Cherry pickin

One of my last days on the farm. I will miss this place!

I spent the day clearing the rest of the thistle down in the lower pasture and harvesting cherry tomatoes in preparation for tomorrows CSA harvest. Tim gets back later today, Maggie tomorrow, Pritya is off for the day, and Jean and Eric have their own things to do so I have the farm to myself. Alone with just the task before me and really, its a bit meditative. Pritya passed on an article to me the other day after a conversation on the value of plain work. It was called, 'The case for working with your hands', and a case it is. Good, honest, satisfied work plain and simple. This is the kind of work I grew up doing and the kind of work I have missed in the world of academics of late. There is nothing so satisfying as reaping the tangible product of your own physical toil, rather than the nebulous abstraction that serves as many peoples work in the information era. I can't wait for my own big garden. A flock of chickens, honey bees, and maybe even a goat or two. Preparation for the future....

Cutting off at 4:00pm to bike down to the bluffs over south beach wandering the prairie meadows looking out over the straights. Resting in the rustle of the wind among the tall grass and gazing up at the clouds. Checking out and releasing to the moment, surrender. Staring out for a long time and storing the memory of this place before hitching back with the sunset.

I snapped this shot of our gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes. Glistening like jewels begging to be bit into.