It is SO hot here!

Hi Guys,

It was in the high 80's today, but still no rain. It is very hot and humid, but I think I must be adjusting well because it really doesn't bother me too much. I am drenched in sweat after 5 minutes outside, but I don't feel like I am overheating or anything. The forecast says high 80's, then rain this weekend. I think tomorrow I might jump in the pool no matter how hot or cold I feel. I think it will be fun and a nice way to cool off. The pool is not heated, so it is still very cold from the winter. It will probably warm up by the end of summer, but I won't be here so I have to jump in a lot while I am here.

Today Bobbett and I weeded a few more raspberry rows, redid some wire to keep the bushes up because they have long arms that fall down on the ground if they aren't secured, and weeded a few more rows of her garlic crop. If the berry bushes fall on the ground, the animals will come and eat all the berries before we can pick them, so we have to keep all the bushes tied up high on the wires that support them. The animals don't go after strawberries, and we have those under a mesh net anyway, so we are just waiting for them to ripen up. They should be ready to pick by next week or the week after. Today we went over to the Martin's, who are a very large Mennonite family with a ton of land, and bought some fresh strawberries. One of the older daughters was there while her younger siblings were at the schoolhouse. She sold us the berries, and they had a few extra baskets full, so we bought them too because I LOVE strawberries. I already ate a few and they were so delicious! It is so nice to be able to eat fresh, organic fruit that was picked from your neighbor's backyard that morning. I think it was fairly priced as well; $12 for a gallon of berries. But when ours are ripe, we can eat all we want!

Usually we work for about an hour around 12pm, then we take a break, then work for just a little longer. Then we come in during the hottest part of the afternoon or lounge by the pool, or I sit under shade trees and read. Then we wait until about 4 or 5 and go back out to finish working when it has cooled off a bit. Then we come inside and make dinner. I usually eat a big salad every night because there is so much organic lettuce growing that I can eat all I want and still have more left, and all the salad that I make is all organic and natural from the garden. It is really good. Sometimes I sautee spinach from the garden with fresh garlic from the garden, or I make asparagus that we picked that day. I have all the garlic I want as well. And there is an entire freezer full of frozen fruit from Bobbett's crops last year, so I eat raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, and all kinds of fruit.

I really am enjoying myself here and there is always something fun to do. It is very hot, but it feels good to be outside working in the sun. I feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day.

This weekend when it rains, Bobbett and I are going into town to do more grocery shopping, antique shopping and I think we are going to see a movie. Movies here are only $4, and those are the new ones! It is so different living in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Everything is much slower paced, everyone is nicer, and things are more peaceful. I hear birds, crickets and frogs every night outside my windows, and I have beautiful views of the forest and fields from my upstairs window. Plus, I can go in the jacuzzi after dark and look up and see billions of stars in the sky. There are no lights around from cars or the city or other houses, so there is no light pollution. Plus there are completely clear skies here, so stars are visible. We also have bats at night, and frogs and birds that come out to eat the bugs. Birds are great pest control for crops, so almost everyone around town here has bird houses made out of gourds to encourage birds to live in their fields and eat the bugs.

Tomorrow I will do some more weeding, and we have nothing else planned after that. The days pass by slow, but it is all moving so fast at the same time. I will be leaving here in a couple weeks, but I feel like I just got here. It is kind of nice not knowing what day it is or what time it is. I get to just focus on the scenery and nature. I still need to go exploring some more and find rivers and ponds to walk through. I will do that another day, but I have to wear pants because poison ivy is everywhere here! I haven't touched it yet, and I am determined to stay away from it!

Gotta go now, Bobbett is making homemade lemon ice- like sorbetto- and we are going to make tortillas from scratch later.


Love you all, stay cool for me!

-Sam