Days 40-41 (7/24-25/12): Oh the twins

Caroline and Abigail Rose visited me today, two of my best friends from Richmond.  Two of my best friends who just graduated from high school and are attending Amherst in the Fall.  For those of you who don’t know, the Williams-Amherst rivalry is one of the oldest in the country.  Caroline and I ran in high school together, and she’ll be running at Amherst, too, so I should see her frequently next year – I cannot wait.  When they arrived, we went to Hallowell, a town on the Kennebec River, for lunch at an eclectic café (we ordered grilled salmon, a portabella mushroom, and a chimichanga).  It wouldn’t be a true Rose twin outing without something sweet to top things off, so we all dug into a chocolate chip pie from a nearby bakery.  Caroline and Abigail had just spent almost 3 weeks at Martha’s Vineyard at a Christian camp, FOCUS.  We spent most of our time talking about religion: what it means to them, what the camp taught them and how they want religion in their lives.  With Mary and my spiritual discussion and the Rose’s religious conversation today, I feel like it’s a sign that I should start thinking about my faith, whatever it is.  

Their grandmother lives near Saco in Ocean Park, ME, about 2 hrs SW of Belgrade.  I spent the rest of my day off relaxing at the lake house.  

Wednesday I restarted my workout routine in the morning.  Get to bed before 11, wake up at 6:30 for abs and a bike ride.  We had another long day in the fields, but I got to look forward to dinner.  We had friends over for dinner that night, which meant well-prepared meal and dishes brought by the guests.  The Welch family came with their daughter Gillian,  one of Kenya’s best friends.  The Welch’s are teachers that have lived in Thailand and Saudi Arabia, among other places, and returned to farm in Mrs. Welch’s home state only 10 years ago.  The Welch’s also brought their apprentice, Olivia.  Mary’s friends, Leia and her daughter Lily, came for dinner, too. Dinner was full of great conversation and great food, with an entrée of swiss chard pie.  I found it humorous to sit at a table of farmers discussing their crops and the (farmer's) market.  I've never been surrounded by such company like this, and it's certainly not like one might imagine as a table of overall-and-sun-hat-wearing farmers chewing on pieces of straw.  No, I actually can't think of a farmer I've met that fits such a stereotype.  

The apprentices slept at the farmhouse tonight since Kenya had a couple of friends over and we wanted a solid night’s sleep.  

Swiss chard pie