Until We Meet Again . . .

FOR JANICE WOOD

Kindness
by Naomi Shihab Nye

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense and more,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

Colombia

Clafoutis!

I'VE WANTED TO MAKE A CLAFOUTIS (FRENCH: cla-foo-TEE) FOR YEARS. WHY DID I WAIT? THIS IS SUCH A SIMPLE DESSERT - OR INDULGENT BREAKFAST. YOU CAN FIND THE RECIPE I USED HERE, AT GLUTEN FREE MOMMY'S BLOG.


THE FIRST RECIPE I EVER SAW FOR THIS DISH (CLIPPED FROM THE PAPER AND SAVED FOR EONS) USES APRICOTS, BUT CHERRIES ARE THE TRADITIONAL SUMMER FRUIT TO USE. I'VE RESEARCHED RECIPES, AND THEY VARY WIDELY. SOME USE 6 WHOLE EGGS (LIKE THE ONE I MADE). SOME USE ONLY 3. I FOUND THIS ONE MORE CUSTARD-LIKE THAN I EXPECTED (I WAS EXPECTING PANCAKE-LIKE TEXTURE), BUT I LOVE IT, ESPECIALLY CHILLED.


SWEET RICE FLOUR IS A VERY COMMON INGREDIENT IN GLUTEN FREE BAKING. IT'S MADE FROM STICKY RICE, ALSO CALLED GLUTINOUS RICE, ALTHOUGH IT DOES NOT CONTAIN GLUTEN. IT DOES MIMIC SOME OF GLUTEN'S PROPERTIES - HENCE IT'S POPULARITY IN GF BAKING. AFTER SOME RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT IT IS CALLED MOCHIKO IN JAPANESE (USED TO MAKE MOCHI), AND BOT NEP IN THAI. I FOUND IT AT MY LOCAL ASIAN MARKET.


THE ALMOND MEAL USED IN MY CLAFOUTIS CAME FROM TRADER JOE'S. OF COURSE YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN BY GRINDING RAW, UNSALTED ALMONDS IN YOUR BLENDER.

Montreal IV - Ghosts

THERE ARE SO MANY ARCHITECTURAL GHOSTS IN MONTREAL. I WOULD LIKE TO RETURN AND PHOTOGRAPH MORE OF THEM.

Montreal III - Chinatown

WE CAME UPON THE CHINATOWN GATE ON OUR WALK TO THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.

I COULD NOT PASS UP THIS PHOTO OP!

A MESMERIZING SHOP WINDOW. I WANT TO PAINT THIS!

YOU CAN'T TELL WHAT'S ON TV IN THIS PHOTO, BUT IN THIS LITTLE PARK, PEOPLE ARE WATCHING THE OLYMPICS ON A HUGE TELEVISION SCREEN. THEY ARE ALSO PLAYING CHESS AND GENERALLY HANGING OUT TOGETHER IN THE SHADE. SO NICE!

Montreal II - Ladies and Lions: Architectural Carvings

A LOVELY VISAGE IN CHINATOWN . . .


A FIERCE OLD CITY FRIEZE . . .

A BECKONING LADY BETWEEN SHOP WINDOWS . . .

. . . AND YOU KNOW WHO AT HER BASILICA.

Petites Vacances à Montréal

WE ARRIVED FRIDAY EVENING, CHECKED IN TO HOTEL ST. PAUL, AND GOT DRESSED FOR DINNER. SUCH A RARE THING!

IN THE MORNING WE STROLLED THROUGH THE OLD CITY . . .

. . . TO THE NOTRE-DAME BASICILCA, THEN UP TO THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART. LOTS AND LOTS OF WALKING!

BY THE TIME WE GOT DOWN THE HILL AGAIN TO THE OLD CITY, OUR DOGS WERE YAPPIN'! FOUND A SWEET PLACE FOR LUNCH. I HAD A BEAUTIFUL ORANGE, CHEVRE & FENNEL SALAD ADORNED WITH TINY FLOWER PETALS.

I WANTED TO POST HERE ALL WEEKEND, BUT JUST AS WE WERE LEAVING OUR ROOM THIS MORNING, I DISCOVERED THE NECESSARY WIRE (WHICH ELUDED ME ALL WEEKEND) FOR USING THE INTERNET THERE! CE'ST LA VIE! MORE MONTREAL POSTS THROUGHOUT THIS WEEK.

Be Kind to Your Fruit Flies

IT'S AUGUST AND TREE FRUIT IS ABUNDANT HERE IN NEW ENGLAND. THIS IS THE OLD YANKEE WAY TO MANAGE FRUIT FLIES!

YOU WILL NEED:
- BOTHERSOME FRUIT FLIES IN YOUR KITCHEN
- A SMALL MOUTH QUART MASON JAR, OR OTHER TALL CONTAINER WITH A SMALLISH OPENING
- AN 8.5 X 11 PIECE OF PAPER
- A BIT OF SCOTCH TAPE
- SOME APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, OR BETTER YET, LEFT OVER RED WINE

ROLL THE PAPER INTO A CONE SHAPE WITH A LARGE OPENING AT ONE END, AND A VERY SMALL OPENING AT THE OTHER. TAPE THE PAPER TO SECURE THE CONE. TRIM THE TOP WITH SCISSORS IF YOU WANT TO, TO MAKE IT EVEN.

PUT ABOUT 1-2 INCHES OF CIDER VINEGAR OR RED WINE IN THE JAR. TOSS IN THAT BAD SPOT YOU CUT OUT OF YOUR PEACH - THE FLIES LOVE THAT!

PLACE THE PAPER CONE IN THE JAR.

PLACE THE JAR (WHICH IS NOW "THE FRUIT FLY TRAP") NEAR YOUR FRUIT.
THE FRUIT FLIES WILL FLY INTO THE JAR, BUT MOST CAN'T FIND THEIR WAY OUT AGAIN.

ONCE A DAY OR SO, TAKE THE WHOLE THING OUTSIDE, REMOVE THE CONE, AND WATCH THE FRUIT FLIES FLY OFF TO FREEDOM. NO KILLING REQUIRED! FOR ADDED ENJOYMENT SING BORN FREE WHILE YOU ARE RELEASING THE FLIES.

WARNING! IF YOU FORGET TO TAKE IT OUTSIDE AND SET THEM FREE, SOME FLIES WILL DROWN IN THE DRINK.

S. AND I ARE FLYING OFF (WELL, DRIVING) TO MONTREAL IN THE MORNING! I'M SO EXCITED. I HAVE NEVER BEEN THERE. STAY TUNED FOR POSTS FROM MONTREAL!

I Can't Stay Away

A GREAT EGRET, FISHING.

POOR FARM SWAMP

NOW THAT I'VE DISCOVERED THIS REMARKABLE PLACE, SO FULL OF LIFE (LIKE THIS GREAT BLUE HERON), I CAN'T STAY AWAY. I DISCOVERED THAT THE BIKE TRAIL EXTENDS ACROSS STATION ROAD, HEADING SOUTHEAST TO THE BELCHERTOWN LINE. IT'S A BEAUTIFUL RIDE.

Evening Ride on the Bike Path

RIDING MY BIKE THIS EVENING ON THE RAIL TRAIL, I STOPPED ON THE SOUTH AMHERST BRIDGE - THE LIGHT WAS MAGICAL! THIS WAS THE VIEW
TO THE WEST . . .

. . . AND TO THE EAST.


I EXPLORED THE FIRST MILE OF THE PATH, NEAR STATION ROAD. IT IS AN AMAZING SWAMP, CREATED BY BEAVERS AND FULL OF WILDLIFE. WHEN I STOPPED TO LOOK AND TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS THE MOSQUITOES DESCENDED. NEXT TIME I'LL BRING SOME INSECT REPELLENT AND TAKE MY TIME. WHAT A GORGEOUS EVENING IT WAS, SO WELCOME AFTER SO MUCH RAIN.

What a Surprise!

MY FRIEND SUNSHINE SENT ME A SURPRISE GIFT IN THE MAIL. THE CARD SAYS THAT THIS BOOK REMINDED HER OF ME! IT IS A LOVELY, ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL, DESCRIBING FOUR SOLITARY RETREATS TAKEN OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR, BY BARBARA BASH, PAINTER, CALLIGRAPHER AND TEACHER. TO READ MORE ABOUT THE BOOK CLICK HERE. THANK YOU SUNSHINE! YOU ARE SO SWEET. IT'S REALLY TOUCHING.

Summer Vacation - Part VII

IF YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE BEACH THIS SUMMER - DO IT!
AH!

Summer Vacation - Part VI

THIS HAS WAS THE MOST RELAXING VACATION I'VE HAD IN A LONG TIME!

Summer Vacation - Part V

I DROVE HOME YESTERDAY BUT I HAVE SOME MORE BEACH PHOTOS TO SHARE WITH YOU.

Summer Vacation - Part IV

REISER IS A CITY BOY - HE LIVES IN QUEENS. BUT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AT WALLBETH, HE LOVES TO RELAX AT THE BEACH.