Blogs from Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, North America - page 7

What a day. I’ve done more new things today than in the last 12 months combined, including chasing escapees, milking goats, watching a bovine lull through labor and pushing my vegetarian self. Below you’ll get only the stories on the edge of life and death. Details of the other escapades coming soon… Part I I really had paid no attention to Nicole until this morning. Everyone else goes on and on about her, waiting for her impending labor. Right before chores this morning, though, I stopped and admired her. A Jersey cow of mixed light browns and blacks, and just about the sweetest cow face I’ve ever seen. She was already a week late, so everyone’s been bubbling over with anticipation (though a new group of ducklings did steal the show a bit yesterday). We were ... read more

I have become an addict. And can now understand coffee drinkers. For the day is unembraceable until my morning romp through the forest, with a stop to plant a kiss on the snout of my delicious desert mirage, Abu Dhabi. Without those uberpleasant 45 minutes of hiking, watch out world. But this morning, my soothing routine got monkey-wrenched. Luckily, my partner-in-chore roommate, Ariel, had unroutinely gotten up this morning before 7am and was pulled into the mayhem with me. She had stumbled into the common room, interrupting my morning stretch, stumbling towards the coffee-containing kitchen, when we heard a crackled radio call come through. It was the couple from the farm next door: they had news. They were now the proud owners of two pigs--that weren’t theirs. With one flash of a triple-dog-dare-ya’ grin, Ariel ... read more

I have fallen in love. He’s tall, dark and handsome, with a caramel complexion and a sexy swagger. He’s intelligent, entertaining, and emotionally expressive to boot. His hobbies include foraging, wandering and being ornery. We’re a complementary pair, although he has to stoop about 3 feet to plant one on me. His name is Abu, Abu Dhabi Camelidae. He hails from the Middle East and the Sahara. The first few days here, he was all, “'tis but a kiss I beg, Why art thou coy?” And I was all, “Why doth thou bother?” But on Day 6, as I was walking him home, sparks flew, birds chirped, stars danced, wind blew and grass grew. And we’ve been inseparable ever since. The irony is that I traveled all the way through Senegal and Mali, but had ... read more

Determined to enjoy every minute of this experience, I woke up my first morning and forced a weary body out into the 6am, brisk New England air for a light hike. I strolled across the farm, solitude. I walked downslopeward to a decorative Chinese pagoda, treaded across dewdamp grass and grinned at the dopey Peruvian alpaca I love so much, climbed Tibetan hills to a yak-hair yurt and then crinkled leaves underfoot as I trespassed on Mexico in order to find the trailhead. I ambled through the ramble for 10 minutes, until I saw a threatening orange No on my intended trajectory. I sheepishly snuck back south of the border, averted my eyes from Buddhist peace flags, nodded at Guatemalan goats I had missed on my first pass, and came round the back of the hay ... read more

A Strange Welcome to Wormtown I flew out of Bozeman early Friday morning and arrived in Boston, Massachussetts that evening just in time to grab the silver line bus to South Station to meet Nick, an old high school friend of mine who had come east from Seattle to attend the ceremony and get some R and R as they call it. After Haggiling with the Bostonian vendor at south station I procured myself a fine cuisine of Apple Pop-Over and Nantucket Necter's most precious half and half (1/2 lemonade and 1/2 iced tea, some may know of it by the legendary name "Arnold Palmer") and Nick and I procedded to hope on the commuter train from Boston to Worcester. Nick and I discovered quite an amazing fact on the Commuter Train, one way to quickly ... read more