Not Ready for the County Fair... Yet!

Hey Everyone,
Happy Fall. The leaves here are beautiful, and I just got back from a good run. Life is busy right now, but it's also going really well. I had a great time at the USSA cross-country coaches conference in Minneapolis. I got to visit Big Dan and John Swain, and I did a lot of great networking. I was tickled by the fact that I was on a "business trip" in a big city, so I used lots of words like networking and management. Noteworthy moments include visiting my first strip club... where we were also the only white people and getting set up at a bar by the head coach for the US Ski Team! It was sweet.

I was also able to visit Colby a bit this fall although, unfortunately, not when any of you were there. It's carrying on without us, but it definitely misses us. Foss has gone seriously downhill I hear. They aren't even open on weekends now. Oh how I miss Foss Brunch!

The other reason I'm writing today is because I have finished harvesting the last of the vegetables from my garden. It was not ceremonious (though I did thank the powers that be for the bounty, if you can call it that). It was however, a good nod to the ceremony they call potato harvest here. Harvest Break just ended, and the kids all went back to school today. For the next week or two people will scavenge the potatoes the harvesters missed from the fields. I will participate if I find a good companion. There are also a few apples left waiting to be picked from trees here and there. After that, they ground here in the Saint John Valley will not bear more food until next year. Mothers are at work canning and filling root cellars, and I look forward to a few charity jars of pickled veggies in the next month. I'm almost out of the jams that were bestowed upon me when the berry picking was good.
My garden, although I cared for it lovingly, did not yeild that much food. It sent some sugar snap peas my way and some lettuce early in the summer. I had about a pound of green beans and even several thumb-sized cucumbers. I added the cukes to a batch of pickles I made from some legitimate sized cucumbers that I got at a farm stand.
Finally, today I picked my carrots. It was time because I gave up weeding a few weeks ago, and grass was threatening to over-run the entire patch. My carrots are true baby carrots. They are prettier and healthier and sweeter and better for the environment than those guilt-laden "baby carrots" that were lathed down from the real thing in a factory somewhere. However, I was not trying to grow baby carrots. They, like the baby cucumbers, were simply a function of the crappy soil I planted in. Lesson learned: soil quality is clutch. I have a good batch of compost brewing, and next year I plan to have better soil and vegetables that would at least hold their own at the fair. I don't need to win, but I don't want runts again either.

Lastly, I have the preliminary results from my VO2Max test back. It looks really good. I scored over 80, which is right up there with the best in the world. The average male around our age is in the mid 40's, and the highest ever recorded is 96 (interestingly, achieved by the greatest Nordic skier ever). What this means is that in the months ahead I will try to build up my fitness, and I will put some serious thought into a professional career. The potential is there if I can put it all together. The next step is telling Mama and Papa Toast... I'll keep you posted.

Love and Adventures,
Toast