I haven't gone too far in the past 24 hours, but have experienced the influence of England, Poland, Hungary, Mexico, Czech Republic and Russia. It's that time of year again-- picking up Johnsonburg's international staff from various train and bus stops in the area. Thankfully no drives to the airports this year, but still some craziness ensued. Last night was my first pickup, my friend Timi from Hungary. Her train came and left, no Timi. Two more trains came and left, still no Timi. Worried, I went back to camp hoping for a phonecall. Instead, I found her sleeping on a couch in the office when I arrived this morning.
I drove to East Hanover to pick up three guys from a hotel there (two from England, one from Poland). The drive was ok, though we've had some crazy weather for the past two days that lead to a lot of fog on the interstate today. I suppose fog is better than the tornadoes we had nearby yesterday though. While I was on that adventure, my friends Wally and Tim were picking up someone from a bus stop nearish to camp... except that ended up being three someones.
Another arrived in the afternoon without notice (someone who had been with us last year so found his own way back to camp), and another was able to contact her mother in Mexico, who was able to send me a facebook message about 25 minutes before I needed to get to the bus stop that is 20 minutes away. Her bus was late so I didn't actually cut it that close, but we now have 9/10 of our international staff members. Staff training starts tomorrow, which will bring friends from all over New Jersey as well as our tenth international staffer. This summer is going to be good!
23 June 2011
14 June 2011
visiting the farm
Today Lorelei and I had a big adventure just four miles from home (camp). She invited me to go pick up her CSA (community supported agriculture) share at Genesis Farms, so we went during my lunch break to collect greens, potatoes, herbs and other early spring vegetables. It smelled amazing in the little shop where all of the picked produce was waiting for us, and I just loved talking about farming and food with Lorelei. It's such a spiritual thing for us.
As part of her week's share, we got to pick a pint of strawberries too. It had started to rain lightly by then, but we decided to go through with it anyway. Of course, the skies opened once we were out in this field, looking for ripe ones. I love the smell of rain falling on fields, and it wasn't a violent storm, just a wet one. We had an awesome view of the mountains and other agricultural plots. It was just a very beautiful moment, sealed in the very sweet wonderful taste of freshly picked, organic New Jersey strawberries.
As part of her week's share, we got to pick a pint of strawberries too. It had started to rain lightly by then, but we decided to go through with it anyway. Of course, the skies opened once we were out in this field, looking for ripe ones. I love the smell of rain falling on fields, and it wasn't a violent storm, just a wet one. We had an awesome view of the mountains and other agricultural plots. It was just a very beautiful moment, sealed in the very sweet wonderful taste of freshly picked, organic New Jersey strawberries.
10 June 2011
This entry is about travel to a sort of different place, without leaving home.
Last night, we had a storm that knocked out the power for four hours. Just as we lost the last of daylight, I found a few candlesticks, which I lit and then used a little melted wax to stick to my table, like I learned in Malawi:
and the preseason came over while Noah and I jammed, he on a really nice guitar and me on my trusty ukulele. We started singing along. It was hot and humid and pretty dimly lit but so much fun, and just such a beautiful way to be spending time together. Everyone was just so present. No video games or movies or technology (well, aside from phones I guess, which was the only flaw to this awesome evening), just each other's company and laughing and voices. It just made me happy. I hope it happens again, whether the power goes out and forces it upon us or we just spend an evening with the lights off and the candles lit.
Last night, we had a storm that knocked out the power for four hours. Just as we lost the last of daylight, I found a few candlesticks, which I lit and then used a little melted wax to stick to my table, like I learned in Malawi:
and the preseason came over while Noah and I jammed, he on a really nice guitar and me on my trusty ukulele. We started singing along. It was hot and humid and pretty dimly lit but so much fun, and just such a beautiful way to be spending time together. Everyone was just so present. No video games or movies or technology (well, aside from phones I guess, which was the only flaw to this awesome evening), just each other's company and laughing and voices. It just made me happy. I hope it happens again, whether the power goes out and forces it upon us or we just spend an evening with the lights off and the candles lit.
05 June 2011
and back again
Long 24 hours or so, but definitely good.
Yesterday, Taylor and I went to the Herdon Fest to see my college roommate Brittany play. This was my first time seeing her play live, and sadly her band was not playing with her today, but she played beautifully and it was really fun to see her perform. Hopefully it won't be so long till the next time I get to see her play!
After getting dinner, I hit the road en route to Wilmington for a layover/Catherine retrieval before my Sunday church visit. This week: Cranbury, an old church in a little town.
We left Wilmington a few minutes later than I'd hoped but it resulted in witnessing something really cool: the Sullenberger plane was being transported very slowly, accompanied by a herd of police vehicles, down Route 130. It was kind of exciting to see that happy piece of history.
Cranbury is a really cute, tiny, historic town, founded well before the Revolutionary War. I was unfortunately in a hurry to get back to camp for something going on in the afternoon so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have, but the main street was dotted with old houses and cemeteries. Very pretty.
Yesterday, Taylor and I went to the Herdon Fest to see my college roommate Brittany play. This was my first time seeing her play live, and sadly her band was not playing with her today, but she played beautifully and it was really fun to see her perform. Hopefully it won't be so long till the next time I get to see her play!
After getting dinner, I hit the road en route to Wilmington for a layover/Catherine retrieval before my Sunday church visit. This week: Cranbury, an old church in a little town.
We left Wilmington a few minutes later than I'd hoped but it resulted in witnessing something really cool: the Sullenberger plane was being transported very slowly, accompanied by a herd of police vehicles, down Route 130. It was kind of exciting to see that happy piece of history.
Cranbury is a really cute, tiny, historic town, founded well before the Revolutionary War. I was unfortunately in a hurry to get back to camp for something going on in the afternoon so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have, but the main street was dotted with old houses and cemeteries. Very pretty.
04 June 2011
incidentally coincidental
Yesterday was a day of great timing and great happiness!
The original purpose of visiting Fredericksburg was to see my cousin Laura, who's currently in summer session at Mary Washington. We met up after her morning class ended and walked downtown for lunch. While the consensus between Taylor, Laura and I was J. Brian's (quesadillas! burgers! a nice porch on which to sit on such a lovely day!), we changed our minds at the last minute as we walked past Old Towne Grill, a hidden gem on Caroline Street. I always forget it's there. They don't have much in the way of veggie options, but I really love their spinach salad. AND sitting two tables over was Dr. Stephen Hanna, the chair of Mary Washington geography! I was ecstatic when Taylor noticed this and subtly pointed it out. We didn't get to speak for long as he was leaving, but I enjoyed the coincidence that lead to me seeing my all-time favorite lab instructor (cartography).
We walked all over town after lunch, first down to Carl's, a frozen custard stand slightly outside of the immediate downtown area, then up the canal path to campus, then over to the new Eagle's Landing area on the other side of Route 1 (Mary Washington people totally know what I'm talking about, except who knew that it was called Eagle's Landing?). I don't feel like I've been gone long enough for there to be so many changes, but Laura was patient enough to give a tour and at least pretend to ignore my constant shock and amazement. Those places are nice. It's more like a hotel than a dorm. The apartment kitchens are lovely and there's a nice lobby area on her floor and there is a ROTUNDA. Why does a dorm need a rotunda? With glass windows all around it? And a fireplace with columns and a big ol' flat screen TV? It struck me as excessive, but definitely nice. I hope the students respect it. Laura seemed happy to be living there. I don't blame her.
Taylor and I parted ways with Laura and walked back down campus. He wanted to stop by the bookstore, which I didn't think was super necessary but didn't really mind. However, that little stop lined us up to be walking past Trinkle Hall at the exact moment my beloved undergrad advisor/general mentor, Dr. Melina Patterson, was walking out the front door and down the steps. And she said it was her laziness in taking the elevator that put her out the door at the exact moment too. So many coincidences. So awesome.
So we stopped to talk for a while on the lovely, lovely day, when off in the distance, Taylor spots a third Mary Washington Geography professor, Dr. Joe Nicholas. Joe offered to take us on a tour of the almost fully renovated Monroe Hall, where the Geography department was housed when we were there. Turns out it's not as near completion as it's scheduled to be; they're supposed to move in in three weeks, but there aren't floors and there's a lot else that's still woefully incomplete.
It's looking great though! The Geography department is quite different, with offices where there used to be our main classroom, and the old cartography lab split into two halves with a pollen lab where the work room used to be. It's going to be awesome. Also, there's a fourth floor where storage used to be! It's got nice skylights and you can see some of the original brickwork. I thought it was nice to kind of embrace the history of the building in that way.
After this we hit the road; we were meeting friends at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art for Jazz in the Garden, a free thing that happens on Fridays in the summer. It got packed and became difficult to hear the music, so the group of us that assembled went out elsewhere for food and drinks. The second place we went to smelled like a dudes' locker room, so Taylor, Emily and her friend Alyssa peaced and went for a walk around the National Mall instead.
The Mall is pretty at night, and very peaceful. We walked up to the Washington Monument, through the WWII Memorial (which remains one of my favorites), up to Lincoln before parting ways to head home via Metro. Busy day, very wonderful.
The original purpose of visiting Fredericksburg was to see my cousin Laura, who's currently in summer session at Mary Washington. We met up after her morning class ended and walked downtown for lunch. While the consensus between Taylor, Laura and I was J. Brian's (quesadillas! burgers! a nice porch on which to sit on such a lovely day!), we changed our minds at the last minute as we walked past Old Towne Grill, a hidden gem on Caroline Street. I always forget it's there. They don't have much in the way of veggie options, but I really love their spinach salad. AND sitting two tables over was Dr. Stephen Hanna, the chair of Mary Washington geography! I was ecstatic when Taylor noticed this and subtly pointed it out. We didn't get to speak for long as he was leaving, but I enjoyed the coincidence that lead to me seeing my all-time favorite lab instructor (cartography).
We walked all over town after lunch, first down to Carl's, a frozen custard stand slightly outside of the immediate downtown area, then up the canal path to campus, then over to the new Eagle's Landing area on the other side of Route 1 (Mary Washington people totally know what I'm talking about, except who knew that it was called Eagle's Landing?). I don't feel like I've been gone long enough for there to be so many changes, but Laura was patient enough to give a tour and at least pretend to ignore my constant shock and amazement. Those places are nice. It's more like a hotel than a dorm. The apartment kitchens are lovely and there's a nice lobby area on her floor and there is a ROTUNDA. Why does a dorm need a rotunda? With glass windows all around it? And a fireplace with columns and a big ol' flat screen TV? It struck me as excessive, but definitely nice. I hope the students respect it. Laura seemed happy to be living there. I don't blame her.
Taylor and I parted ways with Laura and walked back down campus. He wanted to stop by the bookstore, which I didn't think was super necessary but didn't really mind. However, that little stop lined us up to be walking past Trinkle Hall at the exact moment my beloved undergrad advisor/general mentor, Dr. Melina Patterson, was walking out the front door and down the steps. And she said it was her laziness in taking the elevator that put her out the door at the exact moment too. So many coincidences. So awesome.
So we stopped to talk for a while on the lovely, lovely day, when off in the distance, Taylor spots a third Mary Washington Geography professor, Dr. Joe Nicholas. Joe offered to take us on a tour of the almost fully renovated Monroe Hall, where the Geography department was housed when we were there. Turns out it's not as near completion as it's scheduled to be; they're supposed to move in in three weeks, but there aren't floors and there's a lot else that's still woefully incomplete.
It's looking great though! The Geography department is quite different, with offices where there used to be our main classroom, and the old cartography lab split into two halves with a pollen lab where the work room used to be. It's going to be awesome. Also, there's a fourth floor where storage used to be! It's got nice skylights and you can see some of the original brickwork. I thought it was nice to kind of embrace the history of the building in that way.
After this we hit the road; we were meeting friends at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art for Jazz in the Garden, a free thing that happens on Fridays in the summer. It got packed and became difficult to hear the music, so the group of us that assembled went out elsewhere for food and drinks. The second place we went to smelled like a dudes' locker room, so Taylor, Emily and her friend Alyssa peaced and went for a walk around the National Mall instead.
The Mall is pretty at night, and very peaceful. We walked up to the Washington Monument, through the WWII Memorial (which remains one of my favorites), up to Lincoln before parting ways to head home via Metro. Busy day, very wonderful.
03 June 2011
Farragut North, Dupont Circle, Mad Fox
Shortly after my last post, I was able to get in touch with my friend Emily, who just moved to D.C. following some time in West Africa with Peace Corps and some time back home in Illinois near St. Louis. She's doing an internship near Farragut North, which is a stop that I don't believe I've really been around before yesterday.
She was still working when I managed to get there from Vienna via bus, the orange line and the red line. I spent some quality time at Au Bon Pain sipping iced coffee (still can't handle hot coffee since Mexico after getting so miserably ill from the milk) and enjoying Nelson Mandela's autobiography. She eventually joined me and we sat under an umbrella outside, just catching up. This is the first time I've seen her since before she graduated from Mary Washington in 2009! We talked about the similarities and differences between our respective regions of work in Africa, about books, about beer, about work, about grad school... it was so so great to see my good friend again!
We wandered to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, an awesome book store/cafe/bar closer to Dupont Circle, where we browsed books for a good while before getting a beer: Flying Dog Coffee Stout, which was really strong but really good. It was a really beautiful day and we sat on the back porch with our newly purchased books and beers (I got John McPhee's Silk Parachutes, she got something about the French language) and just enjoyed everything.
I was having such a great time catching up with Emily that I lost track of time and was late getting back to Northern Virginia for dinner at Mad Fox Brewpub with Taylor, Alison and Scott, which was also wonderful and a half. That restaurant is mad good and it was more wonderful company.
All of the adventures seem to be catching up to me; I crashed early last night. Subsequently, I woke up early this morning (almost an hour ago). Today's adventure: Fredericksburg!
She was still working when I managed to get there from Vienna via bus, the orange line and the red line. I spent some quality time at Au Bon Pain sipping iced coffee (still can't handle hot coffee since Mexico after getting so miserably ill from the milk) and enjoying Nelson Mandela's autobiography. She eventually joined me and we sat under an umbrella outside, just catching up. This is the first time I've seen her since before she graduated from Mary Washington in 2009! We talked about the similarities and differences between our respective regions of work in Africa, about books, about beer, about work, about grad school... it was so so great to see my good friend again!
We wandered to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, an awesome book store/cafe/bar closer to Dupont Circle, where we browsed books for a good while before getting a beer: Flying Dog Coffee Stout, which was really strong but really good. It was a really beautiful day and we sat on the back porch with our newly purchased books and beers (I got John McPhee's Silk Parachutes, she got something about the French language) and just enjoyed everything.
I was having such a great time catching up with Emily that I lost track of time and was late getting back to Northern Virginia for dinner at Mad Fox Brewpub with Taylor, Alison and Scott, which was also wonderful and a half. That restaurant is mad good and it was more wonderful company.
All of the adventures seem to be catching up to me; I crashed early last night. Subsequently, I woke up early this morning (almost an hour ago). Today's adventure: Fredericksburg!
02 June 2011
Rutherford farm market, VA via PA, DE
Yesterday's camp adventure: Rutherford farm market. I knew the town was in Bergen County, New Jersey's northeastern most county, but I failed to pay attention to how far south in the county it is... right by my grandma's house. I was a woman on a mission yesterday though, so I just need to make it a point to get back over there and say hello to her another time soon.
Rutherford is a smallish town with a main street that's apparently on the upswing. It was dotted with small fast-ish chains like Dunkin Donuts and Blimpie, but the farm market was situated in this big patio area behind a bunch of local shops and next to a movie theater that advertised current movies but didn't appear to be open. I was told the area had definitely seen some decline but was improving more recently. I liked it.
The farm market was fine, just very hot. I'm still learning this farm market thing, and came unprepared. Well, I brought my big water bottle, but I didn't bring a tent for shade. Now I know for the future, at least. I was at least in the shade for most of the day, under what I believe was a pin cherry tree (I didn't have my book, otherwise I'd declare it tree of the day). The market manager offered that I could come back next week; this was their first week back open so it was a little slow, but I definitely spoke to more people than I did in Trenton. If the weather cooperates, I'll go back and bring my tree book!
My adventures continued last night as I drove back to camp, picked up my friend Catherine, and continued west into Pennsylvania to try a new route south to bring her home to Wilmington, Delaware. The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was further west than I thought, but still a very efficient route. Part of the efficiency may, however, be due to the fact that there seems to be NOTHING off that road. No food options. We didn't eat till pretty late, when we hit I-95 and found a Wawa several miles off the interstate, south of Philly.
Interstates are boring, but we made good time. I got Catherine home by 9:30, took a half hour to eat fresh strawberries with her family, and then continued on to VA, where I am presently plotting more adventures...
Rutherford is a smallish town with a main street that's apparently on the upswing. It was dotted with small fast-ish chains like Dunkin Donuts and Blimpie, but the farm market was situated in this big patio area behind a bunch of local shops and next to a movie theater that advertised current movies but didn't appear to be open. I was told the area had definitely seen some decline but was improving more recently. I liked it.
The farm market was fine, just very hot. I'm still learning this farm market thing, and came unprepared. Well, I brought my big water bottle, but I didn't bring a tent for shade. Now I know for the future, at least. I was at least in the shade for most of the day, under what I believe was a pin cherry tree (I didn't have my book, otherwise I'd declare it tree of the day). The market manager offered that I could come back next week; this was their first week back open so it was a little slow, but I definitely spoke to more people than I did in Trenton. If the weather cooperates, I'll go back and bring my tree book!
My adventures continued last night as I drove back to camp, picked up my friend Catherine, and continued west into Pennsylvania to try a new route south to bring her home to Wilmington, Delaware. The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike was further west than I thought, but still a very efficient route. Part of the efficiency may, however, be due to the fact that there seems to be NOTHING off that road. No food options. We didn't eat till pretty late, when we hit I-95 and found a Wawa several miles off the interstate, south of Philly.
Interstates are boring, but we made good time. I got Catherine home by 9:30, took a half hour to eat fresh strawberries with her family, and then continued on to VA, where I am presently plotting more adventures...
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