Turkey, turkey, duck. . .

Well, i don't own any llamas (yes that was indeed a reference to the Llama Song - Google it). . .

Strange days have descended on the pharm. It is as though there is a tear in the time-space continuum. Or perhaps i am just dirty waffler when it comes to ideology. . .

Yes, the ugly little red thing is in fact a cellular telephone! The boss thinks it would be a good idea for me to have in case i am off site and he needs to get a hold of me. Truth be told, he is right. Still it is weird to have it. The kids and the wife are pretty excited about it - not because they can call me, but because it represents technology in the house.

But on to pharmier things. . . James and i did a bit of mud wrestling yesterday with eight big tom turkeys. Our flock is now down to eleven - one step closer to the six that we wanted from the beginning. Those poor eight should be hanging by their feet right now. Ready to pick up tomorrow. Yum-Yum.

This last week also surprised us with some excitement that we have been anticipating all winter!! Eggs, lots of eggs!!!!! Of course the chickens have been laying all winter (good chickens!), but last weeks the ducks and the turkeys joined the club!

And so in just a few days we should start the process of incubating our own eggs. With any good fortune and God's blessing the days of purchasing chicks will be long past!

Back home and back to work. . .

We have returned. . . . finally!

All told the trip was great. Here are some of the highlights (Some of them):

. . . And there ya have it!

Ahhhhhh. . . Reliving the good ol' days

Okay. . .

To preface, i am having a GREAT time. Actually, a REALLY GREAT time.

The ride home has been very interesting. Oh, did i mention that we never made it home?? Two of my traveling companions, who must remain nameless lest they get heckled a bit, and i are worried that we have been cursed. First, the boss and i completely missed our flight out Portland. Its not like we were even close. . .we TOTALLY missed it. When we did finally get to the airport, we met "R". He tooled on us pretty hard for being twits and missing our flight.

We were supposed to leave Sunday, and be home Sunday. Because of spring break in Oregon, the next available flight (that wasn't already overbooked) was due out Thursday. After an hour of haggling the boss managed to squeeze us onto a plane out of Seattle. . . . Um. . .that's in Washington, not Oregon. So we had to hoof it to Washington. Guess what. . .The trains were all full. The buses were having problems and renting a car was just out of the question - prohibitively expensive. Not good.

But the boss with his infinite patience and charm managed to finally get us on a bus north. . . barely.

So here i sit in a hotel in Seattle watching the news about two plane crashes, and severe blizzard and tornado warnings just over our flight path and near our layover in Chicago!!

Oh and "R", the one who heckled us?? Yea, his plane had to make an emergency landing because a flight attendant found a "suspected explosive device" in the plane's bathroom. He missed his connection!!
(Laugh at us will you!)

Adaptability is crucial!

i have always prided myself on being able to mingle with pretty much any crowd (although i find that it is getting harder the older i get).

This trip has been like every schizophrenic's dream - maybe not every schizophrenic. i would hate to generalize! Yesterday i walked the city just to get out and stretch my legs a bit. Contrary to popular belief i actually do enjoy being in big cities, and even more getting lost in them (as long as i am not driving). Portland, Or is no exception. It is lovely and the developers have not neglected the need for small pockets of open space and parks. It is clear, though, that the economy has not neglected this fine place. There are buildings everywhere that are vacant, up for sale, and in many cases just battered and neglected looking.
Our hotel is at the intersection of Seedy and Froo-froo. One side of the hotel opens up to the down town and financial district. Two blocks the other way there is a large homeless colony and a Mission. In some nostalgic way Portland reminds me of a much larger version of 1990's Santa Cruz, Ca. The two have a very similar vibe and even for the difference in scale the rhythm is very much the same.

As for my traveling companions, i doubt i could ask for, or find better. Though i find myself struggling to fit in. i fit into the city, i feel it deeply in my soul. To mingle with the homeless and the beggars, and watch the financially owned scurrying about. . .
But i return to my travel mates who are very passionate about food and lifestyle, and are acclimated to living and traveling in conditions waaaaay outside anything i am accustomed to. i feel my emotions and my psyche being pulled at as though they are tied to the bumper of a tractor and a big rig that are trying to drive in opposite directions. Then throw in the conference. . . college students, post college and 30 something with a sprinkling of older hippies! Again, a place of comfort.

This whole experience has been all very surreal and while i am enjoying it i am eager to return home. i love the company that i am working for now, but i think that i am a much better fit in the dirt than at the corporate pooh-bah level!

What a long strange trip its been

We are here in Portland, Oregon. It is soooooo very nice to be back on the west coast (even if we aren't technically on the coast). i have met a ton of really groovy people who are super interested in organic farming and playing in the dirt. The cool thing is that they aren't all dirty hippies (i guess that i am still a diverse guy). The cool thing here is watching the yuppies mingling with the hippies.

One of my favorite things (at the moment) about this city is the number of pubs and the number of micro-brews!! After a hard core day of cramming my little brain with all sorts of new ideas, and new directives (thanks Stu and Ruben. . . i may hate you after this), its nice to sit down to a pint and sort it all out.

Today's objective. . . learn about grant writing!!

Two more days till i get to see my love (and offspring) again.

(Pictures to come when i get back)

Flying. . .the anti-pharm

This is the second morning that i have awoken to the sound of song birds at my window. It can only mean that either i never paid attention on my way home from work when i was waaaay too tired. OR. . . spring is here. Technically it is very close. Actually spring begins this year on March 20th. That would be Friday.

Today we are off (The boss and i) to Portland. . . .Oregon that is. i am excited to be on the west coast again. The thing that i look forward to the most is seeing the sun set on the ocean. i do miss that.

But alas, this is a business trip. We are headed out to attend the Farm to Fork conference. The idea being learning how to get healthy, locally grown foods back into the school systems. It should be an exciting time. We are going to learn a whole slew of things, get to visit some local farms and get to eat some wicked yummy foods.

Ack!! Gotta run to catch a plane - did i mention i hate flying?? Good luck to my lovely wife who is the most amazing woman in the universe!! She will be home by her onsie guarding the flock. . . of kids. . . i love her!!!!!!!!!!!

. . .and back to pharm related matters.

One shift left at the comm center, then my attentions can be wholly devoted to the growing season before us!

As i look forward to all of the fun growing that will be done, i am most newly excited about companion planting. Companion planting is the fine art of planting different crops together, or planting some flowers with some vegetable crops creating certain beneficial conditions.

A simple example that has worked well for us with controlling flea beetles (while i have heard many who say this doesn't work we have enjoyed success with it) - plant pungent marigolds! Aside from keeping the flea beetles out of our eggplants, they add a beautiful color to the vegetable garden.

For me, one of the highlights of keeping an organic garden is finding nature's creative ways of dealing with it's own little annoyances! Of course, its always much more enjoyable when it works and you can reap the benefit at harvest time!!!!!

911 saves lives, but who saves 911

i am nearing the end of my career as a full time 911 dispatcher. Eight years after walking into my first comm center i am hanging up my hat. . . sort of.
i will stay on part time with the department who must remain nameless here because of policy and contractual obligations. There is some administrative phobia of transparency, so all public image related stuff has to go through the proper channels - i.e. the administration (i actually think that we are not even allowed to utter the name of our department in public, as though the mere mention of it's name might somehow tarnish it's image). Heaven forbid that the public learn that there are no infallible government agencies. . . yes its true. . .even your government is run and operated by, of all things, human beings. But, shhhhhh. That is a big secret.
So i move on and leave behind an amazing crew of people to remain the silent heroes that deal with the public when they are at their worst. They save lives on a daily basis, but remain invisible and largely un-thanked because they don't tote hoses or carry guns. Dispatchers are expected to be there at all times and respond with courtesy and vigilant compassion in spite of being yelled at, harassed, cussed at, called names, hung up on, and harangued by the administration (who should i mention is 50% incapable, unqualified and/or not legal permitted to perform the work of their subordinates) when "I's" are not dotted and "T's" are not crossed. Less than one percent of one percent of the calls these folks take are people calling to say thank you, or recognize their efforts.
This is not a boo-hoo fest for me. . . i am free. But i think about those amazing hard working folks that i leave behind. . . These men and women do a remarkable job, and i count myself fortunate to have been privileged to have stood among their ranks!
As i transition to a new job i feel a certain amount of guilt. The department is already grossly understaffed, and overworked, and i have added another schedule hole. When i left this morning vacations were already being cancelled, people were being forced in for extra and double shifts and the supervisors were pulling out their hair trying to figure out how to keep the center staffed.
Keep these folks in your prayers and your thoughts. Be thankful that they are there when you need them. They don't get the glory, they don't get the closure that firefighters and police get - these guys get the calls and send the calls, but don't get to see the emergencies resolved.
Don't thank me, i sold out, but thank a dispatcher when you meet one!
And to my colleagues. . . thanks for a great ride!!!

Global Food Crisis Day

Greetings Blogland,

 

This note is sent to you from the safety and security of my happy little office just above the bomb shelter in Windham, Maine.

 

In just a few minutes the minute hand will ring in the new day. For many of us it will be just another humdrum day. For others something exciting might happen. But for many it will be another day not knowing if they will eat, and if they do, will it be enough to fill their grumbling bellies.

Sound like another one of those "guilt trip guys" from the late night infomercials??? Could be a reason for that. While we here suffer from the worst financial crisis our generation has seen we are deciding do i shop at the Gap or Goodwill. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world 25,000 people will die today because they have no food.

 

That amounts to you and 24,999 other you's dying today. For Maine folk, that is just shy of twice the population of Gorham, or nearly three times the population of Standish.
For Californians that is a third of the population of Santa Cruz.

 

It's easy for us to give to charity and feel bad in the moment for some of these folks but maintain a safe distance from them. Today Compassion International along with radio stations around the country "celebrating" Global Food Crises Day, raising awareness of the increasing cost of food and the increasing difficulty getting that food the millions around the world. my challenge to anyone who reads this blog is twofold. First regardless what time of day it is stop eating. Don't put another morsel of food in your mouth until sunrise tomorrow. Join with the millions around the world who are starving in memory of those who died needlessly and those who are suffering now.

Secondly, if you have the means (and not everyone does) go to compassion.com and click on the link that takes you to the Global Food Crisis Day. If you have the money, donate! If you don't but know someone who does, refer them. You who know me have my word that Compassion is legitimate. i have sponsored with them for years and have enjoyed volunteering with them!

 

Don't do it out of guilt, don't do it because i said so. Do it because you are human beings and it could very well have been you in their shoes! And thank God you are not!!

 

A few new blogs to check out. . .

It has been an exciting week in the blogging world (i may be tooting my own horn a little bit here). . .

Three new blogs have been born - they are all in the side bar over there. No, not there! Over there ------>
They might be worth your time, or they might not be. . .

1) Life is Dirty, Dig in!!
A blog by the single most amazing women on the planet! (Which is different than "the craftiest woman alive" - fear not Laura, your title is still secure!!)

2) Tap the Rock
Inspirational thoughts and interpretations by an inspirational guy. Ah Kong is insightful, and possibly one of the most sincere and humble guys i know.

3) The Pearson's Town Farm Project
Woohoo!! Mixing work and pleasure. This is the job on the blog, and the blog on the job! It will be following the upstart of an internship farming project at Saint Joseph's College in Maine. This Blog might be short lived if I.T. and Marketing get together and start us our own site on the school's website. . . but for now we will suck up all the publicity, here or there, that we can get!

Happy reading gang!

(i am headed to the store today to look at new camera's and rechargeable batteries for the old one - pictures will return soon).

0855 and its 53 degrees out. . .

Spring is coming. There is still a tremendous amount of snow on the ground, and its still a bit cold to open all the windows, but what an improvement!!

The smell of skunk is in the air this morning. Our woodland friends are waking up, and you can bet they are hungry. If your smart you will keep the poultry secure at night. Where there are skunks you can bet that the raccoons and foxes are close behind.

This morning officially marks the "one more week" status at work. i can honestly say that i am starting to miss it already. The farm project (officially known as The Pearson's Town Farm Project - a blog is coming soon to an Internet near you) is making great head way. We have marketing working on some really cool pamphlets and the summer and autumn curriculum are really starting to take shape. We have come to the realization that we need more land already. Perhaps we are starting to bite off a bit more than we can really chew, but we can't have interns having it too easy this summer!!!!

Amy (my loving and wonderful wife) has officially started a blog!! Very cool stuff. Check her out at Lifeisdirtydigin.blogspot.com. So much for wanting to be Amish. . . there is even the rumor of a cell phone. . . sheeeeeeesh.

Well. . . i could spend all day inside, but that would just be wrong!! Winter ain't over yet, so we gotta savor these days.

Fun in the kitchen. . .

We have been enjoying making things in the kitchen lately. Crunched time and supermarket convenience has driven folks to buy things that are so easy and delicious to make at home. We have discovered that making some of our foods at home give us better control of taste and quality of ingredients, and portioning. Now that i can make bread, if i could just master making hot dogs i could finally make a pack of hot dogs that exactly matches the number of buns in a package! Wouldn't that be a marvel?!?

Amy has become a master veggie burger maker, while i have been dabbling with hummus.

Yesterday with the help of our dear friend Laura (who is, by the way, the craftiest person alive), we made homemade mayonnaise! By all ordinary accounts it is the most repulsive substance known to man (second only to maybe Spam), but it is impossible to make egg salad sandwiches without it.

The recipe is simple enough:

• 1oz (approx 2 tbsp) vinegar


• 1 egg yolk for every 8 -12 oz of oil


• Oil to match the egg yoke equations


• A dash of salt


• Lemon juice to taste

Mix the vinegar, salt, egg yoke together and slowly add the oil. It takes a bit to beat it to the proper consistency so be patient. After it has thickened up a bit add the lemon juice.
It makes tuna more tuna-y, egg salad more egg salady, and eating that much more enjoyable!

Convenience may be one thing, but closeness to your food. . .