flowers and Farm fare

I feel like lately all I write amounts to blatherings on how our gardens are progressing. Yesterday I wandered around and wondered at how everything seems to sneak open and surprise me though I pass by the garden everyday. All around our house the purple irises have been blooming, but now joining those are a purple/yellow blended iris; pink peonies have burst forth from their tight fists into glorious flowers; day liles are still present and trumpeting; lilies of the valley clang in the wind--white bells; now I am pacing back and forth waiting to see the fruits of our more recent labors.

TSO's gladiolus are tall and leggy, but flowerless; my triteleias are growing, steady sharp points, but so far from flowering that I grow impatient looking at them. I am now looking eagerly for signs of all of last weekends work; scanning for sunflowers, cosmos, broomcorn, anything new that will add to our gardens beauty.

Down at my garden plot watering my mounds of pumpkins, cucumbers and watermelons today gave me my first glance of seedlings, leafs unfurling and spreading. Hopefully this weekend I will be putting in the rest of my seeds.

While I wait for my plants I have been enjoying the fruits of the Garden teams' labor more and more lately as we move further into my favorite food season at the Farm--summer abundance. It is so refreshing to be using frozen veggies less and less as we enjoy our Farm asparagus, lettuce, spinach, leeks, scallions and radishes. Some suggestions for these tasty treats:

1. Asparagus: I love it barely steamed, al dente.
2. Lettuce: salads and sandwiches of course, but try wrapping cold salads in the leaves like a burrito (curry chicken salad is nice!)
3. Spinach: I like spinach tossed with sauteed garlic shrimp and a sweet and tangy bacon viniagrette.
4. Leeks: Potato, leek and bacon soup.
5. Scallions: great finishes in almost every dish. On hot days toss on top of pasta or potato salad. Mmmmm.
6. Radishes: I recently found a radish butter recipe in the Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern cookbook. I am looking forward to trying with some homemade bread soon.

Some benefits of eating locally and in season foods include:

• decreasing your carbon footprint since your food isn't traveling as far to get to your table
• the flavor of the food is noticeable since it doesn't have to be picked before its prime to ensure its ability to stay "fresher" longer
• you support your local farmers, keeping monies in your local community

music for us to enjoy

I know I am a little ahead of the game--the 50th anniversary isn't until July--but I saw this article yesterday and had to share it.

For many of us To Kill a Mockingbird was required reading in school--for me it never was, so I took it upon myself to read it. I came to To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in seventh grade; my family had just uprooted from a private school back to public school (nearly an hour away); I was virtually friendless, lonely and unhappy; I didn't know who or what to believe in anymore and I was angry at the world. I fell into Harper Lee's book; was amused with Scout, who reminded me of myself; envied Atticus Finch, who's patience was something to marvel at.

It has been nearly 20 years since last I read To Kill a Mockbird--though only months since last I watched the movie (which I love)--so it is time to read it again. Here's to you Harper Lee. Happy 50th.

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do." 
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Chapter 11, spoken by the character Atticus Finch)

plants on the ground, plants on the ground

In New England it is usually good to wait until Memorial Day to put your seeds and plants (unless otherwise advised) in the ground. But, after reading the weather report for this week leading up to Memorial Day I decided that it would probably be okay to start putting seeds in the ground. Last year TSO and I shared a garden plot, which is what we'll be doing again this year, but I will also have one to myself for my inchers; mounds for my Baby Pam pie pumpkins and Howden carving pumpkins, double yield cucumbers and Chelsea watermelons whose bumpy dirt humps grew all around me in my garden plot as I stooped under a warm sun.

After I arrived home TSO and I planted seeds in our flower beds; sunflowers: mammoths, evening suns, Aztec golds and Chianti, all planted mixed together in a long row in front of the broom corn. As he raked away wood chips and made a long narrow trough I planted his vininig and twining morning glories and moonflowers at the bottom of the front porch stairs, that the plants may crawl up the twine TSO hung. I can't wait to see the results--the flowers twisting and writhing up the twine, hanging trumpeters to the morning and night time. Planting the morning glories and moon flowers was such a contrast to planting my cosmos; thin seeds, prickly and dry.

I am always amazed by the meditations that come into my head as I am gardening; though the communing with the dirt and hopeful intentions that are seeds and seedlings force upon a person the piece of mind to process...?

On my agenda for the rest of the week is getting down to the lower campus and planting the rest of my seeds and sprouted seedlings.

Such a busy week ahead in the garden alone, can't even think about my overnight trip to NYC mid-week!

interesting articles #851

Some interesting articles about Michigan libraries:

This article is about the Ferndale Public Library (near where I used to live) going green.

This article is about the Troy Public Library (the city I was living in before I moved out East) losing it's library. This library is great and ranked as one of the best in the state; how horrible.

strawberry rhubarb crumble amazement

After arriving home from the Farmer's Market I decided to make dinner for the roomies and myself; our list eventually growing to include: TSO, RugbyGirl, EvanAlmighty, Christy, FLGirl and myself.

Lacking the creative juices to come up with a dinner menu, I started by baking a strawberry rhubarb crumble; wanting to make this crumble was the whole reason I had seeked out rhubarb (and non-local strawberries--I know, I know). I was basing my crumble off of Heidi of 101cookbooks.com's Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble found here.

I simplified my recipe a little bit:

1. Chop rhubard into 3/4 inch thick slices

2. Slice 1 lb. of strawberries

3. Toss rhubarb and strawberries in 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch, 3/4-1 cup of sugar (white is fine)

4. Dump mixture into a sprayed (oiled) pan.

5. **This is where I cheated to save time**
Sprinkle already made granola on top of the strawberry/rhubarb mixture.
We make it here at the Farm (almost weekly) and it is the best granola I've ever had, so why reinvent the wheel!?

6. Cook for about 15-20 mins., 325 F, or until the sides are bubbling.

This would be great with vanilla ice cream!

After I tossed the strawberry rhubarb crumble into the oven I began on dinner. I made pan seared/oven braised steak in a whisky mustard sauce, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus and barley pilaf. The crumble was definitely a good end to dinner and the sugary energy we needed before going out to a local contra dance.

Life is good.

fruits of my market trip

My trip to two Farmer's Markets (last week) nearby the Farm proved to be, well, fruitful. The Farmer's Market in Otis, MA--small, held in a local gas station parking lot--provided me with a small bleeding heart plant for the shady side of our house. The Farmer's Market in Great Barrington, MA was bigger, with more selections and a wider variety of goods: plants/flowers, meats, breads/pastries, soups, etc.  While I left Otis with only a plant I walked away from the GB Farmer's Market with three tomato plants--two varities new to me: Cherokee Purple and Green Zebra. I thought it would be fun to mix things up since what I've started from seeds are common red varieties: Romas and Italian Heirlooms. This will add color to my salsa this summer! I also purchased (slightly overpriced, I think) rhubarb and a delicious sourdough roll from Berkshire Mountain Bakery. So good. Felt good to be supporting local. YAY!

to market, to market

The Farmers Markets have returned and I couldn't be happier. This is such a helpful resource; going to sit down with this over coffee in the (later) morning and plan out my route. Happy hunting fellow market hounds.

nostalgic

My friend Mike shared this with me. Reading it made me nostalgic for the Michigan of my childhood.

"Time and Place," Tina Warren, The Sunday Times. Full article can be found here.

"It was the late 1970s and I was seven years old when my parents decided to move from Scotland to live in America for a few years. My father is American and wanted to return to his roots, so my mother offered to give it a try. My twin sister Madeline and I were whisked off on this great adventure. First, however, we had to negotiate the worst plane journey I’ve ever experienced. We were sick so often on the flight from London to Michigan, the captain came back to see us to make sure we were okay.


When we arrived, we were greeted by our uncle with a big smile and an Arnie’s salt-beef sandwich. I’ll never forget that sandwich. It has to be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted. It was our introduction to American life.


We lived with my grandmother in a suburb of Michigan called Clarkston. We were shy but, being children, we soon adapted. The street was named after a native American chief called Sashabaw, who had walked a trail across the land where the house was built. I was intrigued by stories of his adventures, so unfamiliar but fascinating and exotic were they to a small child.


But new America was just as awe-inspiring. Everything was bigger, brighter and more colourful than I had been used to. The house had air-conditioning, which whirred into life in the summer, much to our amazement. At weekends, we visited vast shopping malls decorated with huge fountains; they were like something you’d see in Las Vegas. Our next-door neighbours had a swimming pool, which made us feel as though we were living in Hollywood. These were things we’d never seen in Scotland.


My grandmother’s house was the smallest and oldest on the street — a cute, wooden, detached bungalow that was picture-postcard American. I shared a room with my sister and we made it home quickly. It was a simple room with white walls and lots of natural light.


We spent most of our time outdoors. The house had a huge garden surrounded by fruit trees, which produced the most delicious apples and cherries. It was a great place for children. We were able to ride our bikes up and down the huge driveway. It was a street of long drives full of shiny and what would now be considered classic cars.


The seasons were extreme. It was burning hot in summer and during winter we regularly waded through waist-high snow. When the ice froze on top of it, it was possible to walk across it.
It wasn’t all fun and games. I hated school. We were put in a year with children who were a year older than us, for some bureaucratic reason I’ve never fully understood. My sister coped brilliantly — she’s the brainy one — but I struggled to catch up.


In other respects it was typical of what you’d expect from an American school. The children seemed sophisticated — they all had boyfriends and exotic, international names. My classmates were all friendly and the teachers liked us because we were quaint.


We picked up an American twang almost immediately and I still have letter-tapes we sent to relatives in Scotland that are testament to my Michigan drawl. I try to remember what it was like to speak with a different accent but it all floats away in a feeling of nostalgia.


I was happy to go back to Scotland when the time came, because I missed my extended family, but I have lovely memories of Michigan. When I think back, I always imagine sitting on the porch watching the ants scuttle about their business in the hot sunshine.


I see myself as Scottish but I have retained that American flair for showmanship and glamour, which I think comes through in my love of burlesque. Club Noir, my venue, is in part inspired by the Minsky brothers and American burlesque from the 1930s to the 1950s. I love beauty and I love the exotic and the best bits of American culture have always been that for me — even as a child."

a cautionary tale

A list we all came up with things we'd advise/warn others to be aware of before going on a cruise:

• The adults only pool and whirlpools tended to be a lot less crowded. Seemed like even the younger, childless drunkos preferred the main deck pool with the two bars nearby. (Maybe the fact that the adults only pool only had one bar near it, not two, was the major clincher?) A couple people tried to bring kids into both the adults only hot tub and pool,  but they were quickly told off by those enjoying the sans children atmosphere.
• The sit down dinner with the assigned table, etc. was AMAZING! Not only did it take us away from the busy buffet, but our waiters were great—we always had the same two guys; both memorized our names and were so gracious in their service to us—and the food was so good! You can also order as much as you want. The presentation of these meals was lovely too!
  The sit down dinner insured you always had your reservation at a spec. time. On our ship it was either 6pm (which we chose—good too, since some of the programs started around 8:30ish) and 8:15pm.
• On our cruise, besides being able to eat all over the ship and in the dining halls, there were 24 hours options (like a pizzeria—good to know since we often got hungry between meals, after our excursions, etc.) Also, room service food (food only!) was covered by our food plan too. Good to know in case you want to skip the crowds.
• When we had our first stop, which took us right to a pier, a few of us left a little later after we arrived (just over two hours after), which we found to be great. No traffic. Something to think about, but of course, if you do an excursion at any stop you have to arrive at certain times.
• The shows in the theater (on our ship it was called the Palladium) filled up faster than I thought they would. Get there early for good seats.
• Photographers pop up everywhere. You start to feel a little Hollywood-paparazo action going on. They made us take a fun photo before we could even get on the ship, then we had our pictures taken with Capt. Jack Sparrow at dinner one night, and then apparently Capt. Jack popped up at one of our stops too. Ship photographers also came on shore with us. Constantly trying to gets pics, which they obviously hope to sell. Get really good at: 1. Telling them no thank you. 2. Side stepping them when they pop out of no where. We weren’t able to do either with Capt. Jack Sparrow when he showed up at dinner the other night; you live and you learn.
• Be careful in the bathrooms near the pool. Those floors get slippery. I almost fell on my ass, but luckily caught myself using the hand dryer.
• Bring two water bottles/person. I only brought one and found myself filling up a lot while on the ship, or rationing my water while on shore. If you are a coffee/tea drinker and want to take it with you, having a bottle which doubles for both hot and cold might not be a bad idea.
• If you are a smoker, you might want to consider not getting cigarettes until you get aboard. The ship I was on sold a five pack for $16 (pretty good since in MA cigs are $8/pack). Liquor was also duty free in the shop--something to think about.
• The bucket of beers which they tell you is a better deal, isn’t.
• Take advantage of bringing wine on board. A bottle/person when you get on. A lot cheaper than the booze on board.
• Bring an alarm clock, surprisingly enough there wasn’t one in our room! This made waking up hard since there were no windows in our room.
• Find the bathrooms on the busy activity floors as soon as you get on board. The bathrooms were not clearly marked, occasionally tucked into little hallways. Share these secrets with your friends.
• Bring small bills (singles and fives) to tip room service people. While gratuity is included in your trip, it doesn’t hurt to give them a little extra since there are some amazing people working on the ship (at least ours).

Am I forgetting anything?

Day 5: Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is one of those off the hook experiences. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but what greeted us was a deluge of Bahamians who wanted our money; wanted us to go for a horse drawn carriage ride; a snorkeling excurion; a scooter ride around the island; wanted us to shop in their stores; eat at the restaurants; stop in for a beer. It was overwhelming. But, I can't blame them. Tourism is their #1 bread winner, so it only makes sense that they really fight for the tourists and really push their wares.

S and I headed off the ship early in the morning to explore Nassau; spending our first hour wandering around, away from the pier, through the shopping district in search of postcards. Making our way back onto the ship to drop off our bags, we ran into TSO who agreed to come with us and go on a two and a half hour guided driving tour of the island and also Paradise Island, where the famously, fabulously expensive Atlantis hotel is located.

Our driver didn’t really tell us much about the history of the island, but rather instead shared things he thought we needed to know about the island. From him we learned some things:

• New Providence, the island which Nassau is the capital of, is only 21 miles long and 7 miles across and has about 200,000 people on it.
• The poorest on the island live in shacks without running water or electricity, which cost about $100/month. Our tour guide kept pointing out that there are no homeless people on the island because even the poorest can live in these houses, albeit without amenities. The middle class can rent (what I presume were apts.) for about $500-600/month, or buy homes which cost around $50,000-60,000. The wealthy, are wealthy just like they are here, owning ridiculously large and ornate houses whose values one can only guess. 
• People on the island don’t pay taxes, for anything. Once you buy a house, it’s yours, so people pay in cash.
• Medicine is social. Doctors’ visits cost $10, visits to hospital $30, having a baby is $100. (Our tour guide says he calls his three girls his “$100 babies”).
• The main industry is obviously tourism, followed by alcohol (rum is a big one).
• Fruiting trees (like mangos) which hang over the street are fair game for anyone to pick from. Just can’t pick fruit from someone’s yard.
• I’m sure there were some other things learned, but that’s all I can readily remember. Wish I’d had a notepad with me.

Our tour of Nassau continued with a ride over the bridge to Paradise Island, known for its good fishing waters (which also have great whites!!) and its famous Atlantis Hotel, which is this ridiculously lavish, beautiful building. We stopped in quickly for pictures and a quick walk through a small aquarium that is on the bottom floor.

Somehow earlier in our ride we’d gotten on the subject of conch (pronounced “konk”), being assured of 1. It’s amazing taste 2. The fact that for men it can “put lead in your pencil, so you can make lots of the babies. It’s better than Viagra!” I swear to God that this is what the tour guide told us, encouraging TSO to have some.

We stopped along a row of little lean-to-looking-huts, between the water and the bridge back to Nassau; and a bowl of conch salad was ordered for S and I to share. We watched as a man  minced green peppers, tomato, hot pepper (red, not sure what type), onion and the conch meat (freshly sliced from the HUGE conch shell) together with sea salt, squeezing fresh oranges and limes over the mix. The sterilization of our dishes and the washing of the food all happened in this bowl of water (that I was secretly praying was chlorine water).

I loved the idea of the “conch salad;” attracted to it by its exotic appeal (food native to the place I was visiting); summoned to it by a love of all the ingredients (though the conch was a mystery); trepidatious of what sickness I might get from the food, prepared in a modest hut, whose cleanliness might be questioned. And yet, I dug in and was so pleased by the flavors all tripping over each other, even enjoying the heat (I don’t do spicy well) of the mystery red pepper. I was surprised by the conch—a giant mussel—expecting it to be as soft as the mussels I'd had before. This was slightly tougher, which was also a surprise since the whiteness and cut of the conch looked like a gently cooked and small cubed chicken breast. All these mysteries and gloriousness came together into something I enjoyed with a local beer--cold cold cold on that hot day. Eating local fare with local beer, sharing the bowl with S and TSO, there was no where else I wanted to be in that moment. Life is good.

Day 4: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

Half Moon Cay was gorgeous, but it also made me more than a little sad to hear that Carnival shares ownership of the island with another travel company.

All 6 of us met up at 9:30am (different than the day before were we split up more), so we could all catch the boat over to the island together. Unlike our stop in Grand Turk, our ship couldn’t dock on Half Moon Cay, so we had to stay anchored out from the island and take boats (holding about 250 people) over to the island.

Our time on the island today was what I had in mind for this vacation: we all went for a hike together, following the signs for a nature hike, then veering off into the woods, following whatever paths we crossed. A follow the leader sort of walk, which allowed us to see island birds and lots of lizards, the biggest one maybe a foot long.

We found a beautiful, quieter spot a ways down the beach from the majority of the crowds and plopped down our stuff. We all stripped down to bathing suits and got into the cool water. We swam out and tried doing somersaults and hand stands and all the things I did when I was a kid. Maybe we were all kids again for a little bit. Maybe we are all still kids—fairly uninhibited by many things in this world. Maybe this is what freedom tastes like. Though we are all relatively poor in the fiscal sense, we are content and have enough money to attend to the things we want, like travel, every once in a while.

We ate lunch on the the island that day, an island BBQ; a huge spread of food put out for us by our stewards and wait staff. Can you imagine it?!! They start hauling our lunch—tons of food!!—onto the island for us, early in the morning as soon as we docked and while some people were still sleeping. There is no end to excess on cruises.

The rest of the day was as eventful as all the other days. What I will remember the most of that day is hiking to the point that I was hot and sweat was dripping off my face and how oh, so deliciously cold that water felt.

Day 3 Grand Turks and Caicos

"The Turks and Caicos includes 45 islands and cays. It's believed that Columbus' first landfall in the New World was on Grand Turk island. These islands, once annexed by both the Bahamas and Jamaica, have long been associated with the UK, and today are still a British overseas territory."

~ Info from World Atlas 

Oh my sweet Jesus! Our few hours in Grand Turk were amazing! After going down to the first deck and going through the security point to get onto the pier, B1 & B2 and I headed over to meet our Snorkel/Hiking excursion group. Once the 28 of us and 2 crew: Adrian (from Jamaica) and Michael (from the Dominican Republic) had us all loaded onto our boat, we were roaring off, heading away from Grand Turk towards some of the smaller Cays (Cay is actually pronounced "key"). I can't remember which one now, but it was a TINY little island, made up of limestone (like most of the Cays,) and covered with shrubs and growth that can sustain itself on mostly salt water, since the area only gets about 2 inches of rain a year.

When we finally were suited up and ready to snorkel and all things important were explained, we, masked and finned, jumped in the perfect Atlantic Ocean, where we snorkeled in depths ranging from about 6-16/20 feet, we guessed. The last time I snorkeled was in ’97 in Australia, but this was new to both B1 & B2, who both did swimmingly well (pun intended).It felt so good and smooth to me, except the one time I got excited to show B1 something and I got a huge mouthful of salt water.

We snorkeled around and over a reef, seeing nothing too spectacular, no nurse sharks or turtles, both which I was hoping to see; only seeing zebra fish and a variety of colored fish who’s names I can’t imagine: different shades of yellows, silvers, blues and some fast orange fish; sea anemone, coral. After about a half an hour we swam to shore for a 20 minute hike around the cay to see ruins from a plantation of sorts, days long gone where men who came tried desperately to grow anything. I fired question after question and learned interesting facts about the island. The hike was a nice retreat from the water, but really ensured my back and shoulder sunburns.

We snorkeled our way back to our ship, and in no time we were thumping our way over huge waves, feeling the salt water splash, and enjoying really strong rum punch.

Later that night after dinner, nursing my sunburns, I lay on a deck chair and watched Julie & Julia on alone, then found TSO and we watched half of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before we went to bed.

Day 1 and 2: fun days at sea

Getting onto the ship was something that I never thought I'd do. Airplane, waiting for a shuttle to the ship, going through the ship check in (getting our keys, filling out H1N1 forms), until finally we were going across a zig zag walkway onto the 3rd Deck of the Carnival Destiny. After finding food we walked through each deck starting with the top and working our way down, covering what we thought was everything--boy, were we wrong (many floors, as we later discovered, had things that were only accessible from one end of the ship).

Going to the Lido Deck (where the 3 pools and the majority of the restaurants are) provided us with a lovely view of Miami: a little harbor with sail boats; the skyline of Miami skyscrapers, juxtaposing working life with the view of our ship: deck chairs lined up making a wave of silver; other cruise ships. It was here that S, TSO, RugbyGirl and I ran into B1 & B2, who'd had separate travel plans. We watched as we sailed away from Miami for open ocean.

The rest of that day and the second "Fun Day at Sea," were spent in wandering around; laying poolside; sitting in the hot tub; having an awesome dinner, then going to ship activities: games, shows, a comedy act, movies under the open sky. Nothing in those first two days but the promise of miles of ocean ahead of us to think about. No worries, no thoughts of work. Life felt good.

back from vacation, feeling demotivated

Will be posting vacation pics, etc. tomorrow. Until then, this made me laugh outloud--hard.

Can be found here.

natural alarm clocks start the day

I woke this morning to the sounds of my neignbors yelling. But, wait dear readers, no harsh words or insults (or chairs) were being thrown around; rather it was the sound of our truly noisy neighbors in nature. Making their morning sounds, like vain singers in a chorus trying to sing louder than one another; such an amazing waking sound: warbling, screeching, cheeping, calling, tapping; bluejays, robins, thrush, mourning doves, orioles, woodpeckers and more birds than I know names for.

Today was our last perfect (and perfectly hot!) day before our cruise to sandy beaches and ocean views; one of those amazing (and tiring) days. It began with my waking to the wonderful natural alarm clocks outside my windows around 6:30 a.m. After coaxing myself out of bed, I walked down to visit the bees and ran into our neighbor, Gardener R, who was planting red onions--methodically and perfectly, like creating art. Breakfast in our sunny kitchen, admiring my own seedlings sprouting, made way to a day full of running errands for our cruise; last minute shopping excursions; a visit to the library I work at, to show it off to RugbyGirl and TSO; dinner; finally packing. It is with a sigh of relief that I am officially packed and ready to go.

4 a.m. can't come early enough. I want to be on the road, heading to the airport, heading towards the next great adventure.

For more info on Massachusetts orinthology.
Cornell University's Lab of Orinthology is badass!

a consummate ass

Illustration from first edition of  Following the EquatorColor tinted by Kent Rasmussen © 2004

Mark Twain's stories and memoirs communicated the world which he saw with his own eyes; opportunities for travel which weren't available for the masses at the time. In his lifetime Twain traveled across the U.S.--from Missouri, where he was born--from New York to California, even visiting Hawaii (then called the Sandwich Islands); he made tours of Europe, the Middle East and Mediterranean. And these travels were communicated into The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; The Adventures of Huck Finn; Roughing It; The Innocents Abroad.
 
It was while I was reading about travel today, that I thought of Twain and wanted to share some of his quotes on the subject:

"The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad."
~ Innocents Abroad

"There is no unhappiness like the misery of sighting land (and work) again after a cheerful, careless voyage."~ Letter to Will Bowen

"It liberates the vandal to travel--you never saw a bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, narrow-minded, self-conceited, almighty mean man in your life but he had stuck in one place since he was born and thought God made the world and dyspepsia and bile for his especial comfort and satisfaction."
~ The American Abroad speech, 1868

choices, choices

When most people are planning all the things necessary for their vacation to go off without a hitch, I am thinking of which books will be exactly what I want to be reading on this very trip. A poorly chosen book read on a vacation, for me, can jade part of the experience in quite the same way that a sommelier's meal might be tainted by a poorly chosen wine. Yes, I am that picky. So, as RugbyGirl and S have been shopping for the perfect bathingsuits and sun dresses, I have been trying to think of which books on my list might be just right for me on this trip. I have narrowed it down to:

Desert Solataire, Edward Abbey
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Death comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
The Lacuna, Barabara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver
A tree grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

Oh, hell, I'm probably just going to take them all. I am still that 8 year old, tucked in the crook of a tree, on a hot, sunny day.