All the News that's Fit to Print

from the Desk of the Caywood Tattler--

Weather Corner
* - 15 degrees F
* Guerilla insulation tactics
* Chickens now indoors
* Round the clock vigil for frozen pipes
* Success! No frozen pipes!

Eating Local, Then and Now
First winter here: Winter CSA membership, exclusive contract for the consumption of root vegetables, no greens after Nov. 15, pork becomes a substitute for chocolate.
Fourth winter here: Still making the effort, if you call eating avocados and mangos "making the effort."

Winter Wildlife Watch
* 83 days since K & A's last deer strike!
* Wildlife camera installed in yard, then relocated to house in conjunction with...
* ... winter vermin infestation kick-off party!
* Your petless protagonists are counting down the days until Bella comes home!

Overheard
Rumor has it that an area realtor has called our neighborhood "trashy." First of all, since when does a neighborhood situated between two vineyards and with lake views qualify as "trashy"? Second of all, everyone knows that a real real estate word for "trashy" is "quirky." Mr./Ms. "Real Estate Agent" are you even licensed in the State of New York?

Adult Education Offering Helps Area Residents Expand Horizons
Looking for something to do now that the 6-class Tai Chi series at the Eagle Hotel has ended? Bust a move (or, as we say in Tai Chi, "Strum the Pei Pa") on over to the Interlaken Central School on Thursday nights for Hula Hooping for Health. Perhaps "Hula Hooping" has hithertofore been filed in your mental pigeonhole somehwere between "Whimsical" and "Outdated" and "Seriously, People." You'll need to reshuffle your categories. May we suggest you now file it somewhere between "Stealth Danger" and "What the Hell!"?

New Year, Dark and Light

caywood-- In recent years, it has been our custom to take a few days between Christmas and New Year's Day for ourselves. Liminality: We love it. Bring it on!

Then you've crossed the threshold, and there it is: your new year.

One day you are watching embers from your backyard bonfire float starward amid your new, resolved hopes, or toasting with a painless flute of prosecco over chocolate fondue with friends, while the next you are staring down the barrel of your workaday world and digging out of the rut you thought you left in 2010.

Kar-BOOM! Don't blow your hand off!

And that is why it is good to have friends.

Today, we were so pleased-- overjoyed, really-- to have a visit from Caywood Alumni Jay, Amy, Lucy, and Jasper.

Taco Bar!
Little House Gingerbread!
Cracking hyper-local walnuts!
Jack Frost nipping at our noses!
Rousing games of "Kids in a Coop," "Horses in a Stall," "Can You See Me?" and "I Just Woke Up!"!

And so, nine days into the new year, we already have another highlight! Thanks, guys.