The Fourth of July

We spent our day surrounded by family at a holiday picnic with dogs and toddlers splashing in the pool and tumbling across the shady lawn.

What a privilege!

Happy Birthday, America.

What Daddy Likes

Heidi and I both have Upstate New York roots: she grew up in Buffalo and my dad was a Little Falls boy, born and bred just a couple hours east. It makes for a compelling cultural confluence; there are just so many vaguely familiar elements to the time we spend up here that something almost always seems to conjure up my dad.

For example last night we were talking about food we ate as children and lost family recipes. "My mother made a goulash that Gary loved," Louise told us, "but we've never been able to recreate it. He's always excited when he sees it on the menu, but he's always disappointed."

This conversation came at the end of a story about how the family was so poor when she was growing up that Louise's mother made spaghetti sauce first with ketchup, and then with tomato soup. "The first time I had real spaghetti I couldn't stop eating it," she told us."It was so much better than anything we ever had!"

"My dad used to love goulash when I was little," I said, "and it was made with, guess what? Tomato soup! I wonder..."

"Oh my gosh!" Louise interrupted. "Maybe tomato soup was the secret ingredient!"

"It makes sense," I replied. "I do know how to make it. It was one of the first things I learned to cook, along with creamed chipped beef, because they were my dad’s favorites."

Guess what's on the menu for Thursday?

Tucking In

We were roadtripping to Buffalo today, and as excited as I was to hit the highway, listen to some podcasts, eat car snacks, and sing really loud to the radio, and, of course, see my in-laws, I was concerned about my garden.

After
all
that
rain,

the last week has been
really hot
and really dry,

and my little plants were showing some signs of stress. With no rain in the forecast until Friday at the earliest, I rose early this morning to water for at least an hour and add some mulch to keep those guys as green as possible.

It was kind of a magical way to start the day.

Futures Market

We are leaving town tomorrow, so our trip to the farmer's market was meant to be brief: a couple of tomatoes for dinner and some peaches for breakfast before we hit the road. We had quite a few more items on our to-do list.

BUT, those tiny little pickling cucumbers were irresistibly cute.

I did a quick calculation in my head: brine them today...
pickles in a week?
Just in time for our homecoming!

Sold to the lady with more vision than sense.

They See Me Strollin

For a person who has almost everything, I got a lot of nice things for my birthday this year. By far the most photogenic was not actually for me, but rather for my cats.

You see it's come to my attention that while we are out gallivanting on all number of adventures with the dog, they are always stuck at home. And so, when I saw a kitty stroller in lovely lemon yellow last week, I was sorely tempted to buy it. I pushed it all around the store for a good ten minutes, appreciating the smooth handling, convenient bottom storage compartment, and handy collapsible design, but the end I opted out.

Fortunately Heidi alerted my sister, and so the early hours of my birthday were spent outside in the dappled morning sunlight, light breeze blowing, birds singing, and me strolling with my cats and the dog. And yes, there are pictures.

A Very Happy Tomorrow Today

The documentary about Fred Rogers is not over-rated.

I was probably a little too old to fully appreciate Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when it ran on our local PBS station, but I certainly know all the characters: Daniel Strip-ed Tiger, Rex the Owl, Henrietta Kitty, Lady Elaine Fairchild, Handyman Negri, Lady Aberlin, Mr. McFeely, King Friday the 13th. I know all the words to the opening and closing songs, know the bench, the sneakers, the closet, the sweaters. I remember Picture, Picture and the thrill of the Trolley entering the tunnel on the way to the Land of Make-Believe.

Mr. Rogers himself was always a bit of a mystery to me: how could anyone really be that nice? But by all accounts, he really was that nice and that sincere. He purposely set out to create a show that was an oasis for children in the turbulence of television, and later, the world. One that would remind them that it was okay to be who they were, even when it didn't always feel like it. And any doubt about the timelessness of his message was erased with the information that the very first episodes of the show had King Friday closing the border and building a wall around the castle to keep out change.

His message that no matter how the world changes, kids are the same inside resonated with my inner teacher and made me promise myself to channel my inner Mr. Rogers a little more in my classroom, especially in these trying times. 

When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed." 
~Fred Rogers, Dartmouth Commencement Address, 2002

Times Have Changed

I hadn't been to the little strip of shops in years, but just pulling into the parking lot and looking for an elusive spot brought back lots of memories of lots of time spent there. The first Thai restaurant in town used to be there, so was the Village Bistro, and Rays the Steak house. All of that is gone, each establishment turned over at least two or three times since I had last patronized the strip.

Today there was a very long line out the door of the new Greek place. (Who knew June 28 was dollar gyro day? A lot of folks, evidently.) And the coffee shop looked crowded, too, but we were there for Pho. My nephew has just returned from a month in Europe and he invited us to lunch. It was fun hearing about his travels and catching up, and the soup was delicious, quite possibly the best in town.

And when we were done? Riley picked up the check.