Today I tilled the beds in the garden.... I learned how to shift dirt using the least amount of energy by standing on the shovel.

I told him I liked pushing the shovel in, and didn't want to save energy because I liked the exercise of it. I don't think that was a very farmerly thing of me to say, because he looked at me funny... and said something like, you're going to do this all day, though, you might regret that decision in the morning, because my muscles would get really sore.

 Today I planted artichokes...

...and all I could think of was To The Lighthouse.

All of a sudden I remembered the chapter when the Ramseys leave the house, the house is completely deserted, and the garden ends up taking over... In the "Time Passes" part... In the absence of the family, the plants completely overtake the house, and these GIANT ARTICHOKES grow tall over everything... over the toads and swallows and tortoises that crawl in the grass...

 I remember when I wrote the "De Gallina" essay in Clint Darling's class- an essay about anything, along as it was something to do with chickens. That's the one reason I'd ever return to Freshman year. I could write fifty essays based on today. I feel... like I will write about this experience at least a few times later in life.

Talk about bittersweet...

Today we discovered Timothy's beehive was infested with ants.

Apparantly the ants enjoy the sugarwater as much as the bees... quite a battle must have ensued in there.

Today I went to the zoo with my little buddy.

We played all day long, very nice to be outside, in touch with my first-grade side. We played in the sun, and made wishes in a tree.

We made a wish to have the power to see fairies, and so we wrote a note and hung in in a fir tree.

She said she'd miss me tons, and gave me the sweetest hug. I can't wait to see her again before I graduate.

I love my little buddy...

but I hate getting nostalgic.

 Today... many things happened.

But mainly I learned that...

Life is beautiful:

Life is plentiful:

Life is diverse:

 Today was cheese day!! According to Yianni, cheesemaking is two-thirds sanitizing and recording data, one-third working with food. It's more like a science experiment than anything else. I guess I need a little science in my life.