One of the most distinguishing things about this farm is the number of dogs that roam the property. Off the top of my head I can think of about 8. There is hardly enough space on here to discuss each dog’s distinct personality and their interpersonal drama with the other dogs in the neighborhood, but trust me – the plots and story lines are never-ending.
A few weeks after I began working here, a big white dog appeared. She was extremely friendly and whenever we went near her house, she would then follow us around for a little while. Usually she would tail us for an hour or so, then wander off. As time has gone on, Maggie now follows us everywhere and for HOURS, often for the length of the entire day. In fact, this tailing has gotten so intense that it is nearly impossible to get Maggie to go away. When we go inside for our breaks, I literally close the door in her face but she will wait there until we come out. Sometimes she even sneaks into the house after we go inside - we have no idea how she gets in. In short, we can’t get rid of her.
And frankly, until recently we haven’t really wanted to (except when she’d roll around in the green beans while we were trying to pick them; yes, she has a tendency of laying on [more accurately] destroying whatever we are working on). What we learned about Maggie is that she’s a sweet dog. She’s an old, white, arthritic dog who just loves company and is fiercely loyal to us for some bizarre reason. While the other dogs in the neighborhood vary in temperament, many of them possessing angry and aggressive natures, Maggie is kind, jovial and peaceful.
Or so we thought.
A couple of weeks ago, when Maggie began to get really close to us, she followed us to our house which is where the goats are. Suddenly and without warning she began barking, jumping and intimidating the goats through the fence. She was growling and running around like she was crazy. This behavior was totally out of character! We had never seen this aggressive side of Maggie. But, we began to notice that whenever she was around other animals, this was precisely how she acted.
Simultaneously, Farmer John brought 45 chickens to our farm. They were placed in their own little gated pen and they have a trailer inside of the pen where they sleep. Each morning we let them out of their trailer into the yard, and each evening we lock them up. They’re here to clean up the fields. Every few days we move them around to new parts of the farm and they eat whatever is leftover so we can sow the soil for the new crops. Personally, I love the chickens. They’re adorable.
The problem is that apparently, the chickens love us, too. In the mornings after we let them out of their trailer, they fly over their fence and follow us as we walk away from their pen. We then have to chase them down and put them back in. Often, this will happen several times per day. We have warned John about this and he installed a 2nd fence so they they can’t go through the holes anymore (this was their first escape route), but they’re still able to fly over since its only 4 feet high.
Well, Maggie was pretty happy when the chickens came, because that meant she had more animals to torment. In one moment she’s all licks and wags, the next barks and growls. Her favorite thing seems to be to run (full-speed!) toward the fence and scare the living hell out of the chickens so they crowd into another corner of the pen. She will then circle around to the other side of the pen and do the same thing. In short, Maggie is a mean bitch.
Despite Maggie’s aggressive behavior with the chickens, nothing bad had happened. We did a good job of rescuing the strays before Maggie appeared and put them back in their pen. But one week ago, all of this changed.
On Saturday, a chicken escaped and Ivan asked me to go put it back into the pen. So, I wandered over and began to chase the chicken around, trying to grab it. (They’re incredibly fast.) Unfortunately, I didn’t realize Maggie was behind me and she began to chase the chicken, too. I was on one side, Maggie was on the other. Except Maggie had blood on her mind.
Again, I had seen Maggie do this several times before, so I wasn’t really concerned that something tragic might happen in a mere few seconds. In fact I was standing still while Maggie chased the chicken near me, hoping the chicken would run close and I could scoop her feathery self up and plop her back into the pen. Unfortunately, Maggie turned on the heat, and instead of flying back into the pen (the poor chicken was trying to squeeze through the fence holes because she was so scared) she hid in a bush. It became really quiet all of a sudden. No one was moving, not me, not Maggie, not the chicken. I wasn’t sure if I should go pluck her out of the bush or wait for her to come out. Unfortunately, Maggie made a decision before I did. She pounced on the bush and I heard the poor chicken scream, and then suddenly Maggie emerged, a mass of feathers in her mouth. She trotted away and disappeared for two hours. Breakfast.
This was one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen in my life. I’ve never seen an animal murdered directly in front of me, much less in a fashion so bloody and vicious. Further, I am really attached to both the chickens and to Maggie. The thought that the dog we considered to be our friend could so gruesomely murder our cute little chicken pal was incredibly upsetting.
So, I’m mad at Maggie. I haven’t really spoken to her much this week. Instead, I toss her mean glances and refuse to pet her even when she licks my fingers.
And sadly, the chickens are still getting out of the pen. John is researching techniques to keep them in there, but for now, we’re still chasing them down most mornings. Luckily, Emily has a lot more patience with Maggie than I do, so she has been keeping her away from the chickens while Matt and I rescue them.
It was a rough day, and a tough week. And I am left with mixed feelings about this. I keep blaming Maggie for being vicious, but friends insist that she was just following her animal instincts. Emily tells me that I eat chicken too, so I’m really no different. So I guess I’m wondering, is that true? Am I a vicious murderer? Or am I being too hard on the Magpie?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
back on the farm, with additions!
hello all! so i returned to the farm on sunday night to a mass of people picking me up from the train station: shelby, her two daughters anna and laura, then emily and our new intern, matthias (from france). we stopped and ate at in & out burger on our way back to firebaugh. i hadn't eaten there in years so it was a treat. we stopped at shelby's to drop off her daughters but ran into john at the house. we were going to leave quickly, but we ended up hanging out, drinking wine and eating cheese for about an hour while babbling about everything under the sun. it was a really pleasant way to return.
i had been told that there were a number of "surprises" in store for me at the ranch, so i was eager to find out what exactly these consisted of. as we pulled up in the darkness, shelby asked me if i could "help her out." "umm, sure," i said, not really knowing what she meant. "it shouldn't take too long, but its easier with two people," she said. now i was worried. "what are we doing?"
the car stopped, but emily and matthias got out as well. i noticed something new in a little fenced-in area: a big white trailer with a chicken painted on the outside. apparently, the chickens (who had formerly lived at shelby's house) had moved to the ranch! and the help that shelby needed was help in rounding them up and putting them inside of their little trailer for the night.
she was crawling around under the trailer because some of them were asleep there. she grabbed a chicken and i was standing next to her, watching. suddenly she handed it to me. i completely freaked out, not seeing this coming, and ran in the other direction. "i'm not touching that!" i yelled, still very much in my city mindset. emily and matt got a kick out of this because they had been doing this for two days already. so, they grabbed the chickens from shelby and put them into the trailer one by one. finally, i decided i needed to get used to it, so i grabbed one as well. i was surprised by how docile the chicken was. it was feathery and cute. we got them all cozy and then said goodnight.
and so, our new task is to let the chickens out in the morning, feed them, water them, and then put them away at night. the early morning ritual has been a little difficult because chickens seem to really like people (or just us, who knows). so after we let them out into their little pen and walk away, they follow us. they fly over the electric fence or simply squeeze through its holes. (the electricity is clearly not doing its job) today, while on the phone i was wandering around the farm and a chicken escaped! luckily i was able to grab it and put it back in. one must wonder how many escape and run off towards chicken freedom before we realize it. sniff.
i'm really enjoying this new task of ours. anyone who knows me well knows my lifelong appreciation of chickens, so to be interacting with them personally on a daily basis is rather fun. i'm still working on catching them -- that part is hard, especially because if you don't do it right, they flap vigorously and its downright frightening. but i'm getting there.
i had been told that there were a number of "surprises" in store for me at the ranch, so i was eager to find out what exactly these consisted of. as we pulled up in the darkness, shelby asked me if i could "help her out." "umm, sure," i said, not really knowing what she meant. "it shouldn't take too long, but its easier with two people," she said. now i was worried. "what are we doing?"
the car stopped, but emily and matthias got out as well. i noticed something new in a little fenced-in area: a big white trailer with a chicken painted on the outside. apparently, the chickens (who had formerly lived at shelby's house) had moved to the ranch! and the help that shelby needed was help in rounding them up and putting them inside of their little trailer for the night.
she was crawling around under the trailer because some of them were asleep there. she grabbed a chicken and i was standing next to her, watching. suddenly she handed it to me. i completely freaked out, not seeing this coming, and ran in the other direction. "i'm not touching that!" i yelled, still very much in my city mindset. emily and matt got a kick out of this because they had been doing this for two days already. so, they grabbed the chickens from shelby and put them into the trailer one by one. finally, i decided i needed to get used to it, so i grabbed one as well. i was surprised by how docile the chicken was. it was feathery and cute. we got them all cozy and then said goodnight.
and so, our new task is to let the chickens out in the morning, feed them, water them, and then put them away at night. the early morning ritual has been a little difficult because chickens seem to really like people (or just us, who knows). so after we let them out into their little pen and walk away, they follow us. they fly over the electric fence or simply squeeze through its holes. (the electricity is clearly not doing its job) today, while on the phone i was wandering around the farm and a chicken escaped! luckily i was able to grab it and put it back in. one must wonder how many escape and run off towards chicken freedom before we realize it. sniff.
i'm really enjoying this new task of ours. anyone who knows me well knows my lifelong appreciation of chickens, so to be interacting with them personally on a daily basis is rather fun. i'm still working on catching them -- that part is hard, especially because if you don't do it right, they flap vigorously and its downright frightening. but i'm getting there.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
another day
another amazing day.
first class, then a quick falafel on the way to the BART with patricia and june. we exited in san francisco then got a taxi to the deyoung museum where we saw an exhibit of dale chihuly's work. if you don't know, he's a glass blower from seattle who does pretty outrageous work. the colors and shapes were overwhelming and inspiring. but it didn't take long to become exhausted by it all. thankfully, around this point the exhibit was over, and we got to rest.
we took a break at the japanese tea garden, then finished up our time wandering around and checking out various other collections. afterwards we took a taxi over to a chinese restaurant that i had researched called "house of nanking." it wasn't your typical chinese restaurant, but the food was excellent. we had a rice custard soup, bean shoot salad with tofu, sesame chicken, fried calamari in a garlic/rice vinegar sauce, green beans. the tea was served with fresh peppermint and flowers floating inside. unexpected but lovely.
we were stuffed after dinner and made our way back to the BART sloooowly, stopping on each corner, looking at the various architecture hiding up and down each long, narrow city street. our eyes were called to the combination of lines and curves and stone and brick layered upon one another high in the sky, then brought down by an orange sunset beaming off of sparkling glass, and down further to signs in chinese, japanese, english, filipino, and people of all races and ages and sexes and genders and classes and bodies and faces. sometimes the concrete where we stood was different and worth noticing; often it was enough to simply listen to the voices that passed by and got caught in the nooks of our ears. and on each corner we'd repeat this ritual, looking left, right, up, down; patricia would grab my arm and pull me over to the massive metal keys that stuck out of the ground as some type of sculpture; june would scream when she saw grass on a roof and thought it looked like a giant chia pet. i yelled jesus' name when i saw just how many blocks chinatown went on for. and so it went until we reached the BART station, our legs tired, aching, from walking the hills, ready for a break.
and we took one; back to our station, berkeley, and directly into the gelato shop where i tasted the most perfect pistachio iced cream/gelato/anything i have ever encountered in my entire existence. it was exploding with pistachio flavor, its color a caramel brown rather than a strange green or a creepy white. the flavor was...how do i say this....REAL...it was like toasted pistachios ground up, mixed with cream and sugar, frozen, and served. yes, it tasted the way it should taste, but never does. i had a scoop of it with a scoop of scharfen berger chocolate, and my night was pretty much complete.
we sat for awhile eating our gelato, talking about religion, spirituality, and eventually began to wander back to the dorms. up the hill, past all the lovely flowers, the gardens, the cacti, the hobbit houses. patricia generously offered to give me a massage to help the pain in my back. it did indeed help, and afterwards i returned home, putting a nice, relaxing end to a long but really wonderful day.
i'm amazed at how much i have bonded with some of the people in my class in such a short time. its been only 4 days but it feels so much longer. so strange.
i remain inspired, excited, and dreaming. i remain interested in creating. being in san francisco tonight filled me with a buzz i never usually feel, not even in new york. it was a true, deep excitement and wonderment, a bubbling joy.
first class, then a quick falafel on the way to the BART with patricia and june. we exited in san francisco then got a taxi to the deyoung museum where we saw an exhibit of dale chihuly's work. if you don't know, he's a glass blower from seattle who does pretty outrageous work. the colors and shapes were overwhelming and inspiring. but it didn't take long to become exhausted by it all. thankfully, around this point the exhibit was over, and we got to rest.
we took a break at the japanese tea garden, then finished up our time wandering around and checking out various other collections. afterwards we took a taxi over to a chinese restaurant that i had researched called "house of nanking." it wasn't your typical chinese restaurant, but the food was excellent. we had a rice custard soup, bean shoot salad with tofu, sesame chicken, fried calamari in a garlic/rice vinegar sauce, green beans. the tea was served with fresh peppermint and flowers floating inside. unexpected but lovely.
we were stuffed after dinner and made our way back to the BART sloooowly, stopping on each corner, looking at the various architecture hiding up and down each long, narrow city street. our eyes were called to the combination of lines and curves and stone and brick layered upon one another high in the sky, then brought down by an orange sunset beaming off of sparkling glass, and down further to signs in chinese, japanese, english, filipino, and people of all races and ages and sexes and genders and classes and bodies and faces. sometimes the concrete where we stood was different and worth noticing; often it was enough to simply listen to the voices that passed by and got caught in the nooks of our ears. and on each corner we'd repeat this ritual, looking left, right, up, down; patricia would grab my arm and pull me over to the massive metal keys that stuck out of the ground as some type of sculpture; june would scream when she saw grass on a roof and thought it looked like a giant chia pet. i yelled jesus' name when i saw just how many blocks chinatown went on for. and so it went until we reached the BART station, our legs tired, aching, from walking the hills, ready for a break.
and we took one; back to our station, berkeley, and directly into the gelato shop where i tasted the most perfect pistachio iced cream/gelato/anything i have ever encountered in my entire existence. it was exploding with pistachio flavor, its color a caramel brown rather than a strange green or a creepy white. the flavor was...how do i say this....REAL...it was like toasted pistachios ground up, mixed with cream and sugar, frozen, and served. yes, it tasted the way it should taste, but never does. i had a scoop of it with a scoop of scharfen berger chocolate, and my night was pretty much complete.
we sat for awhile eating our gelato, talking about religion, spirituality, and eventually began to wander back to the dorms. up the hill, past all the lovely flowers, the gardens, the cacti, the hobbit houses. patricia generously offered to give me a massage to help the pain in my back. it did indeed help, and afterwards i returned home, putting a nice, relaxing end to a long but really wonderful day.
i'm amazed at how much i have bonded with some of the people in my class in such a short time. its been only 4 days but it feels so much longer. so strange.
i remain inspired, excited, and dreaming. i remain interested in creating. being in san francisco tonight filled me with a buzz i never usually feel, not even in new york. it was a true, deep excitement and wonderment, a bubbling joy.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
a short one
are you interested in seeing some old photos from the farm along with photos from berkeley? go here:
Farm/Berkeley Album
i'm exhausted. i think i walked about 5 miles in total today. my god.
in short, i am feeling exhilarated by the fact that i am involved in a creative pursuit again. all of this writing has been SO good for me. in fact i haven't felt this pumped up creatively since college. i am having a great time and i can't believe i let my creativity go for so long. sure i've been acting, but there's something different about writing your own words.
its very exciting....to be imagining, dreaming, feeling again. i feel...tapped in.
Farm/Berkeley Album
i'm exhausted. i think i walked about 5 miles in total today. my god.
in short, i am feeling exhilarated by the fact that i am involved in a creative pursuit again. all of this writing has been SO good for me. in fact i haven't felt this pumped up creatively since college. i am having a great time and i can't believe i let my creativity go for so long. sure i've been acting, but there's something different about writing your own words.
its very exciting....to be imagining, dreaming, feeling again. i feel...tapped in.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
catching up!!
this is from yesterday:
after class today i raced down to a french restaurant named Gregoire because i heard their potato puffs were amazing and i wanted to eat some. the walk took longer than i had remembered and i was hungry; but finally i could see the restaurant there and it would only be a few more seconds until i could feast. but i noticed something funny; this ultra-popular restaurant was totally dead. no one waiting outside as they had the other day, no tables on the sidewalk or windows opened. as i came closer, i realized they were closed. but...wait a second. its a tuesday! aren't restaurants supposed to be closed on mondays?? but then i read the sign: "closed on tuesday july 15 for a staff picnic". how sweet, but...where are my potato puffs?!
instead i went across the street to a fancy pizzeria. i had eyeballed it last time i was here but we didn't get to eat there. turns out that they only make ONE type of pizza per day - huh? ONE. no variations or options. well, the best part about this is that THIS PLACE GETS DAMNED PACKED!!!! sure the food is good, but a pizzeria that makes only one kind of pizza? i can't help but wonder if something like that would fly in NYC.....i doubt it.
afterwards i went to meet up with the admissions coordinator and the new student body president from Starr King. we talked for about an hour and really eased my fears about SKSM, dispelled the rumors, and gave me a good sense of the environment of the school. i have a lot of stuff swirling around in my mind about this and my decision; i have a lot of thinking to do.
not long afterwards, patricia, lydia and june and i had reservations at chez panisse. this was the longest and most wonderful meal ever. we had appetizers, dinner and dessert. i had a salad with baked goat cheese and polenta with escarole, beans, porcini mushrooms and a stewed tomato. superb. lydia and patricia had the salmon, which was perfectly pink, and june had a pizzette with gremolata and the roasted chicken. the entire meal was amazing.
for dessert i ordered the flourless chocolate cake served very simply with a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate sauce. it was just exquisite; soft rich cake combined with the crispy texture of the crust made this just explode in your mouth. i could have eaten about 17 of these. yuuuum.
i think we were there for about two hours, and we finally left to walk off our meal. we stumbled upon a tea shop, the same one me and my friend laura went to last march. the guy who worked there really knew his stuff and i bought some tea that i've been wanting for awhile now. it was such a wonderful encounter. it wasn't your typical retail experience. we went in, spoke to the tea man (ariel was his name) at length. there was no rush. he made tea for us and we sat around drinking and talking, joking and taking our time. he answered our questions and when he didn't know the answers he made phone calls to find out. he was dedicated to his job and to pleasing us. after awhile we settled on what we wanted to purchase, both myself and my classmate, and said goodbye.
there was something really special about the night. i walk around the world often feeling disconnected. i think a lot of that has to do simply with the culture of our country; its just the way things are. but last night was different. chez panisse was so personal; so intentional; so slow. its imparted in the food, in the service, in the way the place is run. to go from that environment to the tea shop, yet another wonderfully personal experience, was quite delightful.
it was night now, and patricia and i headed home. our other friends left earlier. i told her about what i am going through these days, and she then taught me about dowsing - a pretty amazing technique that i won't explain, but its basically a way to check in with your intuition. pretty incredible, i must say.
after class today i raced down to a french restaurant named Gregoire because i heard their potato puffs were amazing and i wanted to eat some. the walk took longer than i had remembered and i was hungry; but finally i could see the restaurant there and it would only be a few more seconds until i could feast. but i noticed something funny; this ultra-popular restaurant was totally dead. no one waiting outside as they had the other day, no tables on the sidewalk or windows opened. as i came closer, i realized they were closed. but...wait a second. its a tuesday! aren't restaurants supposed to be closed on mondays?? but then i read the sign: "closed on tuesday july 15 for a staff picnic". how sweet, but...where are my potato puffs?!
instead i went across the street to a fancy pizzeria. i had eyeballed it last time i was here but we didn't get to eat there. turns out that they only make ONE type of pizza per day - huh? ONE. no variations or options. well, the best part about this is that THIS PLACE GETS DAMNED PACKED!!!! sure the food is good, but a pizzeria that makes only one kind of pizza? i can't help but wonder if something like that would fly in NYC.....i doubt it.
afterwards i went to meet up with the admissions coordinator and the new student body president from Starr King. we talked for about an hour and really eased my fears about SKSM, dispelled the rumors, and gave me a good sense of the environment of the school. i have a lot of stuff swirling around in my mind about this and my decision; i have a lot of thinking to do.
not long afterwards, patricia, lydia and june and i had reservations at chez panisse. this was the longest and most wonderful meal ever. we had appetizers, dinner and dessert. i had a salad with baked goat cheese and polenta with escarole, beans, porcini mushrooms and a stewed tomato. superb. lydia and patricia had the salmon, which was perfectly pink, and june had a pizzette with gremolata and the roasted chicken. the entire meal was amazing.
for dessert i ordered the flourless chocolate cake served very simply with a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate sauce. it was just exquisite; soft rich cake combined with the crispy texture of the crust made this just explode in your mouth. i could have eaten about 17 of these. yuuuum.
i think we were there for about two hours, and we finally left to walk off our meal. we stumbled upon a tea shop, the same one me and my friend laura went to last march. the guy who worked there really knew his stuff and i bought some tea that i've been wanting for awhile now. it was such a wonderful encounter. it wasn't your typical retail experience. we went in, spoke to the tea man (ariel was his name) at length. there was no rush. he made tea for us and we sat around drinking and talking, joking and taking our time. he answered our questions and when he didn't know the answers he made phone calls to find out. he was dedicated to his job and to pleasing us. after awhile we settled on what we wanted to purchase, both myself and my classmate, and said goodbye.
there was something really special about the night. i walk around the world often feeling disconnected. i think a lot of that has to do simply with the culture of our country; its just the way things are. but last night was different. chez panisse was so personal; so intentional; so slow. its imparted in the food, in the service, in the way the place is run. to go from that environment to the tea shop, yet another wonderfully personal experience, was quite delightful.
it was night now, and patricia and i headed home. our other friends left earlier. i told her about what i am going through these days, and she then taught me about dowsing - a pretty amazing technique that i won't explain, but its basically a way to check in with your intuition. pretty incredible, i must say.
Monday, July 14, 2008
berkeley
friends, i'm up in berkeley for the week for my class at the pacific school of religion. the class is "writing as a healing practice." its good so far; intense because we have to write about a lot of trauma from our lives and share it. but good.
needless to say i'm doing a lot of thinking up here and that's been difficult. so far the summer has been mostly think-free, but now decisions must be made and i'm feeling stressed out.
that aside, i'm enjoying the bay area immensely, likely because of the onslaught of attractive people who seem to live here, along with the incredible liberalism and genuine appreciation of good food. i must say, this is a quality that i haven't found anywhere else in my travels in the US. good food is not just appreciated but revered. and i'm not just talking about fancy restaurants. people love their local and organic produce and are hyper aware of where their food comes from. this is surely because of alice waters' impact on the place, but it is nonetheless in the air and i must say, i love that aspect of it.
i'm going to chez panisse (http://chezpanisse.com) for dinner tomorrow night with some classmates and am very excited about it. tonight i was wandering around and stumbled upon it, only to find that they were celebrating bastille day. there were two servers outside dressed to the nines, serving a $10 prix fixe including pate, mache (greens), cornichons, mustard, bread and butter, along with a glass of wine. though i had already eaten, how could i resist? there was a live band playing romantic french music and little tables set outside. people of all ages were milling around and everyone was in excellent spirits. it was the perfect way to end my night.
i've been doing my share of bopping around since i got here on saturday, hanging out in berkeley on saturday night eating thai food, then hitting a UU church on oakland on sunday afternoon. afterwards i zipped into san francisco to have dim sum, checked out a cartoon museum (really cool), then lay in a park for awhile. i contemplated going to a movie, but then figured it would be better to go home and try to get a head start on the readings. so i grabbed some food at mel's diner and headed home.
today, right after class i began to research somewhere for lunch and i found this seemingly great little indian place that was super cheap and had amazing reviews. sadly, my back has been hurting me again because of my plane injury, so i figured while i am up here in civilization, maybe i'll try to see a chiropractor up here. i managed to find someone about a block from the indian restaurant, so i headed over there in the hopes for grub and adjustment. the chiropractor was great, but she told me that if she didn't know better she'd have thought i was in an accident. apparently my body is an absolute wreck. i knew this; i was in a lot of pain. it was hard to sit upright in class. she worked me over a little, but we made two more appointments for later this week. cute little dyke.
sadly, "vik's" was closed; though i'm not sure if it was closed merely because it was a monday or if it was closed for good. hmm. i got a tip about a taco joint nearby, so i went there, and that was tasty but waaaaay overpriced. afterwards i did some "shopping", then headed back which was when i ran into chez panisse.
i was concerned before i got here that i would be eating so much that i'd be overweight by the time i got back to firebaugh and also totally out of shape. but i'm no longer concerned about this. the hills here are RIDICULOUS and painful, and in general because buses don't run very frequently i find myself walking everywhere. the exercise is great, but i've gotta say, i'm damned tired.
needless to say i'm doing a lot of thinking up here and that's been difficult. so far the summer has been mostly think-free, but now decisions must be made and i'm feeling stressed out.
that aside, i'm enjoying the bay area immensely, likely because of the onslaught of attractive people who seem to live here, along with the incredible liberalism and genuine appreciation of good food. i must say, this is a quality that i haven't found anywhere else in my travels in the US. good food is not just appreciated but revered. and i'm not just talking about fancy restaurants. people love their local and organic produce and are hyper aware of where their food comes from. this is surely because of alice waters' impact on the place, but it is nonetheless in the air and i must say, i love that aspect of it.
i'm going to chez panisse (http://chezpanisse.com) for dinner tomorrow night with some classmates and am very excited about it. tonight i was wandering around and stumbled upon it, only to find that they were celebrating bastille day. there were two servers outside dressed to the nines, serving a $10 prix fixe including pate, mache (greens), cornichons, mustard, bread and butter, along with a glass of wine. though i had already eaten, how could i resist? there was a live band playing romantic french music and little tables set outside. people of all ages were milling around and everyone was in excellent spirits. it was the perfect way to end my night.
i've been doing my share of bopping around since i got here on saturday, hanging out in berkeley on saturday night eating thai food, then hitting a UU church on oakland on sunday afternoon. afterwards i zipped into san francisco to have dim sum, checked out a cartoon museum (really cool), then lay in a park for awhile. i contemplated going to a movie, but then figured it would be better to go home and try to get a head start on the readings. so i grabbed some food at mel's diner and headed home.
today, right after class i began to research somewhere for lunch and i found this seemingly great little indian place that was super cheap and had amazing reviews. sadly, my back has been hurting me again because of my plane injury, so i figured while i am up here in civilization, maybe i'll try to see a chiropractor up here. i managed to find someone about a block from the indian restaurant, so i headed over there in the hopes for grub and adjustment. the chiropractor was great, but she told me that if she didn't know better she'd have thought i was in an accident. apparently my body is an absolute wreck. i knew this; i was in a lot of pain. it was hard to sit upright in class. she worked me over a little, but we made two more appointments for later this week. cute little dyke.
sadly, "vik's" was closed; though i'm not sure if it was closed merely because it was a monday or if it was closed for good. hmm. i got a tip about a taco joint nearby, so i went there, and that was tasty but waaaaay overpriced. afterwards i did some "shopping", then headed back which was when i ran into chez panisse.
i was concerned before i got here that i would be eating so much that i'd be overweight by the time i got back to firebaugh and also totally out of shape. but i'm no longer concerned about this. the hills here are RIDICULOUS and painful, and in general because buses don't run very frequently i find myself walking everywhere. the exercise is great, but i've gotta say, i'm damned tired.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
they got our goat!
today was the first day that emily and i were to milk the goats alone (shiver). we had both seen it done several times before and helped out, but we were never left to run the whole show. now, let me qualify: we weren't abandoned through the process. jesus, the regular milker (and resident comedian) and ivan were there to observe and help out if things went amiss. and so it began!
there are 12 goats, and the milking goes as follows. the goats are herded into a small pen that is enclosed with an electric fence. we take out one at a time, "strip" the utter with our hand (which means to basically start the milking manually, get it flowing), then hook the goat up to a milking machine that does the rest. at this point we give the goats a little treat. (my favorite part) when the milking is done, we put the goat back in the electric pen and take another out. eventually we put the goats that we have milked back in their pasture so that we are able to keep better track of who has been milked and who hasn't. so this is the basic overall process.
jesus who has been doing this for 3 years twice a day has a great system and is fast. the goats know him and listen to him. so we weren't concerned when we started milking. the biggest problem at first was the stripping part. its really hard to milk by hand at first; you really need to get a feel for it. by the end of the morning though both emily and i were master strippers, woohoo. if only we knew the mess that would follow.
at first, things were slow and clunky, but we hit our stride. things were going well until we had 3 goats left: peanut, red mamma, and baby. (i know, i know). red mamma has an utter problem so her milk is bad; baby is the goat whose baby goat just died, so we don't keep her milk either. those two goats always are the last to be milked and we give it to the dogs. peanut's milk is fine, so we were going to milk her, empty the machine and then do the last two. well, right before we milked peanut we were milking brownie, and i noticed suddenly jesus was running toward the pen! i was totally confused but then saw that peanut somehow totally hopped over the fence and escaped! luckily she didn't run off, but she could have. he moved her back but a few minutes later i saw her on her hind legs chewing leaves HIGH up on a tree branch. i should mention that peanut is an odd goat; she's very sociable and pretty wild. generally, the goats we have don't act like this. after a few leaf nibbles both emily and i knew she was gonna make a run for it again and she did. ahhh! i tried to catch her but jesus ultimately saved the day again.
finally, after all of this we managed to milk peanut, then put her back into the pasture. now we had baby. she's not used to being milked, so our routine isn't familiar to her. she needs to be picked up and put on the platform; however, she has long horns, nails, and is quite large. god bless little emily for trying to accomplish this. she nearly picked her up but then i think the goat stepped on her and cut her finger. bad. she went inside to take care of it while i tried to coax baby up to the platform with grain. nope. suddenly, in the meantime, red mamma who was in the holding area went under the electric fence into the pasture! thankfully ivan was there to go grab her. afterwards he came and put baby on the platform. we milked her, and as we were finishing, guess what? red mamma escaped again!! (I just realized how long I've been writing about this and I'm getting concerned about myself). this time, red mamma had NO interest in being caught and put back in the pen. ivan was running around the pasture trying to catch her, lasso in hand, but she knew what he was up to. he tried to station emily and I so that we could prevent her from going further into the pasture, but as soon as red mamma turned on her jets and began to charge at us, we rolled out the red carpet and stepped aside. he finally had to fool them by giving them hay and managed to trap red mamma this way, thankfully.
so red mamma was being milked and it was almost 8:30. milking takes jesus usually about 1.5 hrs; took us 2.5. we were exhausted and wiped out with all of the escapes and emotion. finally, as I was putting red mamma back in the pasture, I somehow tripped over the milking machine and completely lost my balance. picture it: lasso around goat head in one hand, me teetering and almost about to fall on a milking machine, slab of solid wood and metal, and an inevitable array of injuries.
how I managed to regain my balance is beyond me, but it happened. i returned our last goat to her pen, cleaned up and called it a morning.
so, a mess it was, but we did it. john says that when the goats don't know you, they push the boundaries a little to see what they can get away with. well today, push they did.
somehow we need to figure out how to do this without being abused again.
regardless, i really liked the process of doing this. i think i'd to do it fully by hand to see what that's like. there's something very artesian about it that i enjoy. and i really, really like knowing what goes into milking goats and using that milk for cheesemaking or yogurt making or just simply drinking. it gives those products at the market much more character and importance, and us so much more appreciation.
there are 12 goats, and the milking goes as follows. the goats are herded into a small pen that is enclosed with an electric fence. we take out one at a time, "strip" the utter with our hand (which means to basically start the milking manually, get it flowing), then hook the goat up to a milking machine that does the rest. at this point we give the goats a little treat. (my favorite part) when the milking is done, we put the goat back in the electric pen and take another out. eventually we put the goats that we have milked back in their pasture so that we are able to keep better track of who has been milked and who hasn't. so this is the basic overall process.
jesus who has been doing this for 3 years twice a day has a great system and is fast. the goats know him and listen to him. so we weren't concerned when we started milking. the biggest problem at first was the stripping part. its really hard to milk by hand at first; you really need to get a feel for it. by the end of the morning though both emily and i were master strippers, woohoo. if only we knew the mess that would follow.
at first, things were slow and clunky, but we hit our stride. things were going well until we had 3 goats left: peanut, red mamma, and baby. (i know, i know). red mamma has an utter problem so her milk is bad; baby is the goat whose baby goat just died, so we don't keep her milk either. those two goats always are the last to be milked and we give it to the dogs. peanut's milk is fine, so we were going to milk her, empty the machine and then do the last two. well, right before we milked peanut we were milking brownie, and i noticed suddenly jesus was running toward the pen! i was totally confused but then saw that peanut somehow totally hopped over the fence and escaped! luckily she didn't run off, but she could have. he moved her back but a few minutes later i saw her on her hind legs chewing leaves HIGH up on a tree branch. i should mention that peanut is an odd goat; she's very sociable and pretty wild. generally, the goats we have don't act like this. after a few leaf nibbles both emily and i knew she was gonna make a run for it again and she did. ahhh! i tried to catch her but jesus ultimately saved the day again.
finally, after all of this we managed to milk peanut, then put her back into the pasture. now we had baby. she's not used to being milked, so our routine isn't familiar to her. she needs to be picked up and put on the platform; however, she has long horns, nails, and is quite large. god bless little emily for trying to accomplish this. she nearly picked her up but then i think the goat stepped on her and cut her finger. bad. she went inside to take care of it while i tried to coax baby up to the platform with grain. nope. suddenly, in the meantime, red mamma who was in the holding area went under the electric fence into the pasture! thankfully ivan was there to go grab her. afterwards he came and put baby on the platform. we milked her, and as we were finishing, guess what? red mamma escaped again!! (I just realized how long I've been writing about this and I'm getting concerned about myself). this time, red mamma had NO interest in being caught and put back in the pen. ivan was running around the pasture trying to catch her, lasso in hand, but she knew what he was up to. he tried to station emily and I so that we could prevent her from going further into the pasture, but as soon as red mamma turned on her jets and began to charge at us, we rolled out the red carpet and stepped aside. he finally had to fool them by giving them hay and managed to trap red mamma this way, thankfully.
so red mamma was being milked and it was almost 8:30. milking takes jesus usually about 1.5 hrs; took us 2.5. we were exhausted and wiped out with all of the escapes and emotion. finally, as I was putting red mamma back in the pasture, I somehow tripped over the milking machine and completely lost my balance. picture it: lasso around goat head in one hand, me teetering and almost about to fall on a milking machine, slab of solid wood and metal, and an inevitable array of injuries.
how I managed to regain my balance is beyond me, but it happened. i returned our last goat to her pen, cleaned up and called it a morning.
so, a mess it was, but we did it. john says that when the goats don't know you, they push the boundaries a little to see what they can get away with. well today, push they did.
somehow we need to figure out how to do this without being abused again.
regardless, i really liked the process of doing this. i think i'd to do it fully by hand to see what that's like. there's something very artesian about it that i enjoy. and i really, really like knowing what goes into milking goats and using that milk for cheesemaking or yogurt making or just simply drinking. it gives those products at the market much more character and importance, and us so much more appreciation.
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