Summer of Farmer's Markets

This summer I got to do one of my all-time favorite things: try out new farmer's markets across the country. My favorite part is seeing what grows in different areas, the atmosphere and trying foods I've never heard of or seen before. Here's a sampling:

Ithaca in June:
Gooseberries
Different varieties of currants

California in July (San Jose, Campbell and West Valley farmer's markets):
Lots of fish-- fresh sand dabs, black cod and sardines
Cactus
Quail eggs

Madison, Wisconsin in July:
Jostaberries (a cross between currants and gooseberries)
Emu burgers and emu jerky (and I couldn't resist buying two of the giant emu eggs!)
More types of hot peppers than I could dream of
Sheep, goat and cow cheeses of all kinds

North Carolina in August:
Chai goat milk soap
Autumn spice goat milk soap

Ithaca in August:
Sea-buckthorn, also called seaberries
Kimcho (Asian melon)
Ground cherries (which have a husk that looks like a lantern and are related to tomatillos but sweeter)

My all time favorite fruit was kimcho and meat was emu. Yum. Too bad I don't live closer to an emu farm.

Where Does The TIme Go?

August 15. The first day of class it rained non-stop and was overcast all day. I felt defeated. August is supposed to be hot and sunny, right? But I've learned anything is possible with Ithaca weather.

This week I did almost no schoolwork. But I did work in radiology, about ten hours total; volunteered on the Pet Loss Support Hotline about another ten hours; had a long doctor's appointment for myself; took Simon into the Community Practice Service run by the fourth year students because he was itching his right ear (he has an angry area of erythema but otherwise looks fine, I'm going to recheck him within the week).

I did finally get around to doing some work today and this evening called one of my classmates to discuss how woefully behind I am.
Me: I haven't gotten through even the first equine lecture on anemia.
Classmate: I haven't read those lectures. I think I'm going to just study them when I'm on my large animal medicine rotation, the exam questions won't be that detailed.
Me: What lectures? I don't know what you are talking about!

As it turns out, we were talking about the same set of lectures! Our professor gave us some lengthy handouts that far exceeded the level of detail she gave in her powerpoint presentation in class. I had somehow forgotten this and was studying the detailed handouts rather than the powerpoints (which we never got and weren't intially up on the website). Oops. The handouts are interesting, but I was finding them quite onerous to get through in a timely manner so feel relieved to find out that my classmate jettisoned reading them altogether.

This is one of the nice things about being a third year-- you have more confidence in your study habits, after all it got you this far. I think all of us feel far more comfortable being selective in what material we study. However, in the beginning I studied everything because I thought I wasn't smart enough to be in vet school. It was only after talking to my classmates later that first year that I realized many of us assumed that the admissions committee had let us in by mistake (never the case in vet school).
*

late summer

the night air is a perfect temperature
she luxuriates in the feel of air against bare legs,
bare arms
caressing her skin, enveloping her
she turns her face into the breeze
then winces
with its underlying iciness
goosebumps rising

late summer in ithaca
the betrayal foreshadowed

denial is her friend
but she can no longer pretend
this summer will last forever

The Night Before School

So my long summer vacation is over. Supposedly this is the last long summer vacation that I'll have before retirement. That sounds rather depressing, not that I don't like working.

I got to travel all over, from East coast to West, with a rare stopover in the Midwest. I did an externship in Madison, WI and really fell in love with the town and surrounding area. It is a lot like Ithaca but with a lot more going on!

The best part of summer, without a doubt, was having enough free time to read books of my own choice.

Here's most of what I read:

• The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down-- abount the Hmong refugee experience in America and about how cultural differences impact medical care dramatically
• Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote-- about his free-roaming dog in Wyoming. Amazing. My favorite book of the summer. This man seems to know how to get inside a dog's head.
• Delivering Dr. Amelia-- about the therapy of an ob/gyn who makes a mistake that tears her apart and her long process to recover
  
• Goatsong-- a light read about a couple who acquires goats and an interest in cheese later in life
• Woodswoman-- about a woman who builds her own cabin in the Adirondacks and lives there year round-- a bit disappointing as she seems to skim the surface on many complex subjects and also uses antiquated language that I found offensive for referring to race
• Passing Cain-- about raising boys so they are emotionally literate-- I never got to finish this as I left it with Eb and D
• Food Matters by Mark Bittman-- again, I only read bits and pieces as I left this as a present for my mom but it was very intriguing and I plan to finish it someday!
• The Birds Of Heaven by Peter Matthiesen-- about the plight of the world's 15 crane species-- a bit dense for me but I slogged through it in time to visit the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI
  
• And I'm ending the summer by finishing off the trilogy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the final book in this series-- which I began last fall!-- is The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I would have never read this series except that my step-dad said that the main character reminded him of me. Hmmm...

It's an eclectic mix-- I had no list to prioritize from, I simply had the luxury and leisure time to pick up and read whatever was available and appealed to me in the moment. Previously, I read all of the Harry Potter series over winter break since it is the book of many of my younger classmates' generation and I thought it would help me better understand and relate to them... And over spring break I read The Secret Life Of Bees, one of the few fiction books I have read in the past years that I really liked.

So, tomorrow it is back to the pressure cooker of vet school. I'm already looking forward to winter break. Which isn't to say that I don't love learning, just not at the pace I've come to expect from vet school.