More skinny dipping, hippies, organic veggies, and more!

I'm having such a blast at Acorn that I really don't want to leave, but tomorrow, we must move on.

In the meantime, I enjoyed waking early yesterday morning and going for a nice run down the dirt road through the woods. When I got back, I worked in the garden all morning, picking cucumbers and okra, weeding and making tomato cages. While we were harvesting okra, we found some nice looking eggplants that were ready, so we picked those and later I got to exercise some of my culinary skills as I was asked to prepare the eggplant dish for dinner. I tried to be creative and went with herb crusted eggplant medallions in a maple balsamic reduction. Very fun and delicious!

Also, after lunch yesterday, we took two cars full of people over to Twin Oaks (the sister community here, which is much larger. they make hammocks, tofu and soysage, and they have their farm for their businesses) At Twin Oaks, we went skinny dipping in the pond. It was so refreshing after a hot day in the garden! Paul was the only one who refused to get into his skinsuit, so he swam with his boxers, but the rest of us happily swam and sunbathed au natural.

This morning, Lauren, Danielle, Paul, and I woke up at 4am to go to Charlottesville for the Farmer's Market. When I got up, the sky was amazing! I could see every star in the sky! We loaded up the van and drove to C-ville (as they call it around here)and listened to Mirah through the crappy speaker on my mp3 player the whole way. Good times. The market in C-ville was great, and fairly large. I met lots of cool vendors, got some organic bagels and vegan muffins, and ate my fair share of cucumbers. Paul and I wandered around town for a while and visited Integral Yoga Natural Foods where I enjoyed a kombucha. I also saw some flyers for Yogaville programs, which reminded me of my friend Tali who is there now. I called her husband Yoram, and it was so good to talk to him. It always feels amazing to hear someone say they love you and they miss you!

Now I'm just chilling at Acorn. I just finished making a wallet out of an old tube. (BOB got a flat somehow in Lauren's van, so I used that tube) It's a rough, but functional prototype, and I plan to make more in the future.

Lauren and I have been reminiscing about old times and giving each other mad hugs. She just makes me so happy; she's such an amazing person. I've also been so blessed being in the presence of some incredible people in this community. I finished reading Sandor Ellix Katz's latest book, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and that, combined with being at Acorn, has really re-inspired me to get back to community, local food, and a more self-sustaining lifestyle. I already have plans brewing for container gardening and the fermentation station!

In love with life!!!