Thursday, July 23, 2009

birthday bash

i've never thrown myself a big 'ole birthday party before. in fact, i've never really thrown a big party before. The experience was really remarkable.

Tons of people helped out--a crew of awesome fairy women came over in the morning to transform the house--ivy and flowers everywhere, billowing fabric and candles. sky and trout made pies. as people started to arrive, i had the supreme delight of playing music w/trout and ez.

it was nice to be present and offer my energy to the party in that way--i love playing with trout so much. as it grew dark and the room slowly filled with people, fruit, and flowers, we faded out and began corralling folks for the play-within-the-play.
some chaotic madness ensued, as we tried to cover all the parts and fill in gaps. the quartet of Wall rehearsed their segment in one corner as thea and i attempted to coordinate the other characters. "do we have a theseus?" "no, i'll go find one" "oh wait, we have theseus, we need demetrius!" "whose bottom?" "jon. but he doesn't want to be in it. but elsa will. oh wait, she's already oberon." etc. beautiful chaos.

After one false start, the actors launched into the dramatic and absurd play. it was utterly hilarious and spectacular, i couldn't help howling with laughter throughout. vince's dramatic, touching and prolonged death scene (in striped tights) was particularly moving.


After the play, everyone started singing the birthday songs--traditional, plus the usual twin oaks bevy. my favorite:

its your birthday/grunt/its your birthday, grunt/people dying everywhere/vultures flying in the air/its your birthday/grunt/may the candles on your cake/burn like cities in your wake/its your birthday/grunt

...and then a wild dance party. there was lots of fruit: peaches, mangos, bluberries, ground cherries, plums; as well as the apple and peach/wineberry pie, ice tea, wine, and dates. it was a truly decadent and magical evening.

and jon's chaps brought it to the next level.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

day in the garden

sky and i slept in til a deliciously late 10:30 this morning (well, mostly slept) so after meditating, half the day was gone! it was a big garden day, slowly turning out the brassicas and making room for the summer/fall stuff. we pulled up the rest of the onions and hung them to dry, trimmed up the last batch and bagged them. harvested the rest of the broccoli side-shoots and pulled up the plants. harvested the first leeks, thinned the beets (and harvested the thinnings). the tomatoes are starting to come on, and we have an amazing variety--fuzzy peach, grape, german striped. some big mamas, too. getting close to canning time. harvested some purple cabbage and made a new batch of kraut.

and then cooked a lunch of beets, broccoli, tomatoes.

sky went out to twin oaks tonight, and its sweet to have the night to myself. indulge in an episode of 6 feet under (yes, i'm a closet addict), eat some peaches and coconut milk ice cream, call friends, clean my room, prepare for the BIG DAY tomorrow. and now to bed, as i've got an 8:30 date with a neighbor to talk about borrowing a weed wacker.