family – Page 5 – Peaceful Reader

Not my best week…

I tipped over last Sunday and injured myself. I didn’t trip or fall, I didn’t feel myself go over. One minute I was walking and the next I was picking myself up from the pavement. It was weird. In my right hand, I was holding a glass water bottle which smashed against the pavement and into my hand. My left wrist took the brunt of my fall. It was slightly embarrassing as it was broad daylight (4pm) and there were people around. I’d come out of a play and was saying goodbye, and walking and thinking at the same time. It made me feel a little old and at the same time resilient.

I drove home with a wad of wet wipes in my hand to stave the blood flow from my hand and I made dinner for people that were coming to my house for a cast party. Both hands were in great pain and Groovy Girl was off with friends. As soon as she got home she bandaged my right hand and helped me clean but by that time I had the Mexican Lasagna recipe already cooking. I even whipped up my own fajita seasoning spice mix for the recipe. The kitchen looked like hell as I could just barely open bottles and didn’t have the energy to try to recap and put away. And I’m usually a-clean-as-I-go kind of cook. Everyone enjoyed the cast party and the lasagna. I had someone request the recipe; they’ll have to supply their own blood drips and pain.

I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. I have a little school work to do. I have a couple of great books to read; I’m halfway done with The Self-driven child, a fantastic life book I wish I’d had when my kids were younger, my book club read News of the world by Paulette Jiles, and from my mom A spool of blue thread by Anne Tyler.

And while browsing around on Epicureous I found this great article about cast iron skillets which I use frequently in our kitchen.

Here’s to a better week ahead!

May Day! May Day!

No May Day baskets this year. I asked and Groovy Girl was like “I’m too busy, I’m too tired!” It is a stressful time for a sophomore, her first year in high school. We used to always do May baskets that we would deliver to a set group of friends before school began. I delivered May baskets when I was young as well and it is one of those wonderful traditions that I love to see continued. I was very happy to see a kindergarten class making May baskets to deliver to a 6th-grade class.

I did bring her some treats today after grocery shopping; some french bread, a Mexican coca-cola, and a small bag of Bob’s Chia seeds – odd treats, yes, but she loves them.

It’s really the thought that counts. But if I want this tradition to continue I’m going to need to work a little harder myself. Already I’m thinking of little friends that I (we) could quickly deliver to near us. It would put a smile on their little faces and the tradition would continue in some fashion. Did you do May baskets growing up?

May Basket traditions (NPR)

The simple things in life…

I have quite a few things swirling around in my personal life which are creating this need for me to return to some basic human needs for me; like yoga, meditation, and making bread.

Last Sunday I made 5 loaves of rustic bread. There is something so simple about pouring the four ingredients together. There’s an order to it. You begin with level teaspoons or tablespoons of yeast and you pour cups of soothing warm water over the yeast with a few sprinkles of sea salt. It’s almost mystical as you watch it start to bubble and froth after a few minutes. While it’s heating up I start measuring out cups of unbleached flour. One wooden spoon stirs it all together and then I use my hands, covered in some flour, to knead it around a little. My recipe doesn’t require this step but I like it. Just don’t do it too much. Before you set it aside to let it double in size shake some olive oil around the dough and the bowl. I only kept one loaf here; the rest I gave away to friends at school. Bread makes people smile and think of home. Sometimes people make chili for their family because you made the bread. It’s a win/win for all involved.

Meditation has the same effect. I like to sit on my bed right before going to bed and make some space in my brain. I can do it on my own but I’ve discovered three cool apps to help me as well. I started with Headspace created by Tibetan monk trained meditation teacher Andy Puddicombe. (read an excellent review here @ The NY’er) I like this app and it’s guided meditation with Andy’s British accent. I like that it gives me prompts during the day like “your meditation today can’t wait until you get home” or other little motivational moments to inspire you. This one has free basics but you have to buy a subscription to unlock more content. I probably won’t ever buy more I’ll just keep using free because I like what Andy has to say.

During an online conversation with my friend Erica, she shared that she uses Insight Timer to meditate daily so I downloaded that also. This one is totally free. I love that it gives me a more traditional meditation experience through bells, gongs, and wood blocks to begin and end my session. I don’t love that if I miss a day (which I do) it starts back over. So if I miss one day but have meditated five other days it still logs me as “day one”; I want it to appreciate that I did the five days. It’s still a great app and I’ve become accustomed to using both at different times of the day.

I met with my friend Lori for a drink and I mentioned meditation and she told me she was doing a 21-day thing with Oprah and Deepak so now I have that downloaded as well. These are longer sessions and to be clear I have yet to finish one but my heart is in the right place and I will get to it.

In between, I have been doing some yoga to keep my bones mobile and stretchy. I especially love how my arms feel after a few downward dogs and planks.

What do you do to stay stress-free? Drinking wine can also be helpful especially if good friends are involved. Salud!

Craving Chickpeas…

{Source}

Happy December!

Last week I was craving spicy soup, which has nothing to do with Christmas or December but just my own odd taste buds. I looked through recipes both online and in my massive stacks of books looking for just the right one. I found this one by Rachael Ray that looked interesting: Indian-spiced Chickpea, and this one, Morroccan Chickpea, from Good Foods, and then this, Chickpea Chili, from MyRecipes. I ended up kind of making my own up loosely based on the last one except I did not have butternut squash on hand and I left out pimento-stuffed olives because seriously I couldn’t imagine that flavor with the soup I was craving. Once I settled on a recipe I found some friends to invite over to be my tasters.

I made a batch of brown rice, tossed up a fresh salad, and this rustic bread to break together. Oh and I had a couple of chicken breasts on hand and as other people love their protein I shredded it and left it as a topping to be tossed into the soup like the parsley and sour cream. They left quite full, smiling and with half a loaf of bread in their hands. Also they’d both done well at Spite and Malice and Taboo; games that we played. It was a lovely winter night; cold outside, toasty on the inside.

I finished Maggie Stiefvater’s new book, All the Crooked Saints, tonight. She is a very imaginative writer and I think she casts a spell on each of her stories. This one, set in Colorado in 1962, is about the Soria family and their ability to collect pilgrims looking for miracles and it’s about radio waves, saints, and love. I don’t understand how she weaves that altogether but she does. My Maggie favorites are The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys series. Now I’m on to Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni and Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam.

Happy Be Grateful Day

{Roger Williams on Smithsonian}

I have mixed emotions about this holiday. I don’t have any trouble being thankful and realizing ALL that I have to be thankful for but the celebrating of this particular holiday just reminds me of the horrors we inflicted on Native people then and still. It also seems like a ticket for overeating. Do I sound like a humbug? Yes I probably do. I just wish the holiday was simple and not followed by a crazy shopping frenzy. So today I challenge you to think about what you are truly grateful for and to realize our lives are built on the backs of others. Read here for another look at Thanksgiving. And this young person perspective.

My Grateful 11:

My family; 5 of us make up a unique team of weirdness filled w/ humor.
My brother Jason; he is my family rock and pushes me to be more.
The elders in my life; mom, my in-laws, my stepmom and my dad in spirit.
Nature; thank heavens for parks of all kinds, places to hike and breathe.
Public education; may they one day be truly equal.
Public libraries; free books to borrow is a wonder.
Books and reading; I love to be transported.
Delicious food; well cooked, unusual ingredients and flavors.
My health; which is often rocky but I’m very lucky to be alive.
My lovely house; I can see a layer of dust over the floor but ehh-
Friends that bring me quiet times, good times, and laughter.

What brings you joy? Celebrate that today. Fill your plate with the stories that are told around the table and find happiness in the people you are sitting with around the proverbial table. Reach out and think of the many marginalized people in your community.

Happy Halloween

We spent a whirlwind two days in La Crosse, WI exploring and then my husband ran a trail race on Sunday morning. We loved La Crosse and found many cool things to do there.

{very windy at the top of the cliff}

We loved Old Crow, The Charmant Hotel, Skeleton Crew Brew, Grandad’s Bluff, Stacked Turtle Brewery (named for Yertle the Turtle) and Duluth Trading Co. The sights of the bluffs around town were amazing even with much of the foliage stolen by cold weather and rain. We would not go back to Two Beagles Brewery; the service was good-the beer was tasteless. We had trouble finishing our flight and left the Oktoberfest with most left in the glass.

{Charmant Hotel Bloody Mary}

We stopped in La Crescent, MN on our way home; who knew they were the apple capital of the Minnesota? We pulled in at a farm stand and bought three bags of beauties and an apple fritter to share.

The beautiful Halloween photo at the top is courtesy of my friend Sarah and her 3 adorable children. We love their pumpkin glow! My girl carved a pumpkin of her own but with friends and I have yet to see photos. Happiest of Halloweens to you and stay safe out there.

October books

I read two excellent books this month; Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and LaRose by Louise Erdrich. Both are family sagas retelling the stories of several generations.

Homegoing traces two half-sisters born into two different villages at a difficult time in Ghana’s history. Tribes are busy waging war against each other and collecting slaves to make money and win favor from the white Europeans.

Effia is forced to marry an Englishman and goes to live in the Cape Coast Castle. The marriage is a business deal arranged by Effia’s mother to bring fortune to the village and to push her daughter away from the village and her intended husband, the chief Abeeku so that she may have a more profitable life.

Abeeku stood up so that he was facing her. He ran his fingers along the full landscape of her face, the hills of her cheeks, the caves of her nostrils. “A more beautiful woman has never been born,” he said finally. He turned to Baaba. “But I see that you are right. If the white man wants her, he may have her. All the better for the village.” (15)

Effia’s half sister Esi is also promised in marriage to a man in her village. Her father is is a brave warrior, a Big Man, and she’s grown up in being adored by her family and community. One night warriors come to her village and she is told to run into the woods where she sits in a tree but is still found and with pelting rocks hitting her she falls to the ground.

She was tied to others; how many, she didn’t know. She didn’t see anyone from her compound. Not her stepmothers or half siblings. Not her mother. the rope around her wrists held her palms out in supplication. Esi studied the lines on those palms. They led nowhere. She had never felt so hopeless in her life. (43)

And thus both sisters’ fortunes are changed even as both are sold as product. Esi is chained up in the basement dungeon of Cape Coast Castle while her sister lives above. Eventually Esi is shipped off to work the American slave trade. Each chapter relays the tale of a descendent of each sister and in this way you are awarded this amazingly rich historical yet very personal account.

The New Yorker review (I liked it more than they liked it but it does a beautiful job of describing the era)

In LaRose Louise Erdrich gives the reader many parallels to Homegoing’s history. American English did their best to negate both cultures. LaRose, told mostly through the present, tells the story of Landreaux and Emmeline’s grief after a tragic accident kills their friend and neighbor’s son, Dusty. Through back and forth chapters we understand the depth of the grief felt by both couples and through side stories Erdrich interjects the history of Emmeline’s family and how tragedy and wisdom often walk together. The characters Erdrich brings to life are interesting and multidimensional.

Outside the circle of warmth, the snow squeaked and the stars pulsed in the impenetrable heavens. The girl sat between them, not drinking. She thought her own burdensome thought. From time to time, both of the men looked at her profile in the firelight. her dirty face was brushed with raw gold. As the wine was drunk, the bread was baked. Reverently, they removed the loaves and put them, hot, inside their coats. The girl opened her blanket to accept a loaf from Wolfred. As he gave it to her, he realized that her dress was torn down the middle. He looked into her eyes and her eyes slid to Mackinnon. The she ducked her head and held the dress together with her elbow while she accepted the loaf. (99)

Both novels illustrate the simple fact that women have been battling men for centuries. How brave and bold it is that we hope to raise our children to accept a different norm. I know I expect my daughter to be strong and resourceful and I expect my son to treat all women with due respect.

We read LaRose for book club this month and I celebrated by making this Wild Rice Salad. It was delicious and I would make it again. I’ll read anything with Erdrich’s name on it-I love her young reader’s Birchbark House series-and read it with my school book club every year. One of my life goals is to read all of Erdrich’s stories and to make it to her Minneapolis book store.

New York Times review for LaRose.

Happy October!!

Listening to Garth Stein

Our local library has a list of featured authors that speak throughout the year and mostly they are local authors but tonight Garth Stein was in the house! I remember reading The Art of Racing in the Rain (2008) soon after it came out in paperback. I believe everyone in the house read it at one point or another and our one loved copy obviously travelled off on its own journey as I could not find it anywhere in my book (over) loaded home. I thought it would be easy to find it and get that one signed…
Enzo is a lovely canine narrator, a deep thinking dog and the book should appeal to all dog lovers, want-to-be dog owners, or any human with a heart. I remember crying and writing quotes from the book onto scraps of paper.

Garth was eloquent and humorous to listen to and he told story after story of his family, his wife, the struggle of being a writer and how the book came into being and how his agent would not accept it. If I ever actually publish any one of my stories this is the part that I fear. I’m an awful public speaker (unless my audience is made up of elementary kids) and could maybe speak extemporaneously for about 10 minutes. We’d have to go to questions pretty quickly. I could handle the signing part though, one on one interactions, but I don’t like getting my picture snapped so that might be an issue. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.

After the event he signed books near a table where his books were on sale through our local university bookstore. During part of the q and a session I spent some time on my trusty Goodreads app and looked up several of his other books. His latest one, A Sudden Light, about a timber families fortunes and misfortunes had a few negative reviews so I stayed away from that one. My friends Rich and Kay did buy it though and so I’ll wait to hear what they think. Two of his earlier books had more interesting reviews, to me, so I went with these (yes, I bought them both and had them signed).

Raven stole the moon (1998) is part magical realism and Native American folklore-right up my reading alley. How Evan broke his head and other secrets (2005) tells the tale of a young rock and roller who meets his long lost son at the age of 14. I’m excited to read both of them after I finish the three other books by my bedside and La Rose by Louise Erdrich, our Good Spirits book club choice for October. It is wonderful to live in such a literature-rich household-I never, ever, ever even think the word “bored”.

I was completely unaware that he has a young reader’s version of The Art of racing in the rain and several picture books devoted to Enzo.

Solar Eclipse Journey

Just a week ago we made the trek to Missouri to be in the path of totality. It was exciting stuff to be on the road headed to such a monumental event and one that, in our lifetime, we may not be able to see again. My husband started plotting this adventure back in April and was shocked to find all campgrounds in the area to be booked. He did find a hotel in Columbia, MO for the night and then we’d head to Boonville, MO to be right in the path. He even had a large park picked out that would be perfect for hanging out and waiting for the moon to cross over the sun in the middle of the day.

{Harley Park-same location-after eclipse}

Somehow he managed to take care of many details except to find the appropriate glasses. This is the part that stunned me. Here we are making this 5 hour journey to watch an amazing moment in time and not prepared with the right equipment. We might be left looking like Mr. Trump squinting into the sky. Once we checked into the hotel I made this my priority. Luckily the University of Missouri book store had ordered more than enough paper glasses and were selling them at a reasonable rate. We were set for the next day. We had fun at Cosmo Park with an eclipse themed party; live music, food trucks, and fresh local beer. After that Groovy Girl picked a place for dinner; Babbo’s Spaghetteria! We headed back to the other side of town, near the U of M, and found this place in a highly traffic commercial area-not our usual dining preference but it’s what she’d picked.

This is the thing with road trips that I love. If it is a new destination for you; you have know idea what you’re going to get. The place from the front looked like a glorified Olive Garden but what was inside was a different story. Our dining experience was delicious. I had a strawberry salad that was the perfect size with great flavor. And Greg and G.G. both had pasta dishes they loved as well. We shared a bottle of wine as our excellent server informed us the bottles were on sale AND we could take the rest of it with us. I think that’s a great rule. We had a leisurely dinner, enjoying the staff, the food, and the ambiance even though we were in a fancy strip mall. A good reminder to never judge.

Harley Park after eclipse}

The next day we hung out in Harley Park with our own snacks and beverages. The park service of Missouri were extremely helpful and polite, using golf carts to help ferry people and their chairs, coolers, and bags up and down the hills. Super hospitable. After the amazing event we hung around a bit, waiting for the rush to leave the park. And in order to hopefully miss much of the highway traffic we hung around in downtown Boonville doing some vintage shopping.

Our drive home was l-o-n-g. In other words we DID NOT miss the traffic. In Hannibal, one of our favorite little cities, we decided we needed a dinner break. We trawled through town looking for something interesting other than fast food and one of our phones brought up the Rustic Oak (motto: best food by a damn site). It had an interested front-like an old west saloon and we walked in. This is again just part of the road trip experience but let me tell you flat out that this place sucked. It’s tough to be a foodie in the real world of restaurants on the road.

Oh the waitress was okay and the decorations were interesting to look at but the food-total bomb. It had an extensive menu, with many pages to look through. At the appetizer section both my husband and I spotted fried okra, which we both love. We ordered that with our waters while we continued to browse the menu. I finally spotted fish tacos and felt pleased that I’d found something. I’m usually pretty happy with just an app or a salad but this was the kind of place that included meat on every salad. Blech. A good salad does not need meat. Just fyi. Eventually Greg and GG found things they were excited about and our order was placed. Oh how I wish I could take it back. We knew we were in trouble when the okra showed up looking like hard little puff balls straight from a freezer box.

We waited a long time for the rest of our food to arrive and when it did we should have sent it all right back. There was something off-tasting in my tacos-I still don’t know what it was. It wasn’t spoiled or rotten but it was on the way. It might have been the cole slaw or something in the fish batter-but I had to stop eating after a couple of bites. Greg agreed after one bite that I was right. He had a burger (the meat was good) but the lettuce was like the limpest piece of bottom of the bag that should have been tossed away, the bun was stale and GG’s chicken parmigiano was gooped with a bunch of really plastic cheese. We laughed at all of these things although we did turn the fish tacos back in to the waitress.

You just never know and that’s what adds to the excitement and fun. We have so many memories like this as a family. And we are lucky to have them. The Rustic Oak will live in infamy when we joke about crappy food.

We need diverse books

I heard some guy interviewed on NPR today discussing recent events in Charlottesville, VA. He ended the discussion with an admonition that everyone should invite a family of a different color, religion, belief system over for dinner; that through personal interactions such as a simple family meal we could end racial strife.

It sounds good. And I do have diverse people to my house for dinner. I want to know who’s going to volunteer to have the neo-Nazi family over though? Not me. Maybe I would IF I thought I could magically unwrap their hatred. I’d rather have Tina Fey over for dinner though and I’d serve a sheet cake at the end. And then we’re just preaching to the choir.

Quite awhile ago (before the election ended so tragically) I ordered a stack of books from Amazon. I’d read a review about Angie Thomas’ new book that enticed me and two other books were suggested to me by that handy Amazon tool. In a rare moment of frivolousness I ordered all three-very unlike me. I read The Hate you give pretty quickly and LOVED it. I promote it all around town and on twitter. Loved it. She wrote an interesting story with genuine characters on a timely topic. The second book was Renee Watson’s book Piecing me together; an excellent coming-of-age tale about tough choices and being yourself. I discovered I had an ARC of an earlier Watson book, This side of home, about a set of twins coming into their own as separate young women, which I then devoured as well. The 3rd book took me a bit longer to get to-I don’t know why-but it set on my dining room table for months. I packed it for vacation though and read it on the road. Ibi Zoboi’s American Street. Unlike the other three this one is not about the black experience in America but a Haitian immigrants experience as a young high schooler trying to learn how to be American amidst family strife. This one I enjoyed yet I struggled with decisions made and lack of consequences for Fabiola’s cousins. I look forward to other stories she may have to tell. Another one I just finished that can be added is Ghost by @JasonReynolds83, a powerful tale about a young man trying to make good choices in his life.

In an attempt to explore new human experiences any of these titles would fit the bill. Feel free to invite them to dinner, follow these authors on twitter, and pay attention. I believe in the library but buying diverse books sends a message to publishers: #weneeddiversebooks

@acthomasbooks
@reneewauthor
@ibizoboi