Staying local (tennis obsession with a few veggies on top)

Staying local is what we did this weekend! Neither Kelvin nor I have had the luxury of cable TV for the past several years... but, this weekend, boy did we realize that we love it! We are both sports lovers and watched tens of hours of great sporting events on TV, venturing out of the house minimally! I have been particularly obsessed with U.S. Open Tennis and watching all of the new, young stars make names for themselves (the last time I watched a lot of tennis was at least 5 years ago; my, how the times change and my, how depressing to hear the commentators discuss how "old" [i.e. 30] some players are!).

I was happy that Serena Williams went down in the women's final against Aussie Sam Stosur (Sam played brilliantly and Serena, definitely acting like a twit, was fully deserving of the fine she got) and, while I really like Roger Federer, seeing Djokovic come back and win the semi in five sets and then go on to beat formidable Nadal in the men's final was extraordinary. Parts of the women's doubles final was also thrilling!!! I really believe I have a bit of the post-U.S. open blues, when I can't look forward to being planted in front of the T.V. set, living vicariously through these amazing athletes (until the Australian Open, that is... ):) Kelvin and I had a bit of a "discussion" over what was more important to watch-- college and opening season NFL football (which I do enjoy watching) vs. the latter rounds of the U.S. Open, but I did watch some great football (Michigan vs Notre Dame, anyone?!) in between my mad attention to tennis, above. And I guess, for just this reason, it's okay (and probably good) that we have two functioning TVs.

We did check out a couple of "local" events (now, we have only 95 more things to do in Humboldt County!) :) On Friday, Arcata had its "Arts Alive" evening (which rotates among local towns-- Eureka has one on the first Saturday, McKinleyville on the third Friday or something), which is similar to Sacramento's Second Saturday festivals. Some local shops and galleries and many eateries on and around the downtown Arcata Plaza stay open late, promoting local artisans' crafts and local musicians' talent (with lots of great live music!). We checked out a sushi place (Tomo, a great one!) and somehow walked away from a garden store with a too few many "cute" gifts...

Saturday morning was Arcata's longstanding Farmers' Market, which was outstanding! I was blown away with the scope and variety of the market, from take-home and house plants to wonderful heirloom tomatoes, to every variety of pepper you can imagine (did you know there are purple peppers?!). We, like most of the other farmers' market-goers, brought our recyclable bags (I saw many people with baskets! [this place is very green]) and came away with some wonderful, tasty goods.

Enjoy the market pics:

Peppers!!



(succulents)


more peppers...


This farmers' market is going to probably be a regular event for us! Arcata, a town of independent thinkers and businesspeople (chain stores and eateries are almost banned here!), really encourages buying local. I think we will be "staying local" for quite some time!