July 10, 2014

The summer is flying by.

I drove to Madison (the state capital) yesterday to visit the Farmers’ Market and to just spend a little bit of a beautiful day in the city.

The state capital.

The Dane County Farmers’ Markets is the largest producer-only farmer’s market in the entire United States.

All the wonderful fruits, vegetables, breads, honeys and jams, flowers and herbs are produced locally by the vendor behind the table.

They are very strict in their requirements.

There is a 5-year waiting list to join the market as a vendor.

During the summer months, the market is held every Saturday (that’s the big one) and Wednesday morning.

It is located just off the capital square, in the heart of the city.

The Wednesday market was a little less spectacular than I had anticipated, but it was a nice morning wandering the stalls and sitting down to an iced tea and a freshly baked spicy spinach empanada.

I also found what I was looking for.

A publication of the Edible Communities, called Edible Madison.

It’s a free quarterly publication produced locally. 

It is produced locally in many, many cities across the country.

There are three in Wisconsin: Edible Madison, Edible Milwaukee and Edible Door (Door Country, WI.)

I first saw a copy of the publication in Boston last October when Harry and I returned to the city for some appointments...Edible Boston.

Edible Communities publications.

It is beautifully done.

The photography, in the Boston edition, is stunning.

I found Edible Madison in a wonderful store just off the square called The Kitchen Gallery, where I also got my hands on a simple, hand operated milk foamer.

That little device will improve my morning coffee ten fold.

Purple carrots.

Fennel.

Red onion.

Cauliflower.

…..

Harry starts swimming lessons next week.

I’m hoping he'll learn quickly how to be more comfortable in the water.

He’s fine, literally, up to his neck...in the ocean, lakes and pools, but doesn’t like his head under water or to get splashed in the face.

He needs to learn how to breathe…and to hold his breath.

I think he’ll be a good student and learn quickly.

The lessons will be for the next 3 weeks, in the morning, Monday through Thursday.

I'm hoping it's actually going to be warm enough for him to enjoy.

The temperatures in July in Wisconsin have been all over the place.

Harry and I used to go to the beach at least one hot weekend day every week during the summer.

He loved jumping the waves and running along the sandy beach in the shallow water.

We’ve made one trip to Devil’s Lake State Park where he had bunches of fun.

Devil's Lake State Park.

It was a really, really windy day.  

The sunshine was hidden behind the clouds and would sneak out for only a few minutes at a time.

Harry and I were splashing about in the waves and walking in the shallows until a strong wave surprised him from behind.

He swallowed a good bit of the lake. After that, he just wanted to get out of the water...and go home.

We made another weekend trip to Fenner Lake, a small local lake near my niece’s home.

In the shallows with the fish.

The water was pretty clear, in fact, clear enough to see the little fish swimming near the shore. 

My niece’s son, Tylor, was occupied catching those little fish.

Either he had the best bait in the country or those fish were just hungry for attention.

He caught fish after fish after fish, hardly putting his hook in the water for a solid minute before catching one on his line.

His Mom would release the hook from the little prize and quickly throw it back into the lake.

Tylor, the great fisherman.

Harry was having a great time in the water, despite it being a lot colder than Devil’s Lake had been the weekend before.

But…he lost his footing as he played, enough to swallow part of the lake.

He quickly announced he was done with the water and wanted to go home.

My hope is that with a few lessons from a qualified swimming instructor, he’ll learn to tolerate those kinds of water “mishaps” and continue to play and have fun…even after swallowing part of the ocean, the lake or the pool.

…..

I’ve been at the library this morning, backing up my MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone, installing new software, updating apps and just doing general technical maintenance.

It’s more prudent to use the library’s free wireless than to try to accomplish all of that while using my Verizon phone account as a hotspot.

My data usage has been high and that means bigger bills.

Bigger bills often translate to more stress, especially when you are still unemployed.

Admittedly, I’ve hit a bit of a rough spot lately.

I haven’t been sleeping well.

Been more emotional.

Feeling a little lost about things.

Disconnected.

Isolated.

Worrying more about Harry’s and my immediate future.

I struggle daily with whether I’m being “faithful” about the eventuality of a new job (persistently doing what I’m doing to find one) or being irresponsible, somehow.

I’ve reconnected with some former colleagues, people I knew when I was working in Dallas.

Hoping that they might have some connections that might help.

I'm expecting some emails next week.

I scour the Internet for job postings and search individual company websites…places that I would like to work.

But I feel as though I’m not doing enough.

Because if I were...doing enough...wouldn’t I have another solid lead by now?

Finding a job is sooooo much more difficult than I had ever imagined.

I am talented and skilled and experienced, but I am still unemployed.

A friend told me recently to “fib a little” about my years of experience, when filing online applications.

He said that 30 years of experience might make me sound…well…old.

That it wouldn’t be a good thing in this “of the minute, everything’s new and fresh and young” world.

Wow.

I am, by no means, “washed up” at 54.

I have a lot to offer a company...an organization...an employer.

I just have to figure out how to get the right one’s attention.

Any suggestions are certainly welcome.