A Slice of Cherry Pie

And so, the journey continues....

There are golden new days and new adventures. I eat a slice of cherry pie for breakfast, the only fitting foodstuffs for an odyssey of this sort, and give a toast to it all, for I was headed off to the Midwest...

Long before the triumphs and tragedies of recent events..there was the Midwest. In fact, my Midwestern friends are the ones that started these traveling shenanigans to begin with. My fellow crazy-haired/writing/ performing/farming friend, Maggie Howe--clearly part of the Tribe Of Mischief Makers--had invited me out, even agreed to host me, for my first beekeeping foray into Iowa, this time LAST year.

People, my heart was crushed under splendor, being there. I had never been to such a place. People DON'T BELIEVE me when I tell them about such a place.  There's a place of such natural and quiet beauty, where the people are kind, direct, generous?  Poppycock! Heck, they WOULD NOT TAKE MY MONEY, these humble people on farms, small businesses, and places where hard work is still valued; they clearly COULD USE the money!  But no, they brought me into their homes, laughed with me, treated me as family...gave me a chance to prove this little traveling-beekeeping-teaching experiment could  work. To say I owe them everything is to throw a pebble of faith onto a much larger river of the Greater Good.

So off I was, on a bus, ready for all of it. I was eager to see faces familiar, and fresh. I was looking forward to hugging small calves at my grass fed farm friend Donna OShaughnessy's place. I heard rumors there were piglets in the mix, too. I wanted to eat farm fresh food that REALLY was farm fresh, not just doodled on the side of some store package. I wanted to teach beekeeping and help eager folks get themselves on an organic keeping path. I wanted to see small sheep and goats at Deborah Niemann's house, to sit amongst charm at Cathy Lafrenz's place, to laugh with Tamara Houseman. These were all friends in Iowa and Illinois. I wanted to revisit the myriad of farm cats and dogs, to visit antique stores, to learn more about farming. I wanted all of it, amongst rolling hills and endless blue skies. That is the Midwest, my Friends...what a collision it would be.

Life is  a bowl of cherries, or maybe a cherry pie...somewhere beneath the layers, there was sweetness to be had.
Let the journey continue.....