What have I been doing with myself?

Two months?  TWO MONTHS and then some?  WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MYSELF?  Here's a synopsis for the curious:

September was an odd conglomeration of responsibilities and the lack thereof:  sunny carless days, a long weekend along the northerly stretch of the Long Trail, kicking up my heels but dragging my feet at the prospect of regular employment, so I began picking grapes.  The vineyard is only two miles south of my house, the easiest commute I’ve ever had; it’s a good job when the weather is good and earns me next to no money.  I've learned lots of little things I never would have otherwise:  the difference between good rot and bad rot, how certain varieties can be trained to grow higher up than others, that too much water in the ground drastically reduces yields, that red grapes are far easier to harvest than white ones because the white ones camouflage themselves among the leaves, and that frogs, mice, birds, and snakes all like to make their homes in the vines.  I've also come to the conclusion that I'd rather get paid less to work outdoors and close to where I live than get paid slightly more to commute and work indoors. 

The grapes are just about done now, so I’m supplementing as best I can by substitute teaching every now and then.  Subbing is peculiar since it means going back to my old elementary school, the school I ditched at age twelve in pursuit of a more "progressive" and "rigorous" education.  Being back there now, a decade later, makes me realize how much of a bedroom community this town has become.  These kids feel infinitely more urbanized, or at least suburbanized, than the kids with whom I started school.  Maybe that's just the nature of our ever more technologically homogenized world:  everyone carrying the latest ipod and a glitzier cellphone than I will ever own.

But they're still kids:  they make noise in the hallways, fall off their chairs, draw on their hands with markers, beg for ten minutes of free choice at the end of French class so they can build houses out of playing cards.  Let me just say, the stuff kids draw on their hands is WAY more creative than the coloring worksheets we give them.  You should have seen the little finger-puppets the kindergarteners were drawing onto themselves last week!  And any kid who asks me if she can have a blank piece of paper instead of a coloring sheet gets a definite YES.  And stacking cards?  The skills those sixth-grade boys are exercising when they build card-houses (coordination, fine motor, spatial reasoning) are at least as important as whatever skills they would gain from actually playing Milles Bornes or French Uno (now if I can just get them practicing their French while they stack!).

In other news, I have a peck of Northern Spy apples just begging to be made into something delicious.  (Did I mention I've developed a localvore vegan apple crisp recipe?  It converts pretty easily into an apple tart, too, and involves cornmeal.  If I ever bother figuring out the measurements, I'll post it.)  I also have a whole pile of red cabbages (gleaned from my uncle's abandoned garden) that should get turned into kimchi and sauerkraut; I wonder where my mason jars are...