Setting a Big Table

"Clementine, the Catahoula leopard hound, has been anxious since dawn, not wanting to be too far from her owner, Clare Carver of Big Table Farm. Clare has been moody for the past couple of days. Even Clare's husband, Brian, has been giving his wife a wide berth. When Clare goes up to the hill pasture to sit with her pigs, Picnic and Pancake, Clementine stations herself with a good view of the road. She knows something is coming, something that is making Clare sad, and she wants to be ready."

A portrait of life on Big Table Farm in Gaston appears in this month's issue of NW Palate magazine, and I think it's one of the best things I've written lately. While the article is not available online, you can buy the magazine in Portland at B. Dalton, Borders, Chapters, Fred Meyer, Metropolitan Markets, 
Powell’s Books, Thriftway, WaldenBooks, Winco and Zupan’s, or subscribe for $15 for six issues a year. Other newsstands around the Northwest are listed on the website, so pick up a copy or three!