Oct. 11: Parents' Weekend at Bates

Taking a quick nap break chez Mama's. . . . I finally finished The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman. Next up, I hope, is Miss Peregrine, but we have been pretty busy! Great to see Nate and especially to see him with Grandpa Jim and Gram, both Bates grads. . . . What a legacy photo!


The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a reread; The View is another pleasant outing from Lipman, with engaging characters, one incredibly annoying character (she's as good at doing those as Austen is), and entertaining personal ad responses shared as well. Nothing spectacular, but a good novel.

View all my reviews

Oct. 4: A Rainy Saturday (At Last!)

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Classic "cozy", and another strong narration job by Nadia May. Always a pleasure, even when I figure out the answers early and we don't get any Troy! Finished it today, a rainy, windy afternoon, as I worked on the twins' Christmas stockings. Nice!

View all my reviews


Making Bread, Breaking Bread.

Tomorrow, in the United Church of Christ calendar at least, is worldwide Communion Sunday. For several years now, my local church has also used the day to celebrate our local harvest and locally grown food, using blueberry juice and locally-made bread for Communion. Today, as I was making the bread, I started to think about the various directions and connections that this act of bread making pointed to.

The recipe I use is usually either "Grandma Leamon's oatmeal bread," or "anadama bread," both out of the notebook of recipes my mom made for each member of our family years ago. Grandma Leamon was my paternal grandmother, long-time Congo-pastor's wife, amazing cook, and beloved grandmother. The story of "anadama bread" is one my brother used to beg my mom to tell and retell. Both breads were staples in my family-of-origin, and we all learned to bake both as we grew up.

The step that the anadama bread has that the other doesn't is the proofing of the dough; with the double batch the sponge threatens to spill out onto the counter, and I divide it into a second bowl just in time. As I stir the fizzing mass down, I think about the yeast, about the growth it inspires, and about the incredible science and chemistry of this process. There's something else happening here, too: a fuzzy reflection about how the yeast makes the bread rise and expand, how tomorrow the congregation will come together to be nourished and then head off into our other lives, fed and lifted (we hope) by the experience of Communion. I am never sure what I think about Communion--both as a Congregationalist Protestant and as a pragmatist--but I sure know what I think about feeding people, and I know that it's one of the most elemental forms of care one can provide. Jesus got that, too, and the idea of celebrating Communion, of celebrating the act of eating, even or especially with something as simple as homemade bread, with a community of people who choose to come together: yup. That works for me.

As I mix the cornmeal, the molasses, the flour, the yeast, the smells and colors fit perfectly with the October woods and leaves outside. I knead the dough (a double batch) and feel grateful for my strong arms, my hands that know how to move the dough, the silky flour that I work into the messy dough until it turns smooth and firm itself. As I think of the bread I'm creating, I think of how much people love it--this leftover bread doesn't go out to the birds on anyone's feeder! I've started making extra so I can give our minister, who loves anadama, a loaf, and so we can be sure there is some left over for coffee hour, even. Again, that joy, that pleasure in the taste and texture of real food, made by a real person with real ingredients and deliberate care: the whole process seems to gain a level of grace. That grace is not due to me, for sure, though I did change my sweatshirt to limit the pet hair that might float into the dough as I kneaded, and I pulled my own hair back and washed my hands carefully and often. No, I'm no saintly sanctified baker angel, but as a creator of this miracle of yeasty, sweet smelling bread, and as the thinker of this long and rambling meditation on making and breaking bread, I am a small part of this incredible cycle of longing, memory, feeding, and hunger that ends in Communion, and continues onward in Communion. See you Sunday.

First draft. Unedited, but I wanted to get it down. 10/3/14. 

Sept. 28: LOVELY weekend.

I'd say it was "too warm," but thanks to our trees and a lovely breeze, it does feel like a lovely fall Sunday. The leaves have started turning, due either to about 5 cold days scattered over the past two weeks, or the mini-drought we're in, but it's awfully pretty regardless.

A few quick points:

1. I am eating a locally grown Mac. Contrary to my belief, they don't have to taste like applesauce wrapped in plastic. These are crisp and sharp. Yum.

2. Just finished listening to Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings. It is fantastic, and the reader was terrific, too.

3. Attended an interesting, helpful, useful, and fun "Yoga for Backs" workshop in Bar Harbor on Saturday with Heather. When the universe knocks, you answer. We did, and it was great. Lunch after in the sunny, warm, nearly empty town didn't hurt, either!


**Church stories:

Nick mentioned that we are all under construction, sparking a vivid flashback to the button that Gaboo, my beloved maternal grandmother, used to have on her purse: "P.B.P. G. I. N. F. W. M. Y.". I remember asking her what it meant (I think I was maybe in 2nd grade?) and she said, "It stands for, 'Please be patient; God is not finished with me yet.'" She had it for a long time, though I remember wondering what on earth God could find to work on with Gaboo, whom we all adored.

Also: today I was wearing a hot pink tee shirt with my black and pink print skirt. I was previewing my reading in the pew when MJ came sweeping in. She stopped at my pew, gave me a huge grin, and announced, "Pink is not my color!" Luckily, I had the foresight to reply, "Then it's a good thing you're not wearing this shirt!" She is a ticket. We both chuckled and headed off.





The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Meg Wolitzer's tight, insightful writing and Jen Tulloch's amazing narration combined to make this one of my favorite "listens" since. . . maybe Chabon's Telegraph Avenue. Wolitzer avoids the cliches of so many novels about friends who grow up, covering instead the realistic but less familiar ground of class, money, creativity and desire. I didn't even mind the switching view points!

HIGHLY recommended (just ask all my friends and family!), especially as an audiobook.

View all my reviews

Sept. 20: Whoops, Missed a Week!

This lovely empty-nesting stuff is great--except that I miss the kids and all their news. However, having the sense that Andy and I can decide to do what we pretty much want to is awesome. This weekend, so far (Sat. night), I have

gone for a hike with Andy and Zeus at the Ellsworth forest on Branch Lake on our lovely fallish Friday afternoon, right after school. Pictures below. We were the only people there, and we had an amazing 2.5 mile walk. Wow.

Then I did some basic housecleaning, and worked on Megan's stocking.

Today, I
slept till 8!
Worked out with Kiley--it was a great workout!
did and hung out two loads of laundry.
made Fruited Sourdough bread, which was better than I feared.
repotted my two big and two tiny amaryllis bulbs.
did errands with Andy (Ells. Feed and Seed, gassed up the car, bank)
ate lunch at 86 This!
got books at the Libe
corrected processing questions over Of Mice and Men for nearly three hours!
finished the heart band on Megan's stocking
took Z for a walk
watched an odd little British film, "The Trip"
watched "About a Boy," the spin off sitcom.
am getting ready for bed!

So getting to putz along and do all that is pretty great. Tomorrow will feature swimming, church, a trip to Andy's co-worker's house for a Sumner gathering, and. . more school work. Also, I hope, contact with my boys!

Cheers!

Sept. 6: Before the Thunderstorms Arrive!

Had a good first nearly-full week of school, capped by a quiet Friday night where I fell asleep on the couch at 8 pm! Today offers lots of possibilities but no hard realities except a workout with Kiley at 9:30. . . perfect time to catch up on some books.


The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are some authors that are just better to listen to than to read, I find. Louise Penny may be one of those! This, her latest, struck me as heavy-handed and pretentious: the repetitive descriptions of Ruth the foul-mouthed poet and her foul-mouthed duck, the ornate psychological descriptions of people's appearance, the annoying use of sentence fragments. . . all grated on me as I struggled through the first third of the novel. No one is a plain ol' normal human being in this work: they are haunted or prescient or torn or insightful or an "asshole saint". . . . oh please.

I skimmed the middle, read the end, and called it "okay."

I really like some of her earlier Gamache novels (probably also the ones that I listened to as audiobooks), but this latest one seems to be foundering under the weight of the plotlines Penny has created over the length of the series.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommended by the same flyer that suggested Yes, Chef as a good summer reading book, so I scooped up Seraphina as an envelope-pushing choice. It was well-written and interesting, but its typically young-adult-novel emphasis on the protagonist's struggles to be accepted in society, her own identity, and her role as savior of the kingdom are, by now, trite, even when they come attired in scales and claws. Some fiercely original ideas in this book, but overall, I think I'm not its target audience. Probably an excellent choice for teenaged fantasy lovers!

View all my reviews

September 1, Labor Day: Summer's Official End

What a lovely weekend we've had--a four day one for my first time on a new calendar. I had a killer workout with Kiley on Friday morning, then A and I packed up in a very leisurely way and arrived at the camps in Bowdoinham, complete with Zeus, around 4. That whole time was pleasant and low key, and our Saturday at Bates with Nate was great too. It's an impressive, thoughtful, caring community, and N seems (now a week and a day into it) to find it a great fit too.

That's us showing off the handy benches and the lovely day we had! News from Lyle at Skidmore is also positive--senior year. Hard to believe. 

After leaving him at 4 and picking Zeus up from Mom and Anita's yard, we headed back to camp for another nice stretch, with a fierce game of cribbage, a good dinner, a fire, a better night's sleep, and a mellow morning. We then stopped by Craig and Heather's to see our nieces, who are champion sleepers but have definitely grown in a month, with Emma at 6 lbs, 3 oz, and Megan at 5 lbs. 11 oz. We held them for a bit and then headed home to our quiet, calm, orderly, newly-cleaned (thank you, Heidi and Michelle!) house. 

And now it's nearly 6 pm on Labor Day, and we've enjoyed a "do what we wanna" day, featuring a lovely b'fast at the Riverside, Andy's spectacular cleaning of the garden/junk shed, me making sourdough (hope my luck holds) and Joy The Baker's carrot soup, a run for me and a swim across and back the river with Zeus, a nice trip to Reny's for pants that actually FIT Andy (success) and oh yes will ya look at that? a cute bright yellow summer sweater for me (Coldwater Creek, baby) and then our week's grocery shopping, ringing in at $96. Empty nesters indeed! Since then I've done bread stuff, paid some bills, written five letters, emptied the cat box and the garbage, cleaned and repositioned Grandma Leamon's tea table up by the new loveseat. . . . all the little things that we do during the summer. Or don't do during the summer but get done in a while of busy on the last day! 

So. Some pictures might follow, and then after dinner I will actually settle to do some school work. Onwards into September, the fall, and this new normal!

And at the camps, I read a bit. . . . 

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Good Luck reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: it's another amazing narrative voice and character that brings us a whole new perspective and world-view. I loved, loved, loved this--the end was a bit over-happy, but only my critical mind noticed: my heart loved it.

Highly recommended for readers ya and up.

The Man Who Disappeared by Clare Morrall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Morrall did a nice job with the plot; I kept imagining what I might've felt in the various people's places. There were a few spots where I thought, "If he'd just explain, it might all smooth out," but overall it seemed realistic and interesting. The only glitches were an odd section towards the end where the recording seemed to be jumping back and forth--not a narrative device, but a cut-and-paste where one didn't belong, and then a weird use of dance metaphor that was supposed to tie up the ending. Otherwise, an interesting story. Good work all around, except that I hope Audible checks on the technical side of the recording on this one!

View all my reviews

Camp views: 

August 29: Time Whips By Again!

Well, hello, world! I have been paying attention to the movement of the days, enjoying the lovely weather and appreciating my world, my blessings, and my life, but my! Time does fly. It's the Friday before Labor Day (we now have it off with our new schedule), a lovely blue and gold day, and we're leaving for the camps once we get a few things accomplished. Tomorrow we will see Nathaniel Stephenson, Bates freshman, upon his return from his four day hiking trip in the White Mts, for the actual kickoff of Orientation. Today. . . today is a lovely day to drink some coffee on the deck and have an outdoor workout with Kiley!

So here are some books I've read lately:


Snow in August by Pete Hamill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Julie raved about this one; I gave it a try, but it is too generally sad for me to enjoy or find really good. I think it's easy to point out how horrible life might be for a kid in this boy's position (racism, loneliness, poverty, bullying. . . ) so I kept waiting for the redemption, the original insight. It did come, and the individual characters of the priest, the rabbi, and his mom were great, but overall, I felt Hamill's conclusion (what was THAT about?) needed more resolution and oomph. However, as I'm thinking about it, it's growing on me.

Okay. Bumped up the rating to 3 stars, and I'd add another half one if I could, with the comment that it's a book that's full of potential, contains some wonderful writing, and takes some good risks, but doesn't fully succeed.



Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one just knocked my socks off and left me with an enduring "book hangover" that makes it hard to find anything else worth reading (for a while. I'm getting over it now). I'm not really sure why, except that 1. Samuelsson's life story is varied and fascinating; 2. his perspective on his life and all his missteps and successes is insightful and honest, and 3. the insights the book gives into how people cope with the intensity of a professional, topnotch kitchen (and how one topnotch kitchen can be a healthy place to work and another a terrible place) are illuminating.

"I'm always battling myself--the part of me that says I can and the part of me that says I can't. My greatest gift has been that the part of me that says "I can" is always, always just a little bit louder." (285)

He has a lovely paragraph that sums up his work in Ethiopia and his attitude toward the world's view of Africa as a whole. It's long, but the concluding bit is, "So although I feel them coming, the pitying tears of a Westerner, i do not let them out. Instead I reach for my younger sister Ashou, who is five, but looks as if she is three. I pull her closer to me and I let her sit on my lap. I let the flies that cover her face also cover my face. And I do not swat them away." 248

Born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, Samuelsson tells his life story (well, part of it--he's not very old yet, even!) with honesty and energy. His reflections on growing up OTHER in Sweden and on being black in high level kitchens are nuanced and informative, reminding me of the insights offered by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her novel Americanah. The food descriptions are mouth-watering, his love and respect for his parents is heart-warming, and his honest summation of his own arrogant or thoughtless mistakes in his personal life is refreshing. I loved this book, and I have been recommending it to everyone I can buttonhole! I saw it mentioned in a "Summer Reading" Guide by Random House, designed to get schools to assign certain books, and I have some students who'd love this. Go out and read it! It's interesting, insightful, and good!

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I power-read this in one (very late) reading session, so I have an overall impression: it's powerful! It's scary! It reads like a memoir!

I have to go back and read it more slowly to get some of the nuances and make a final decision because my overview is that 1. Dave is way TOO thoughtless/heartless; 2. Ellie is incredibly annoying. Her sensitivity seems to be at least partially 100% indulgent parenting. And really: if you name your daughter after that character Eloise, are you asking for that kind of karma????; 3. I'm a little concerned that Weiner is becoming a Jodie Picoult type writer, focusing on a new Headline Issue with each novel. I hope she realizes that she's very good at just doing regular women dealing with regular life stuff, and she doesn't have to do Betrayed Political Wife or Surrogate Mom in Crisis or whatever.

However: it's immensely readable--hence the bags under my eyes this morning!

View all my reviews