a year in review

i like to think that coonridge (goat farm in the middle of nowhere) is my buffer. my quarantine. my halfway house. i've done my stint in canada, the east coast, and all the driving i could ever hope for through the midwest plains. but now, one year after leaving the eastside I find myself hankering for a home. i'm back at coonridge learning how to live in a home and do homey things, like bake bread, so that i can ease my way into settling down (oh, for a year or so... who knows?) in fort collins, co. my mind is buzzing with where i can buy the best rennet and cheese culture, free horse manure from greeley, whole wheat flour for good-for-you bread... relaxing on a PORCH! oh how exciting!

because i never really updated my blog, as i had initially planned, here is my year abbreviated:

i left bishop on march 4th. if any of you know me you'll realize that the "4th" was not my ideal date, however for some reasons i can't even remember i was driving through westgard on the 4th headed to red rocks and beyond. last spring was spent mostly in the high, red colored desert. nevada & utah, specifically. to recover from a battered and exhausted body i spent a month farmin', goatin', growin', cheesin' my way though the confused season of june... (is it spring? is it summer? is it sprummer?) come summer i headed north to squishy, i mean squamish... and landed in coloradie via yellowstone and the tetons. WOW, what a trip... thanks to my sidekick/beaver. (and now i pick up from where i left off on my last blog entry.) finally the season for east coast sandstone arrived and i headed to... (drum roll please) DELAWARE. wtf? ok, so i decided that since goats were so cool i'd try my hand at a sheep farm. well, sheep are cool. but still doesn't beat the character of a stubborn ol' goat. the two lessons i took away from spending a couple of weeks in DE: 1.not all small organic farms are successful and that is a harsh reality, and 2. L$... you are the most adorable, wonderful, free spirited friend! with the sheep curiosity satisfied i needed to head back west. except this time i was singing "country road" by john denver. west virginia = new river gorge = one of my top three favorite places to climb in america. sport chuffing and trad climbing a like, it's all spectacular in the nrg. apparently the bouldering is good too, but i didn't get a chance to try it out. (favorite climb? hands down: the legacy). it was hard to leave, but yes... i had to sacrifice some time to give the red a chance. well, it took a couple of weeks to get used to the red and in the end i can definitely see it's appeal. not bad. but really... besides a handful of stunning lines, at the end of the day i was psyched on miguels pizza. ok, maybe because i don't climb 5.13 i couldn't really appreciate the red. maybe next year. hah. after a month or so of rope climbing i was hankering for some farm action... and oh! how convenient! the hog farm i decided to work on was a mere 45 minutes from the LRC and rocktown. hogs are rude, but tasty, so i appreciate them in their stinky and squealy glory. if you scratch a pig behind their ears they love it... and it makes their meat taste really good ;) i got to spend thanksgiving with a small farming family in georgia... dressing = stuffing, NOT the stuff you put on your salad, btw. tenenssee/georgia was lovely and rocktown is really fun, especially if you like slopey, desperate, mantle top outs. i regrettably never made it to the T-wall... major BUMMER!! but now i have a reason to head back. it started getting cold in the south east and my wimpy californian ass made a bee-line to HUECO! sunny tank top climbing weather lends itself to more smiles and more sending. Hueco was a big deal for me climbing wise, i did my first two V7's and quickly did some 6's and 5's. And now, here I am... one year later... on March 3rd 2011 i headed back to my beloved goats. between all that driving, to and fro, i've been back to the bay and my beloved eastside a handful of times... and regardless of where i decide to lay my ever changing roots i see myself living on the eastside. someday. ok, so that wasn't so abbreviated. woops.

i've been here at coonridge for a few weeks now and will be for another. i haven't climbed much and i'm getting a little more round, but i can bake some tasty bread! life had been revolving around birthing baby goats. i've seen over 40 goats give birth and even helped out on a few. i've smiled, cried, panicked, and just sat back to watch the show. the beauty of birth and the ugly side of dairies exposed itself to me. what happened to all the baby bucks that were born? well, they don't grow up to make milk do they? so they ended up as pig food and choice organ parts were spread out on the table floured and fried up for an afternoon snack. again, if you know me... of course i ate the brains! not bad.

bread is done, time to eat! i leave you with a beautiful photo of banana split, the kid i pulled out and introduced to our world!