The Commonground Fair, Unity Maine

We discovered a little too late that we could have been volunteers at the fair... definately in keeping with our "fair energy exchange" way of living!! This, however, was not our year to volunteer!!
There is a story before the story though....
We were originally planning on heading for Unity on Thursday evening and staying at Diversity Farms in Troy... overnight before heading for a clients for a weekend intensive. We finished up our "work" for the week here at the campground all in one day (Tuesday) and decided to head up North a little early.... and our clients just wanted us there... it didn't matter when we showed up! Because Monday the 24th marked our quarterly fast, we did not pick up our farm share this week, nor did we purchase any groceries... the plan was to consume all that was in the trailer... a lot of that consisted of cooked foods..... we ate raw for breakfast and lunch... and simple organic cooked dinners... beans and greens with organic brown rice pasta.... YUM!! As well as portobello mushroom burgers, made with organic brown rice on a sprouted grain english muffin with a slice of beefsteak tomato.... again.... yum!!
Our "meals" consisted of salads, melons, apples, carrots and fresh cherry tomatoes (the likes of these I have never experienced before in my life!! SWEET!!!!) which we dipped into fresh pesto (made raw, no cheeses added.... a little miso for that salty flavor) or our AMAZING Rawsome veggie dip... even though the majority of our days consisted of raw meals, it appears that eating that one cooked meal a day was showing us it was not the right way to go about this whole eating thing, because about two days into this eating cooked everyday lifestyle, my body began to "revolt".... and kicked mucus production into overdrive!! By the time we made it North to visit some clients the body was pretty pursuasive about what it did not like and was not happy about being subjected to!!..... just in time to visit some clients who were smokers.... HEAVY smokers!! Did I mention they also had 2 dogs and two cats!! With allergens added to irritants and mucus it was the beginning of an interesting " working vacation "!!
Needless to say, it didn't take long before the body began revolting full force!! 2 days into being there my nose was runny and raw, my lungs were full and wheezing was easily audible and I was now the proud owner of a cough that sounded remotely familiar.... it reminded me of the pnumonia cough I used to get twice a year when I myself was a heavy smoker!!
My appetite had just about subsided, I couldn't really smell or taste anything!! Funny how the body, in its infinite wisdom methodically goes about its own way of healing!! Friday marked the day of the fair... we got up "early" showered and headed out.... we had packed anticipating cooler weather than we have, as they are farther north, and the weather turned out to be in the 80's!! This was actually OK though, beyond the fact that a beautiful, sunny, warm day was actually a Godsend, when my body finally did decide to spike a fever to kill off those nasty energies that just were not welcome in it, I didn't get the chills at all!! AND being a "little" overdressed, surprisingly I didn't really sweat too much either!!
We stuck to water for our drinks.... and when it came time to eat, surprisingly meat was not really even a consideration... I was already experiencing the wrath of my body concerning my decisions of what I had been exposing it to.... I really didn't want to know what meat would feel like added to that!! Even though it was organic meat....
The entry to the fair was lined with farmers market style booths all selling fresh fruits and veggies....I bought three apples.... William and I each ate one, I carried the other in my pocket..... as we exited we purchased a 2lb bag of fresh oranic carrots and two pints of "orange" cherry tomatoes.... I thought they were the same variety as the AMAZING ones we have at the farm.... they may have been, however, they weren't nearly as sweet. Our clients purchased a flat of organic tomatoes as they have an AMAZING chili sauce family recipe which they decided to make the next batch organic and spare the white sugar, opting instead for organic maple syrup... wherein it was cooked anyway, this really made no difference. And I would have to interject here, that I believe adding that VERY SPICY chili sauce to my diet really assisted in removing some of that built up mucus!
Once we were actually IN the fairgrounds we walked about for awhile looking at what the fair was about...What we saw of the fair was great... organic farmers products, sustainable living items, LOTS of crafts and jewels, and the livestock, which here, more than anywhere it is imperative that people don't "feed the animals"!! (We later found out that of the food available at the fair they were a little more lienient about whom they allowed... I guess at one time one could go to the fair knowing that whatever they ate was organic and from Maine... this years fair was a little different!! Booths selling non organic meats, vendors from New Hampshire... I'm glad we did not choose to eat any of the meats there!! Although I also wish I had known that in the beginning, as I would have scrutinized my food choices and made sure that onion was organic!!)
We chose a veggie lazagna as our first cooked option.... later we added roasted eggplant and hummus.... on a wrap.... just before leaving we hunted down the "bloomin onion" of which I could eat very little as by this point eating had lost its appeal...my stomach, was full of mucus and I couldn't really taste it and enjoy the flavor anyways!! Not to mention fever had kicked in and the relentless, tight, non-productive cough came with a bonus migrane headache and "vomiting". That cough till the contents of your stomach begin to exit.... mmmmmmmm.... gotta love that!!
We left the fair at 3pm and headed back to our clients house.
Once back to our clientss my body gave me an order loud and clear "LIE DOWN NOW!!!!!" Because we understand that disease is the failure of the immune system, overburdened by cumulative assaults from the environment, even when we "place" ourselves into that enviornment....
I listened!! Five hours later and wringing buckets of sweat out of my clothes and the sheets I was up and feeling MUCH better!!
I had contemplated beginning my fast right then and there, but my body was asking for watermellon.... which I had.... yummy yellow organic watermellon from Wolf Pine Farm.... it was nothing short of AMAZING!!! Once back in the house, I strategically postitoned myself in front of a small fan to ensure a constant stream of moving air past me... hopefully limiting my exposure to second hand smoke considerably.... this "self-inflicted" assult to my body was short lived as we headed off to bed...I managed to go back to sleep a few hours later and sleep very soundly well into the next morning...
Later that day we headed for Diversity farms and fresh clean air!
We settled in to the farm and got a tour of the milking barn, the cheese room, walkins, the pig area and chicken area...The farm is currently in the process of incorporating the cheese and butter and milk areas to it... it was yet undone, but definately easy to see what the finished product would look like!! The milking barn is complete... by spring it should be a working milk farm as well as organic egg, chicken, beef and pork farm!!
The farm itslf was equipped with 37 camping sites, outhouses and showers... he also supplied camp fire wood entertainment and refreshments!! There was supposed to be a bonfire.... part of the reason we changed our plans of "when" we wanted to go there.... but we did have a small campfire with an up close performance by I believe the Gawler Family.... don't quote me on that one though!!
The thing I found the most ironic, was that with the world as my oyster to choose ANYTHING that I might want to be eating on my last days before an extended fast and my last days of eating cooked and "not good" foods again... I would have thought I would have gravitated towards more "bad" (I don't like that word!!) foods... but I wanted apples, mellons, carrots and tomatoes.... OK OK.... so I wanted M&M's too!! But they actually got thrown out!! As did everything else that would not be good to eat and couldn't be dehydrated...
right now my dehydrator is running with the tomatoes and blueberries that were not consumed.... I know I will have PLENTY of sundried tomatoes for the winter!!
It is getting late and this is the end of the second day of our fast!!