It's been a year and a half since I posted here on Jim's Wild Ride. Time has flown, and so much has happened. I admit it - I've been too embarrassed to come back here after so long, after so many events have gone unpublished, so much water under the bridge, that I've put it off over and over again. Yet, if I don't come back some time, I will never come back at all, so here am I, hat in hand, hoping you'll welcome me back into your lives for a while.
It seems like all of a sudden, the leaves have turned yellow on the birch trees and the fireweed has turned red. No longer End-of-Summer. It is now more like Beginning-Of-Fall. Where did the summer go?
Where did the past 19 months go?
James graduated from college last summer, early, I might add (more than a little proudly). He's moved to his own apartment in town and is enjoying autonomous adulthood. The dairy goat herd has grown considerably and has become a much bigger part of our lives. We've had quite a number of precious guests come and go - friends from our "old lives"and lots of family. I've stepped up my apprenticeship at work and Jim stays busy with his work, too. And this winter, we're doing an All-Alaska Food experiment (more on that in a later post). I can honestly say I've never done so much canning in my whole entire life, combined, than I have in just this one summer. I've met a lot of new and fascinating people getting ready for this project, and I've had a ball.
Speaking of canning, my kitchen smells of apples from today's trip to the orchard outside Soldotna. Tomorrow I hope to get tiny spiced trail apples in jars, and if I don't start getting ready for that, I'll be behind schedule, so I should make this quick and say goodbye for now.
So, see you next time, okay?
