Cabin Fever

My CSA has begun. Oh happy day! I love fresh produce like some people love candy. And the jeweler I work with on Wednesdays has also joined up, so it's extra fun. Tonight I made: sole dipped in some egg/milk/lemon and breaded with panko and dill and fried up in a pan; some spinach sautéed in olive oil, green garlic and crushed hazelnuts; and some mashed white turnips and potatoes with parsley. This took surprisingly little time. I grew the parsley, and the farm provided the turnips, green garlic, and spinach. And it's strawberry season, yum.

We are adding to our impossible amounts of rain here in New England. I'm watching the weather reports for the weekend as I've convinced some of my hiking pals to join me on Mts. Lafayette and Lincoln. I even kept the faith and reserved a camp site.

My friend Ted says it's too much work to find his tent in all the flood management piles in his basement, but his is a Really big tent…. I bet he actually sold it as condos. I'm disappointed. I was hoping to pitch my tent in his foyer if it was raining.

I was out in my kayak again helping out at a skills session last night and a friend reminded me to be extra weather sensitive due to the lack of bail out spots on my intended ridge route this weekend. But hey, if the rain, rain, rain, and more rain predictions hold for the mountains, well then I'll be out in the western part of Massachusetts where it looks to be drier…picking lots and lots of strawberries instead.

Tons of campgrounds these days have online reservations and charge big fees for canceling or changing them. While the White Mountains are popular and I can see why it might seem like a good business idea to do this at popular campgrounds there, it just makes people camp off trail rather than at the campground. Then you can decide on the fly if you're staying. (And so many people do not seem to subscribe to the Leave No Trace concept that this is not necessarily the best result.)

Sometimes when I get cabin fever it has a somewhat literal result. I suddenly make a ton of campground and cabin reservations. I think I have three pending at the moment, including this weekend, so I think I've shown some restraint considering this monsoon season we've had. (By the way...you do own my cabins book, right? You can get it from www.infinitesea.com or in a regular bookstore. I'm happy to give you advice or answer questions if you get it.)

I've got a site reserved up by Katahdin Ironworks in Maine that I'm looking forward to (and has no cancellation fee, thank you KI). It's pretty mellow there; they charge you fees to enter the property at the gate when you arrive, but they'll hold spots for you. I'm hoping to camp there and hike around by Gulf Hagas in late summer, when it will be warm enough to play in the waterfalls.

I've got a cabin on cross country ski trails reserved for the winter already too, though I might trade it for a yurt. So, no matter what, I've clearly got to get some more strawberries to freeze so I can make strawberry pancakes on the woodstove! (I'll say the same thing come blueberry season, raspberry season, apple picking. . . you'll get used to it and just start inviting yourself over for meals, don't worry.)