No map, but lots of fruit...

This weekend I finally got my long awaited produce fix. It wasn't as easy as a neighborly co-worker or well-intentioned contact dropping a basket of stuff on my desk, but perhaps I valued it more for the work it entailed.

After a hectic day of college politics and a long week of interpersonal drama, I hopped the train to NYC. From there, after some cat feeding, a bumpy cab ride, and a confusing moment at Grand Central, I hopped another train to White Plains. The next installment was a white knuckled train ride with only a minute, literally ONE minute, to spare before the car rental place closed, and we were loaded into our enormous SUV. A slightly harrowing and panic-stricken hour and a half of driving later, we were safely to the B&B.

We finally relaxed a bit after breakfast on Saturday, and found a wonderful farm stand by an orchard. Crisp Macintosh apples were the obvious choice, but the fresh roasted sweet corn turned out to be the glowingly unexpected treat. A few tastes of cider, a few moments in the sun and we were refreshed. And I was feeling like my waiting was over.

We took a hike in the local reserve and rejecting planning and reason proceeded sans aide up a steep trail that supposedly lead to a lake. I feel like the hike up to the picturesque, mountainous lake peeled off some of the tension that has been building in the last six months, maybe even touching some from the last decade. I hadn't realized how much I needed an emotional release. But I'm quite glad that I had one, lovingly guided by my dear friend.

On the way home, we found another farm stand. More expensive, but with a wider range of offerings, this time we got peaches, blackberries and pie. The peach was not-quite-ripe, but still offered "drip-down-the-chin" goodness and the next day was truly made better by the blackberries and the pie.

It wasn't necessarily idyllic, but it was what we both needed: a like-minded soul, a kind ear, a little nudging, a few emotional outbursts, and alot of fruit. I hope we can both push through with our big goals in the next few months, aided by the memories of the calm lake, the unfaltering friendship, and the sweetness of the unexpected.