Day 7 (6/21/12): First Day Off

Despite staying up a little later last night, knowing that I could sleep in the next day, I found myself checking the time this morning at 6:30.  I made myself sleep until 7:20 when I finally woke up and made my way downstairs for a leisurely cereal breakfast and a smidge of Pillsbury coffee cake.  I put my almost-week’s worth of farm clothes in the wash and dilly-dallied around the house.  The family was bustling around, getting ready for the day of work.  Mary was baking in the farmstand and in the house, getting things prepared for the farmer’s market in Waterville this afternoon.  Simultaneously, she made sure Kenya knew what to do today and that Katie was on task.  Ellie took Gil and Sage to the beach in Pemaquid, ME so they could fish and have a lunch of lobster.  After packing a sandwich for lunch and hanging the clothes on the line, I was on my way down Route 27 to explore the Belgrade Lakes area.  My first stop was the Belgrade Public Library at the Belgrade Community Center to parooze around their 1½ rooms of books.  In the next room over was the gymnasium where 3 parents holding their babies and one solo woman were having a dance class.  I chose to sit, rather secluded, outside to talk with Mom and take advantage of the library’s 24/7 WiFi.  

Next, I biked all over.  I traveled down a road for a couple miles and came to Castle Island Camp that houses many tiny cottages sitting right on the water, a camp that Ellie had shown Katie and me on Sunday.  I biked down another road and came to the Village of Belgrade Lakes, where the center of town is.  I browsed the souvenirs at the ‘Maine and More’ shop and got an orange (I’ve had no source of vitamin C all week!) and an AriZona Green Tea for lunch, and a jar of baby dill pickles for myself at Day’s General Store.  Love me some pickles.  The refrigerator at the farm house is organized so that the family’s milk and food is labeled with tie-dye duct tape, the 3 kids have their own drawer, and the apprentices have our own drawer.  Everything else in the fridge is fair game for meals or snacks.  I walked around the town a little more, and then headed over to the beach that Ellie had taken us to earlier in the week.  I spent all afternoon there sitting in the sun and reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, swimming around, sitting in the shade and reading, swimming around, and napping.  It was even warmer today than yesterday, so I thanked my lucky stars that I got today off rather than Saturday, which I was expecting.  Many families came and left the beach, including a few smokers unfortunately.  I walked around the Village one last time, passing by their biweekly farmer’s market, and moseyed on back to the farm just in time for supper.  Ellie had prepared a tossed salad and chicken pot pie, and it was different having the whole table filled, rather than just the three of us: Ellie, Katie, and me.  After dinner, Katie and I washed dishes and played Animal Trivia with Sage, who slobbered over a few of the animal cards (pretending to be a dog) and made the die ‘roll’ to 6 on almost every turn of hers – gotta love 6-year-olds.  We got Sage in her pajamas, we brushed teeth, and I read a bedtime story to Sage from her selection of largely farm animal-themed children’s books.  I watched last nights Daily Show with Katie and showered before bed, and although I wasn’t out in the field today, the biking and the sun has clearly taken a toll and I’m ready for bed.  We have an early start tomorrow, leaving the house by 7am instead of 8am, because Friday is CSA day (to be explained in the next post).  Goodnight all!