i was peeing and thinking about how i need new undies and wondering about the availabilty of organic cotton undies and then i thought - maybe i should make organic cotton undies. that would be neat. and then i thought about how maybe i should grow organic cotton instead. hmm... i don't know anything about growing cotton. all i know it that most of the clothes i am wearing were made with lots of pesticides. i don't want pesticides in my panties. in fact i think pesticide free panties are my right as an american dammit.

today is halloween. boo.

i am very scary.

boo.

my time on the farm is almost up. which is good because it is getting cold and dark. i poop on fall back time and the sun setting at 5pm.

boo.

i got you that time.

laurel - the other live on the farm intern - left this weekend. she broke up the band. she and katya and i were going to start the dirty booger jug band with laurel on the melodica, katya on the violin and me on the washboard and saw(nevermind that i do not play the saw yet). but now all our musical hopes are dashed as laurel returned to fairfield, iowa - home of the trancindental meditation movement - which is crap acording to laurel.

i always have lots of things i want to talk about that i forget as soon as i actually get to a computer. hmm...

right now all i want to say is that i love you all very much and am grateful to be blessed by so many beautiful people in my life to learn from and laugh with. thank you. i anticipate nothing but more adventures and stories and challenges and i look forward to every moment of it. autumn has revived a glorious energy in my soul that i am trying to nurture with all my might, and although i miss each one of you dearly, i love hearing of your adventures. it is wonderful to be alive.

my bike situation is so salao (the worst kind of unlucky) at the moment. boo. i changed the inner tube and then rode off into the sunset only to have another flat a couple miles from home. i tried knocking on someone's door to see if they had a bike pump, but no one answered the door and then i heard a rifle off in the distance and scurried away. there must be something stuck in the tire that i was not aware of that has cursed me. i hiked into town today to get a patch kit, but alas, the bike store is closed for the next week and a half. oh formidable lamentations! oh woe! woe is me and mine bicycle! now i have to choose between waiting a week or going to the evil walmart. that is not a choice i like having to make, even for a $5 purchase.

walking is fun though. you see more details and have more time to talk to the neighbors. there is a small house on the route into town with a most gorgeous and well tended garden. the man who lives there was out as i walked by today. i complemented his home and he said it was a source of great joy. that small interaction was a source of great joy for me. not to mention today is a perfect fall day. 60 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze, the trees bright orange and yellow. a good day to walk.

life is grand.

that is except for the japanese biting beetles masquerading as lady bugs that are plaguing the area, divebombing your head, or mac and cheese, or trying to hide in your panties while you are peeing, the bastards. their carcases are littering the farm - especially concentrated near warm things, like doorways or windows or clothes dryers. all the wierd stuff comes from japan. japan's wierd.

so, i fell off the face of the blogosphere for a while. my bike has a flat tire which i am finally going to fix today, so i haven't gotten into town to use the internet in some time. but here i am and there you are and we can have a virtual party now.

are you rocking? i am.

so, yes, farm girls 2005 did make it's whirlwind journey to DC for the protest. there were a lot of people there. a lot of signs, a lot of people yelling and marching and inspiring others and it was great. at one point the march had gone the entire 20 block route and doubled back on itself, creating a momentary traffic jam because so many people came out to tell GW that he's a fucker and that way, way too many people are dying for his and his buddies bullshit. our favorite signs were "make coherent sentences, not war" and by far the best "RAPTURE IS NOT AN EXIT STRATEGY." the most disappointing aspect was the media coverage of the event. even NPR gave more time to the pro bush, anti protest protest of which we saw the staggering amount of 4 PEOPLE. four vs. 250,000 or more. oh npr, why have you betrayed me??? but over all it was great to be able to go yell and it was inspiring to have so many people of a wide variety of ages (although mostly white people - i think there's something about being able to afford to make the trip to DC to yell) yell with us.

for photos and more detailed coverage check out katya's blog at katyana.blogspot.com.

other than that, life on the farm has been all about winter squash and pumpkins and getting colder. i'm fixin to harvest herbs to dry - burdock root, dandelion root, yarrow, catnip, mint, motherwort and anything else i stumble upon. we're having a fall harvest party for the csa members this sunday. farmer rob's going to be giving hayrides and we get to decorate.

jody and her mom and i went to the international crane foundation last weekend and hung out with the cranes. they are simultaneously graceful and comical. my favorite was the black african crane who was dancing and jumping and having a gay ole time back in his little room. you could just spy his solitary revlery. he came out for a bit, looked around, gave his buddy a "you're no fun" look, decided outside was boring and went back to rocking out in his room.

seeing whooping cranes was like seeing a mythical creature. there were 2 of them in a small wetland enclosure. they moved as if one. we watched them stroll out from behind tall reeds, wathing us as we watched them. jody and i were wondering aloud about the whooping part of their names when, together they held their beaks straight up and let loose a single sound that penetrated our souls. jody grabbed my arm and we held each other as they continued to shout to the heavens. it was like they were telling us secrets of life that we couldn't quite understand because we think too much with our heads and not enough with our being. they moved back behind the reeds once again, moving every part of their bodies in the same way and in the same rythym, connected by an intangible force.