Tag: Minnesota

Hot, Hot, Hot

We are in the middle of a June heatwave from Colorado throughout the Midwest and probably across the US. So it’s hot outside and the Trump administration (if you can even call it that) is trying to make us hotter. The “Big Beautiful Bill” H.R. 1 is ridiculous and frightening. First of all who names a bill that?

And then if you look at what’s in the bill it seems like even many Republicans would take issue with raising the debt ceiling. And cutting Medicaid and Medicare, adding more money for ICE thugs, more money to the Pentagon, canceling green energy initiatives, and renewing fossil fuel subsidies. All this is bad enough but adding in the sale of public lands as Trump’s idea of solving the housing crisis is absolutely absurd. Horrible, despicable, and completely unhinged. When will Congressional Republicans begin to care about their constituents and saying NO to Trump. 71% of Americans disagree with the sale of public lands.

I had a relaxing morning reading at home before heading off to my local farmers market and yoga class. All lovely, peaceful and privileged. When I came home I started making phone calls though using the 5 Calls app. If you’ve not used this yet please consider downloading and using it every day. I’ll be calling all week long to complain about this bill.

Now I want to focus attention to the book I finished this morning. Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer is an excellent coming-of-age Native tale of Ezra Cloud of the Wolf Clan. Ezra has a run-in with a neighborhood bully at school and chooses to punch a locker instead of the bully which sets in motion a chain of events that opens up Ezra’s life in a new way. Treuer’s writing is poetic and I loved the characters so much. I wanted to be at the community feast to celebrate Ezra’s first kill. I wanted to sit at the kitchen table and eat Grandma Emma’s wild rice dish.

A friend purchased this book at Birchbark Books in Minneapolis and shared it with me. The book brought out a lot of emotions for me, thinking of my own ancestors who I hold dear. I highly recommend this charming yet real tale of Ezra and his family. Treuer has a long list of nonfiction books but I hope this story is the start of more fiction from him.

Make some calls, stand up and complain, all while staying cool.

Charlson Meadows and writing

[Labyrinth at CM]

I’m working on consistently writing by trying to make a habit of it.  Mentally I made a scheduled plan last Spring to create a new post every weekend  and I’ve carried through pretty well.  In the midst of Covid and school I’m happy with this amount. I have a million writing projects that stay incomplete that are separate from this blog space. I have several picture books I’ve started, several fiction pieces, a play, and a few nonfiction essays-mostly all not finished. My sister-in-law Steph invited me a few years ago to a writer’s retreat at Charlson Meadows and I went on a whim. In my mind I’m a librarian and a bibliophile but writer generally does not flash into my mind. But I do write and I fell in love with the location of the retreat. It’s not possible to be there in the beautiful surroundings inside and out and not feel productive or at best inspired. 

The last time I attended I actually wrote several pieces, took a bunch of hikes, and managed to get lost in the woods, literally. Thank you for the rescue Jason! I can say this year I’ve been published twice; one, letter to the editor about BLM and second, a poem I wrote after my first walk on Friday late afternoon on the grounds of Charlson Meadows. It’s easy to be creative there if you give it some breathing space. It was also the most beautiful weather weekend we’ve had all fall. The last few days I’ve worked on an old piece, added to it, had my friend Angelle edit it and I just finished submitting it to Wow! Women on Writing.  We’ll see, she says, with a shrug…

I feeling something emerging inside myself and maybe it took this lockdown of sorts to push forward. I found a batch of college writing of mine and my goal for the next few weeks is to read through and retype them and see if anything is worthwhile. The last two books I’ve read have also inspired me in different ways. Laurie Frankel’s book This is how it always is, is smart, funny, and timely.  And Richard Power’s The Overstory is such an intricate work of details and stories weaved together in a tangled mess like roots to the trees he keeps explaining. I can truly see why this book won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for literature. I’m half way and even as I write this the book is calling out to me. 

One of the reasons the last retreat I went to worked so well was because they had a writer/poet in residence, Ronda Redmond, who conferenced with us, gave a reading of her poetry, and in general was there to chat with as the weekend progressed. I very much enjoyed meeting her and listening to her as we talked about writing. Her book, Said the old widow to the new,  is available on her website and is filled with excellent writing. During our conference together she suggested getting out my dusty old copy of The Artist’s Way and I’ve been working on the daily practice set forth in the book. I guess in writing and thinking about this as with much in my life I’m learning to be intentional about what I’m doing. 

Peaceful Reading…

So much delicious food…Weekly recipes

We are getting oh, so close to the end of the school year. It’s a busy time. We’ve been here, there, and everywhere so I’ve got a smattering of recipes from a few different places.

{Natasha’s Kitchen}

I went to an end-of-the-year school party hosted by one of our teacher’s beautiful houses.  She had a gorgeous backyard with a big open space where we could all gather.  A small stream trickled through a maze of rocks giving the backyard a great zen sound.  Groovy Girl would have loved the large trampoline set up in the corner of the spacious green space. Inside her sliding glass patio doors we had tables of food to choose from with every kind of dip and desserts galore.  I generally only eat meat at my own house and a few select restaurants (Go local!) so it makes it kind of easy to bypass certain meat-laden dishes and focus on veggies and desserts (my downfall).

One of the salads, created by a kindergarten teacher, was amazing. It’s a perfect summer salad made with cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, and a squeeze of lemon.  The flavor combination was incredible.  I looked it up the next day and am sharing it here with you. I have not made it yet but plan to for an upcoming huge group picnic.  

I also made these brownies for two events; my 6th grade book club party AND a party for a retiring teacher-librarian. They were SO good and easy. So good you wouldn’t think they were so easy. I made them before school and frosted them at school.  I’ll keep this recipe handy for the next bake sale, picnic party, or kid-event.  They are in no way organic or healthy but my intended eaters were 6th graders and I wanted something they would love for our last party together.

We were out of town for an overnight in Rochester, MN for the Med-City Marathon and we ate at two incredible places.  Right downtown we tried Victoria’s and it was a wonderful experience. I had a martini with blue cheese olives and the walleye with vegetables and rice.  The flavors were perfect all mixed together and the vegetables were slightly crisp-just how I like them.  It was such a big portion I had to share a lot with my husband after he finished his veggie pasta.

On our way home today we stopped at the Four Daughters Winery and Vineyard right outside of Stewartville. Wow. Can’t believe I’ve driven past this place for years. It was a lovely day, cloudy with still a good amount of sunshine peeking through and we chose to sit outside on the patio for that reason.  We each ordered a flight of their wine, a good deal at $5 for 5 wines.  My husband ordered white and I the red.  After looking over the menu we decided to order lunch as well. He had the pork pancakes with eggs and I had the guacamole served with chips.  It was all delicious.  I scraped the bowl and ate all the chips. His plate was even cleaner than mine.  The wines were good and overall we prefered three of his whites over any of the reds.

Now I’ve got to fit in some extra yoga tomorrow after all this delicious food.  Tomorrow we head to a family party and I’m bringing the best margaritas!

Peaceful Reading…

29 days of book love…

Simply Kate
Beautiful writing
Everything by Kate

This is how my students and I speak of DiCamillo and her books.  I pretty much read them in order because that’s how they came out for me but my school kids read them in any which order and they recommend them to each other. Teachers read them aloud and when I say a title the kids collectively swoon, as in “OOOhhhh, Mrs. Tjaden read that to us last year…AAhhhh, it was soooo goooood!”  I’ve heard she has a new one just out.  I’m sure we’ll love that one as well.

1. Because of Winn-Dixie (2000): Girl and her lovable adopted dog.
2. Tiger Rising (2001): Rob and Sistine make memories with a tiger.
3. The Tale of Despereaux (2003): Mouse + Princess Pea =charming!
4. Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006): Stuffed rabbit journey.
5. The Magician’s Elephant (2009): Peter takes an unexpected chance.
6. Bink and Gollie (2010): Adorable quirky friends, easy reader style.
7. Flora and Ulysses (2013): Flora Belle and a squirrel, yes, for real.

Everyone should read Kate; you will be transported into whatever world she has created.

Peaceful Reading…

The Talented Maggie Stiefvater

I was casually doing homework; researching Jennifer L. Holm for my author study and I was on her website and watched a video for Squish, her new comic series.  It’s cute and will appeal to boys like Babymouse appeals to girls but anyway after the video ended several other video clips were advertised and one of them was by Maggie Stiefvater. 

It was for Shiver and then I found this one for Forever which I am reading right now (in between homework).  I am amazed at Stiefvater’s talent in creating this art and the music that goes with it.  I’m going to miss Mercy Falls so I’m not in a hurry to finish the book.  Enjoy the video and search for the others on You Tube.  More on Jennifer L. Holm and my author study later…

Peaceful Reading…

Shiver

(2009)
390 pages
     This is a story about Grace, her two friends, Olivia and Rachel, and a pack of wolves living on the edge of  town.  The summary from the verso page: “ In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increaseing intensity.”  Intensity, yes, it is all about the intensity!   Told in two person narrative, erratically flipping between Sam and Grace, which artfully presents this well-rounded love story.  Some readers don’t enjoy alternating chapters but I like the duality of it and each person can see the same event differently-it depends on who’s eyes your looking through.
     Grace is a strong female character, raising herself, as her parents keep busy with their own lives. She cooks and makes lovely dinners for her family and eventually for Sam.  I’m always happy when a character has a close connection to food and  I just knew I wanted to share this quiche scene. It illustrates how Stiefvater pulls her characters together over a simple common theme.   Grace and Sam find themselves in a tight spot, needing to talk with Isabel.  They are unsure of whether they can trust her or not and so Grace decides to invite her over to help make dinner~in this way Grace and Sam can judge Isabel’s character while they all work together!  It’s brilliant and I love that Grace’s character turns to cooking in a time of crisis. 
     Grace barely seemed to notice her [ mother] leaving.  She gestured at me.  ‘Isabel, eggs and cheese and milk are in the fridge.  Sam, we need to make plain old piecrusts.  Would you preheat the oven to four-fifty and get us some pans?
     Isabel was staring inside the fridge.  ‘There’s, like, eight thousand kinds of cheese in here.  It all looks the same to me.’
   You do the oven, let Sam get the cheese and stuff.  He knows food,’ Grace said.  She was standing on her tiptoes to get flour out of an overhead cupboard; it stretched her body gorgeously and made me want in the worst way to touch the bare skin exposed on her lower back.  But then she heaved the flour down and I’d missed my chance, so I traded places with Isabel, grabbed some sharp cheddar and eggs and milk, and threw it all on the counter. 
     Grace was already involved with cutting shortening and flour in a bowl by the time I’d finished cracking eggs and whisking in some mayonaise.  The kitchen was suddenly full of activity, as if we were legion. 
     ‘What the hell is this?’ Isabel demanded, staring at a package Grace had handed her. 
     Grace snorted with laughter.  ‘It’s a mushroom.” ….’Saute those in there for a few minutes till they’re nice and yummy.’ 
   “How long?’
     ‘Till they’re yummy.’ I repeated. (262-263)
     Can’t you just feel the pie crust and hear  the butter sizzling, ready for the mushrooms? I can hear Sam whisking the eggs together, everything clicking and snapping into place.  There is something so sexy about couples cooking together-something Stiefvater must know about in her own happy author life.  I wish I wasn’t obligated to share the quote’s page number so you could be surprised when you do come upon this quiche-making moment.  And what is a book, a good story made up of but wonderfully tailored moments shaped and fit perfectly together.  In Shiver, she has created a harmony of words mixed with likeable characters immersed in a odd yet believable story.  I anxious to read Linger, #2 in the Mercy Falls series.  I can’t buy it yet (my reading from my own bookshelves challenge), our public library doesn’t have it so I’m left waiting for more about Sam and Grace. 
    If I cook while I wait I would whip up this  delicious quiche  from Kim’s Easy French Food site.  I should make this for my husband as an anniversary dinner-maybe I can talk him into helping me!!  He’s so cute in an apron!   I also discovered this great stuffed eggplant dish-I adore eggplant.  Eggplant has so much flavor when cooked just right.
Check out other tasty reviews of Shiver-someone  may actually write less about the food obsession and more about the actual love story!   This post is part of Weekend Cooking over at Beth Fish Reads.  Pop over there and see what else is cooking…
Happy eating and reading!
Peaceful Reading…