Yesterday was cold and windy. An anomoly day in our late spring. Unsettling and unpredictable. So what did I do? I cooked! And the birds and the wind kept me company. Disney and his cartoon rats not withstanding, RATATOUILLE has a long history in the annals of cuisine. The exact recipe for this vegetable melange came from the…
Ever take personal training at the gym? The trainer ignores all your moans and groans, loads you up with free weights and says, “Push, push, push” and then when you’ve pushed ’til the cows come home and your tongue is purple, they say “release.” Feels pretty good, right? My week is like that. Monday and Tuesday…
I am seeing an interesting phenomenon in my professional work: women of the Boomer generation entering their later years with the same independent attitude they’ve had throughout the last several decades. Women of the forties, my mom’s generation, became the traditional housewives of the 50s. Daddy, the breadwinner, knew best, and mama stayed home with…
Ah, the mighty artichoke! According to legend, it was created by Zeus when he turned a rejected lover into one. (Zeus had a habit of doing this). Upset with the propensity for schools using Native American caricatures as school mascots, the Scottsdale (Arizona) Junior college adopted the artichoke for their mascot. At least their football…
When I was little the circus would come to town, and if my folks had the money we’d go see a performance. I liked the horses, didn’t find the clowns terribly funny, and gasped at the tigers and lions. But my absolute favorite were the artists who walked the tightrope. They had this long floppy…
Every other Saturday I make the trek to a close by town to harvest baskets of vegetables and fruit at my food coop. I put in my order on Monday, but it’s never guaranteed what will be there. We follow the seasons: winter saw a lot of broccoli and winter squash; now I am seeing…
My neighbors are winter visitors, coming here only when their Chicago jobs permit. they miss so much! Today one of their cactuses was in glorious spring bloom: When I visited my own garden, this bloom surprised me. Yesterday it hadn’t been there, and this morning it was: …
With days longer, the sun comes up earlier and makes wonderful shadows. But it easy to miss them. Here is my cat, Foxy, enjoying the sunshine. But notice the shadow bar to the left and her silhouette against the wall: A pillow on the porch couch gives…
Yesterday I drove past the local supermarket and the kids with the hoses were out. You know the ones. The girls with the short-shorts and the hand lettered signs. The whole class had turned out for this one–eighth graders with parent-moms in charge. They had the guys doing the initial hose down, spraying themselves and…
I woke this morning thinking I heard quail, and that was patently impossible, because I was surrounded by dozens of parked semi-trucks beside my motel, miles and miles of freeway on the other side, and a room three stories up. But I awoke thinking I heard the quail. I had driven from my little town to…