I spent the day with J. yesterday. We drove to Richmond, hung out at H.’s antebellum castle (I have to do a whole entry on this house some day guys. Don’t let me forget. It is just gorgeous.) and then went to the farm so the boys could scout out a location for hunting this season.
We arrived to find that there is a new puppy and a new kitten in residence, two new calves, and the back pond has been dug out and will hopefully refill over the winter. If we get a good freeze, I am ice skating on it this year – it isn’t much more than four or five feet deep right now. The front pond is something like thirty feet deep, and teeming with catfish, so I wouldn’t really be inclined to plunge through thin ice to join the fishies.
I spent most of the day chatting with J.’s grandmother, whom I love, and walking around the property with her. She’s more active at 67 than I am at 24, and I feel I have a lot to learn from her. She’s the axis around which the family revolves. She told me that her and her late husband had considered building an earthship on the property, and I about fainted with excitement, as I’ve been studying permaculture and earthships and alternative building for oh, four years. It’s my dream to build J. and I a little cob/straw house in the country.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. As it got dark, we grabbed fishing poles and headed down to the pond to try and catch dinner (everyone else’s dinner – I’m not a huge fan of fish or seafood). J. had four or five bites, but he only hooked one – and that one was so huge the line snapped after a terrific fight. J. was disappointed, but I got to see the whole thing with my flashlight – I was much closer to the action than he was, and it was fascinating. The new puppy, Molly, made sure to splash around a lot and then roll in the dust, which was typically followed by an exuberant tackle from the front that left me filthy.
I came home and passed out quickly.
Californians, good luck with the voting today. I’m hoping for a no on the recall, but we’ll see what we end up with.