unrelenting gratitude

Unfortunately, going into my third week, I really do not have much to talk about. I have spent countless hours staring blankly at my laptop screen or reading or sleeping or baking or cray-paing. I enjoy the learning and the work involved with baking bread. I guess I should have realized that I would be baking bread for retail though which tends to take the fun out of it for me. Farmer's Markets, bartering... those sort of things don't bother me so much. "what are you, some kind of communist?!" Phil would say in a funny raspy voice. And in my head I'm saying "well, actually... ." The locals are friendly but quiet and seemingly uninterested in taking advantage of all the amazing outdoorsy things to do around here which is one of the main things that compelled me to come here. Or perhaps they just forget to invite me along. I've been going on short bike rides alone but I am afraid of biking, hiking or swimming by myself (bears, moose, drowning, cars... can you blame me?) I know for sure that my momma wouldn't approve. Plus I simply don't enjoy being by myself. So for the most part, it has been a lonely ride so far.
One thing I certainly cannot complain about is the FOOD. Practically every day there is some kind of soup made- carrot ginger, mushroom barley, lentil, spicy black bean; lemon-ginger scones and all kinds of cookies. and obviously BREAD. I can feel myself becoming a bread snob. I will hardly be able to meet my own standards because a wood-burning brick oven is essential to making such fine artisan breads. I am also becoming a coffee snob- organic, fair trade, freshly roasted in the wood burning stove which means it retains a lot more of those handy antioxidants. I only allow myself to have caffeine on my days off or else it is really difficult to sleep around the chaotic bread baking schedule.
On Thursday, I will go to Manhattan to visit my dear old sister, Em and a good friend from school is meeting me. I already feel like it is going to be hard to come back here after four days in the big city in the company of familiar people.
I wish I could boast more about my experience here but being lonely truly is one of the worse feelings in the world. But as always I extend my unrelenting gratitude to god(s)/nature/super natural energy/fate or whatever you want to call it for this abundant fortunate life. I hope everyone is doing well and that each one of you is surrounded by people you love. For me at least, that is one of the true essences of life. Miss you all. Take care. and happy father's day of course.

Settling In

haha
foggy view of the lake from top of Coon Mountain
my house mate and i
salamander
first burn
wild orchid


Wow, I really cannot believe I am still awake right now. I have been going since 4 a.m. Today was the most eventful day so far I think. I worked four days in a roll. The shift is very intense to say the least but fun and interesting at the same time of course. Baking bread is almost a 24 hour job and very meticulous- scaling during the day (1-2 hours), mixing in the evening (2-3 hours), and baking in the morning (always starting at 4:30 a.m. 5-6 hours). Bread doesn't wait on people. You can take ineffective naps or try to squeeze in reading, biking, hiking, writing letters, etc in between these hours but I haven't quite gotten it down yet. Perhaps once I have adjusted better, I will be able to do these things with more ease. It is hard but I have to give up the coffee and espresso- My first morning with Phil, he had an iced espresso prepared for me and he sat and played his guitar while I cleaned the ash out of the wood burning brick oven. Today was my first semi-day off. We baked all morning but we are closed until Thursday so I won't have to be back in until Wednesday afternoon. Starting June 19th, we will only be closed one day a week!


Today, after baking all morning, my house mate and I went on a nice hike up Coon Mountain. We saw a few pretty snakes, an awesome orange salamander and some wild orchids (i think they were orchids). When I got back, a girl that works at the bakery asked if I wanted to go jump into Lake Champlain and I said heck yeah. It was about 40 degrees. Needless to say, we jumped in and jumped out. After that, my house mate and I cooked a very nice dinner (since we finally had time). Then with our bellies full and content, we walked to a friend's house to give them a loaf of olive bread because they had given us some of their delicious baby greens and spinach. Bartering is the best. Yesterday, I walked down the creek next to my house and I saw about 20 frogs at least. They were all comparatively small- because the last one I saw was one gigantic mother of a frog.

Well folks, that is enough for now seeing as how I can hardly hold my head up any longer. I promise to post more photos soon. I'm sending my love your all's way. Miss everyone. Good night and take care.