Life of Wry

I’m posting a collection of photos I shall call: Peter reads.

Who can see anything but those feet?

And those feet!

Frame boys with their favorite authors and protagonists.

Magic Tree House got him through Rome..

Couldn’t put it down…

Unless it was to read this…

Didn’t always stay awake…

I love this shot…. trying to order at a restaurant in Brazil… looking for the word milk?

Peter and I read together, too.

Sometimes just by himself…

And that concludes this installment of Peter Reads.

Today was a bit bonkers. I’ll reflect on it in a later post, but for now will say: wow.. 65 is not an insignificant milestone.

~~

I took this the other day while sitting on the bench under the window, which I never do. I looked up and thought, huh, I make a good bed. I missed a calling.. as an army sergeant, maybe.

Anyway.. I’ve always had a penchant for order. It provides a nice, reliable, stable container for the occasional/inevitable wildcards of life.

Four fully vaccinated friends from the olden days.

So there!

These were taken outside of a Sac Mexican food restaurant, Mayahuel. Sally came up from Mountain Ranch to join us for lunch; Nancy, Sarah and I spent a couple of hours before lunch checking out murals in midtown, as well as a special mural that Sarah and Gabe painted outside a newly opened preschool out by Howe and Fair Oaks Blvd.

The preschool is called Acorn to Oak. The mural is a giant oak tree that spans the four seasons, with just tons of seasonal details to find and delight in. Perfect for teaching kids about the rhythms of nature and encouraging them to spend time looking for those signs. So so sweet.

I didn’t do a good job of capturing the whole thing — it’s about 20-25 feet long — but here’s a portion of it

And some of the detail:

Those two… I tell ya.

So many questions. I feel in such a weird space tracking politics these days.. ever since that psycho came on the scene. It’s hard to stay sane when you’re left to argue that up is down and down is up and there are no shared facts and their game is about control and money, and they’re willing to do anything to get it and hang onto it, even and especially lying (because facts and the public’s interest are not on their side)… but what do they believe anymore? Well, nothing. They haven’t been about policy for a long time. Seems they are about shutting out voters so they can hang onto or reclaim power, but then what, besides stacking courts so they can prevent abortions and carry more guns? They don’t care about people, families, education, the planet or our global relationships.

They are making a political bet: stay with the psycho and his flock. It’s Gaetz and Greene over Romney and Cheney. The former two raising money like crazy. How is that possible? But it’s the whole thing.. it’s their bet. It’s what the polls tell them will bring victories in 2022 and beyond.

I can’t understand the fealty thing. It nauseates me to my core. How can they ever justify throwing people overboard (Cheney), booing them down at GOP conventions (Romney) for an opinion other than that psycho’s? What is that? He’s trying to cancel the whole GOP, its history, the people in its history, it all has to be about him and they all willing to go along with it. I just don’t understand.

So… dunno. People continuing to vote against their interest, their family’s interest, the planet’s interest, the world’s interest.. and defending the lies about voter fraud and rigged elections… so that… what? Abortion, god, guns? They’ve really lost their way, lost a sense of the big picture.

Up is down.

Nativism, fear of the other. That’s the real heart of it. Other = less than.

He’s ignited it and is running with it and they’re all going with it.

And back to my questions: my biggest one is how do I turn away from that existential threat to democracy, justice and the planet as we know it… AND have a life that is fulfilling and joyful? I want a life that is fulfilling and joyful.. and I feel like we have to stay on top of this and continue to fight for the future for our kids. I’m filled with angst. Why isn’t everyone?

And the vaccination issue. Good lord!! We were told today that we (the US, the world) will not achieve herd immunity because there are too few people willing (yes, willing) to get the vaccine. Instead, transmission will continue, variants will thrive, and we’ll continue to live with this virus for years… which means not a full return to normalcy.. or we’ll return and people will just die that shouldn’t have. We coulda had it, herd immunity. But people weren’t willing to mask up and vaccinate… because.. freedom. Freedom to be stupid and selfish.

Thank a vaccinatee today, because the fact we have less transmission than we might have, and the fact we’re not ALL getting infected, sick or dying is because half the people chose to get vaccinated. For themselves, their families and the greater good.

Well hell.

What do you do with that level of human selfishness? How do you co-exist with these people? Honestly, how do you look them in the eye? Part of me wants to just say, “hey, they believe in crazy shit,” and let it go at that. But it affects us all and that seems so totally unjust.

It all just eats me up. Can’t shut it out and live my life, but don’t want to be consumed by it, either. Trying to find the balance.

~~

Here’s a neat spring thing in Davis: these tower of jewels (they’re called? right?). They are almost creepy big, out of scale big.. but they’re also so cool.

This one’s in Central Park right now.. but they’re all over town. Like those crazy naked ladies that come up seemingly out of nowhere.

That’s about 3 feet of bloom right there..

When I’m 68?

Life gets normaler and normaler: Jim and I drove down to the Bay Area last night to join Monica and Dror in their new Oakland (Rockridge) rented house for day two of Jim’s birthday celebration. Nice to be guests in someone else’s house for dinner. No masks. Hugs all around.

And lap-top birthday cake! A fabulous chocolaty moussey thing that was pretty damn great for a chocolate mousse cake (usually too fluffy and rich for my taste).

For the record, he blew them all out, those giant Hanukkah candles, in one breath.

I had an audience, which was a little disconcerting… was he making a play for the hammock? He sat there for the longest time.

Today was Jim’s 68th birthday. Age is so relative that 68 doesn’t even seem that old. How weird is that? On the other hand, Jim is 68. Holy Cow.

We celebrated by going out to dinner (at Symposium) and went to an actual movie. Yepperoo. A movie! In a theater. In a velour seat. With the smell of popcorn wafting through the air.

Heaven.

Saw a super sad movie about a Syrian refugee living on a remote island in Scotland hoping for asylum so he could bring his parents and brother to safety. It was moving, desolate, heart wrenching, haunting, and though a bit stylized and artful, it was eye opening to view desperation through the eyes and experience of a refugee.

That aside, it was fun to go out.. just like in the beforetimes.

After the movie, we came home and ate the strawberry shortcake I worked on this afternoon. SSC was Jim’s birthday cake selection (of a sort) and it was my first time making it.

Here’s how it came out:

It might look a little bit better than it tasted… I thing because the biscuits mighta shoulda been softer? Served warm? They were more cookie-like, than cake-like. Also, the berries were a wee hard and sour. The sugar and juiciness helped a lot!

Jim was enthused!

Cutie pie.

Been wanting to make this NYT asparagus and goat cheese tart for a while. It gets four stars from both of us.

Prepare a spread of creme fraiche, garlic, lemon zest, nutmeg, salt, goat cheese and egg. Then, roll out a large rectangle of puff pastry…

Score the pastry (not sure this is what they meant) and spread the mix just shy of the scored border…

Lay asparagus and brush olive oil over the top…

Sprinkle some grated parmesan over the whole thing and put in a 425 degree oven for about 25 mins…

And here it is…

After it’s rested for about 15 minutes (and the center sinks back down), sprinkle some parmesan shavings, pepper and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.

So good.

And funnily: Carrie and I walked yesterday and talked about recipes. Turns out she’d also clipped this one and was planning to make it soon. I texted her tonight to say I’d just popped mine in the oven. And so had she! Such a cowinkydink! Here’s hers: