I had a great time in West Virginia, and ate and ate and ate. I got caught up with my aunt Tami’s clan, including finding out what sort of a teenager Jackie has become. A pretty good one, that’s what kind. I played some cornhole, and even practiced my poker skills against Tami, her husband Jim, and his son Ben. (I was the last one Jim knocked out. And while I did get knocked out, I maintain that it’s solely down to Jim’s impossibly good luck. He casually got two pairs of pocket rockets in a row in Indian poker, he managed a full house in 7-card draw, and he just generally got unbeatable hands way more often than someone that smug deserves.)

For the last few days I’ve been in Fearrington Village, North Carolina, with Viki’s parents, mostly relaxing and talking. They’re nice people. I’ve had some tasty Hungarian food, namely fasirt (mini-meatloaves) and paprikás csirke (paprika chicken). I learned how to count to ten in Hungarian.

Today we went on a little walk to see some trees that have been yarnbombed – covered in yarn. And I learned another wild edible, New Jersey tea. It grows all over; it’s one of the first wild edibles I’ve found where I could just harvest bag after bag of it if I wanted. Strictly speaking, I guess it’d be more correct to call it a wild beverage. It makes a pretty tasty tea. A lot like real tea, but it has no caffeine, and it also has a sort of a leafy taste.

Next stop, Cincinnati… for just three days. And I’m already plotting my next travels. Today I decided I’m going to have to make a stop-off at a primitive skills gathering, probably one I found out about today that’s happening in August in Missoula, Montana. Eeee, plans plans plans.