We are alive. Do not read that lightly, as it is a much greater accomplishment than it may seem. Maggie and I are free. Free from the crazy and free to laugh with the joy of Carolyn and her household. I wish that I could adequately explain this past week to all of you. Maggie was awfully gracious in her "Ms. Nutty" nickname of our previous wwoofer host. I must call this woman She Who Must Not Be Named (SWMNBN) because I don't want to slander anyone's name, but find myself less capable of Maggie-grace. So SWMNBN is obsessed with two things: biodynamic farming and anthroposophical medicine. (You know what, SWMNBN is a bit cumbersome, so I'm switching to "A.") What are these, you might wonder? They are things that would be totally neat and interesting if taken with a grain of salt. But somehow A managed to suck away any neatness and totally negate the elements of her teachings that could actually be legitimate. Biodynamic farming involves gardening according to plant/seed/flower/leave days that are based on various cosomological determinants. Anthroposophical medicine steers away from modern medicine and focuses more on elements of the soul that must be tapped into for successful healing. It all seems quite interesting, I know.

But let me paint you a picture of A. She looks much older than she actually is, probably from years in the sun without wearing sunscreen, which is poison. Other substances that are poison include (but are by no means limited to) bug repellant of any sort, peanut butter and ice. All of things must be strictly avoided by anyone who cares at all about themselves or their loved ones. I get that bug repellant is, by its nature, poison. But no one, not even her, can make me malign the name of the peanut. So A was not especially nice and we spent a lot of our working time working on the garden sites of her future commune, an endeavor that she has taken on with the help of two other brave souls, Jacques and Jurgen, both of whom we have worked with, though neither of whom we've exchanged a word with. It seems that their anger for society seems to have made them forget that individuals can be good. A was full of interesting ideas like China isn't as poor as it seems, rather it is preparing secret, apocolypse-proof villages so that they will be the global superpower when the End Times are upon us. I realized that she may have been less-than-happy with me in particular one day when we were working on the commune site. We'd been working in the sun for 3 hours straight and I paused to get some water. When I got back she was sitting down and she said to Maggie, "We've got to pay attention to our Lowest Common Denominator: Miss Exhaustion." I mulled this over for a while. Asked Maggie is I was, in fact, particularly weak that day. I maintain that I was working with my typical ox-like strength, though the nickname "LCD" stuck and is used regularly at Carolyn's house.

The best part of our week there was meeting John, her 76-year-old neighbor. We worked in his yard for a day and ended up spending several hours at John's house, drinking tea, admiring his doilies and wall-hangings, talking about his wife and sons. His wife died a few years ago and his sons both live abroad, but he is so proud of all of them. It was so nice talking to him. He lives a sweet, quiet life and so clearly lives for the love of his family. He agreed that A can be hard to swallow, but pointed out that they've learned how to get along and that under it all she has a heart of gold. That said, when he sees her across his driveway he yells out, "what are you brewing in your cauldron today?" John forced me to see the good, so for that I am grateful. Also, as we were leaving John asked, "Do you like soft toys?" Not knowing what "soft toys" exactly are, Maggie and I just sort-of smiled and made vague noises of approval, which was enough for John to lead us into his wife's sewing room and let us have our pick of toys that she knitted long ago. I am now the proud owner of a little knitted duck in a cap and scarf that can come with us on our travels and remind us of John's kindness.

Also by the end of the week we had to acknowledge that A is truly gracious in her nursing job where she works the night shift at a "rest home" for elderly folks with terminal illness. Though her flippancy about death came off as cold, she left me with some things to think about. That's for sure. So we came away with a friend in John and some weird, but though-provoking lessons from A.

Now we are at Carolyn's, which rules. Yesterday Maggie and I built frames for several of the veggie beds using tools that you may have heard of like drills and hammers. All by ourselves!! If you ask nicely, I'll teach you how to use them when I come home.