Crossing state lines

I left Squash Blossom Farm today, but not without having a chance to see the way they do their version of pizza nights. Susan and Roger are throwing around the idea of a restaurant bent to their farm, but for now they just do it with friends once a week. Susan keeps a great blog about the farm, and in her post about the latest pizza night, she put up a video of my dough tossing skills. Unfortunately she filmed it sideways, but we agreed that this makes it look even more impressive. Check out her post here.


Today's lesson was not about farming, but about the advantages of not having technology at your fingertips. I packed my computer, ipod and cell phone into my big travel bag this morning for my trip over to the pizza farm in Wisconsin. While I was waiting at the bus stop, Bored out of my mind with the book that I was reading, I had no other distractions to turn to, so I struck up a conversation with a lady my parents age who was absolutely fascinated by my desire to be a farmer. It's not often that I meet someone who is over 50 and sees the value in small-scale organic farming, let alone encourages others to do it. We sat near each other on the bus and as I left she advised that as long as I showed my parents that I was safe and happy (according to her, this is is all that a parent wants for their child) that I would have their support. cute.


The bus dropped me off in the right town, but the wrong end of it. Turns out they cancel the stop at the University while school is out for the summer. Didn't think of that. And didn't have a map or a phone that would tell me where to go. I went in to the nearest hotel to ask for directions, crossing my fingers that the guy at the desk would be helpful despite my not being a guest. Sure enough he looked up directions for me and then frowned as he delivered the news that I would have to walk 5 miles (almost 10km) to get to the coffee shop where I was being picked up. In 20 minutes. Before I could react, a little old lady who was sitting on the opposite end of the lobby piped up and insisted on driving me there. She knew exactly where it was and claimed to be going in that direction anyways. My friend Jacquie once told me that she met some of her best friends hitch hiking, so I bit the bullet and accepted. Though I don't know if it counts as hitch hiking when you didn't ask for the ride. Either way, two new friends were made today thanks in no part to Apple, Rogers or Bell.