Still Waiting for Summer Vacation

Today I did the weekly "shopping".  As much as I would like to say we are self-sufficient, we are still a long way away; and that is okay.  I started my outing by visiting my favorite farmstand for our weekly allotment of raw milk.  My jar of milk today was so fresh they had a note included telling me that it was so freshly milked that it had not yet been totally chilled and I needed to put it to cool pronto.  I then proceeded to the "real" market, after pulling over twice to re-attach my front bumper. (long story made short: early foggy morning heading out to sell the berries and high-sided the beemer....oops)

As I walk into the only market on the island that people regularly shop at (it is somewhat of a secret that there are actually two grocery stores on the island, people seem to only shop at one of them and I have never been in the other which it practically across the street) I start saying hello to people I recognize.  I then glance at my list and get ready to b-line it to what is essential: wine, flour, and cheese.   You may pause at my list, but I can do a lot with just those things!  I rounded the bend at the first aisle and was enticed by roasted turkey at a screaming deal in the deli.  I then went looking for some aseptically sealed milk for the next power outage and was psyched to see it was on sale too.  We needed some more raisins and low and behold they were on sale too.  

And then it hit me: Tomorrow is the first day of school.  In that moment I realized that the entire store was set up like a pirate map leading us all to a successful start of the school year: yogurt cups, juice boxes, cheese slices, glue, thermoses, granola bars, and snack chips.  A few of the items I was glad to see on sale: string cheese, yogurt, and a pair of left-handed scissors for Freja, but for the most part I was saddened by the nudging of what I "needed" to start my children off right for school.  I opted for some raw-milk cheese, a few bottles of Syrah and Malbec wines, and really good goat's milk blue cheese and three bunches of fat, organic carrots.  We will eat well this first week of school, and always.