ZE SPREENG

Frrrriends. The farm just started groovin' this week (in term of tripling its human population and the cessation of 10-days' continuous rain)! Folks have moved in and studying (re: lesson planning) has started. I start teaching Waldorf (imagination/fairy-driven schools) and Montessori (child-centric, pragmatic schools) students at the top of May...so I'm working on cramming in some stellar local environmental/natural history knowledge. If you come visit this summer (highly recommended), I should be able to teach you anything you wish...or effectively use a dichotomous key or a scat/print tracking guide to deduce the answer.

A few things I've learned:

• False Spanish Moss is especially false because it is not moss, but a lichen. Also called Old Man's Beard for obvious physical reasons.
• Douglas Fir Trees are not true fir trees, partly due to how their cones grow and some other reasons I have yet to learn. Their needles taste strongly of lemon.
• Madrones can be remembered as "refrigerator" trees because they frequently have exposed smooth bark that is always cool to the touch even in summer.

I've got a lot more to learn. These training days are partly composed of lesson planning and partly composed of gardening, trail maintenance, hiking, cleaning, and cooking (today: flour tortillas...which are incredibly easy! 3 c flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 3 tbs shortening, 1/3-1/4 c butter (?), 1 and 1/4 tsp sea salt (less is using table salt), and 3/4 c warm water). We ate them today for supper. So far, I've only made one very small social flub. Apparently people consider exaggerated stories as "lies," something I probably ought to have taken seriously by now. In this case, I extrapolated on a brief 5k by saying that I'd actually run 10 miles (starting at 8 p.m.) and run into the illegal immigrant cartels that are starting to set up for their season 'round the mountain. I didn't realize that people might actually believe this. Whoops.

Anyway, I also used the German accent. I've definitely made one friend off it...she laughed pretty hard. Others sort of were uncertain as to what to do. You can probably guess the two phrases I divulged. It seems like an extraordinarily long time since I've talked any of you, really, and I worry a little bit, now working with people in their mid-to-late 20s who don't appear to have a lot of contact or connection with their college friends. I'm going to try to write more letters to you! That seems to be the primary way I've been keeping in touch with the Cape Codders. But two years since we've actually hung out for longer than a day...and the gap keeps growing. Perhaps in a few years? More importantly, I need to replenish my database of stories to tell. (Place winking emoticon here.) In terms of socially acceptable behavior/first encounters, I've come a long way since Cape, which means there are hardly any good awkward stories to tell! Hmm. A sign of growth?

Tomorrow we're having a "progressive" dinner (re: tapas and alcohol) with the whole staff. Maybe more stories to come after that? I'll keep you posted.