Relentless Inquiry

My friend Stephanie came over on Thursday night, and we made a huge rice noodle and veggie stir-fry, starring fresh broccoli from our garden, a small butternut squash that has stored in our livingroom since fall, and misc other goodies, including a salad of fresh batavian nevada lettuce, french breakfast radish, and nasturtium blossoms (all picked within the hour). We sustained ourselves during the preparation with fresh guacamole, featuring some of the Cilantro Horde from the garden.

Friday I started transplanting seedlings. There is folly and grandeur in a 96-pak seedling starting tray, and this is the 'folly' part. Got the first couple dozen transplanted, the rest still to come.

Saturday I got some misc stuff done in the morning, and went off in the afternoon to the Flower & Garden Show at the Cow Palace. My friend Linda had scored some free tickets from her realtor, and invited me to go with her. We spent *forever* touring around there (okay about 6 hours), and emerged footsore and laden with goodies. Linda scored some heirloom tomato plants of the kind that she loves best– Old German, a Mennonite heirloom that's yellow outside and fire-engine red inside– , a straw hat for BurningMan, and some aromalicious herbal soaps. I got some 'crocs', which are a recycled plastic garden clog from italy, wide enough for my 9/4E feet, some organic garden spray, and, um, completely gratuitously, the kind of aluminum doumbek I've wanted for ages. What can I say, it had such a great sound that I couldn't turn it down. The folks are local, Rhythm Fusion in Santa Cruz, and it might be fun to take classes if they have any weekend ones.

Linda and I both got several dip mixes from a vendor who turned out to be from my old high-school hometown, Dexter Maine. It's rare to find something yummy with no sugar or MSG, just add sour cream or yogurt. I spent some time chatting with the owner; his booth buddy was amazed to find someone who had not only heard of Dexter but had lived there. Dexter Shoe, Fayscott, and the 45th Parallel Restaurant are all gone, but the superfund mill site in Corinna has been cleaned up, there's a microbrewery in Dexter and a lot of cottage industry in the area. The dip/soup mix company has 28 employees, and is growing still. A 2 – 3 BR house in town in good condition goes for under $60K. Enough to make me really think about going back, or at least investing there and dreaming about going back someday.

Using the default married/S.O. algorithm for food, namely “where do you love to go, but never go because he/she hates it?”, we went out for sushi on our way home. Her hubby always gets teriyaki chicken when they go out for sushi, but she loves it and so do I.

I completely surprised myself on Sunday by waking up in time to go out to Point Lobos with Mike. Some folks from the Flipper Dippers made dive reservations there in the preserve. I thought it would be nice to go see the stunning natural beauty topside, even if I'm not currently making bubbles. Filled up a 1G photo card hiking the North Coast Trail and then turning off at the Whaler's Knoll trail to the road, walked along the road back to Whaler's Cove. The local wild iris are in bloom, along with Monterey Paintbrush, and some bell-like yellow flowers on stalks. I could see where there will be amazing amounts of salvia and yarrow later, but it's still too early for that. The highlight was sneaking up on a small herd of 3 mule deer, who I heard crashing through the brush and then hanging out at the edge of a meadow. I got within 20 – 30 feet of them– too much brush for great pictures, but still got some photo glory.

Got *way* too much sun, and now just starting to feel okay after a few applications of aloe and an ibuprofen. Whee. Thought I'd get home in time to garden, but the folks did two dives with an interval in between, then we got a very late lunch at a local pub. Got back with just enough light for Mike to wash off his dive gear while I fed the cats and loaded the dishwasher. I didn't get jack done this weekend, but I had way more fun than usual, so that's not such a bad thing.