Ariel Leath, Neighbor

When I was a kid I learned how to make butter from the encyclopedia. It seemed simple: churn cream rapidly until butter appears. No one told me I couldn't do it myself. Since eating out at restaurants was, at the time, a tremendously boring experience, I would somehow affix the table creamers to my shoelaces and kick my feet, checking frequently for signs of solidified cream. Butter was never produced, but I never gave up the do-it-yourself motivation. Flash forward two decades. I'm staring into my food processor as heavy cream spun around and around, thinking, "This time. This time it will work." Lo and behold, solids started to form. Minutes later I was plopping a teaspoon of homemade butter in a jar with an enormous smile plastered on my face. 

This specific, silly anecdote rather encapsulates the theme of my writings for the Del Ray Patch. I hope to start conversations about the simple things - things you can do yourself, things that are specific to Del Ray, and the "everything" that's always in between. I'll be most frequently discussing the things I do or see on a daily basis: dogs, cooking, gardening, local adventures, etc. 

A little about me: I'm finishing up my Master's degree in Communication, Culture & Technology at Georgetown University by taking night classes full time this summer. I live with my two dogs (Luda and Kona) and my boyfriend Sam (Kona's main human). I spend my days walking dogs for The Fairy Dogmom, the best dog walking service in NoVA. Catch me running around town, at one of the many restaurants enjoying a draft beer, or walking the dogs down Mt. Vernon, drooling over every child's ice cream cone.