For Christina Groce.

Monday night we had a bad storm come through pretty much all of the southeast.  Around 2 am I woke up and asked Reid if we should head to the basement and by 3 am we had lost power and I was too tired to care too much at that point if the roof was coming off.  Plus, I had let Reid convince me that we were fine (which now being awake I have no idea why I trusted my half asleep husband on tornado safety measures except that I really preferred my bed over the creepy basement bathroom).  I will admit I did get up long enough between 2:00 and 3:00 to put enough clothes on so that if the roof did blow off the house I wouldn't be indecent when the television crew came to film what was left of our stick built vinyl siding home with our hound running around and me barefoot and pregnant describing the tornado as "a train."  (I grew up in Alabama so I know all about proper post-tornado interview etiquette). 

Tuesday morning Reid rushed to get out the door for work since we had overslept.  I immediately brushed my teeth because I had remembered a vague comment from Reid saying that if the power went out, we didn't have water either because of the well pump. 

When I got to the Tignall kitchen to see if we had power there, the little town looked pretty bad.  I went ahead and labeled the Augusta Locally Grown orders that were ready along with packaging up extra treats so that the customers who weren't getting their order would at least have a bit of a "consolation prize."  (Even though I know hamburger buns and cookies or steak fajitas and granola aren't necessarily interchangeable, I didn't want anyone to get that sinking "I have no birthday presents to unwrap" feeling when they got to the market). 

I had errands and a husband in Augusta so I decided to use the day to surprise Reid (after sending him to work with no breakfast.. had accidentally left his portion of granola in Tignall), return horrible curtains, run errands and get to deliver my Augusta order in person (instead of sending it through the Wilkes County Delivery Train which happens to usually be the back of a Volvo or truck). 

Tuesday ended up being a really fun and important day.  I had only delivered my orders to ALG once but had to drop them off and run.  This time I got to stick around until customers came and learn how to be a "volunteer" by filling orders, running up to the coolers to grab gallons of Southern Swiss Dairy milk and of course offer meager brownies instead of a full dinner plate.  As of this afternoon we still had no power and since I was on a "visit the market you're selling to" kick, I got to drive the Wilkes Co. Delivery Train up to Athens today along with Carissa of Tink's Grass Fed Beef.  Again, it was so great to see this amazing online Farmer's Market operation up close and personal.  (Athens even has ipads for all their volunteers to pull up/check off customer's orders eliminating paper...pretty awesome operation).

We just recently got word tonight everything was up and running in Tignall but will have to wait until the morning to see it with our own eyes.  We very temporarily moved our base of operation back here which has reminded Reid and I exactly why we can't live in the middle of a business no matter how convenient the commute is.  It also made us appreciate the stainless tables and three different specified sinks soooo much more.  (I think whenever we redo our kitchen I'll insist on 3 sinks..hand-washing/prep/dishes-it just makes so much sense).

We are looking forward to getting back in our kitchen tomorrow morning and incredibly grateful for the last few days of "inconveniences" since it has led to getting to know more of the people that we're sharing meals with.  It was all worth it today when I drove away from "Weekday Gourmet" deliveries:

 I got to see a mom, daughter and grandbaby from Thomson eating Southern Scratch meals on a bench in the town square while enjoying the view of downtown Washington.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude and pride that visitors from the town over would purposely come and share in a meal that so many from our town have had a part in preparing.  I thought of how we all meet up at someone's house on Tuesday or Thursdays and load a car full of produce, meat, plants, meals & treats and send our little Wilkes County delivery train to Athens or Augusta and how that kind of fills me with pride.  I thought of how I have the best little job ever to get to do something like provide visitors in town with a meal that is not just from my kitchen but from the hands of a whole community. 

And I thought about how I almost fell asleep writing this and that I better go put on my best post storm interview nightgown just in case another storm rolls in tonight...