Rode Hard and Put Up Wet
I don't know if anyone even recognizes that phrase anymore about being rode hard and put up wet, but it's a horse reference. When you bring your horse in from a sweaty ride, you are supposed to cool the horse down, and make sure it is dry before letting it stand around in the stall. Back in the old days, people who relied on horses for everything would know they were pushing too hard if they had to stash a steaming horse. The same applies to humans, of course.
So yesterday was one of those classic days that I love to report on. They don't happen that often -- usually things go according to plan and there isn't much to say about that. The plan yesterday had us all stretched pretty much to our usual limits on a Sunday: market truck rolls through for the second half of its load on its way to Dupont Circle at 6 AM, then I pick some basil for the Takoma Park load that gets loaded at 7 AM, Heinz arrives at about 7:30 with a van full of melons etc. that needs to be unloaded before we start setting up the CSA at 8:30, we set up the room by 11:00. And then the customers start to arrive. Usually that all goes pretty smoothly.
Yesterday had an extra wrinkle in the plan because we were hosting a gathering for the Oberlin Alumni Association. A pie and ice cream social in the afternoon. We had never done that before but we were not too worried about it -- we have tables and a relatively shady space behind the stand. I had picked up the pies the night before and even managed to store them in a place that no chipmunks found.
We definitely felt like we were well prepared for a busy Sunday, even though Carrie was on a rare day off and some of our regular market workers were on vacation.
So I was in the basil patch at 6:30 when I got a text from Casey (who used to work for us and now manages a different vegetable farm with his wife Stacey) saying that they wouldn't be able to get our CSA squash and cucumbers to us at the beginning of market as planned because they were broken down on the side of the road. Thinking back, I am amazed that he would have even thought to send that message. That was the least of his problems.
"Our box truck is broken down on side of 66. We are going to try to get it towed but just wanted to let you know that we will probably not be there at the beginning of market with cukes and squash."
Pretty understated. I sent him three numbers for tow truck companies that were potentially useful and went back to my basil picking but I knew that wasn't quite right. I called Stacey for an update. They were driving two vehicles, so she was leaving Casey on the side of the road and continuing on to market. I said I could come with an empty vehicle and give it to him so he could also go on to market. I know how slow tow truck companies can be.
So then we needed a Plan B because Stephen was on his way to Vienna to load up for market and would have no idea where to find everything and what to take. Even though Carrie was on her day off, I knew she was home (I was standing in her front yard which is the basil patch) and I reluctantly texted her for help. She said: yes, what time.
I got into our little box truck and headed for Haymarket, driving faster than usual but it was Sunday morning and already getting late. I had no plan for how I was going to get back home but I figured it out while I was driving, and I called a loyal farm volunteer who I knew lived somewhere out that way. "Can you pick me up on 66 at Mile Marker 39 in about half an hour?" Yes. He was coming to the farm anyway to help set up the CSA, so this was not an outrageous request.
Casey had unloaded most of his load on the shoulder and it was clear it was not all going to fit on the truck, no way. So we had to decide what to take and what to leave. This was painful -- it was their biggest load of the season and he was kind of in shock, unable to believe he had to make decisions at 7:15 about what to leave on the highway when he was supposed to be setting up already in Dupont Circle. But eventually we crammed as much as we could into the truck, put all the rest back on his broken truck, and off he went with his very calm and trusty worker. My generous and bemused chauffeur arrived in time to do some of the lifting so there were four of us wrangling this giant load in and out of the trucks. I got to see what Stacey and Casey do before market -- they do an incredible job of sorting and packing and preparing a huge variety of vegetables. They are masters of marketing. I already knew that, but it was interesting to see it all again.
On the way back to the farm, I made the rest of the plan. Called Jon who was already at Dupont and asked him if he could come back and get the rest of Casey's load. Yep. He zoomed back to the farm, picked up our nephew Hugh (who was sleeping until his phone rang too many times) and they got into another empty truck and headed back to Haymarket. They arrived back at the market by 10:40, just two hours after the opening bell. What a headache, unloading all that stuff in the middle of a busy selling day. But this is not the first time this has happened to anyone, and I imagine people were helping them hustle their stuff through the crowds.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my mother and the volunteer and I worked fast to get the CSA room ready. We were ready at exactly 11:00. We still hadn't started on the preparations for the ice cream social but I knew there were competent young people around -- I delegated the clean-up and set-up tasks to Alissa (who arrived unexpectedly in the truck with Jon who had the excellent idea of bringing her out from town after her 28 hour shift was over at the hospital) and her cousin Tillie. I knew they would get it done, and they did a beautiful job.
This event was very well attended. I never go to these things because they happen in the dead of summer, so I had no experience with these annual gatherings. Oberlin alumni of all ages plus incoming students plus parents arrived in many cars. There may have been almost 100 people there, standing around in our rustic Behind the Stand party area. Benches made of baskets and boards, tables with market tablecloths, pies, baskets filled with drying onions on the shelves above, CSA customers weaving through the crowd. When it seemed like the organizers had waited long enough to start, Anna encouraged me to go and say that we were tired of waiting. The main organizer is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken, earnest guy from my class. He has a pretty quiet voice and is not bossy. So I did what Anna said and I got things going with my loud voice and my bossy (but welcoming ) manner. We divided everyone up into impromptu tour groups led by Michael Lipsky '61, Michael Bradford '13, Hiu Newcomb '56, Anna Newcomb '84 and me '80. Who knows what everyone else talked about on their tours, but I am sure everyone had a fine time. Then there was an award ceremony honoring my mother as a lifelong example of Oberlin values and virtues, and then there was pie and ice cream.
By this time I was pretty much done for the day. Stephen came home from market and went to sleep on Zoey's little red couch in the corner, after some pie and ice cream -- this week has pretty much used him up with the dual tasks of farming and Root to Rise supporting.
Our family gathered at Anna's for a traditional birthday party for Stephen. Hugh, with lots of help, had made about a dozen homemade pizzas of many flavors. Anna has rituals that ground us and make us know how to behave and what to expect (no eating before we all sit down and hold hands, we do have to have plates and silverware, there will be water in the glasses, there will always be ice cream in small bowls with tiny spoons). Cousins and siblings and grandparents and welcome guests, we all recharge our batteries at that table. Thank goodness for Anna and Gordon and their commitment to a big table and regular gatherings.
It was a fine Sunday. We were not actually put up wet, we got cooled down by the end of the day. We are lucky to have so many of us, ready to do whatever it takes, whatever is needed. The cast of characters is huge around here.
So yesterday was one of those classic days that I love to report on. They don't happen that often -- usually things go according to plan and there isn't much to say about that. The plan yesterday had us all stretched pretty much to our usual limits on a Sunday: market truck rolls through for the second half of its load on its way to Dupont Circle at 6 AM, then I pick some basil for the Takoma Park load that gets loaded at 7 AM, Heinz arrives at about 7:30 with a van full of melons etc. that needs to be unloaded before we start setting up the CSA at 8:30, we set up the room by 11:00. And then the customers start to arrive. Usually that all goes pretty smoothly.
Yesterday had an extra wrinkle in the plan because we were hosting a gathering for the Oberlin Alumni Association. A pie and ice cream social in the afternoon. We had never done that before but we were not too worried about it -- we have tables and a relatively shady space behind the stand. I had picked up the pies the night before and even managed to store them in a place that no chipmunks found.
We definitely felt like we were well prepared for a busy Sunday, even though Carrie was on a rare day off and some of our regular market workers were on vacation.
So I was in the basil patch at 6:30 when I got a text from Casey (who used to work for us and now manages a different vegetable farm with his wife Stacey) saying that they wouldn't be able to get our CSA squash and cucumbers to us at the beginning of market as planned because they were broken down on the side of the road. Thinking back, I am amazed that he would have even thought to send that message. That was the least of his problems.
"Our box truck is broken down on side of 66. We are going to try to get it towed but just wanted to let you know that we will probably not be there at the beginning of market with cukes and squash."
Pretty understated. I sent him three numbers for tow truck companies that were potentially useful and went back to my basil picking but I knew that wasn't quite right. I called Stacey for an update. They were driving two vehicles, so she was leaving Casey on the side of the road and continuing on to market. I said I could come with an empty vehicle and give it to him so he could also go on to market. I know how slow tow truck companies can be.
So then we needed a Plan B because Stephen was on his way to Vienna to load up for market and would have no idea where to find everything and what to take. Even though Carrie was on her day off, I knew she was home (I was standing in her front yard which is the basil patch) and I reluctantly texted her for help. She said: yes, what time.
I got into our little box truck and headed for Haymarket, driving faster than usual but it was Sunday morning and already getting late. I had no plan for how I was going to get back home but I figured it out while I was driving, and I called a loyal farm volunteer who I knew lived somewhere out that way. "Can you pick me up on 66 at Mile Marker 39 in about half an hour?" Yes. He was coming to the farm anyway to help set up the CSA, so this was not an outrageous request.
Casey had unloaded most of his load on the shoulder and it was clear it was not all going to fit on the truck, no way. So we had to decide what to take and what to leave. This was painful -- it was their biggest load of the season and he was kind of in shock, unable to believe he had to make decisions at 7:15 about what to leave on the highway when he was supposed to be setting up already in Dupont Circle. But eventually we crammed as much as we could into the truck, put all the rest back on his broken truck, and off he went with his very calm and trusty worker. My generous and bemused chauffeur arrived in time to do some of the lifting so there were four of us wrangling this giant load in and out of the trucks. I got to see what Stacey and Casey do before market -- they do an incredible job of sorting and packing and preparing a huge variety of vegetables. They are masters of marketing. I already knew that, but it was interesting to see it all again.
On the way back to the farm, I made the rest of the plan. Called Jon who was already at Dupont and asked him if he could come back and get the rest of Casey's load. Yep. He zoomed back to the farm, picked up our nephew Hugh (who was sleeping until his phone rang too many times) and they got into another empty truck and headed back to Haymarket. They arrived back at the market by 10:40, just two hours after the opening bell. What a headache, unloading all that stuff in the middle of a busy selling day. But this is not the first time this has happened to anyone, and I imagine people were helping them hustle their stuff through the crowds.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my mother and the volunteer and I worked fast to get the CSA room ready. We were ready at exactly 11:00. We still hadn't started on the preparations for the ice cream social but I knew there were competent young people around -- I delegated the clean-up and set-up tasks to Alissa (who arrived unexpectedly in the truck with Jon who had the excellent idea of bringing her out from town after her 28 hour shift was over at the hospital) and her cousin Tillie. I knew they would get it done, and they did a beautiful job.
This event was very well attended. I never go to these things because they happen in the dead of summer, so I had no experience with these annual gatherings. Oberlin alumni of all ages plus incoming students plus parents arrived in many cars. There may have been almost 100 people there, standing around in our rustic Behind the Stand party area. Benches made of baskets and boards, tables with market tablecloths, pies, baskets filled with drying onions on the shelves above, CSA customers weaving through the crowd. When it seemed like the organizers had waited long enough to start, Anna encouraged me to go and say that we were tired of waiting. The main organizer is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken, earnest guy from my class. He has a pretty quiet voice and is not bossy. So I did what Anna said and I got things going with my loud voice and my bossy (but welcoming ) manner. We divided everyone up into impromptu tour groups led by Michael Lipsky '61, Michael Bradford '13, Hiu Newcomb '56, Anna Newcomb '84 and me '80. Who knows what everyone else talked about on their tours, but I am sure everyone had a fine time. Then there was an award ceremony honoring my mother as a lifelong example of Oberlin values and virtues, and then there was pie and ice cream.
By this time I was pretty much done for the day. Stephen came home from market and went to sleep on Zoey's little red couch in the corner, after some pie and ice cream -- this week has pretty much used him up with the dual tasks of farming and Root to Rise supporting.
Our family gathered at Anna's for a traditional birthday party for Stephen. Hugh, with lots of help, had made about a dozen homemade pizzas of many flavors. Anna has rituals that ground us and make us know how to behave and what to expect (no eating before we all sit down and hold hands, we do have to have plates and silverware, there will be water in the glasses, there will always be ice cream in small bowls with tiny spoons). Cousins and siblings and grandparents and welcome guests, we all recharge our batteries at that table. Thank goodness for Anna and Gordon and their commitment to a big table and regular gatherings.
It was a fine Sunday. We were not actually put up wet, we got cooled down by the end of the day. We are lucky to have so many of us, ready to do whatever it takes, whatever is needed. The cast of characters is huge around here.
I DO know that expression, but I remember it as "rode hard and put away wet." Thanks for the story!
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