Saturday, May 31, 2014

Library

My parents just visited for a week from Wisconsin. As usual, they work miracles outside at NOLD, helping me slowly tame our overgrown property. I am extremely grateful.
In addition, my father made and installed a Little Free Library for my family and neighborhood to enjoy. I am going to cherish this gift. Little Free Library is a nonprofit that promotes literacy and community through free book exchanges set up worldwide.
Now, anyone can take a book and leave a book right at the curb of NOLD. In fact, a neighbor e-mailed to say that her daughter had discovered our Little Free Library and had borrowed two books the very first day. I hadn't even spread the word yet.
I have always had a secret longing to own an independent bookstore, because I love reading, am a huge advocate for education, and have a desire to run a business one day. No matter -- right now, our Little Free Library makes me terribly happy and is satisfying my itch for such a venture.
I am sure this summer will include plenty of trips to our county library as well as our Little Free Library just down the hill. Here's to a summer full of fun and reading!

A few years ago in elementary school, my younger daughter wrote this poem:

READING

Page by page
Words fly by
No pictures so I
Visualize

Friday, May 23, 2014

Pencils

Among writers, a fondness for pencils runs deep. For example, John Steinbeck began every day with 24 freshly-sharpened pencils. Henry David Thoreau and his father manufactured the hardest, blackest pencils of the day. And, Jack London said,
"Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory."
Although I post here with keyboard beneath my fingertips, I keep a stash of sharpened pencils close at hand for the sake of nostalgia and superstition if no longer for practicality. Of course, as far as I can tell, love of person, place, or thing has a tendency to be deeply personal rather than imminently practical in my book.
Rudimentary Mechanics for Elementary Minds

In grade school, we arrived early to sharpen our pencils before the bell and opening pledge lest a dull utensil impede flowing script on manila paper, broadly lined and center dotted.

Erasing thoroughly with tip or cap or block easily tore through the rough fibers
and left pink rubber shavings in abundance on the page which we blew to the floor with a great flourish of frustration.

Sloppy work would require a rewrite as lead darkened fingers and easily smudged across the page, cutting into recess and one’s allotted time with hula-hoop or four square.

During the day, the teacher reluctantly gave us permission to sharpen a pencil
and one can only presume she found the sound of the hand crank Sanford distracting.

Secured to the wall near the classroom door with a dial of incremental holes for insertion, not too tight not too loose, metal met wood and caught shavings in the belly of the tool.

No job was more coveted than emptying the catch which overflowed with curled shavings and graphite dust, requiring a wastebasket be situated underneath at the janitor’s behest.

As you turned the crank, you turned your pencil counter to insure an evenly sharpened tip, but not too sharp or it would break off immediately and provoke a reprimand for wastefulness.

Dixon Ticonderogas were never thrown away but collected in the metal lip of the pencil holder beneath the lid of each desk, a prized collection of yellow nubbins to be counted at the end of the school year.

Evidence of great exertion, this first exercise in quantity over quality led to
great angst as we switched from pencil to pen along with buildings in junior high,
leaving such rudimentary mechanics for elementary minds behind.




*****


Other sharpeners I have loved....


Monday, May 19, 2014

Daguerreotype

So much drama ensues around me as I garden and work in the yard. The fox ran by mid-morning with a catch in his jaws. The songbirds jostle and vie endlessly for a perch at the feeder. The neighbor cat lies in wait almost daily, certainly too fat to do any harm but persistent nonetheless.

Last week, the drama took place right beneath my feet in the raised flower bed that runs along the back property line. I would have missed it but for the sand spilling onto the stone wall as I weeded nearby. I tried to snap a photo but was unable to get a good shot. No matter -- the scene is etched in my mind like a daguerreotype.
Daguerreotype

What were the ants thinking building homes of sand among the irises?
The design showcased turrets and tunnels and alleyways with hints
Of early Southeast Asian architecture in shades of brown and grey.

What a shame for the building site shifted hourly as the earth quaked
And the city trembled in the midst of waking giants at the sun’s behest
For the irises came to work on their own time clock set by warming earth.

The bulbs pushed forth multiple shoots that soon towered like tall, leaning
High rises with penthouse blooms in purple and white.
Each millimeter of growth sent the ants into frenzy as grains of sand
Gave way to gravity only to undo their heavy labor.

Dusk shed light on the futility and fleeting beauty of their endeavor
And cast shadows on the brilliance of their intertwined work
As the insects slept and flowers dozed before the heavy rains fell.

By chance alone, I was in the presence of greatness aware
That a city such as this had never been built before and would not last but
For the daguerreotype in my mind which I intend to keep.



Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Aroma

I love walking into a kitchen, when the cook is just about to serve a meal and the aromas wash over you with great pleasure. It is pure sensory overload. The smells linger and may even become a part of us. We all have memories associated with aromas, returning us to a favorite dish or an exceptional meal shared with a special someone, because the sense of smell imprints deeply and shapes us forever.

Recently, I realized that I also have favorite aromas in the kitchen that are related to a particular activity I undertake as a cook. I think this is one reason cooking is so enjoyable for me despite the work involved. Cooking produces something tangible, nourishing, and satisfying. Cooking produces something best shared slowly and accompanied by conversation. Cooking allows the cook to engage in creative, sensory awakening activity. Cooking feeds us body and soul.

Read the following list and share in the aromas that welcome me to the kitchen. If you are even remotely enticed, run to the kitchen and join in. Everyone is welcome.
Favorite Aromas in the Kitchen
Sauteing Onions
Brewing Coffee
Browning Butter
Proofing Yeast
Roasting Beets
Broiling Cheese
Caramelizing Sugar
Peeling Oranges
Toasting Pecans
Basting Turkey
Snipping Rosemary
Mincing Garlic
Baking Shortbread
Frying Fish
Kneading Pizza Dough
Measuring Vanilla Extract
Slicing Peaches
Pureeing Applesauce
Simmering Marinara Sauce
Zesting Lemon
Braising Chicken
Beating Cake Batter
Slicing Smoked Sausage
Steeping Earl Grey Tea
Melting Chocolate
Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco

Monday, May 12, 2014

Bark

Gardening never ceases to teach me things, making the endeavor ever more enjoyable for me. For example, NOLD has three Paper Birch trees. At first, I inaccurately thought the peeling bark was a sign of their poor health. Rather, I have learned that the small gifts of paper-thin bark this variety sheds allows it to remove lichen and retain bark health.
Paper Birch thrive at northern latitudes up to the Arctic Circle and higher elevations up to the summits of the Appalacian Mountains. Their light color helps deflect heat which allows the trees to protect surrounding conifers. Sounds like a great tree to plant in light of climate change, no?
Please note: The shed bark of Paper Birch can be flattened and then cut for art projects. Or, leave your serendipitous find curled like a scroll, appreciating its mystery:

From Tanka Diary
Harryette Mullen

Walking the path, I stop to pick up
bleached bark from a tree, curled into
a scroll of ancient wisdom I am unable to read.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Nest

The nests of spring have sprung up. Invariably, I come upon a nest as I clear and trim in the yard.
Once in a while, I have inadvertently pulled down a nest along with a large branch; in the past, my younger daughter brought these to elementary school to share with her class.
Now, I place these in large glass cloches for display along with painted, speckled eggs and other natural treasures like pine cones or portions of a paper wasp nest.
I also made chocolate nests this year for a dinner party by combining brown rice krisps, mini marshmellows, and melted milk or white chocolate until completely coated.
Divide into colorful paper cupcake liners and allow to cool and harden.
Chocolate nests are perfect for nestling small jelly beans or
Belgian chocolate eggs sent across the Atlantic by dear friends.
Along with a nest of straw and a chocolate chick,
I was able to celebrate the season with edible decor in line with nature.
You can view real nest activity and learn more about nests and birds at NestWatch.
I often enjoy watching and listening to the wide variety birds that also call NOLD home, working side-by-side as neighbors on this small acre and caring for family and home and land.
 Thus, I have several birdhouses strategically placed in the yard along with a squirrel-proof bird feeder.
So, as you nest this weekend and celebrate Mother's Day, I do hope you think of nests broadly. I plan to ponder the well being of the natural world as well as humankind which made me think of this poem, sent out as good thoughts to all my dear readers:

A Prayer Among Friends
John Daniel

Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive
with one another, we walk here
in the light of this unlikely world
that isn't ours for long.
May we spend generously
the time we are given.
May we enact our responsibilities
as thoroughly as we enjoy
our pleasures. May we see with clarity,
may we seek a vision
that serves all beings, may we honor
the mystery surpassing our sight,
and may we hold in our hands
the gift of good work
and bear it forth whole, as we
were borne forth by a power we praise
to this one Earth, this homeland of all we love. 

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Surprise

Construction season has begun. Yes, this long cold winter has allowed the potholes to proliferate in our town, but that is not what I am not talking about. Rather, I speak of projects closer to home or, more precisely, underfoot. A few new ventures at NOLD (our New OLD house) are underway. Some are our own doing. Others require assistance.

We are painting our younger daughter's bedroom after the contractors pulled down the rickety shelving in one of her closets and constructed a sturdy shelf and rod. We replaced a second toilet, replacing the original from 1927 (Amazing!) that used 5 gallons with a low flush that uses 1.6 gallons. And, I am back in the yard, clearing debris and leaves, trimming bushes and trees, and weeding.

The resiliency of weeds never ceases to amaze me. One of few benefits of a long cold winter is pest control, decreasing the populations of unwanted insects and rodents to more manageable and environmentally healthy numbers. However, the weeds seem unphased. Committed to organic methods, I am a firm believer in a good weeding early each spring and late each fall. So, I am at work, a little bit each day.

As I move from bed to bed, I am surprised by more than the weeds. After last year's heavy trimming and clearing of the tremendous amount of overgrowth on our property, I am finding old plantings reemerging. NOLD has had four owners: the builders who had the home for about 50 years, the second owners of about 25 years, the previous owners of about 5 years, and now us. I had heard that the second owner was an avid gardener, and now I see the evidence of his work.

I am working hard to identify plants before relegating them to the growing heap of brush. Here is the first surprise that may now be getting far too much sun for its liking:



Hellebores in its white and pink and red variations is new to me and such a colorful surprise in the early spring garden. It may need to be moved, but it is definitely staying.