Spring is finally here! It sure is sweet. Before I left for Uganda the winter was quite bitter - we had a lot of snow this year! It snowed more in Virginia and Pennsylvania while I was in Uganda sweating away in the equatorial heat. So when I arrived back in Charlottesville and the trees were just beginning to come into bloom I think I enjoyed it all the more.
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| I took this one last year at Monticello |
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| Tulips (my favorite) outside the apartment |
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| Dogwood outside the apartment |
Of course beautiful flowers in bloom means something else is in the air ...
You got that right. Pollen. I have been sniffling and sneezing, and have had a sinus headache for about a week. I'd been trying to get away with just using my Flonase, but gave in today and went to get some allergy medicine at CVS. I needed some decongestant along with my antihistamine, but that includes those pseudoephedrine boxes that are hidden away from all the meth-makers behind the counter. I grabbed the sample paper and went to the counter where the pharmacist gave me a suspicious glance. I hoped my raspy voice and sniffly nose gave him the proof he needed that I wasn't a drug lord, but he still had to scan my license and make me sign a form. Crazy what the world's come to...
And, much better than pollen, Spring means that the farmers' market is open!!!!!! When I was in Uganda buying all my vegetables from the market (and reading a book called Animal Vegetable Miracle) I was inspired to try to only eat local foods when I got home. Well folks, that's pretty hard. Especially when you're on call on market days, or the market rains out. I've decided that a better way to do it (for now at least) is to get everything I can locally, then everything else should be organic, or fair-trade, or bulk. We'll see how it goes. So far I have to say I think I've made some pretty good meals!
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| Local greens, 'shrooms, and some bulk grains from a locally-owned grocery store |
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| Polenta with sauteed spinach and mushrooms |
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| Stu patiently following my chopping directions |
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| Sauteed greens and dried tomatoes (from a layover in Istanbul!) with poached local eggs |
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| Rhubarb and strawberry crisp! |
This weekend brought some beautiful weather. It also brought the Foxfields horse race which, if you can remember, I went to last year. It was a good experience at least once, but this year a few of us decided to have an "anti Foxfields" gathering at some local vineyards. We tried some we hadn't been to before: Blenheim (owned by Dave Matthews) and Trump (owned by ... well you can figure that out). We had a good time with some fellow residents and their gals, enjoyed the sun, and finally an amazing dinner at Mas tapas restaurant.
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| Sam and Hartke at Blenheim |
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| The whole crew |
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| Internal medicine group: me, Steve, Hartke, Godsey |
