First month as a Californian

It's been a little over a month since I arrived in the Golden State and I'm officially a Californian. Having never officially moved to another state before (even when in PA I never changed my license), I had no idea just how involved it would be to switch my identity from WA to CA. I've been to the DMV no fewer than four times. Gone is my favorite license plate number of all time; gone is my sweet WA state driver's license number; instead I have California plates and ID, neither of which I prefer. The CA DMV crops its photos real close, y'all. At least I passed the written test! And, the best thing about my new license plate is it has a Z in it; I hope one day in the not too distant future two kids are battling it out to win at the alphabet game and my car's Z is the victory letter for one of them.

You didn't think I was going to show my driver's license, did you?

I also had to change my car insurance, renter's insurance, health insurance, and theoretically voter registration but I'm actually going to vote in WA this year (gay marriage needs my vote more than GMO labeling does). I got a local credit union account, and one of these days it would be nice to change my Seattle-area phone number.

All this is to say, I better stay here for awhile because moving is a real pain in the ass.

Here's what I've done in the last month.

Stopped by the Giant Pumpkin weigh-off in
the Safeway parking lot.

Whitney and Sara at the pumpkin weigh-off. This one weighed
580 pounds! Carson says there's usually one that's 800.

Rode the Garden Project's "smoothie bike" at the Co-op's block
party. My buddy Natalie holds it down while this stranger
gives me a hilarious look. (This was across from the pumpkin
weigh-off on the same day; very convenient.)

Attended the Local Women's Music Festival at Nelson
Vineyards in their beautiful Redwood grove. Performing
here is Ede, one of my favorite local "raging grannies."

Visited the breathtaking Saracina vineyard north of Hopland.
They have caves you can tour! Sent my parents a delicious
bottle of Chardonnay for their 39th wedding anniversary.

Wine tasting at Saracina. (Sara and Timin nearby.)

Drove up Cow Mountain with Carson to see the remnants of two
fires he was on this summer. You can see Clearlake in the distance.

Tried to go abalone diving at Fort Bragg, but the cold weather
translated to a picnic on the beach with Sara.

Planted a winter garden with David and Janet. Brussels
sprouts, broccoli, kale, beets, lettuce, radishes, and carrots.

Our persimmons are starting to change color! 

Made green tomato pickles (and green tomato chutney).

Went to Doc's 92nd birthday party on October 18, a talent show in
which Jay and I performed "Jose and Esmerelda," a running skit
from the summer about a fighting Latino couple.

Roped Sara and Ian into starting a puzzle with me on Wednesday...

...and David and Janet into finishing it with me on Friday.

I've also been doing lots of volunteer work with The Gardens Project, helping them plan an event on  Monday called "Farmer's Night Out" and translating a lot. Today I'm going to be the translator for a garden workshop on hoop houses and row covers at the Mendocino College. I'm also doing "real" (i.e. paid work), officially ending my seven month unemployment streak. The work is fun, though; a variety of writing and editing projects to keep me busy and not bored. 

The hot weather stopped yesterday and today we're down to the 70s with the rain predicted to start early next week. However, I just walked to the farmer's market and they had a bounty of strawberries, so it still feels like summer.

Nesting in 100+ degree weather

It's October, a month I usually associate with fall leaves and dipping temperatures. However, Ukiah's atmosphere doesn't share my sentiment since all three days in October have broken 100 degrees (and a few records, apparently). September was equally hot and they're saying it's the hottest fall on record (and by "they" I mean two men in front of me at the bank). The weather here really is pretty crazy. For instance, check out this snapshot of the weather on Monday. It didn't quite hit 106, but it did go from 54 to 100 in a matter of hours.

Luckily my new house stays nice and cool, except when I'm baking, which has happened for the last six consecutive nights. What can I say? It's good to have a kitchen again. Here's a pumpkin pie I made from a pumpkin I got at the farmer's market, which is just one block from my house every Saturday.

And, since I haven't really shared any details about my new digs, here are three one-minute videos of my house (small enough so I could text message them to my Mom, who was the inspiration for these clips).

I live with a cool dude named David who I met through the farm this summer. Here we are breaking in the backyard, with Whitney giving Janet some bright pink highlights.

One of the many great things about this house is that the backyard is bursting with food! Here is a fraction of the tomatoes I have harvested over the past two weeks. The best part is, the red ones are incredibly good - sometimes even home-grown tomatoes can be mushy or not flavorful, but these ones are mouth watering sliced with a bit of salt. I've also sauced a lot of them.

Over the course of my adult life I have furnished six homes, and then sold for a fraction of the cost (or just plain given away) nearly everything in that household only to start again within the next few months. It's a bad habit. So, although I had a trailer full of stuff to unpack in Ukiah (three cheers for finding and keeping good kitchen stuff) I had virtually no furniture. For the first four nights I slept in a little nest I made on the floor. I shopped every furniture store, thrift store, consignment store, and garage sale in the greater Ukiah/Willits area, and found absolutely nothing that I wanted in a price range I could afford. So, during one of Carson's off days, I talked him into driving to Santa Rosa so I could buy a bed and one other large piece of furniture; possibly a sofa. Instead I found a sick deal on a great futon, so I came home with two beds; one for me and one that serves as both couch and guest bed. Here's Carson tying it all down; I love that this picture manages to make him look short.

Here are Sara and Whitney breaking in the futon (earlier this night we had four of us comfortably snuggled up on it watching a movie - definitely a good investment).

We're still missing dining chairs and I need a desk chair and night stands, but otherwise we're in good shape!

Since arriving back in Ukiah I've wasted no time in getting busy, including volunteering with The Gardens Project. On Sunday I helped them with a 5k at a gorgeous winery down the highway in Hopland called Jaxon Keys. This is their expansive wrap-around porch:

                                     

Here is a view from one of the vineyards:

                                     

I imagine that after a few years of living here the grapes will lose their romance, but for now I'm still infatuated by these juicy orbs:

I also went to a pizza birthday party at the farm, where they made their own dough and cooked them in the beautiful outdoor cob oven. Here's Nick, one of the birthday celebratees, making his own pizza:

Yesterday Carson had some work to do on his hives, so I took a book and sat back while he worked. Here's a picture I snapped while he wasn't looking:

And hey, since this post is all over the place, here I am eating Mexican empanadas and a hibiscus-flavored snocone at my new favorite spot:

 Until next time!

Seattle to Ukiah in just three blunders

As of September 19, I'm officially a Ukiah resident (Ukian?). I left Seattle on Monday evening with a very well-packed U-haul trailer attached to the Matrix, thanks to my dad's super powers.

I was fine until about 30 minutes before it was time to go, and then I got butterflies in my stomach. As I pulled away from my parents and the house I've known my whole life, I realized that I was taking things with me that had never left Seattle. It's the most I've ever committed to a move in my life (and there have been many). I cried until I got on the freeway, called my friend Amber, and then let the monotony of the road guide my thoughts.

I drove to Portland to see Robyn, my very accommodating buddy on the way to and from Seattle since I started this back and forth in March (I've now done the drive three times). She fed me a bowl of homemade soup we're both obsessed with (her mom's recipe and a childhood throwback) - which she specifically saved and brought back for me from a weekend away, hello Good Friend Award - and then let me pass out on her comfy couch.

The next morning I drove across town to pick up two gals and their very well-behaved dog to share the ride all the way to Ukiah with me (Craigslist rideshare never lets me down). As we talked we figured out that we had actually had fairly similar summers, knew the same people, and had been at the same events (they made the cool leather wristbands for the Not So Simple fair!). They were excellent driving companions and in general the trip went well. However, there were three rather large snafus during the drive, all of which were my fault.

1) Pulling away from a gas station in Grants Pass at the end of the I-5 leg, I noticed the "door ajar" light on. We all opened and shut our doors but it stayed on. "Oh, sometimes the back gate doesn't fully shut" I said as I casually pulled over to the side of the road to give it a good slam. Except when I got out of the car, I saw that the back gate was COMPLETELY OPEN. I either a) drove away without shutting it, or b) it was poorly shut and launched open, a sound I attributed to the trailer going over a hump. Either way I  had made two left turns like that and driven a quarter of a mile or so, without a single passerby honking or trying in any way to alert us to our plight! Eff you, Grants Pass residents. The real miracle was that not a single thing had fallen our or even shifted in place (including some very dear houseplants). I stood there staring at my companions through the open hatch for a full minute, silently freaking out and then cracking up.

2) After the semi-trauma of having nearly caused a shower of beloved debris over a busy road, I somehow missed the sign for our next highway, I-199, and got on... I'm not sure what. It was GORGEOUS, one of the most idyllic roads I've ever driven. All three of us commented on how beautiful it was, and I thought to myself, "I don't remember 199 being this nice before." Then we came to a fork in the road. "Uhh.... I don't remember 199 having a fork... do you?" (They had made the drive several times as well.) We sat helplessly at the fork for a moment before a farmer in a pickup slowed to a stop next to us, and confirmed our suspicions that no, we were not on the right road, and worse, the only way back was the way we came, about 20 miles back. Woof. Luckily we were making excellent time so this scenic detour only pushed us back to our estimated arrival time, but it was still a deflating blow (as anyone who has spent 13 hours in the car in a single day can relate to).

After getting back to devil Grants Pass and finding the 199, we drove to our next stop and freeway - Crescent City and the 101 - that would take us home. Choosing the least evil fast food, we ate at a Subway (the same one I've now patronized on three of the four occasions I've passed through since last spring). I switched to the passenger seat and we set our eyes on Eureka. It's only 84 miles away but it felt like forever for all three of us; somehow those 84 were the slowest miles of the whole trip, and it took over 2 hours since we were towing a trailer. Finally in Eureka, we pulled over to gas up, where I discovered that:

3) I LEFT MY WALLET IN CRESCENT CITY. Crescent City, now two hours behind us; we're on the home stretch with only three and a half hours to Ukiah and I left my goddamn wallet at a Subway. It took about thirty seconds to decide I wasn't going four hours out of my way for it. I called and confirmed that yes, they had it, thus beginning a complicated week-long but ultimately successful process of getting them to mail my wallet to me in Ukiah. Special thanks to Mary, the employee who made it happen, and the kind folks at FedEx Ukiah who watched me cry to the point I couldn't speak while they competently searched for a solution. When it finally arrived, one of the employees called me instantly (rather than letting the automated call go out to me several hours later) and looked almost as excited as I was when I walked in to retrieve it.

The rest of the drive was uneventful and we pulled in just after dark at around 8:30. The best part - and admittedly part of why I was so quick to forgo the four-hour round trip to get my wallet - was that I got to see Carson. After 40 consecutive days on the fire line (!!) he was finally home, the first person to officially welcome me to my new hometown. He was moving into his new house as I was driving, and we now we live just eight blocks apart instead of 30 minutes by car.

Stay tuned for details on my rad new house and the all-too-familiar (and expensive) process of furnishing yet another home.

Seattle and the Not So Simple Fair

Well, August flew by. All of a sudden it was September 4 and time to leave Mendocino for a return trip to Seattle to be the wedding planner for my first and only official clients of my VERY short-lived event planning business (it didn't take long to figure out that wasn't what I wanted from life). The wedding was on Saturday and it went perfectly, beautiful weather complete with a very short sprinkle - the first rain in 44 days, apparently - which I assured the couple was Mother Nature's benediction. They were the sweetest bride and groom, their vows made me cry, their families and friends were awesome, and I was able to hire Amber to assist me that day so we had a fun time working together. All in all a delightful event!

Since then I've barely left my parents' couch, except for a foray into Capitol Hill last night which included 45 minutes of traffic and a $53 parking ticket. Ouch. Today I'm off to Amber's to garden and then to catch a ferry to Vashon to spend the night with Dustin and Alan, so I thought I'd better get this posted already.

Seemed Simple Enough to Me!

When last I left you I had just gotten back from the Not So Simple Living Fair (in late July - I'll write an August catch up soon). We spent days preparing - we were helping to host the hospitality corner so I made six loaves of chocolate zucchini bread and two trays of rice krispy treats. We were camping there too so we also had to feed ourselves; I helped make a giant potato salad and another huge pesto quinoa salad, Whitney made some of the best pasta sauce I've ever had, and there were lots of other treats as well (not to mention the excellent food vendor options). We were awake until 3 am the night before cooking and having a ball. The next morning we loaded up the cars and drove to Boonville, about 45 minutes on the way to the coast. This is the sweetest little town! Once there we chose a spot for our camp, set up the hospitality area, and started reviewing the very comprehensive list of classes offered.

This is the most fun and useful idea for a fair, EVER: want to know how to live a more sustainable life? Use things found in nature? DIY? This is the spot for you! I took classes on seed saving, greenhouse building, how to forage and use wild plants, harvesting and cooking seaweed, and - by far my favorite - how to tie a variety of knots. At one point I looked up and there was Adrian Grenier holding a length of rope, trying to mimic the knot. Apparently he was in town shooting a movie. It was a bit surreal seeing him there but he was gone before I could give much thought to whether or not it was fun or invasive. Here I am practicing a square knot - how is it possible I never before knew this simple but amazing knot??

In between classes you could do woodworking or blacksmithing, ride around on the musical cabaret-mobile, visit the farm animals on display, or just talk to any one of the many interesting people there. There was also the sustainability bit that I really appreciated. Everyone brought their own dishes, and food vendors didn't offer paper products. If you forgot your plates, you could go to the dish table and buy a thrifted plate or bowl for 50 cents. There was a dishwashing station that was kept very clean (no one wants to use dirty dish water), and there's something fun about eating out of your own dish. On Saturday night there was a huge potluck dinner - everyone brought a dish to share and local farmers donated meat, including a pig that was slaughtered and butchered in one of the classes. Here's the barbecue and the potluck line:

The meat was delicious and it was so fun seeing looong lines of bowls of food people had made to share. As I was leaving the potluck I walked by the barbecue and noticed a heart on the grill. "Who eats that?" I asked the guy. "You do!" He replied, and sliced a few sections of the pig's heart off for me to eat. It was quite tasty, surprisingly tender and not chewy at all. (If you look closely at the photo above you can see the heart on the grill.) Here are the two slices I ate:

Saturday night a very popular local band named Dgiin (pronounced "gin" with a soft g) played and we danced our butts off. All in all the weekend was another reminder of why Mendocino County is my perfect place in the world.

Jamming out at the camp:

Whitney enjoying life:

Our big fun group:

Two months down, one to go

Today marks the two month mark of my tenure here on Road B, and one month from today my internship ends. Here's what's been going on for me.

1) I love Mendocino county so much I'm convinced it's my forever home. I like driving on empty country roads and going to events where parking isn't a problem. I like that I'm starting to recognize people in town and that I'm becoming a little bit recognizable myself. I also realized that I wasn't looking for the farm life as much as I was the country life; two very different things! (Slaughtering chickens? No thanks, I'm good.) So, for both of those reasons, I let the farm in Petaluma know that I will not be coming in the fall (weeks ago so they had plenty of time to find my replacement; they were very understanding). Instead, I'll find a place to live locally, get involved with some organizations that interest me, and earn a living as a contract writer and editor.

2) I'll be in Seattle for two-ish weeks starting on September 5. I'll probably drive up and equip my car with a hitch so I can rent a Uhaul trailer to bring what's left of my worldly belongings back to California with me. I'm  excited to visit during what is always the best two weeks of summer in Seattle, though I'm hardly deprived of sun - except for the first few days here, there hasn't been one day that it hasn't been shining. Today it cooled off to 93 degrees, down from around 103 all week. I'm pretty tan (for me) but you Seattleites can be the judge of that in a month.

3) This is Carson:

He's pretty rad: beekeeper, firefighter, ranch hand, all-around handyman and great guy. I met him on my third day here at a Mendocino Bee Club meeting, of which he is the chairperson. He knows everything but isn't annoying about it. He makes me smile and laugh so much my face hurts, and he enjoys launching me into the water while swimming in Lake Mendocino (which often results in water up the nose due to aforementioned laughter coinciding with the launch). And yes, he is a full foot taller than I am.

4) I'll blog again soon about the Not So Simple Living Fair in Boonville that we attended and volunteered for last weekend. It was magical!

5) You'll see her in the photos below but it bears a special mention that my dear friend Jamie Grace came and spent a week on the farm with us back in early July. She integrated quickly by inviting us to help her paint and doing an interesting exercise called a "spin off" that helps you look at what's going on in your life, and everyone was sad when she left. She did a lot of painting while here, creating many pieces using a tattered sail. Many of us got our own painted sail - mine is a beautiful hummingbird - but she made sure everyone got SOMETHING to remember her by.

5) Here are some pics and details from the last month. I never realize how much is actually going on until I revisit the photos I've taken (hooray for remembering to take them).

Kelly sorting our bottomless collection of lids.

Road B crew with copious food at a free Concert in the Park.

Carson at the Fourth of July parade in Willits. I love small town
parades! Easy parking and you don't have to stand more than one
deep to get a view. Also, there are a lot more horses than in a city.

Stephanie does her first sparkler EVER at the Frey Vineyard Fourth of July party.

Jamie Grace and I after eating several of the Best Donuts in the World
after the Frey party. I didn't see or hear a single firework (except sparklers - I was
shocked no one in Mendocino had any M80s to light) but we had a great day anyway.

Group swim at Lake Mendocino just down the road.

Laying anti-weed paths in the garden - wet cardboard followed
by super soft redwood bark.

Janet admiring the sail Jamie Grace painted during her visit.

Double fisting cookies at another free Concert in the Park.

Janet dressed up in Carson's gear.

Carson getting into the dress-up spirit. His
gear fit him much better than Janet.

Being a nerd at Parducci vineyards.

Accoustic Cafe concert at Parducci. Dusty Rhodes and Her
Handsome Cowboys folk-rocked out as the beautiful
hills glowed red behind them.

We did hospitality for the San Francisco Mime Troupe (not actually mimes) when
they played Ukiah last week. The food on this plate: a fig from Doc's garden
with goat cheese from our goats and basil from our garden; lamb stew with
a lamb we raised and butchered; fresh zucchini noodle pasta grown and made by our
friend and neighbor Shannon; the kale salad was the only thing we didn't grow.

Our crew hanging out and eating great food before the Mime Troupe
show started. It was amazing how quickly they set up a whole stage
in a park, and the show was really witty.

Last night was the First Friday Art Walk, and on our way we
stopped to do some thrifting. Stephanie poses in a child's horse
costume while Veronica becomes a snow bunny in August
as Alex looks on in disgust at me snapping photos.

That's just a smattering of the many things that happen here all the time. More to come soon! Until then, enjoy the view of the vineyard across the street just before sunset. This is where we take the dogs for a walk; even they lead a charmed life.