Lost and Found

My mom asked me if I had plans to go to Hometown anytime soon. The implication is that I haven't been down to visit often, which is true. I visited more often when I lived in the big city 3 hours away compared to now, only a 40 minute jaunt. But I had to apologize and explain that "I love being home. It is difficult to leave". What a priviledge! (And it goes without saying she has visited me more often in the last two months than she did combined when we were in the city. It isn't just me who enjoys breathing Bay air). Over the past month we've hosted a Halloween party, acquired a second-hand washing machine/dryer/dishwasher/bread machine/deep freeze, rescued a sad looking but adorable barn kitten (then found him a home!), planted garlic, tried (and failed) to dry batches of cranberries from the field, and I've re-acquainted myself with proper food.

The last one is a biggie.

In the rush to build, stage and sell a house in a year I completely lost my focus on proper food. I was eating bags of chips from the vending machine for lunch and BigMacs for supper. I was unabashed about it too - I seriously had no energy left to make menus, do the shopping and cook everyday. We were lucky when we could get home before 8 pm most days (on the days we weren't feverishly varnishing/hanging/cleaning). Two things changed when we moved to the village - 1. there is no vending machine or coffee shop in my building or anywhere near me on campus. As such, in order to acquire a snack, it is a 5 minute walk into town. The health food shop (selling dried fruit, vegan muffins and almond milk) is closer than the grocery store or junk-food selling stores. And more importantly: 2. our friends here are heavily vested in the local food movement. Our current house guest is studying for her LSATs but tended the community garden over the summer. Another good friend heads the local organic farmers organization. They drool over our fertile land and compel us to use it to grow bountiful harvests of proper food. I have learned ways to use locally sourced foods in recipes, tried out herbs and spices I had never cooked with before, and now take time in preparing meals. It isn't completely fool-proof, as we do find ourselves at fast food places as "a treat". But overall the change is being integrated into out daily lives in a way that makes me very happy.