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Closing the loop

Best gluten-free pizza crust ever at Squash Blossom Farm

So you know how at random times in your life things just come full circle?

Well, that's happened quite a bit in my world over the past few weeks...some of the most notable:


  • Applying for a job at UMN that would have me finding supply chain outlets for Kernza (links back to my roots in KS)--landed an interview but didn't get the job, in case you were wondering. :)
  • Connecting with two Minnesota natives here in Minneapolis who I met in Lawrence last semester
  • Seeing an article about what is happening with to the soybean market upon visiting the New Food Economy website for the first time (and having written about the topic here on my blog within the last couple of months)
  • Having my fortune cookie's word turn out to be "fruit" and choosing to take a job with an apple farm in the same week
  • Stumbling upon Cafe Racer, a restaurant my roommate recommended and then realizing it's catty-corner from a house I visited to find a place to live back in May
Life, of course, is not all peaches and cream. I think once you change your attitude about things, shit can hit the fan and you just learn to move on. For instance...

  • My laundry basket handle broke in the move from Lawrence to Minneapolis. Boo. 
    • What did I do? Donated it to Salvation Army to have a new home; using a mesh bag as my laundry container now and there's a nice basket under the sink in my bathroom if I really miss having a basket
  • My inner tube on my bike popped upon riding for the first time in the city. Great.
    • Got it fixed that afternoon and scheduled a much needed tune-up for my bike at the same time; got a protector piece that will keep my presta valve from breaking on the back tire
  • Dealt with bed bugs within 24 hours of moving in to my new place
    • Killed them all on high heat for 90 minutes as soon as it was confirmed at the clinic; learned that my roommate and I are resilient in the face of a highly stressful environment; anything from here on out will feel minuscule in comparison to what we just went through
  • Made a HUGE mistake in replying to MYSELF instead of the person who let me know I had been selected for a job interview; left a voicmail at the time of proposed interview time and later realized it hadn't even been set up
    • Died a little inside for making such an amateur mistake and not following up after I didn't hear back on Monday; realized in retrospect that all I really want to do when I'm not on campus is farm. Working as a graduate research assistant isn't going to do much for me professionally when I can learn more about plants on a farm.
  • Got lost on my bike on my way to another interview and rode 30 minutes in the wrong direction. Almost lost my shit and broke down crying...
    • Instead gave the supervisor a call and ended up interviewing over the phone at a brewery of all places. Luckily all the other applicants interviewed over the phone, so it wasn't a huge deal. Got a high five from the waitress for ordering a beer during a job interview. Patted myself on the back for not losing it completely.
  • My favorite pair of shorts ripped in the worst spot while I was putting them on. Damn.
    • I donated them and found a thrift store a few days later with a nicer pair of shorts marked at $7. Went into things with a $10 budget and even received a 5% discount for liking the store on Facebook in front of the cashier. Problem. Solved.

So what's the moral of the story here? 

Life will throw you curveballs pretty much every day. Just learn to laugh, don't get so attached to your belongings, and realize that what matters are the people you get to share those awful experiences with. They're what gives life its real (and sometimes unsavory) flavor.


Yucca. pulled pork. arepa curds. aioli. heaven. (Cafe Racer) 


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