my strangely short fuse...

We spent all last Sunday finishing up the unpacking of the apartment- building shelves, hanging bikes, unpacking the bathrooms, etc. I had good intentions of posting daily starting Monday, but the internet we've been filching- a random linksys wi-fi connection- disappeared. We get our real internet this coming Monday,  so hopefully I'll be able to do some catching up posts then. In general life news, it's been rainy and dreary since we got back to Fort Collins, and I've had some typical bureaucratic school BS to deal with, plus I've been feeling cooped up in the apartment with all the unpacking and organizing and figuring out where to hang pictures. You know, silly "problems" that aren't really problems but are annoying nonetheless. The highlight of today will be picking up our first CSA share of the season. I hope the rain lets off long enough for us to bike there. We also want to try out their tire swing, which will be substantially less fun if it's holding a shallow U of water in the bottom. Regardless, I know a bike ride to the farm where happy, hippie people are bringing armloads of dirty, wet, fresh picked veggies from the field will put me in a better mood. I'm also going to talk to them about volunteering on the farm this summer. I think cycling down the bike trail to the farm a few times a week to work in the sun with my hands in the dirt, learning about organic, sustainable farming will make for a great summer.