August.

Other things that have been going on:

• My birthday came and went last week. My parents took me out for a fabulous dinner and I found myself able to relax and enjoy it enough to stop feeling so bummed out that all my Oakland friends weren’t here to celebrate with me.
• My friend E and her lovely boyfriend M visited from Oakland the day after I got back from the National Havurah Committee Summer Institute. It was so fun showing them the Hudson Valley and seeing them enjoy some time in the country after their hectic week touring New York City.
• E and M and myself hiked around Lake Minnewaska. That was a huge accomplishment for me, because it’s been several years since I’ve been able to do any significant hiking due to my constant physical pain. It was triumphant, and due in no small part to the fabulous care I’ve been giving my body and the miraculous medication I have been on for 6 months now. I hope this is only the beginning of my getting back into hiking and enjoying nature in a more active way.
• I am getting ready to go back to school on Monday – For the first time in 8 years, I will be a student in a significant way (i.e. taking more than one class at a time).
• Cherry tomatoes and swiss chard are the major harvests right now, with some cucumbers thrown in there. My edamame are doing well – I am actually going to be able to harvest a few soon. I also need to get out there and harvest some collard greens. I have been sadly neglecting my garden but I’m getting ready to put in fall crops, which will be fun.
• Spent Shabbat with Chab*d here. It was nice, until a guest (not the Rabbi or Rebbetzin) went on a homophobic tirade. I almost walked out, but chose not to. Homophobic assholes suck, but I won’t let them ruin my day. I found the Rabbi and his wife very warm and kind and more open-minded than I expected, and the food was wonderful. I will probably return at some point.
• Found a synagogue that I think I like – A Conservative congregation that was very warm and welcoming. I don’t want to get too excited since I only attended once, but it seems like something closer to what I’ve been looking for than any of the shuls I’ve attended here yet.
• Today I am going to try cooking gluten-free, kosher Jamaican-inspired meat patties! The weather has been so cool that I’ve gotten excited about cooking again.
• People who know me will be surprised and/or amused to know that I put on a skirt for the first time in about 11 years on Friday for my dinner at Chab*d house. It was a real head-trip, gender-wise. It was also kind of fun, and less uncomfortable than I’d anticipated. I am trying to be less scared of gender fluidity, and more comfortable expressing both the masculine and feminine parts of myself. It was a fascinating experiment for me that showed me a lot about myself. And OK, it was also just plain bizarre.
• My newest time-waster is looking at Hudson Valley real estate listings online. Especially listings for cheap land in this area.

Mmm… leafy greens (dinosaur kale, with rainbow chard in the background):