Saturday morning. I wake up early to catch the kitchen crew in the garden, I know they'll be harvesting for that night’s meal. And then I stay because only half the garden in bathed in morning light, mainly the sunflowers, they’re the tallest. The bees are making their rounds and I can hear the campers beginning to stir, hungry for breakfast. Music plays all day. The band that afternoon—Front Country—is terrific.
I am drawn to the children on Saturday. They are happy and relaxed and so beautiful. Excitement is building for the parade that evening, when the giant Jerry Garcia puppet will emerge and everyone will throw flowers because “that’s what love will make you do.” We rock out to Melvin Seals & JGB and again, everyone is smiling.
The meal that night is unbelievable. Coconut curry with fire roasted veggies served with red lentil dahl, basmati rice, rice noodle, cabbage, and tofu salad, and red onion, peach, and raisin chutney. A killer yogurt-cucumber and heirloom carrot raitta. And Mendocino coast salmon, Potter Valley pork, String Creek Lamb, and Magruder beef.
As if that’s not enough, when everyone’s done rocking out to Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams, and we’ve eaten our fill of popcorn and cookies, and the BBQ is cooking wood to warm our bones, pizzas start flying out of the wood oven and the musicians get their instruments and play around the pizza oven until the early hours of Sunday. And everything is beautiful.
For more photos and to purchase prints from Saturday, click here.
(If you missed Friday, click here.)