I have a house! (plus a tangent articulating the benefits of participating in local agriculture)
Yup, its official. I've been moved in for a week and everything. I'm housesitting for a couple of contra dancers for three months. The arrangement is just perfect. I'd been looking for a short-term place, so I can get my life back in order and decide what to do next. Fall sublets are notoriously hard to come by in this town, and the Ithaca housing market is pretty expensive for someone who plans on being only partially employed. This place, then, is perfect, both for duration and cost (I'm only paying utilities).
The plan then, is to hang out in Ithaca for the fall and work part time, and also do some volunteer work for some of the many Good Causes around town. I'm thinking I can more easily find a cause I really agree with if I'm not looking to be paid for helping out, and there are plenty of businesses around town that could be pretty fun to work for. Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBs), the local bike co-op, could be a good candidate.
But there's also plenty of work in the agriculutral world right now. Its the harvest season, when the earth's overflowing bounty and the night sky's frosty air conspire to deprive farmers of sleep and sanity. Just last week, I worked an 11 hour day at a local organic farm, picking peppers until the sun went down. The pay ain't great picking vegetables, but I get free vegetables, which lets me cook delicious stir-fries that feed me for 2 days and cost maybe 50 cents for rice and soy sauce.
Bradley and I have also been doing some kitchen prep work at the ABC Cafe, a local vegetarian restaurant. Our friend and former housemate Heather is Head Cook for their weekly special that features all local ingredients, so every so often we go and hang out for a couple hours on Saturday night and rip chard and chop carrots. We only get paid in restaurant credit, but it barely counts as work and Heather hooks us up with overflowing plates of food.
Right now, I'm eating some of the best-tasting food I've ever eaten. I'm also eating the healthiest food of my life, and I've never spent less to feed myself than I am presently. How's that for a delicious oxymoron?
The plan then, is to hang out in Ithaca for the fall and work part time, and also do some volunteer work for some of the many Good Causes around town. I'm thinking I can more easily find a cause I really agree with if I'm not looking to be paid for helping out, and there are plenty of businesses around town that could be pretty fun to work for. Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBs), the local bike co-op, could be a good candidate.
But there's also plenty of work in the agriculutral world right now. Its the harvest season, when the earth's overflowing bounty and the night sky's frosty air conspire to deprive farmers of sleep and sanity. Just last week, I worked an 11 hour day at a local organic farm, picking peppers until the sun went down. The pay ain't great picking vegetables, but I get free vegetables, which lets me cook delicious stir-fries that feed me for 2 days and cost maybe 50 cents for rice and soy sauce.
Bradley and I have also been doing some kitchen prep work at the ABC Cafe, a local vegetarian restaurant. Our friend and former housemate Heather is Head Cook for their weekly special that features all local ingredients, so every so often we go and hang out for a couple hours on Saturday night and rip chard and chop carrots. We only get paid in restaurant credit, but it barely counts as work and Heather hooks us up with overflowing plates of food.
Right now, I'm eating some of the best-tasting food I've ever eaten. I'm also eating the healthiest food of my life, and I've never spent less to feed myself than I am presently. How's that for a delicious oxymoron?