Southern Oregon

I've been musing over drunkenness over the last 11 hours, or so. We went dancing last night and had one of the worst experiences I've had in a long time, possibly ever. The number of appallingly drunk people was overwhelming. It helped me realize that maybe I would be better served dancing at home. I don't go out to drink, meet other people or any of the other "normal" reasons. What I go out for is the dancing, to be bathed in music, blanketed in music. It's like active meditation/worship. It feels good to dance hard and not think of anything else. Last night I couldn't think of anything other than getting away from the drunk people. Lets just say that the night was disappointing.

We made things better though by spending the day preserving foodstuffs. My parents' garden is full of lovely vegetables and they have been kind enough to share with us. Rhonda picked up some no spray peaches from one of the oldest peach orchards in the area, seconds, mmmmm. The peaches were all very ripe, with bruises and very soft flesh (for the most part). I absolutely love "seconds" peaches, bruises are predominantly tasty. Anyway, we picked about three gallons of green beans, snapped them, blanched them, vacuum-sealed them and froze them. We also picked, blanched, cut, vacuum-sealed and froze corn (a LOT of corn). The peaches were blanched, pealed, cut and are now in the dehydrator. My mom also gave me several fresh carrots, peas and cherry tomatoes. I've eaten almost nothing but fresh vegetables today, it has been quite lovely!

I spent several hours with Audrey today. We played with the dogs for a while, then we bird-watched. Around 11 we went to see Huka. Audrey LOVED Huka. We sat in the pasture and watched Freyja geek out in the trough. Audrey laughed so hard and when Freyja jumped out, splashing water all over us Audrey laughed even harder. The goat is afraid of her, but was acting all goofy, eliciting another laugh from Audrey. At the tree we usually use as a bathing hitching post Audrey and I stopped. I told her all about the tree and then she put both hands on it, started rubbing it, kicked her feet excitedly and babbled to me about it. Eh, I love Audrey so much. She's only four months old and already very alert, loves the animals, talks up a storm and is generally a joy to be around. I made myself a moonstone necklace yesterday with an opal pendant. Audrey LOVES the moonstone so I let her play with it, she had to stop when the opal headed toward her mouth (I was worried the wire used to wrap it would cut her mouth). This rant leads me to my next point . . . I want to finish my degree so I can adopt a baby! If I thought I could deal with pregnancy I'd even consider birthing a child. Alas, I don't think I could go through with it.

Tomorrow is my ten year class reunion. It will prove to be an interesting day at the very least!