Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope it's merry and bright!

I Want to See This...

Christmas Cheer

Today is

turning out to be bursting with brown paper packages, snowflakes, beeswax, gingerbread, persimmons, walnuts, tea, new joanna newsom songs and pinecones!

Ode to Scandinavian Artists!

Sigur Rós - Við Spilum Endalaust from Sigur Rós on Vimeo.

Lately, it feels like I'm loving all things Scandinavian. And so I thought I'd tell you about some of them. Where to begin?

Well, first there's the music, much of which I've already mentioned, still...There's Sigur Ros, Jonsi, Seabear, Rokkurro,  and Parachutes (although this might not really qualify as two of the bandmembers are American) from Iceland. Taken by Trees from Sweden and Lau Nau from Finland.

Then there's the amazing Swedish author Linda Ollson who wrote Astrid and Veronika and Sonata for Miriam--such lyrical, poetic language.

And then there's the blog of Finnish artist Anna Emilia.

This music and writing and art seem to have seeped into my blood, filling me with a beautiful sense of spaciousness and quiet. Reflecting the white winter world I've found myself in.

Although I'm part Swedish, I never had any interest to really go to Sweden or explore my roots, but these days I've a growing desire to someday do so...

Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso Salt Lake Visit!

Well, I'm not sure anyone who lives in Salt Lake reads this blog, but just in case...

Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso Teaching

The Fatal Flaw

Despite Salt Lake's beautiful mountains, frequent clear blue skies, alpenglow, kind people, and abundant powder, there's one thing that's not so nice--the dreaded inversion.

Oftentimes in the winter, a hazy smog gets trapped in the valley--obscuring the sun--filling the sky with a grayish-yellow pollution. Yesterday, the online news said, "The haze that hangs over the Wasatch Front is not fog. The particulate count is high enough the air is currently what experts consider unhealthy for everyone living from the Cache Valley, to Utah County, and all points in between." Yesterday was a red air quality day (I never new such a thing existed!). No idling of cars, no burning of wood allowed. Yikes! The article I read also quoted some doctor who said that with the inversion here, it's like smoking a cigarette all day! The inversion descended upon us late last week and seems content to linger until a big storm whisks it away.

Nevertheless, during K's infrequent moments off from work, we've had fun practising our buttercups and buttered pretzels on the slopes. The smell of evergreen fills the house. Lights and pinecone garlands have been hung. Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes, and John Denver and the Muppets Christmas albums have been unearthed, candles have been lit in windows, layers of wool and corduroy have been donned. Now for some cookie making-excited for orange-cardamon sugar cookies and gingerbread men!

John Denver: It's in every one of us plus the Christmas story Alfie The ...

the light ekphrastic

my friend jenny has an online journal called  the light ekphrastric where she pairs up artists and writers. you submit your work and then jenny passes it along to another person who submitted, asking you both to make a new piece inspired by the other person's work. the new issue is up. click the link above to check it out. and thanks jenny, for including me!

Snowcountry

My mom keeps saying I moved to snow country, and I think she's right. Last week we had a blizzard and now it's snowing again, been snowing all day--lovely. Listening to Audrey Hepburn sing Moon River. Making a flyer for Khenpo Guru's upcoming Salt Lake teaching, procrastinating on cleaning the house and folding the laundry, flipping flapjacks, planning out Christmas presents, reading the beautiful Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani ("Chamdi tells Jesus that from now on, he will learn to carry sadness with him as if it is an extra toe.")....Still slightly paranoid since the break-in--but trying to get over it!

Robber Update

Guess what else the robbers stole? Keith's razor and razor blades!!! Can you even believe it? Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

thanks!

no, not thanks to you burglars-if you're reading this, but thanks to you sweet friends for your kind words. it helps!

so, i got home last night and discovered even more things had been stolen than keith originally thought! then k and i spent about three hours cleaning up all the black stuff left by the fingerprinting lady. if you ever happen to get robbed, i'd suggest skipping the fingerprinting. it only makes the whole nasty business worse.

anyway, here's to hoping those crooks are okay.

Oh No!

this morning all i had to worry about was whether or not the roads would be good...but today while i was working and k was snowboarding, someone broke into our house!!! it is really creepy and scary! plus they stole our laptops and keith's work bag with his stethoscopse and wallet! oh, and our iphone chargers! they must have been disappointed we didnt have much to take. one thing im sad about though are the new poems i was working on that were on my desktop...and my photos. oh samsara.
ps also, the robbers clogged the toilet!!! what the heck!?!

In Little Utah

It's not yet Thanksgiving, but here in Utah it already feels like winter! The windows are fogged, there's snow on the roses, candles flickering, whistling wind and blizzard warnings for tuesday! I'm enjoying tiny pieces of citrus and knitting...Today found K and I sliding sideways down a canyon road after leaving Snowbird--scary!!! Let's hope tomorrow's commute up the mountain won't be too treacherous. Oh, and loving this baked oatmeal recipe and the beautiful, quiet book Astrid and Veronika. It seems like it's original title might have been Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs. How lovely! Also, the house is finally clean--hooray! I can go to bed happy.

Well

I must say my pride took a serious beating last weekend.

I highly recommend not attempting to snowboard for the first time in ten years when you have pms and are still feeling very low-energy from a recent cold. The three do not mix.

Beforehand, I'd told Keith, "It will all come back, just like riding a bike." As you can see, I was very confident! Unfortunately, I had to eat my words!! It definitely came back, albeit what felt like sooo slowly! But yesterday, our third day out, was beautiful. Blue skies, sun, and suddenly something clicked and I found myself zooming down the mountain as before--as in my dreams!

But

In the mornings, we hurry through the rice fields-
down, then up-over rocks-cold in our lungs.

We carol through the greening winter fields wet with dew,
in between dissatisfaction.

A nanny goat
A billy goat
A keyhole
The grackles in the trees

(or sometimes crying through the fields)
And the baby with the giant head, in a basket in Boudha.
I watched him flailing his arms, trying to grab a tiny toy truck.

Truthfully,

I'm a bit sad and headachey tonight. It's cold and dark and despite this morning's snow, a bit of melancholy has slipped in. There are people I'm missing. And I'm sad I can't jet off to Singapore in 6 days to see Karma Kuchen--just found out tonight he'll be there...Still, my discovery of the band/song below has helped cheer me up a bit! You can download their albums for free here.

Beautifulness-Parachutes perform Of Sleep in Alex's Reykjavik living room

Backtracking...

Here is another old-ish story I'm in the process of working on. I might have posted bits and pieces of this before back in 2008:

In the summer, one of my teachers laughed, said, “Are you sure?” when I said I was going to Tibet. “But the roads are so high—you’ll get sick...” “Yes, of course I’m going!” I laughed in disbelief.

But first, we were in China, in Chengdu, trying to recover from jet lag. In Chengdu, there was never any garbage on the streets. It was orderly. There were trash cans and recycling bins and people in orange vests sweeping with twig brooms taller than themselves seemingly day and night. In Chengdu there was pomelo fever, a strange fancy Pizza Hut. At Air China's cashier window, they counted Keith's money on an abacus.

In Chengdu, our hotel included huge buffet breakfasts: egg fried rice, tiny bits of bacon dripping grease, prune sticky rice wrapped in tiny banana leaf packets, fried dough buns, huge sections of pomelo and tea mixed with sweetened condensed milk as rain streamed off eaves. After breakfast, I cupped my hands, let them fill with water, washing the stickiness away.

But soon it was time for us to head to Tibet. We had our Lonely Planet guide. We had Keith's rudimentary Tibetan. Armed with that, and packets of ramen, bread, peanut butter and acetazolamide, we boarded a bus.

On the bus along the Tibet-Sichuan Highway from Kangding to Chengdu, there were strange Tibetan music videos playing. We passed billboards of smiling Tibetans next to Chinese military men and women. Huge sacks of fresh walnuts for sale, kiwis and kiwis and kiwis.

It was eight hours from Chengdu to Kangding--an historical border town between China and Tibet. With those eight hours came a huge gain in elevation. We arrived in the city at 8,400 feet.  In Kangding, the source of the Mekong, the Dza Chu River, flowed through town and mountains rose all around, Buddhas painted upon them.

There were only a few hotels approved for foreigners. And so we stayed in a shared room at the Black Hat guesthouse with two American girls who taught English in Chengdu. The room had brightly painted old-style wooden beds and wires sticking out of the wall with a note below that said in English, "Do not lick."

In Kangding, I had no idea what day it was. I went to a Tibetan restaurant downstairs from a hotel and drank Lhasa sweet tea from a tall clear glass while Tibetan music played noisily. It was fall. It was cold. I warmed my hand on the glass. I had a headache. Outside the street bustled with honking cars while I waited for my breakfast of scrambled eggs with tomato and tibetan bread with yak butter. There was an ATM and yak momos oozing buttery meat juice.
 
In Kangding, street vendors sold round potato slices on skewers that had been fried in hot oil. Girls had unbelievably long pony tails. The Tibetan waitresses sang while working. The streetlights had mantras on them--prayers glowing in the dark. There were Chinese shops of jewelry and tea bowls. Malas and rugs. A whole shop of bizarre plastic curtains--all hanging throughout the store so you had to walk through as though in a maze. Tea shops full of smoking men in suitcoats. A whole shop of stuffed, standing Tibetan antelope wearing yellow khataks.

Somehow, we ended up meeting the Dalai Lama's step-nephew. He helped us buy bus tickets, took us for tea, bought us dramamine for the next bus ride which would take us deeper into Tibet.

Delicata, Kale and Cranberry Bean Salad

Sometimes I go through a short spell where I don't feel like eating anything, when I just feel so sick of everything I usually eat. For the past week K has been feeling this way. However, I think I broke the spell with this fall salad I made yesterday.

I found this recipe in Gourmet a few years ago and remembered loving it when I made last autumn. It is really simple and delicious and I can't believe I've only eaten it a few times this year! Maybe having the recipe here on the blog will remind me to make it more often...

Delicata, Kale and Cranberry Bean Salad
2 medium delicata squash
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1/2 bunch kale
1 large shallot
1 garlic clove minced
1 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tsp coarse salt
1 can cranberry or cannellini beans

1)Preheat oven to 400. Cut squash into 1/2 inch thick semicircles. Toss with oil and bake till tender.
2)Mix balsamic + honey. Brush some onto squash. Bake 5 more min.
3)Cook shallot and garlic in oil. Add red-wine vinegar and rest of balsamic+honey, bring to boil.
4) Pour hot dressing over kale and sprinkle with salt.
5) Add squash+beans

Okay, so this is a salad so of course the recipe doesn't have to be closely followed. Yesterday when I made this I didn't include the shallots/garlic. I also didn't have any cranberry beans and so used adzuki beans. And it was still super delicious.

No Longer Home

On the plane we watch ourselves propel down the runway on a huge TV screen, watch the earth drop until houses shrink and clouds drift over. It's already the future in Tokyo-- the morning of Nov. 24^th, 2004.

A strange meal at 11PM. We already had lunch and dinner--so this is lunch #2, or midnight breakfast? Seafood pasta with fruit and green tea and a sweet bun.

Two cups of orange juice, one cup of apple, two cups of seaweed-ey green tea, one small bottle of water later, and we're almost there. Japanese stewardesses demonstrate "relaxing stretching exercises" while Keith watches sumo wrestling and I listen to the Cure.

These are the things I remember--a fiftyish Japanese lady wearing a lime mink coat, fuschia lipstick, mule high heels covered in pearls. She was on the plane with us from NYC and helped us take the right train from Keisei to Ikebukuro.

On the train from Narita to Tokyo--green everywhere, clothes hanging to dry. Schoolgirls in blazers, plaid scarves, unbelievably short plaid skirts. Kids on a seesaw, huge Coca Cola billboard and still a haddock sky listening to Spiritualized. A parking garage full of bikes. Playgrounds and the sky a circle of flame orangepink.

The walk from Ikebukuro to our hotel down tiny alley-like streets with little vans and kids on bikes and boys on scooters. Every couple feet, at least three vending machines full of coffees and teas and juices and cigarettes and beers. The floor of our $100/night hotel room entirely covered in tatami mats. A tiny TV, an even tinier bathroom. Pokemon telling the weather on the news.

In the bathroom at Damaru restaurant there was a tiny tree growing out of the lid of the toilet where a spigot came out, continuously watering...Uniformed men sweeping leaves off sidewalks with homemade looking brooms. Women in kimonos with white socks and wooden sandals.White surgical masks over faces, even on fashionable teens. Little girls in sailor uniforms. Pachinko parlors. Babies in bike baskets. Revolving sushi in Shibuya—it was Thanksgiving and this was the only deal in Tokyo. And everything crazy Christmas. Trees covered in popping blue lights. Eating my parent's homemade oatmeal cookies all over Tokyo. No one eats on the streets and no cell phones ring on clean subways. The "Casual, Sporty, Lazy" shop in Ikebukuro. So many schoolgirls in uniforms. The girls' plaid skirts just below their bums. And all in penny loafers and knee socks--one girls' are navy with tiny pink playboy bunnies. Tokyo a mix of the neonest of neon, crazily rich dressed kids, and cleanliness. Uniformed men vacuumed subway floors and scrubbed under windows on their hands and knees with toothbrushes. Ultimately, I freaked out in Shinjuku--Tokyo's Times Square. After being dizzy from jet-lag and nauseated on weak knees by countless bowls of plastic food outside restaurants, McDonalds became my savior for the first and last time in my life. The cheeseburger and fries tasted American all the way as I looked down on thousands of people exiting a stadium, my head swimming. Soon, I was able to descend back into the heart of consumerism where high-pitched girl voices blasted on street corners from invisible speakers.

After my transaction at the currency exchange in Narita airport, a staid older man who worked there said, "For you--we were open yesterday," and handed me a bottle of Evian water....?

Our last morning, on the train to Narita--7:30 AM and everyone asleep, heads falling forward--the girl next to me leaning into my shoulder. And there was a boy about eleven in his school suit standing up, eyes closing,  his cheek smeared on the window of the door, his face so pure and innocent and he slouched, jerked awake.

Mundane Revelations Amongst Other Things

-Persimmons! How is it possible I never tried one until today? Deliciousness.
-Bored to Death - how is it possible I never knew of this show until today? Perhaps because I haven't owned a TV in 7 years? Excited to watch it and hoping it's as good as I'm wishing it will be.
Okay, that's actually it for the revelations. In other news, apples are simmering on the stove, filling the house with an amazing applesauce aroma. I replenished my stock of household cleaners today. Why do my homemade, peppermint smelling cleaners somehow make cleaning more enjoyable? I don't know, but I'm glad they do. I feel as though I might be coming down with a cold, but am counting on strong ginger tea to ward it off. Also, the other day a friend gave me a jar of carrot marmalade she'd made. It is amazingly delicious. I need to get the recipe and face my canning fears.
And yes, the above photo has nothing to do with any of this.

Also, About Expectations

 Sufjan Stevens/Vesuvius/Montreal

The last time I saw Sufjan Stevens, years ago in Philadelphia, it was one of the best shows I'd ever seen. He and his band wore giant, beautiful flapping butterfly wings (and called themselves the butterfly brigade)--and played amazingly lovely songs.

But then last week I heard  The Age of Adz, his new album and found it kind of hard to listen to--more like his earliest albums--lots of discordant sounds. At the time, I didn't realize he had also put out a beautiful new EP, All Delighted People. Anyway, I went to the concert the other night with no expectations, only to be amazed and delighted at the magical show I saw. Seriously. If he is about to come to your city--go see the show! It was unlike anything I've ever seen, and also sweet and honest and beautiful. The songs were interspersed with anecdotes and tales of his dreams and talk of these new "apocalyptic lovesongs" of his. Truly beautiful and inspiring stuff.

Wholly

i leave home in the dark of morning, drive into the mountains, silhouetted black against blue. by the time I reach park city, the sky is white, snow melt. along 224, the field of clouds--a milk lake. but oh, the return of headaches. sufjan stevens, laundry, sweet potato hummus and homemade pita in between. a baby, a dog, asleep at my feet in the sun. making small dolphin noises. shadows of aspen leaves dance across a face. the gray bustle of baltimore has been replaced by wide blue skies in my heart. not like the way the baby's eyes fall shut half heartedly--but wholly.

Jonsi in Salt Lake-Hengilas

Unfortunately, this footage is not too hot AND I missed a few seconds at the beginning and end. Still, the song is so beautiful.

Fall, Again

While last week was wintery and snowy, it feels like fall again--although it's still gray. This week is supposed to be sunny--hurray! I'm about to make granola bars and butternut, potato, leek soup. Maybe this time I'll have winners...I've been procrastinating working on my own stories/poems and instead have been enjoying this blog. Also, at first my writing blog was open to anyone, then I started to feel a bit shy...so I only invited a few people. But now some time has passed since I last posted anything there--now I have some distance from those poems and am no longer feeling raw and shy. So I've opened the blog once again--if you care to check it out.

First Week of Work Winter Wonderland

Driving up the mountain in a swirling snowstorm, dark of morning. The baby sleeps, and still the snow falls.

ChchchChanges...and Pumpkin Pancakes

I truly wish I had my camera with me yesterday, as instead of leaves crunching under our feet--it was snow! Keith and I had headed up to Snowbird in the morning as they were giving free tram rides if you brought a can of food. Since we plan to get our ski passes there, it was the perfect oppurtunity to check out the mountain.

When we first arrived there was just a fine drizzle, but after breakfast, fat drops of snow were falling from the sky! By the time we reached the top of the mountain (at 11,000 feet!) we were in the middle of a storm! It was truly beautiful!

As for other changes, Jonsi cancelled his acoustic in-store performance, but not the show. It was good, but not amazing. Still, I'll post some footage soon. Also, tomorrow is my first full day of work! I went up to Park City for a few hours Thursday and geeze, the baby is so unbelievably tiny!! She's two months and only weighs 9 lbs! Unfortunately, she, "has a little bit of a gas problem." Here's to hoping she doesn't cry too much due to her gas pains!!!!

Also, I had hoped to post a butternut squash soup recipe, but alas, have not been able to find one I like. Every one I've tried so far has been too sweet for me. However, this morning I made pumpkin pancakes. They were really good! Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Pancakes

Mix: 1 1/4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves

In a separate bowl mix: 1 cup milk
6 tbsp pumpkin puree
2 tbsp melted butter
1 egg

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together and cook!

Along Desolation Lake Trail

Back in MA my mom's already wearing layers of wool. But here in Utah it's been Indian Summer. However, when K and I reached the Salt Lake overlook on our hike yesterday, I donned a hat for the first time this season. Today, I've put the summer clothes away...

PS I'll try to post some recipes soon!

Fall List

*Shuffle through dry leaves to hear their crackly noise, smell fallen leaves

*Collect leaves and press and dip in beeswax and hang throughout the house (so that Keith says, "it's an autumn wonderland in here!")

*Find elderberries and make elderberry syrup

*Gather wild rose hips and make rose hip syrup

*Eat lots of winter squash: buttercup, butternut, acorn, ambercup, white buttercup, carnival—search for blue hubbard

*Drink hot mulled cider/drink unpasteurized cider

*Knit a hat

*Buy snowboard boots/helmet/goggles

*Carve a pumpkin

*Roast pumpkin and squash seeds

*Hike lots

*Eat soup from a pumpkin bowl

*Find a good granola bar recipe (finally—after many failed attempts!) and make

*Make butternut squash soup

*Make bread

*Make and eat apple pie!

*Pot herbs and bring inside to window seat

*Make apple chip nut cake

*Learn how to use Itunes!

*See Jonsi + Sufjan Stevens and maybe Azure Ray!

*Unfortunatley, I still have not found a good butternut soup or granola bar recipe!!!

Inexplicable

Lately, I've been feeling like I'm in the exact right place, at the exact right time, doing the exact right thing...I've been feeling this more and more each day since moving here to Salt Lake. It is unheard of. If someone had told me last year at this time that I'd be living here and feeling this way, I wouldn't have believed it. There's this joy that just keeps bubbling within. It really is the strangest thing, especially considering that one of my good friends nicknamed me "sourpuss" once upon a time...

I mentioned all this to Keith and he said that I should expect this feeling to soon go, that maybe I'm just feeling this way because I haven't been working! Well, we'll see, as I start work in four days...

However, it's not just that my mind is happy, but good things are happening in the outer world too. Recently I have received two wonderful, unexpected bits of news.

Cherry Blossoms ...Lovely, Heartbreaking Film

Battling the Gray

If September was brilliant blue skies, October is gray. I'd been staving it off with lights, candles, hot tea and peppermint oil. Telling myself the dark was actually cozy--to stay inside on an autumn day, wrapped in wool and fleece.

Also, how do I know that winter will soon be upon us? No, it's not the dark, not all my snowboard talk or the changing leaves--it's the chap. It's like I'm some washerwoman from some bygone era--my hands all rough and scratchy. Especially noticeable when holding K's hand--his oh-so-soft "delicate genius" hands (have you seen that Seinfeld episode?).

Anyway, today is the first truly sunny day in I think a week. It feels like a miracle. And so today I don't actually have to battle the gray (or the chap so much as I have implemented the use of purple rubber gloves for dishwashing--they make me feel like a 50's housewife in a commercial). Today, K and I are going to the Dental Spa, and then hiking again. Yes, you read right: the Dental Spa! where we will proceed to sit in massage chairs and drink tea and get our hands dipped in parrafin wax before getting our teeth cleaned!!!

PS Aren't these grapes sunshiney? I still can't believe they're from the alley behind my house! Oh Bountiful Utah!

Yesterday

Yesterday Keith and I drove up MillCreek, hiked Alexander's Basin to Gobbler's Gnob. The earth moist from the rain, cold air in my lungs. K saw a little gray pheasant, or was it a quail? There were men dressed in camouflage on horseback with bows and arrows in their backpacks, bright berries, the air spicy. I brought home moss for the bottom of my terrarium.

At the Farmer's Market we bought cheese rubbed in salt and honey, black walnuts, buttercup squash. Ate hot fries with andalouse sauce at Bruges.

One of the mountaintops is white! And I got a snowboard! Woohoo!!

Jónsi - Kolnidur live in Toronto

Cold!

It's cold and my mind is turning towards pumpkins, warm soup and bread, cardigans, glowing candles at dusk, ski socks, the colors brown and orange, weather stripping the windows, hot chocolate and apple crisp for breakfast, converting our gas fire place to a real one, corduroys and the heat for a few hours in the morning, snowboarding! A possible trip to Palm Desert? Only 2 weekends left of the Farmer's Market! Oh, and tickets to see Jonsi (Sigur Ros' lead singer)! So happy about this as we had tickets to see him in Boston in May but ended up staying in Nepal longer than we thought and so missed the show...How exciting we can make it up and see him here in Salt Lake! And oh my goodness, I just found out that Jonsi's also doing an acoustic performance in a record store in town! The excitement knows no bounds...

More Nepal...

So, it's rough, and definitely a bit shaky...These clips begin in Kathmandu at the Boudha stupa, then there's Karma Chagme's place in Bangjang and then K in Guru Rinpoche's Yangleshod cave and lots of little monks and roaming animals!

Windows Movie Maker!

Well, thanks to dear Ed and Jared too, I actually own a copy of Windows Movie Maker (unbeknownst to me until yesterday). I just started fooling around with it. Here's the result.

It's Fall, And The Light is Shifting

The light is shifting and I can no longer tell what time it is from a slab of sun bursting under my bedroom door. The morning light and I need to get reacquainted.

I wake and go out to check the garden. 20 tomatoes. 5 cucumbers.

So much wonderfulness from the library: cooking magazines and movies  (Syndromes and a Century which I've been wanting to see for years, and the Saltmen of Tibet).

In the grocery store they play the The.

Big Cottonwood Canyon to Silver Lake, hiking up through aspen groves--oceans of yellow. It smelled like sage and pine and fall! The moose on the way home.

Feeding Lopon yesterday and checking the english on translations of prayers by Khenpo Naga, mind ter from Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

K and I in the tree. It was dark. We listened to Juana Molina.

Wild Rose Hips!

There's nothing I like better than gathering free and delicious goodness in the woods!!! So, on Keith's and my hike in Park City today, I was so happy to discover lots of wild rose hips! Not only are rose hips beautiful and delicious smelling, but they are also so good for you!! They have tons of iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, and calcium! They also contain bioflavanoids, pectin, vitamin E, selenium, manganese, and the B-complex vitamins, along with trace amounts of magnesium, potassium, sulfur and silicon.Yowzers! Here's to fresh rose hip tea and syrup to fend off colds!

PS Not only did we have a lovely walk in the woods today with beautiful foliage and rose hips, but we shopped for snowboards--oh the excitement!

Lovely Things

-clean wash on the line
-homemade beeswax candles
-a giant yellowpink tomato
-an old picture of my grandma leaning against a tree
-ice cold water
-chai
-keith happy
-chocolate tofu mousse
-sweet winter squash
-homemade focaccia
-a new crop of strawberries!

It Really Is Fall!

Missing: apple picking in new england, oh the macouns + unpasteurized apple cider from lunenburg where you leave your money in a little box on the side of the road
Hoping: my cousins and mom are okay
Feeling: lazy
Eating: roasted green beans and garlic, lemon meyer olive oil cake with lavender whipped cream, galettes (tomato mozzarella basil & parmesan shallot swiss chard), chickpea mint dip, greens soup (i can't get enough of this)
Wondering: how my job will be
Loving: how seemingly every day here is sunny and blue
Recalling: the joy of my parents in the mountains, yodeling beneath glowing aspen leaves

PS

If you want to read my writing blog (White Bread Dipped in Tea), let me know and I'll send you an invite...

Odds and Ends

HH!
Beeswax candles and molds
Deseret and pans
Eggs and milk
Homemade grape juice and cheesecloth
Little Nyedo Tashi Choling monks
The defunct writing blog?
Being in jenny's the light ekphrastic
The giant pumpkin tomato
The mouse dangling from the protector cat's mouth

Happy

1) As of the end of October I will be gainfully employed!
2) Sitting all cozy in our newly furnished front porch with the cool breeze on my shoulders, alpenglow on the mountains in the evening,  lights twinkling at night, blue blue sky midday
3) Kale about to go into the garden
4) The book Maud Martha
5) My sweet little country mice parents enjoying the great big world as they love Big Sur and make friends with strangers and get invited to their homes for lunch!
6) Today is not a vow day! Oh hooray for eating after noon and listening to music!
7) A book waiting for me in the hold section at the library
8) Lots of cooking and homemade lotion making plans in the works
9) Grape juice making plans with my dad when he gets here
10) And oh the picnics we will have!

An Old Story/Just One Kiss?

We had been in South India a little over a week and had recently moved into Tsepal Tobkyed Hospital—across the street from the gates of Namdroling monastery. You might be wondering why rooms were available, or why one might even want to live in a hospital if not sick. The reason is that although it had been open for two years, the hospital still only had one doctor, not much equipment and few patients. And so besides a few little TB monks on the bottom floor, the rest of the hospital was gloriously empty, new and clean. And so this is where we lived.

The hospital backed onto a large field where monks joyously played cricket or squatted in the field peeing. To one side was a spot full of garbage. But on the street side of the hospital was a yellow gate, opposite of which was a small booth where a “guard,” (as the monk manager of the hospital liked to call him) sat. There were two guards who worked twelve hour shifts 7-7 and who switched off every other week.  They were both older men. One of them often spent most of his shift in an army-looking olive green uniform, complete with beret. The other wore a similar outfit, minus the beret. At night, and about two hours before their shifts ended, they switched back into their street clothes--Mr Rogers style. The guard who didn’t wear a beret, had a silver handlebar mustache and rode a Pee Wee Herman-like bicycle to and from work. It had pink plastic streamers at the handlebars and was covered in small neon plastic flowers. It was sweet.

So one morning about eight, I’d gone across the street to the monastery to try to find my friend Yulia. Being unsuccessful in my hunt, I returned to the hospital. As I was about to walk inside, I saw the guard (the one with the bike) standing outside, by a room towards the back of the hospital. I decided to ask if he knew if the electrician was coming (at that time, despite all the hopsitals pluses, we had no electricity in our room). I wasn’t really sure what the guard said, as his English was spotty, but I did catch that he asked me if I’d like some tea. I’d just been wishing for some, so I couldn’t help but say yes. The guard invited me into the room. It guess it was where he and his fellow guard changed their clothes. His bicycle was in there, draped with a cloth. There was a small kerosene cooker, a small desk, and on it a large plastic jar filled with sugar and a few plain cookies. “This could become interesting—maybe the guard and I could be friends,” I thought to myself, looking around contentedly, watching the guard make tea. Meanwhile, he was saying, “Coming from? America?” telling me he was going to come visit me, and asking where my “husband” was.

At this point, the tea was ready. I was happy because it had come to a roiling boil and I had seen the guard take a metal cup and rinse it out with bottled water, so I felt safe in the fact that things were fairly clean and I had no reason to think I might get sick from this little tea party. But then the guard went into an adjoining room and came out with another small metal cup. He had a horribly dirty looking pink rag in his hand, which he held up to his mouth and coughed into, and then proceeded to use to wipe the cup with. I felt a little sick. The guard then set the two cups side by side, poured in the piping hot tea, and handed me the nasty cough-rag wiped cup! I was certainly grossed out, and more than a little worried about possibly contracting TB, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings and I had already agreed to drink tea with him, so I took a tentative sip as he heartily urged me to drink.

The guard then opened the plastic jar and took out a few sketchy looking cookies, saying I must have a biscuit. He then asked if I liked rum tea. “Is this rum tea?” I gasped.“No,” he assured me. “But if you want, come tomorrow.” I told him that no, I didn’t want—but thanks, took another small sip, and said I had to go. He said I must finish my tea, but I said I couldn’t. “You know, too much tea makes me feel  weird, “ I said lamely, laughing uncomfortably.

As I was about to walk out the door, the guard said, “One kiss?” inclining his cheek towards me. “Uh, sorry, no!” I laughed, even more uncomfortably. “Just one kiss?”

Blue

These blue sky September days.

Sigur Ros!

I guess I've been talking about Sigur Ros a lot lately--but I can't help myself. Sigur Ros make the most beautiful, amazing music I have ever heard in my life. I've known about them for seven years now and they are the only band I can listen to again and again without growing tired (much to Keith's chagrin on road trips). The clip below is from their documentary, Heima and in it they play Glosoli--probably my most favorite song ever. Anyway, the film is about one summer where Sigur Ros went around their home country of Iceland and played in tiny little towns which were attended by little kids and grandparents and everyone in between. It is very sweet.The footage of the landscape of Iceland is unbelievably beautiful, especially accompanied by their music. In a way, this movie reminds me of the Andy Goldsworthy film, Rivers and Tides.

Sigur Ros Heima Part 1

Blogs Are Weird

Sometimes I feel embarressed that I have a blog. I mean, I originally started this blog because I had to for a class. And then, somehow it just stuck. I mean, I feel embarressed that I'm kind of just putting my life out there--for basically anyone to see. And it seems that it really is anyone, as apparenetly, people I don't know in Poland and Russia and Taiwan and who knows where else are reading this. Why, I don't know. Like I said, at first this was all to satisfy a class requirement, and then it was good for Keith's and my families (and friends) to be able to look at while we were traveling, so they could see what we were up to. And it's still good for that, but I guess this space has become somewhere I just write what's going on with me and then I can look back and remember...I don't know. Like Keith has said so many times, this blog is schizophrenic. It just doesn't know what it wants to be. I don't know what it wants to be. I guess it's just like any journal, it provides a place to reflect upon one's life. I don't know...But what I really want it to be is a place where I can remember the beautiful, sweet and strange things in my life and record them. But that's when the weird part comes in...because who the heck is reading this and seeing my mind on this computer screen? Oh the strangeness. Therefore, I've been toying with the idea of making this one of those blogs where you have to have an invitation in order to be able to see it, I don't know. On the other hand, maybe someone will somehow look here and see a photo of Holiness or Karma Kuchen or something, so it could be beneficial. Okay, I'll stop conceptualizing now.

September and I Have Made Friends

We now have 15 tomatoes and 15 baby cucumbers! Last week Keith and I went to a Pick-It-Yourself farm and got the most delicious broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, and Flaming Fury peaches. These days there are giant crickets hopping around everywhere outside and sunflowers everywhere I turn my head. Yesterday K and I went for a bike ride picnic up the creek canyon, then had an amazing tomato galette last night. And this Saturday is the Avenues street fair! Yay!

Sunday Night

I just saw a really good movie with beautiful acting and beautiful Sigur Ros music. It's called After the Wedding...

Better

Cheering Things:
1. Getting outside for a walk and realizing it's a beautiful, hot, blue sky, sunshiney day
2. Laying in the grass under a tree in the park at the end of the street
3. Trees, their leaves, and the things they grow
4. Sun
5. Prayer flags on neighborhood houses
6. Ripe concord grapes dangling along the sidewalk
7. Aspen leaves slowly turning to gold
8. Back alley grapes
9. A slowly reddening tomato
10. Unruly sunflowers in the lot next door
11. Homemade greens soup with olive oil and feta
12. Homemade barley coconut cookies (cookies with protein make me inordinately happy)

Early Fall Blues

lately i've been feeling a little sad. not sure why.
maybe it's just the moontime.
or maybe it's keith's recent insomnia (making my thoughts harken back to the oh-so-horrible baltimore/hopkins days we had. actually, not days, but years!!).
or maybe it's the fact that the air is cooling, the dark creeping in earlier and earlier.

i need to remember
that with each cooler day
i get closer to days of beautiful snow
and (hopefully) snowboarding!!

and also, that my sweet parents will be here in exactly two weeks
and that it will be so nice to see them and feed them.
we are going to visit one of the 6 best hot springs in the world (supposedly)!

Avocado Dip

Yesterday I made this really delicious (and healthy) recipe for tsog which comes from this website (thanks to Elinore and her recommendation). Here it is:

Juice of two lemons

1 bunch of cilantro

4 cloves of garlic

1 to 2 Serano peppers (I think any would do. I used 1 unnamed one and it was fine)

1- 1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 avocados

Blend.

PS On the website they recommended thinning this with water and using it as a salad dressing...

West High

So strange to be sitting here on a small hard chair in a public high school. The sweetness of some of the kids...Fifteen year olds talking about how their happiest
Days were seeing their mom or going to Disneyland. One's favorite movie is Toy Story. They Like Lemony Snickett and a Series of unfortunate events...This is all quite surprising and definitely unexpected. Although they look 15 or older, they seem so much younger, innocent. One girl said she sleeps with rubber duckies.

It's Official

Tomorrow is my first day as a Salt Lake City substitute teacher. Yikes! West High English class here I come...Actually, I'm really scared of unruly kids! But I'm sure my firm demeanor and loud voice will keep everyone in control (just kidding).

Sigur Rós Njosnovelin aka Untitled #4 Live

First Sigur Ros song I ever heard, substitute teaching at Boulder High in 2004!

end of august 2010

-loving fleeting fig and peach days
-running and crunches and yoga. really!
-tomatoes with every meal
-wondering if i will get called to sub monday...a bit afraid of unruly kids. perhaps mormon children are more well behaved? i can hope...
-make candles, blackberry and nectarine crumble
-a ballet class...

Teri Ore!

I posted this video a few years ago but the link no longer works...At that time, Keith was away, and when he found this video here, his comment was, "Give me a break!" or something to that affect...

Oh Bollywood. How I hate you. But how I inexplicably love this song!

Teri Ore (full song) : Singh is King

From the Vaults

A Bangalore Family Dinner

Keith and I had just disembarked from the plane, upon arrival in Bangalore—finally in India after much anticipation/trepidation. Our first experience was typical of India in so many ways, although we didn’t know it at the time.

Upon exiting customs, we found ourselves stuck in a very long line—mosquitoes buzzing our ears. Little did we know, the line was simply to go down an elevator. For some reason, only a few people were allowed down at a time.

During this extensive wait, the man standing ahead of us struck up a conversation, asking where we were from, where were we going? What were we doing? Saleem told us he was from Bangalore, but had lived in Seattle the last several years. He’d gotten married a year ago in India, had stayed with his bride a few weeks for a honeymoon and then returned to Seattle—but now he’d finally come home for a vacation. After telling us his story, he proceeded to give us all his and his wife’s contact information in both India and Seattle, told us we should call him if we ever visited Washington. We then asked how we could get to a hotel near the city bus stand. He said he’d tell us what to do after we got our bags.

When we finally made it down the escalator, we began a new wait at the tiniest and slowest of baggage claims (this was at the old Bangalore airport—now there’s a new modern, gleaming fancy one). Saleem seemed to have disappeared. So much for him helping us, I thought to myself as I squatted on the floor waiting for my backpack while Keith exchanged our remaining Thai bhat into rupees. Happily, by the time we’d retrieved our backpacks, Saleem had appeared out of nowhere with several large suitcases. We helped him carry his vast amount of luggage, until he was stopped by a security guard. Saleem told us to continue on into the lobby whilst still carrying his bags and to wait for him there. Keith and I exchanged looks, hoping there was nothing illegal in the bags which were now in our possession.

But after some time, Saleem came, welcomed by a large crowd of men who relieved us of his bags. He then introduced us to his friend Umashankar, saying he’d take care of us. Saleem was then immediately swallowed up by a huge group of women and children outside. The friend, Umashankar, looked none to happy at the job which had just been thrust upon him. Nevertheless, he fended off all the taxi drivers swarming us, brought us to an autorickshaw and told the driver to take us to a certain hotel, haggling over the price of the ride. He also got the rickshaw driver’s cell number and gave us his card. We were in an extremely foreign country, for the first time, and we had absolutely no idea where we were going, but we were off.

We’d only been driving a few minutes when the driver’s phone rang. It was Saleem, wanting to talk to Keith. How odd, I thought. He wanted us to come to his family’s home for dinner. As we were still on Thai time, it was already 11:30 PM for us, and we were exhausted. But we figured we’d just roll with it, we were in India afterall, right? So Saleem talked to the driver again and told him of a gas station where we would meet Umashankar.

After about twenty minutes, Umashankar rode up on a motor scooter with a kid on the back who got off and hopped into the rickshaw with us, telling the driver where to go and making sure he didn’t lose sight of Saleem’s friend as we sped down the road, twisting and turning into alleys full of cows feasting upon trash.

Down one last muddy lane, and we had arrived at the family home (Umashankar kindly paying the driver despite our protests), only to be greeted by Saleem, newborn daughter in his arms, as thought we were the long awaited prodigal family. We were ushered into a small marble-tiled house and introduced to extended family. We met Saleem’s young brother-in-law who could recite 250 pages of the Koran from memory without a single mistake and Noor, his sister-in-law who was nineteen, beautiful, and attending university. She spoke perfect English.

Perhaps I looked dirty, or at least bedraggled, as I was told to go wash up in the bathroom at the end of the hallway. Saleem’s wife took her plastic sandals off for me to wear. I wondered why, and soon discovered it was because when you flushed the toilet, the entire floor flooded. At dinner (now 1 AM for us), we were fed copious amounts of spicy curried potatoes, fish and who-knows-what-else. I thought I might choke to death on the thousands of tiny bones in the fish and Keith drank glass after glass of who-knows-where-it-came-from water. After dessert, we were ushered to the couch, offered cigarettes by the grandpa, who was shocked we didn’t smoke, and brought outside to meet Saleem’s mother, who invited us to her house next time we were in Bangalore.

Finally, Umashankar said he’d take us to a hotel. Everyone said goodbye and Noor said, “Don’t forget me!” handing  us her email address. Luckily, one of the family members owned a rickshaw. We piled in with our bags, and Umashankar rode next to us on his bike through the dark back streets. We ended up at an extremely sketchy looking hotel across from the Magistrate bus stand. Umashankar arranged the cost of the hotel with the sleepy desk clerk, warned us to be careful, and told us to call him in the morning (as he insisted he wanted to help us get a bus ticket to our next destination) before vanishing into the night.

Summer Highlights

Well, this summer I have not been to a proper beach (only the beautiful Bear Lake where I wouldn't swim with Keith when he wanted to cause there was garbage about) or hung in a hammock or swum in a pool or gone berry picking in the woods, or camped, as all the parks were full that time. But I have:
1. made and eaten lots of delicious popsicles
2. eaten lots of fresh corn
3. hiked to three glacial lakes surrounded by fields of wildflowers
4. seen a bear
5.stuck my legs in the beautiful iciness of Crazy Creek with Talia
6.watched Jessie wrangle the horses
7.watched Old Faithful geyser it up
8. eaten lots of delicious Farmer's Market melon
9. planted a garden and successfully grown tons of sweetslice cucumbers, basils, lemon verbena, lime thyme (not so successfully) and three different kinds of heirloom tomatoes (which are slowly chugging along--I've yet to eat one)
10. worked on poems and stories and finally submitted a few pieces to journals
11. dunked my head in a waterfall
12. sat inside a tree
13. hiked in snow in June
14. made amazing spearmint ice cream
15. made and eaten two blueberry pies (not eaten all by myself!)
16. picked and eaten lots of strawberries from the yard and mulberries and grapes from sidewalk trees and bushes
17. gone on a ropeswing in Snowbasin
18. swum (is this really a word?) in two amazing swimming holes in Snowbasin
19. covered myself with clay with Meredith
20. roasted marshmallows and eaten smores twice! (once outside with Eleanor and her lovely family. 3 horses wanting to get in on the action).
21. watched fireworks twice
22. gone on bikerides in the canyon by the creek (well, okay, only twice)
23. gone on picnics
24. gone to the DriveIns twice
25. made and drank lots of sun and herb tea
26. waded in beautiful Jenny Lake
27. eaten huckelberry ice cream for the first time (very exciting!)
28. seen the Great Salt Lake in all it's pungent glory
29. visited Boulder twice and gotten over it
30. eaten breakfast outside on the sundeck (but not lately)
31. received two wangs from the Khyentse Yangsi!
32. checked out and read oodles of library books
33. watched huge slow buffalo walk the streets looking like lost snuffleupaguses 

Still To Do:
1. go again to above mentioned glacial lake. this time swim, then lay on huge hot rocks to dry.
2. pick and eat one of my very own homegrown tomatoes
3. picnic again
4. go to water park on a weekday--is it still open?

That's all I can think of. I guess my summer is almost complete!

yesterday and today,

the air has had it's first hint of fall. so apropos, as yesterday was the first day of school here. after my interview at the library yesterday morning, i was walking around the campus in search of the english building. a creative writing phd in my future? i don't know. first i have to brush up on my more-than-rusty high school french in order to pass the language requirement...we'll see...walking around, i wondered if i looked old to the college kids. i didn't feel like i did, but who knows? maybe this cooler weather will make my tomato plants start bearing more fruit. i hope so. time to plant lettuce and kale? i see a lot of kale chips in my future.

Disheartened!!!

Oh so disheartened that I can't even get an 8.50/hr job!!! It's as though some wicked witch has put a curse on me...How to break it?

Gazpacho Recipe

Every year I wait for the days of fresh tomatoes in order to make this amazing Gazpacho. The recipe comes from a book my sister-in-law's mom gave my mom a long time ago!

 Gazpacho
-2 or 3 cloves of garlic
-2 teaspoons salt
-1/4 teaspoon cumin
-2 tablespoons vinegar
-4 tablespoons olive oil
-2 cups tomato juice (i always use v8 and it is seriously delicious)
-2 cucumbers peeled and chopped
-4 large tomatoes, choppped

That's it!

Yay For Summer Food!

as a kid, at the beach with my parents. a long flat expanse of quiet. eating dripping plums, nectarines, cherries.

And yay for Farmer's Markets! Cherokee, Mortgage Lifter and Japanese Black Heirloom Tomatoes, tiny native plums...

fresh corn, gazpacho and salad for lunch on the porch with peach sun tea!