ME III: Clouds

Oct 23, 2023 · Maine Event

Today was a partially cloudy day that was amazingly clear and crisp. The low was 42° and the high 57° and there is a little wind making it feel chilly. It is definitely warmer than it was last year because the blog had many days in the 30s and so far we haven't had any.

We are in pre-wrap-up mode without doing anything but list-making and thinking. There is much too much going on which makes the idea of leaving difficult. This weekend we will start the initial effort to pack up and meanwhile, we are making an effort to eat down the food in our fridge and cupboard.

I'm ready to be home I miss home and the wonderful walks we take on the hills of SF and all of my community of people and the food. I think I've said this before but the dairy and meat products are much better here and there is healthy competition between very local farms to keep improving and to provide variety. At the Co-op, there must be 10 local yogurt companies in addition to a couple of the bigger national brands. I do miss the fruits and vegetables of CA and there simply is no comparison even though there are many great farms the seasons just don't support the breadth. There are unique farms that when we are gone I will miss. One farmer grows 12 different types of onions, shallot, and other specialty onions plus garlic varieties. Many farms grow garlic here and they are all hard neck garlic. Many farmers here grow lots of garlic flavors. The garlic has a strong garlic flavor and virtually all cloves are large and juicy but also maddenly difficult to break open. They also grow the little purple tomatillos that I love. It is so fun to every week be able to choose from different onion varieties. Last week I also saw someone selling black walnuts! I don't have any tools or capacity here to shell a nut but a girl can dream.