This Week (Housemates, Carrots, Potlucks, and a Festival)

Check it out: It's gonna be chilling!

It’s been a busy week! Besides me hiding in the air conditioning cursing the St. Louis weather, here’s what’s been going on this week...

Each of us expressing how we feel about Francis.

The big news is that Zach’s brother Francis came to live with us! Originally we were going to fix up a room in our garage for him, but the deeper we got in the planning stages of the project, the more we realized that it was going to be a ton of effort (and money) to get things the way we wanted. So we decided to declutter the spare room instead, and in he moved. In Francis’s words, “Why do you guys need a baby? You can just adopt an 18-year-old instead!” Just what I wanted...

I also got to see everyone in my immediate family this weekend: Mary, in from California, and Eric and Sarah and Jackson, visiting from Tennessee. It’s nice that, even though my family members are scattered across the country, we can see each other every once in a while. 

Also, I have finally managed, on my fifth try, to grow a crop of carrots! Encouraged by the (not-long-enough) bursts of cooler weather, they have not died of heat stroke. When I ate the first one, I was transported back to the farmer’s market in Bellingham, Washington, when I ate an organically-grown carrot for the first time: they are sweet, crisp but tender on the teeth, with a deep carroty flavor that made me sigh in happiness. It took me long enough, but I finally grew some successful root vegetables! 

Most excitingly to me, Sunday was the neighborhood potluck that I organized, hosted at the Frenchtown Museum. I wasn’t sure how many people would show up, but by the time it was in full swing, we had at least 20-30 people crowded into the museum, eating, laughing, and talking while children ran around underfoot. It turned out better than I could’ve hoped, the kind of potluck that you read about in a “Community Building Ideas” blog post. Everyone was very encouraging and supportive of the idea of making the potluck a semi-regular event in the future. I’m excited to see how I can continue to be part of the growing neighborhood community!

Last but not least, the Halloween festival I’m part of, Legends and Lanterns, is going to be starting up this weekend! If you want to visit a fun and spooky festival in historic St. Charles, be sure to drop by during the day on Saturday or Sunday to visit characters from Halloween history, including Edgar Allen Poe, Stingy Jack, Lizzie Borden, Igor, Guy Fawkes, a mob of musical angry villagers, and, of course, everyone’s favorite Slavic witch, Baba Yaga. 

Back to work now. Have a great week, everyone!

~Lisa