A few little updates...

Ghost cowboys, as promised...

Misery can now be found at miserablemondays.com Fancy, huh?

"and all you see...is where else you could be, when you're at home"

About a month ago I had one of those pure moments of clarity, where you see yourself as if from the outside. I was walking home after working at Farm Girl Farm. It's a CSA (community supported agriculture) about 2 blocks from my house. Every Wednesday evening I go to the farm and work for about 2 hours in exchange for food. It's been a great experience for me. One, because it gives me a reason to be outside working. And Two, I get the perfect amount of fresh, organic vegetables. So this day, I was walking along Route 71 eating freshly picked green beans, the sky was clear with just a few scattered white clouds, and there was a nice breeze keeping things comfortable. A small plane flew over head, readying to land at the nearby "airport", and as I listened to the sound of the propellers, I realized how magical a place this is. But, the way in which my mind formulated that thought was to think "I'm really going to miss these things". I was suddenly struck by how absurd it is to constantly live my life missing the places I've been, and looking forward to the places I will be.. yet never being satisfied where I am. In realizing that, I've found myself at peace with where I am in the world. Not just being in Great Barrington, but also with the things I'm doing. With the projects I'm working on, my job as a florist, my ideas and thoughts and plans. All of it. At this moment in time, I feel truly happy to be where I am. I'm not plotting my next move, and I'm not throwing down an anchor. I'm just here. And that's great.

That wasn't what I was planning on posting... I was going to do a post about my trip to Denver, but I think I'll hold off for now. For a sneak peek, check out this Photobooth series from my party while I was there.

Summertime

Today I am tired in that happy sort of way. In the way that lets you know you're moving forward, that you're living your life.

On Saturday night we went to the Union for some 80's dancing. It started off strong - Laura was in town for the weekend, and Luke was spinning. Sitting at the bar, waiting for the dining room to clear out, Luke, Ayla and I chatted and had a drink. Then we helped him carry in records from his car, which made us feel important. When the music started, an old dude asked me to dance, and in the midst of me turning him down, his bottom teeth nearly fell out of his mouth. Yep, they just popped up. So yeah, I mean OLD. And a little creepy, too. Once the dancing started, we were unstoppable. It was hard to even go outside for a break, because the next song would come on and it would just be so good! The AC was broken, so just when you thought you were going to have a heart attack, and had to go outside for some air, you would realize that it was still 80 degrees and 100% humidity out there, and you were shit out of luck. But being hot and sweaty has it's charms. One, it's kind of a badge of honor- a little 'look how hard I've been dancing and how much fun I'm having' kind of thing. And two, it's the perfect prelude to 2 AM skinny dipping.

The river was cold, but in a good way. It was foggy and dark and we were in a perfect little swimming hole just floating in the dark water. After a while when the chill got to us, we sat on the edge of the water and ate sun chips. Laura, always a plethora of knowledge, told us about how "no seeums" have little scissor like mouths that scissor into your skin to draw blood, which is why they hurt so much. Damn those things! Kim asked "if you could be any animal, what would you be". Max -platypus, Me- Otter, Laura - coyote or wolf, Steven - "I'd beat up a cow". Somehow this response didn't seem strange coming from Steven, so we all just laughed and kept talking, until a moment later when he blurted out "I'd kill a giraffe, I'd break it's neck". That's when we realized that he thought Kim had said "if you could beat any animal, what would you beat". Ha Ha.

Monday was so scorching hot that JD and I moved around the house in slow motion trying to conserve energy. Thumbles laid stretched out on the floor, hating life. We watched movies when it felt too hot to read, and went back to reading when the couch started melting onto us. Eventually, when the temp. in our bedroom read 88 degrees, we got the hell out of there and just went into town.

We got to Misery early and one by one more people showed up. Eventually it was a pretty big crowd. It was so muggy out that it smelled like the ocean. Jesse gave us crazy deals on our drinks, and most everyone got more than a little tipsy. Kim and I discovered that it can be really fun to slap each other in the face - kind of exhilarating.




Okay, so the photos look WAY more violent than it was...We love each other, really!

I'm hoping to go to the fairgrounds tonight for another round of photos... ghost cowboys and underground tunnels. Awesome.