on duty

i spent almost all of yesterday on my feet. it's hard work being kelly quinn in a hot small town.

i got up really early yesterday to stand at the market with paula for our sprouts program. yesterday was nutrition day. paula made a scavenger hunt related to the food pyramid and we had worksheets. we also made smoothies at 10 am as a small demo to introduce more fruit and dairy into children's diets. i took my grandfather's waring blender and paula took one of hers. i made vegan ones with ice and fruits...paula made a yogurt based one. we had fruits lined up and asked the kids to suggest ingredients and then we blended and served. it was beastly hot at the market so this was a very popular activity. we didn't see as much traffic as we usually do at the market. i am not quite sure what was up with that -- maybe vacations?. but we had 29 vendors including a few new farmers and at least one new artisan. sarla returned to the market with her amazing chutneys and frozen dals and such. i like working at the market so much. it's where i feel most connected to the community. and i really really like knowing people who are not on the faculty at miami. there's a whole other world in town and just across the border in indiana. as usual, i enjoy working with other people's children. the great revelation here is that white children laugh at my jokes too.

after the shift at the market, i sought out to find a sundress in town. this is not an easy task for a grown women, especially a full-figured one. i wound up at wal-mart where i procured sundresses (priced $5 and $7 and tank tops priced $1 and $3). they were all on clearance but still! and the other majorly impressive feature of shopping at wal-mart, the sizes seem accurate and expansive. the big perk is that they carry sizes above 6. it is just so depressing to go into the three women's clothing stores in town only to be taunted by the petites and S and M. it really saddens me how much and how many aspects of life in ox is given over the college students -- especially the skinny college students. i contemplated driving 25 miles to the local department store or 60 minutes to cincinnati, but ... why? for a sundress.

i returned home and unloaded my cooler of market veggies and fielded a phone call from AE. she and robert emptied and disassembled his 8' drafting desk and wanted to drop it off later in the day and then have supper. this got complicated and i ended up roasting a bunch of the bounty of the earth and then cleaning up to receive the desk. i had dinner with robert and ann elizabeth and kiefer and hung out for several hours with them. they helped me think about some new ideas for the walking ella watson's washington this summer. i need to ramp up production on those ideas because i land in d.c. on july 31 and i don't want to have to do any of it there...i want to make it happen here and print for cheap at my own print center on campus and then take the fans and flyers and table tents with me.

kiefer likes to recite jokes that he has heard -- he's four as you can imagine -- many have to do with bodily functions. he told one about a smelly policeman who was on duty. i realized then that i hadn't showered all day.