The People that You Meet

[Griff]

What say you Cellarites to a thread about interesting people you meet?

I recently renewed a casual aquaintance with a couple of organic farmers from upstate New York. Rudi is 93 and Inge is a little younger. They emigrated from East Germany after WW2. Rudi spent four years in an East German prison for black market activities, which he still denies being involved in. He has a very teutonic bearing. He's really lean and ramrod straight even in his old age. Inge, until a couple years ago, milked her goats every day and spent a great deal of time making cheeses. Aside from the occasional deer provided by a neighbor, they raise almost all their own food and sell or trade their over-production. Inge, who loves food very much, is starting to suffer from gout and her hands are very sore so some of her jobs are going undone. We're going to hatch her geese for her this spring which will be cool for the kids to participate in. Theirs hasn't been the easiest road. When they first bought their property they were living in NYC. They used to load their station wagon with pigeon manure and make the long drive upstate to fertilize their garden plot... remarkable.