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[0:00] Mindy Cohn: Hi, I'm Mindy Cohn.

[0:02] Taylor Purdee: I'm Taylor Purdee. And this is Around the Sun, an episodic audio drama created by Brad Forenza. This is Season 2, Episode 5, Mirage.

[0:20] Mindy Cohn: The midday sun beats down on a hydroponic greenhouse where Nora and Jake admire the leafy greens around them.

[0:27] Jake: This is amazing, Aunt Nora.

[0:30] Nora: Jacob, I want to say something. I can't believe how much we've harvested in one summer. Before you leave for the airport, we need to talk. All these crops, all this life, just from water and nutrients.

[0:42] Jake: That's what hydroponics is, Jacob. Management of the elements, regular drainage, and of course, no pesticides to kill us.

[0:52] Jake: Of course, but you don't have to sell me. That's why I wanted to intern with you.

[0:57] Nora: It's nothing special. The success is all in the timing. I just got lucky, as usual.

[1:03] Jake: Yeah, right. Your parents, they're the aspirational ones.

[1:07] Nora: They made good choices. You took risks, and now you're reaping the rewards.

[1:11] Jake: I'm telling you, I got lucky. My professors can't believe that you're my aunt.

[1:17] Nora: Oh, stop it. Your professors don't know who I am.

[1:21] Jake: They do, though. They assign all your books, the environmental scientists, and the political scientists.

[1:25] Nora: Well, I'm no one special. I just got lucky. Besides, gardening is a work of a lifetime. You never finish.

[1:35] Jake: So you say. Jacob, before you fly home, I want to talk.

[1:40] Jake: I already ordered my ride.

[1:44] Nora: Then we don't have much time. If we could grow all these crops in one summer, just think what hydroponics could mean for the developing world.

[1:48] Jake: It's never that simple, though. You have to start locally, and they need resources.

[1:51] Nora: Right. And that's why interning with you is going to give me a huge leg up when I apply for environmental law programs next year.

[2:00] Nora: Or Peace Corps. Those are good goals, Jacob. Your parents raised you to be an ambitious young man.

[2:04] Jake: They're good people, your parents. A bit square, but sure. Make sure you tell them everything we did together.

[2:15] Jake: I will, but Mom will still think you're nuts.

[2:20] Nora: You think so?

[2:24] Jake: Yeah. What do you think that is?

[2:30] Nora: Jealousy, maybe?

[2:30] Jake: Well, she's pretty selfless in my eyes.

[2:33] Nora: It's too bad you guys aren't closer. I really enjoyed getting to know you this summer. Like, know you, know you. Beyond a wedding here and a funeral there.

[2:38] Jake: Well, maybe now that I have some credibility, you could convince your mother to come out here?

[2:43] Nora: I don't think she's ever seen this part of the country.

[2:45] Jake: And I don't think she ever will.

[2:49] Nora: Why not?

[2:49] Jake: I don't know. She likes routine. Besides, she'd never understand hydroponics.

[2:55] Nora: Or why you'd want to intern with nomadic Nora in the first place?

[2:58] Jake: I plead the fifth. What did she say when you told her you wanted to come out here?

[3:04] Nora: She rolled her eyes.

[3:07] Jake: That's it?

[3:11] Nora: She tempered my expectations.

[3:14] Jake: How so?

[3:14] Nora: She said you flaked a lot.

[3:19] Jake: I used to.

[3:23] Nora: But then I told her that your farm is like the gold standard of environmentally just profitability. It's like socially responsible capitalism out here.

[3:28] Jake: What did she say to that? Did she smile at least?

[3:30] Nora: She said it sounded like you joined another cult.

[3:35] Jake: But Dad convinced her it was a good idea, or at least it was a neutral idea. And I was old enough to handle my own activities of daily living.

[3:39] Nora: Your father always saw me a bit more objectively. Then again, he didn't see the hell I put my parents through.

[3:46] Jake: Thank you again for taking me on. A lot of my friends in the major don't have an aunt Nora to sponsor an internship like this. They have to do independent studies instead.

[3:55] Nora: What's that?

[3:56] Jake: It's like Googling things for your professors, I think.

[4:00] Nora: Well, I hope this experience can help you next year when you're applying to law school and Peace Corps.

[4:06] Jake: It will, especially meeting the people from the EPA. I loved every second of our time together. But I'll admit I was a bit nervous when you asked to come out.

[4:15] Nora: I mean, I never went to college. I was a different person back then. Just ask your mother.

[4:23] Jake: She stole me.

[4:25] Nora: Yeah, but she told you everything that you were a hot mess.

[4:29] Jake: Yeah, that's my sister. Don't give your phone number to Aunt Nora's friends. Don't sign any papers on Nora's behalf. Whatever Aunt Nora does, do the opposite.

[4:37] Nora: I heard it all. And that was just on the ride to the airport. I hope you can tell her I've changed.

[4:43] Jake: You've taught me more this summer than I could have learned in a classroom.

[4:45] Nora: Oh, let's credit the school of hard knocks. I was a very different person when your mother and I were growing up.

[4:51] Jake: Yeah, but wasn't everybody?

[4:53] Nora: I partied hard, Jacob. I fell in with a bad crowd.

[4:57] Jake: I think that's just part of growing up. Your mother made good choices. She had a plan. She didn't date. Didn't sneak out. Didn't run away.

[5:06] Jake: You ran away.

[5:08] Nora: I had a baby.

[5:10] Jake: Did she ever tell you that?

[5:12] Nora: A baby girl.

[5:16] Jake: Maybe?

[5:18] Nora: No, I don't think she did. I never heard that.

[5:21] Jake: I had a feeling. Anyway, what are your plans after law school? Do you think you'll stay close to home or move west?

[5:28] Jake: I don't know yet. Three years is a long time.

[5:31] Nora: Sure. When you're young.

[5:34] Jake: I'll go where the work is, probably.

[5:36] Nora: Well, we can always use more environmental lawyers out this way. Good ones. I wouldn't trust this soil if my life depended on it.

[5:44] Jake: Law school is super competitive, though. I might not even get in.

[5:47] Nora: They'll want you. Who wouldn't? Your parents raised a good boy, Jacob. You're a fine young man.

[5:53] Jake: Gosh, I remember. I remember all the hopes and dreams we had for you. And you're living up to all of them.

[6:03] Jake: If I do Peace Corps, hopefully I'll get to work on a sustainability project.

[6:06] Nora: Well, if that's what you want to do, just come back here. You said yourself the farm is a gold standard, and you've seen the numbers. I can't keep up with the demand. There will always be work for you here.

[6:18] Jake: Just as long as your mother's OK with it.

[6:20] Nora: Why wouldn't she be?

[6:22] Jake: Because to her, I'm still nomadic Nora.

[6:25] Nora: Nora, I hate to be rude, but my ride is almost here.

[6:33] Jake: Figures. You said you wanted to talk about something.

[6:37] Nora: I did.

[6:40] Jake: You did.

[6:42] Nora: Oh, yes. Well, I wanted to say that.

[6:48] Jake: Oh, I just don't know how this greenhouse is going to get by without you. You've helped me realize what I'm missing.

[6:54] Nora: What?

[6:54] Jake: What the farm is missing, I should say.

[6:57] Nora: Right. You never know where life will take you, Jacob. Trust me. I never imagined I'd be hydroponic farming in the desert.

[7:07] Jake: Nora, can I ask you a personal question?

[7:11] Nora: Sure.

[7:13] Jake: Your baby, what happened to her?

[7:16] Nora: Oh, well, I don't know exactly.

[7:20] Jake: I'm sorry. That was none of my business.

[7:22] Nora: No, don't be silly. I'm an open book. I don't know what happened to her, Jacob. After she was born, the hospital took her.

[7:31] Jake: Why would they do that?

[7:33] Nora: Well, again, I was a different person back then.

[7:36] Jake: That doesn't seem very just.

[7:38] Nora: I wasn't able to care for a baby, Jake. That's the Nora your mother remembers. But I have a different perspective now. I understand why the hospital needed to do it.

[7:50] Jake: And you never had any other kids?

[7:52] Nora: No. I never had any other kids. But who knows? Maybe you've inspired me to take on more interns.

[8:01] Jake: Yes.

[8:03] Nora: Yeah, you should. You're more maternal than most people I know.

[8:07] Jake: Oh, I don't think your mother would like hearing that.

[8:10] Nora: She'd be OK with it. She knows who she is.

[8:13] Jake: Nora, do you ever get mad at the hospital for taking the baby?

[8:18] Nora: For selfish reasons? Maybe once in a while. But they did the right thing.

[8:24] Jake: And do you ever wonder about the baby? What she's doing and stuff?

[8:27] Nora: Well, I pray that she grew up knowing who she was and never doubting that she was loved. That's the main thing, isn't it? To know that you're loved.

[8:39] Jake: You do have to wonder why things happen the way they do, though, right? Some people who really want to have kids sometimes can't have them. And other people who might be less able to parent for whatever reason can have them in a finger snap.

[8:54] Nora: Yes. You do have to wonder.

[8:58] Jake: Jake, I hate to say it, but I think my ride's here.

[9:01] Nora: Just listen to me for a second, Jacob. I want you to know. I want you to know. I want you to know that when you need a letter of recommendation for law school, I would be honored to write one.

[9:18] Jake: Wow.

[9:20] Nora: And more than that, I'd be happy to ask my EPA colleagues if they'd be open to writing another.

[9:26] Jake: Thank you, Aunt Nora.

[9:29] Nora: You're welcome. Is that what you wanted to tell me?

[9:34] Jake: What?

[9:35] Nora: Is that what you wanted to tell me, that you would be happy to write a letter of recommendation?

[9:41] Jake: Yes, Jake. That's what I wanted to tell you.

[9:45] Jake: Wow. That's awesome. Thank you, Aunt Nora. Thank you so much.

[9:56] Nora: So I take it you're leaving now.

[9:58] Jake: It's time.

[9:59] Nora: Well, I guess I'll see you at a wedding here and a funeral there.

[10:03] Jake: Something like that. Everything has its time.

[10:06] Nora: I'll never forget this, though. My summer with nomadic Nora.

[10:14] Jake: Just remember, you're always welcome back. Not just to say hi, but if you're ever passing through the desert and you need a place to stay or need work, just say the word. You know where to find me.

[10:25] Nora: I do. And remember, B score is really a front for the administration. And don't stress much about law school, because if you don't get in the first time, there's always the following year.

[10:37] Jake: That's what my mom was telling me. It's like she's priming me for disappointment.

[10:41] Nora: Hey, hey, that's OK. That's what moms do, right? She's just tempering expectations so that you're not let down in the end.

[10:53] Jake: Did I let you down, Jake? Did you have a good summer?

[10:58] Nora: The best.

[11:01] Jake: Good. That's good. Please tell your mother I didn't flake.

[11:05] Nora: I will. I feel like we're just finding our groove together, like we're just getting to know each other, and now you have to leave.

[11:17] Jake: Well, gardening is a work of a lifetime, right? You never finish.

[11:21] Nora: Right. And Jacob, you're just beginning.

[11:30] Mindy Cohn: Around the Sun is written and directed by Brad Forenza. For full credits and more content, please visit aroundthesunpodcast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, remember to like, share, and subscribe. It's the right thing to do. You can find us on social media and continue the conversation by using the hashtag aroundthesunpodcast.