fall festivities

today lauren (the roommate) and i went on our long-awaited visit to the pumpkin patch. our previous plans had been dashed by cold and bad weather, but today was the perfect day - blue skies and unseasonably warm.

the pumpkin patch, simply known as 'the pumpkin patch', was a short drive away, just a few miles down 64. we were not disappointed by their selection. a huge farm, they had gourds in every size, shape, and color, rows of vegetables, all types of corn and produce, and hay bales.

we were invited to take a wagon or wheelbarrow over to the patch to select our pumpkins. i couldn't capture in a picture how big the place was, but suffice to say, you couldn't see it all from one point. we scouted all over for the perfect pumpkin. they had all kinds, some were still growing, some were bumpy, most had no stems. but eventually we selected our pumpkins. oh, and there were grasshoppers everywhere! those things can jump about four feet in the air!

we wheeled (wheelbarrowed?) our pumpkins back to the produce tent and picked up some smaller gourds for fun. the pumpkins turned out to be a steal at only 50 cents a pound! unfortunately there weren't enough people for a hayride, but we were anxious to get home anyway.

once there, we started scooping and carving. we used the designs you can buy in the little booklets with the tools. lauren's was a little more labor intensive.. mine was a bit goofier (can you tell whose was whose??) once we finished we lit them up and took them out on the balcony for the whole boulevard to see. all in all a lovely fall day that almost made up for my (lack of) halloween last year. US, 1. france, 0.

south of the border

well for about three months now i've been living in richmond, virginia, capital of the south. it's only an hour south of where i went to school (fredericksburg), yet it seems to have a much more southern atmosphere. i've more or less adjusted to life here but i'm still enjoying the sights of the city, my lovely apartment, and exploring new places.

i still think of my life in france, from time to time. things are definitely a bit different here. instead of biking everywhere, i just bike to school and to my tutoring job. instead of a high rise in the middle of the city i live in a historic building near the museums. but things are great here. even if i can't buy cheap fresh bread i can at least buy shredded cheese that is not swiss and mexican food is widely available and affordable. and have i mentioned my apartment? it's wonderful. right in the middle of the fan and the museum districts (both historic areas), our apartment is on north boulevard (which apparently is just called the boulevard - very southern, isn't it?). i could go on and on but instead i'll invite you to see for yourself and leave you with four words: exposed brick, covered balcony (porch culture is huge here). what's even better is i've finally got a place to put all the things i've amassed, from oriental rugs and stained glass pieces, to a record player and travel pictures. very satisfying.

in my exploring thus far i've discovered some great little restaurants and cafés nestled into the historic streets. another lovely part of the fan is monument avenue, actually just a few feet from our apartment. the old street got its name for the momuents that line it, interspersed along stretches of the wide, shady medians (great for bocce ball/boules). there are some beautiful stretches, particularly now that the leaves have started to turn.

so while my current locale may not be as exotic, in some ways it's just as interesting. this is not the end of my travels (ha!), i'll still be exploring the area - in fact we're planning trips to charlottesville, williamsburg and norfolk sometime soon. and there are big plans in the works for this summer... so stay tuned.