Cornucopia of Change

This has been quite the overwhelming week, and I didn’t even realize it until I sat down to write this post.  People have left (and two more are leaving tomorrow), and new people have shown up in their absence, each bringing their unique personalities, skills and interests to the ever-changing mix here.  The hardest part for me, of course, is living with other people again.  I can’t leave my bedroom without running into another person, which means I have little or no  control over when and with whom and how I interact.

Well…that’s not really true, is it?  I have some control, I just don’t know how to exercise it, do I?  I’m such a chameleon, adapting myself to (what I perceive as) the personalities of those around me.  I really lose myself (or give myself up?) around other people.  I’m constantly allowing distractions to cloud my mind.  I often feel anxious and uncertain, not sure where I should be or what I should be doing.  Is this what social anxiety is?

On the plus side, I’ve been doing a pretty good job of reading and meditating in the mornings, which is just the best thing ever.  It’s the only thing that keeps me centered enough to realize that my distractedness and unease are not the fault of others but of my own lack of presence.  I suppose this is good practice for me, then.

This week has involved some weeding and sowing, harvesting hazelnuts, and lots of mowing and cooking.  The tiny store in town sells these massive loaves of fantastic, fluffy white bread, just perfect for French toast.  I harvest apples, peel and slice them, mix them up with some sugar, cinnamon and raisins, then cook it all up for a delicious topping.  It’s definitely a good start to the morning, especially as cold as it’s been lately.  One of my British roomies hadn’t ever had French toast before, so I got to introduce her to the deliciousness.  Other Janet creations this week include an eggplant ragout and veggie frittata.

This week has also involved lots of card playing.  It turns out the Brits know a lot of card games and introduced us to some fun ones.  Maybe the funnest activity of the week, though, was creating this guy:

The body is a few broken broom sticks and poles tied together with scrap wire; the tail must be some sort of industrial-sized pipe cleaner; the wings are barrel rings with some wire mesh for decoration; the head is a massive spring; one eye is junk and the other is an old children’s toy; and, yes, he’s wearing glasses.  The owner keeps everything and uses junk and scrap materials for various garden art projects, like a family of garden  dragonflies.  This guy may get a bit more decoration, but is otherwise ready for the garden.

TL;DR:  Lots of new experiences and unanticipated learning opportunities on the farm this week.