After quitting his warm hearth in the city and riding through an April Nor'easter, Coverdale has arrived at Blithedale…

It was a long day, yesterday. Kim is up at Locket's Meadow, tending the animals while Kathleen and David get a little respite. I gnawed on part of a rotisserie chicken Kim had left behind as I put the next batch of canning jars in the dishwasher; one more batch of beach plum jam for the season.

As the dishwasher churned, I sat down and read a little more of The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Blilthedale is utopian farm based on the transcendentalists utopian community, Brook Farm.

It seems that utopian agrarian communities come and go, often with a goal of changing the social norms of the day. At various times in my life, I've been approached about communal living, but it has never come about, and I suspect it is unlikely for me in the future.

I have focused on challenging social constructs, especially around race and gender, but I recognize that this is a massive undertaking that requires major changes to the systems we are all part of.

The dishwasher took a long time to finish, and by the time the canning jars were drying, it was too late to start the jam, so I read a little bit more and went to bed early.

This morning, I got up a little earlier than I would on a normal weekday, and made the last batch of beach plum jam. There was less juice left, so it was a smaller batch. Only six jars worth of jam. All in all, I have made 39 jars of beach plum jam this year. We'll see if I try some other jams or jellies.

On tap for today includes resuming my weekly dump runs. I haven't been recently because of vacation, and it will be a large run today. Hopefully, I can make time to start a couple batches of hard cider. It is that time of year again.

Then, in the afternoon, I will be gathering with a couple people to talk about big data in health care and finance. It will be a busy, if not restful day. And, at some point, I will check in on Kim and Fiona to see how they are doing and if I can work out a time to go give them a hand as well.

I wonder what we can learn from Coverdale and his trip to Blithedale as the new jam cools in the canning jars and I type on my laptop and prepare to publish my post online.