We lived in Athens for about six years before I went to culinary school, so it is like going home.

I really love our house in Pataskala, and the land that it is on. We have eight acres of woods, which surround three sides of the house, and we are lucky in that two of our neighbors own significant amounts of woodland around ours which they have no intention of selling because they ride horses on it.

But, within five miles of our house in any direction, there is a total of somewhere between eight and twelve huge developments going in. I can hear the equipment tearing down the trees from our woods, and it is breaking my heart. Our woods are home to foxes, hawks, deer, rabbit, skunk, turkey, raccoon, possum, a huge number and variety of songbirds, lots of woodpeckers, falcons, kestrels, snakes, frogs and toads, even coyote. Two years ago in the snow, I saw bobcat tracks.

All I can think of is where these animals are going to go. It makes me terribly sad–living beside and among these creatures was a gift to us, but now–I don’t know if I can watch all of this greed and destruction.

As for Lynd’s–we buy the apples in succession. McIntosh first, then Jonathan, then Rome and finally, Winesap. And of course, we get peaches and cherries in the summer, and squash and pumpkings in the fall. Last summer I got some of the best blackberries ever there, though I usually just went out and picked wild ones from our woods.

Speaking of which, I will have to go into the woods and see if the ramps are coming up….