Suvir

Rich in Poverty, Poor in Richness - Astounding Humans, Majestic Humanity

An hour or for that matter even ten minutes can change so much. All one needs is perspective, open eyes and a mind that thinks and sees reality for what it is.

Farm life when celebrated without blinders on and when one is free of prejudice - is nothing short of miraculous.

Woman in Command - Betty Osborne at 80

Betty Osborne is a proud New Yorker (Brooklyn born and raised in LI and VT, now living in Upstate NY). NY is lucky to have her as its daughter. She is the kind of citizen that would make any nation or people proud. Happy to serve her own and those unknown. Service like this is not found today. People serve to serve their own type. Her's is a type that is So-American and yet today, So Un-American. 

Four & twenty blackbirds at Masala Farm

This post is devoted to the summer avian life present in Washington County and specifically at American Masala farm.  My husband Peter & I enjoy birding so decided start a list of all the birds we saw and heard during our visit. 

                        This is the stately prince of Masala Farm.  I cannot remember his name but I think it is an                       indian name that means Prince...Now I can only wonder who really wears the pants at

Masala Farm!  

This bird gets my vote!

Seeing him strut his stuff around the farm...like he owns the place.

and he does.

As we mourn situation in Japan, our "girls" thrill us with babies

Charlie holding a baby that looks all about chocolate. Also resembles his mommy almost entirely. The markings are all brown. Darker or light, they are chocolate as chocolate can be. The babies were found Saturday night, and were born all naturally. Marc Durrin, the caretaker found them and alerted us to their birth. Tis' the season for kids, and so this was welcome news. Now we have kids that might make Floyd Cardoz smile with glee. Depressed over the earthquake and its aftermath, we needed some good news. This was as sweet as it could get.

Where has the summer gone?

I was looking at images I had saved for blog posts and found this one from the height of summer. A folder that got lost in the madness of the joys of summer. What is startling today is the difference in the light. How different everything looks as seasons change. How different we feel. How things taste different, not always because of ingredients, but also because of perception colored by our mood, altered by the seasons.

Vermont by Jack Tiggleman

Thursday was our last full day with Charlie and Suvir, and we spent it in Vermont. How did the week go by so fast?

The Washington County Fair! by Jack Tiggleman.

As luck would have it, our visit coincided with the Washington County Fair, and being the Michigan redneck I am, I begged Suvir to take us. Fortunately for me, it's his favorite week of the summer.

Before heading out to the fair, Suvir treated us all to some of the best eggs I have ever had.

Upstate New York and the American Masala Farm by Jack Tiggleman

Greetings from the American Masala Farm. 

Before arriving at the farm, my mom would tell endless stories about Suvir and Charlie, as she had the privilege of spending a week with them at the Floating Island Writer's Workshop. And within an hour of being here, I told my mom that they were better than I ever could've imagined.

Of course, it took a while for the Dobrez-Tiggleman's to get to Hebron from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Welcome Spoken Here!

Sheldon Farmstand is a place where we go for buying wonderful farm-fresh vegetables and fruits and also comestibles from around the world that we would have to live without were it not for Pat Sheldon and her wonderful stocked farm-stand in Salem.  Pat and Albert Sheldon are also warm and generous people. A couple that has done much too much already and are continuing to do what they can to make the edible landscape of our community richer, fresher and more diverse.

Drawing the harvest/growing season deliciously!

Paula Beardell Krieg is a neighbor with a wonderful neighborly civic sense. Someone who is ready to help without much goading. She is generous beyond words could describe. Sensible in ways most people cannot be. Paula is also very talented and very sensitive. Her work shows all of this and more.