Feasting from a few gardens

Tonight's dinner was a large spaghetti squash (if you have never enjoyed one of these you are missing out on a wonderful and unique natural treat), topped with a butter and olive oil sauce of red anaheim pepper, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil (four kinds), garlic chive flowers, and a touch of kosher salt. With the exception of the salt, oil, and butter, all of this delightful meal came from gardens I have worked in. Two in the flatlands, and one in the Oauchita mountains.

There was no longing for prepared pasta sauce, or some mass produced accompaniment, but rather an explosion of flavor which reminds us of what pale shadows all of the mass produced food is to real food.

Mass produced food is food with no history, no story. Even the "farmer" who harvests it could not recognize even one of the pieces of produce from "his" land, but the farmer who truly respects his or her crop, who knows the land and that which grows upon it, whether in a urban plot, suburban back yard, or acreage in rural areas, can identify the produce, the product of their effort. There is a story behind every piece of food in those gardens.

Tonight's stories include failed efforts to raise emu for meat, discovering entirely by accident a volunteer pepper plant brought low by malabar spinach vines, and a union of efforts of specific individuals, amongst other stories. These all add spice and flavor to the meal directly and indirectly.

I find great joy in the fact that even a nomad (as I have recently been dubbed by none other than the great David (another story, another time)) can enjoy the wonders of the garden in which he/she has worked, or in this case several gardens. Nomadic gardening.. there is an idea..

Arrived..

...in Kansas safe and sound. The drive was one of the harder ones thanks to gale force winds and a very heavy load in the back end. er.. of the truck that is.

The next day or two will be spent planning and prepping for the work here. As per usual, family have added jobs, almost certainly unpaid jobs, to my list without ever consulting me. Honestly there are times I envy orphans..

Still it is good to be here. I look forward to seeing good friends, enjoying some good food (N&J's cannot be beat!) and finally having some paying work again.

Travelin' Days are hear again..

I collected a few stones for some landscape decoration projects, mowed Rancher Bob's vast yard, collected what I could from the garden so that it does not go to waste, emptied the suitcase, washed the clothes and repacked them, so I guess I am ready to head out in the morning.

Hopefully the drive is a pleasant one, though I've made the trip to Kansas so many times through the same flatlands that it becomes increasingly difficult to find something new to enjoy there, though I try.

Yesterday the freezer I ordered about 8 weeks ago now, finally arrived. Even though the seller, AJ Madison, promised "white glove inside delivery" the shipper they finally did use could not have gotten the semi up the roads and back to where the freezer needs to be, and this is a much easier location than where my own home will be! So because the shipper, particularly the driver, had nothing to do with the attrocious service from AJ Madison, I took pity on him. I met him at the highway (two lane paved road.. generously dubbed a highway) so we could move the freezer from his semi to my truck. As it turns out this was one of those very rare times when a good deed is not punished.

Ernie Hill is the driver's name, and I am very pleased to have met him. Not only was he personable, but it seemed with every other sentence we were discovering that our paths nearly crossed on many occassions. We share some Kansas history, had roamed similar roads, and spent part of our lives in the same places. He too is a songwriter, and after relating various music stories, he pulls out a cd he self-produced. As I am typing this I am listening to ol' Ernie sing and play. I hope to make it to the bluegrass festival in Winfield KS this year, though I never did in all of the years spent just up the road from there. With luck, I'll run into ol' Ernie there.. sitting under his electric peace sign..

A Brief visit..

..to my house site!

I am back in the rocky hills for a very brief visit (in which I hope to make some damn progress..) before I am off again, this time for paying gigs..

The time in Austin was good and modestly enlightening, in ways explained and hinted at, as well as others which may come to light in the future in this blog.. I've some thoughts on being a good house guest, showing adequate and proper appreciation to folks who host parties you attend, and other thoughts on places and interactions..

For now I am grateful to be back in my own bed, which is long enough for me!!! The importance of this cannot be overstated..

I have to hit the ground running, doing work that supposedly Rancher Bob's wife does, but in practice unbeknownst to him, others including myself make sure that these maintenance tasks get done so his time home is what it should be.

I am also going to be trying to at the very least get the homesite cleared so I can stake out where the excavation for the house should be.. With under a week to make this happen, and having been trying to get this to happen since February, I am not going to hold my breath.. Anyone need work done by a live in designer this winter?? :)

Tonight will be a night of rest and relaxation.. of reading and enjoying a fine bottle of Becker Claret, Vanerchuk be damned!!!

Cliche

I've been trying to explain to various people my reaction to returning to Austin a mere 13 months after I left, and I believe tonight I have finally managed to capture the feeling in a cliche which we all do or should understand: You can never go home again.

I came to Austin first when I was a child and loved that this small town (as it was then) was the capital of the biggest state (Alaska can bite me.. :) ) in the US. I returned many years later to go to the biggest record (albums, LPs.. ) convention in the world, and once again fell in love with the great green hills, the laid back atmosphere, and the feeling of place, of real unique identity. I visited a few more times while in graduate school, and finally moved here, mostly by accident, in 2000. I stayed in no small part because of the people (ironically those people were not from Austin themselves!) but also because of all of the attributes I had enjoyed in the past visits.

None of that has changed, other than the fact that Austin is no longer a small town in anyone's imagination, except perhaps in comparison to any small city in China.. (though the Chinese cities retain more of their community flavor than US cities in my experience..). Still, Austin is not home anymore, even though no where is home at the moment.

This does not prevent me from enjoying the drive down Spicewood Springs road over to McNeil, or from savoring with childish glee the negative G's that you can get on a particular arroyo on Westlake Drive if you hit is just over the speed limit.. Nor does it take away from the heaven that is a well crafted Freebirds! or a night at Shady Grove enjoying the big man, Bruce Robison, and his wife Kelly Willis. I have very much enjoyed my visit here, from the place to the food, to the people, but still it is not home and does not have that magnetic draw to it that Austin once held for me.

Just as Austin changed me, largely for the better, so has this year plus traveling changed me such that Austin is a good friend, a great place to visit, but not a place to live for me anymore. I noticed in my short, although extemded beyond my intentions, time here that I fall into a particular rut that is not where I want to be. I have done the whole rabid business owner thing, and it was good for a while, but my priorities have shifted a bit to focusing on my own life directly rather than focusing on creating environments for others that will ultimately contribute a bit to my own life (through the checks they send).

Tomorrow is my last day in Austin, and I am ending it in the right way: a birthday party for a lovely woman who tolerates a very trying but equally wonderful man, both of whom I consider dear friends. The Wichita crowd is largely going to be present which will be a nice reunion of those folks, then Sunday morning I leave to go back to the hills for a bit..

While none of us can really go home again, it is good to be reminded that life is not stagnant, that we grow, change, and evolve such that at different times we really are different people enjoying a different life.

It is what it is..

The Best of Austin

Once in a while everything just comes together which is what happened last night. I called up my cousin's significant other to check on him, and along with his brother we went to Shady Grove (very cool south Austin spot) to catch the free show. This alone would have been cool, but to make it even better the show was Bruce Robison. Yet it still got better.. his wife Kelly Willis also got up on stage and sang a couple of songs..

He did everything I could have wanted to hear, and then some. The company was great, the music perfect, and the food always good.

The only possible problem came as the evening came to a close when a gal who had spent the entire evening loudly talking to others and generally being obnoxious, turned around and told us to shut up when finally, for the first time during the entire show, I asked Greg how his brother was dealing with the death of my cousin. We were talking relatively quietly, but she went on a rampage which was accompanied by her homeless (?) beau also screaming at us. We quickly figured out that they were drunk and needed to be ignored while we continued to enjoy the last song. They saw it differently. They ran to the management who came on strong at us, until we calmly explained that this couple was drunk as could be, obnoxious, and was feeding the management a line of crap. A short while later the same manager came back apologized profusely, and then apologized later as we were leaving as well. Obviously the Shady Grove manager saw through their charade and recognized that we were just enjoying the show.

We did not let this sad but amusing incident mar the night. A great time was had by all of us.

Meeting and talking to both Kelly Willis and Bruce was a nice little bonus.. great people, even if Bruce is freakishly tall! (we need more folks like that!)

Austin update

I am making some progress in Austin, some of which is unexpected. I believe that I have found a contractor who I feel comfortable recommeding to my clients on the basis of the quality of his work, and the nature of his character. A person with a respect for doing the job right, and the integrity to make sure that the job is done right is all too rare. One who recognizes that such referrals are worth a great deal to him, even more so. With luck I hope that he and I will be developing an ongoing relationship where my customers are satisfied and I am even able to get a bit of income out of the deal.

I am also fortunate to have my truck back in the shop. Strange thing to utter, but when you have a mechanic as good as mine here, you are thankful when he can do the routine maintenance and even grateful when he finds other problems which must be addressed. I do not like spending money, but at least with Paul I can rest assured that the money is well spent and the work necessary without any hint of doubt.

With my Freebirds! fix currently sated, I am able to consider the other culinary opportunities in Austin such as Shady Grove, or perhaps other forgotten spots.

Though it is quite hot, I will likely try to visit some of the trails I used to know to enjoy the rugged beauty of the Texas Hill Country. Speaking of which I have been able to pick up a couple of bottles of Becker Vineyards' Claret, perhaps the best wine in Texas. I look forward to sharing these at some later time with some dear friends who have also moved away from this area, though in the meantime I hope to enjoy a bottle with friends who still live here.

The two jobs I have here are on hold until Saturday, when I do one of the jobs, and then next week for the other, which will make my further travels longer and more rushed. Still, it will be good to get a couple of paychecks even if they are small ones which do not even come close to covering the bill from the mechanic..

I will be looking into perhaps picking up a water storage tank while in Austin in hopes of saving a great deal on transportation costs for a 3000 gallon water tank.

However today is simply a day of rest as I am without the truck. So I am catching up on some reading (Nozick's Examined Life), contemplating various aspects of life including one recently discussed with a friend, and keeping the sausage dog company.