We tried the Harvest Table restaurant in Meadowview, Barbara Kingsolver's place and an outgrowth of her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (which I have yet to read).

All the food is local (or as close as possible) and seasonal. A great time was had by all, and the food was amazingly flavorful and fresh. Nicest of all was that we kept finding ingredients that you just don't normally find in restaurant food -- because typical restaurant's don't bother using quirky local produce. For example, I'd not expect to find lamb sausage in a burrito.

Looking forward to going back and enjoying whatever's in season once my wallet has recovered.

This is not exactly new, but it was new to me..

A guy on a trikke is zooming around downtown today. The swerving motion is bit of a traffic hazard, but it looked like fun, and pretty efficient. It's basically inline skates for those who lack balance. With brakes.

Just some stuff I've been rotting my mind with late at night lately..

• The British reality series Shipwrecked (of all things!!) is the only reality TV I've ever really enjoyed beyond the first few seasons of the Amazing Race. I enjoy it for many low reasons, plus it tickles a sociological interest, without being real enough for that to be anything but an idle entertainment. But the best parts are that many of the people don't treat it as a game (especially the thirdies after 3 months), and that they seem to have come up with a format this season that can never be done again. So, mind rotting entertainment with a built-in expiration date, and a pesudo-intellectual tang. What's not to like?

• David Gerrold's Jumping Off The Planet channels Heinlein basically perfectly, modulo being written for a comtemporary audience. Sorry, Spider, I know you tried, but I could actually hear RAH talking in the pages of this juvenile.

• The Website Is Down is both the funniest and the most depressing web video ever. Meanwhile, the mini-documentary Possessed explores a trap that's hardwired into us -- I wish that other human foibles could be highlighted like this does, because if you identify with the people in it at all, you'll change. (If you still can.)

Out at the yurt. Spent a rather rainy day finishing the floor and hauling furnishings in up the slippery hillside. I've also spent some time caught in the yurt trap, it's very easy to be in it and think for ages.

It went up today!

More pictures...

Summer crept up behind me and has been beating my about the head and shoulders all week. It's hot (95+ F / 35 C in the shade). I've been slowly adapting back to hot-weather mode, but with the suddenness of the onslaught, it's been hard to keep up.

It's easy to get annoyed at hot weather -- like one of pterry's trolls, I know I am a tenth as good a coder in the summer. And I choose not to have air conditioning at home, so if I need to get back to peak performance for something, I have walk downtown to the coffee shop or library or someplace air-conditioned.

But this weather is good for the bigger, longer-term thoughts (aka lazing about). And I know I can adapt. Yesterday I hiked in to Abrams Falls, and the heat didn't bother me at all, and just made sitting and meditating under the falls even better. Then I climbed up to the top of the falls and waded all the way back up the creek.

Today, I got out in the peak heat of the day and hauled in and unpacked 300 pounds of gear. More on that in a few days..

At first I thought this was all I'd get to see.

But after baking in the sun in line for a few hours, I got in. (Thanks, Nic!)

Like that little blue car, my little camera might be outclassed, but it did its plucky best, and I have some pictures of the event.

So Obama will be (sorta) kicking off the general election campaign in Bristol VA, right down the road from JR's produce and just over the state line from me in Bristol TN.

Why here? It's an interesting, quirky choice.

They seem to have put this town hall togther at the last minute, renting VA high's gym only yesterday. The small number of tickets went fast (gone at 10 am this morning), so I didn't hear in time to get one, or even get on the waiting list.

I'll try to get up early enough to see the circus outside tomorrow morning.

Of recent simple/guilty pleasures..

Wading in the creek and browsing on blooming watercress.
Emergency repair of my broken sandal.
The most yummy cherries from Ken's tree.
Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
Lamb stew with pickled lemon and fresh mint.
Fixing my broken sandal right w/ metal reinforcement.
West 10 LDN.
Homemade mango lassi. (At least it's not bacon.)

• 1 am, cautiuosly feeling my way through a construction site with a dim flashlight, weird bits of metal on concrete, sticking to the center as there are no guardrails. Suprised by a spot in the middle where the stars are bright and clear.
• Crossing the other way one day, since a train parked for an hour blocking the road. It's nearly done except for the approaches, but I still nervously look for police cars. View of Holston mountain.
• Twilight yesterday, threatening to storm, and suddenly I realise there are other pedestrians on the bridge ahead of me. Crossing over from illicit to legit. Kids walking down the center line. Cerimonial tent in the park.
• Evening today and I only bring myself to walk over it with traffic whizzing by because I know this is the last crossing that will be special.
• (A few days from now, in a car. Up and over. Another boring, ugly concrete bridge.)