I got up and went to dig potatoes for some people I'd never met before. I heard about Dot and Don from one of the professors here on campus, and they came highly recommended as wonderful people. Was she ever right! They have a massive garden, at least an acre, on land that Don has farmed his whole life. They feed themselves, their kids, their neighbors and their friends off of it, and it is a beautiful, gorgeous thing. This year they've had a little trouble getting the crops in (they are both 84-year-old farmers), especially the potatoes. Don has chronic bronchitis, and since he is usually the digger and Dot the sorter, they found themselves at a loss. Thankfully people have been coming by to help them out, and they aren't quite sure what to do with the extra hands, but I think they're getting used to it. Dot fed us oranges, peanut butter and cracker sandwiches, grapes, coffee, and Reeses, and Don told us all about farming in Iowa during the Great Depression.
Then at 1:00 (still dressed in farmer clothes, straight out of the car), Courtney and I went to a book binding workshop led by Peter and Donna Thomas. They are currently trekking around the country in their hand-built (by them) Gypsy wagon, spreading their book arts knowledge. I've gone to a book binding workshop before, and loved it, so this was icing on the cake. We made three different miniature books with three different binding/cover styles, and it was incredible! I believe the Cole Library Facebook page should be posting picture soon. For now, here's me with a book, taken by Jen:
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| Woo farming clothes! |
And now I'm working at the library for a few hours, and then going home to watch a movie (let's be real, it'll probably be Midnight in Paris), or listen to A Prairie Home Companion, and then sleeping. What a perfect day. And reasonably representative of my life right now. Except for student teaching but that's another post for another time.
