days numbered in fruit.

I love oranges. We brought back a huge bag from Florida and now there are only two left. I don't know what I'm going to do when they're gone. I'm currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", and am finding myself more and more inspired to fully commit to being a locavore. (Locavore, by the way, just happens to have been the Oxford Word of the Year in 2007!)

My grandma Thelma loves to tell the story about the one birthday party she had as a child. The one, at least, where she got to have friends come to celebrate with her....and they brought her presents. She was around 10 years old, and still remembers the first and last names of all three girls who attended. Two of the three gifts were memorable as well; one, an apple and the other, an orange. Obtaining an orange in Wisconsin was almost unheard of back then, making it a very indulgent birthday gift. My grandma's birthday is in April, so even the apple was out of season and must have traveled many miles to get to her. Grandma Thelma turns 80 years old this April.

How, in a matter of 70 years, did we get from oranges being so exquisite as to warrant gift-ability, to not giving second thought to tossing one into our shopping carts on any given day of the year?

Soon, the rolling hills of this frozen tundra I live in will turn green. Will my tongue forget about oranges when the year's first asparagus makes its appearance? Will the molly mooch be enough to distract me?

Steven L. Hopp makes this claim..."If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week." Barrels! Not just gallons...BARRELS! Of course, that's not even the half of it.

Two more oranges, folks. Two.

sand in our toes.

After a full week of sun and sand, we are home. Take note. This is the first time I have called this place "home". It's the first time its felt that way. Thelma and I went on a treasure hunt this afternoon in search of anything alive creeping out of the dirt. Sure enough, we found signs of life all over the yard! I see now that I haven't given this place a fair chance.

The tulips and crocuses aren't the only sign of life I've been noticing lately. This next addition to our family seems to move in my womb constantly. I'm slightly concerned that its going to come into this world thinking that sleep is an unnecessary vice. For now, I love the movement....the constant reminder that very soon I will have a babe at my breast again.

Oh, Baby!