Author: Jaclyn

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 12, 2019)

Sigh.  You know how some weekends are wonderful and some are not?  This weekend was… not.  I don’t know if Mars is in retrograde or it’s a full moon or both or neither, but this was one of those weekends in which the kids were at each other’s throats from sun-up on Saturday to sun-down on Sunday.  We didn’t go more than half an hour of daylight without a tantrum, a screaming fight (or fistfight) or both… all. weekend. long.  Add to that the fact that I had to work both days – I have a boatload of deadlines next week and I’m out of commission at a client site for two days.   And Friday was the last day of camp, and none of our babysitters were available, so Steve and I are staring down the barrel of three weeks with basically no childcare.  Is it time to go back to school yet?  Sorry to be so glum, guys.  It wasn’t all bad – there were a couple of bright spots, including a walk to the waterfront and a stop by Old Town Books; delicious handmade pasta at a new-to-us restaurant; and a cool summer art installation at the Torpedo Factory (pic above) – I love art that incorporates natural elements, so this was very much my jam.  But that’s about all I can say in this weekend’s favor.  It just wasn’t our day(s).

Reading.  It was another slow reading week, despite what it looks like here.  I spent the entire workweek over Silas Marner – like Mrs. Dalloway, I loved it, but between parenting, commuting, and evening work – it took me awhile to get through it.  To Kill a Mockingbird: a Graphic Novel went faster; I found it on an endcap at the library and devoured it in less than twenty-four hours.  I also tore through Mosses and Lichens, a new collection of poetry that I picked up at Old Town Books, in one sitting – that’s probably not the best way to read poetry, but I have tried to slow down my reading speed and I just can’t do it.  Ended the weekend with Stories, by Katherine Mansfield – another one to tally up on the Classics Club Challenge.  With another busy week ahead, I am predicting the same sort of reading pattern next week, too.

Watching.  Instead of working on a brief, like I should have been doing, I had a glass of wine and watched most Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, on Sunday night.  We made it to about 45 minutes from the end, so will probably finish tonight.  I’m sure I’ll regret slacking later, but it’s always nice to spend time in the wizarding world.  (I still wish JKR had told this story via novels, though…)

Listening.  I needed a break from sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, so I put Daisy Jones & the Six on pause and went back to podcasts for the week.  Had a lovely time over quite a few, catching up on One Great Book (the new short-form podcast from Modern Mrs. Darcy – I don’t listen to What Should I Read Next? because I don’t care for long-form interview podcasts, but OGB is just my speed), The Slightly Foxed Podcast (loved the gardening episode!), and The Book Riot Podcast.  Highlight of the week was Jeff and Rebecca geeking out about The Da Vinci Code for over an hour.  It was a gold mine of quotable moments, including “Murderous, but affable!” – “Hey baby, wanna decode my cryptex?” – and “You can extend your life capacity by like nine years by just never going down to the docks.”  They had me laughing for two full commutes.

Moving.  Well, I typed so much that I broke my laptop, so I guess you can say I moved my fingers.  That’s it, though.  I’m craving a run, a good hike, and a sweaty barre class – in that order.

Making.  Work product, work product, work product.  All I did this week was work and parent.  No fun cooking, no crafts, nothing.  Life has been very dull on this front for weeks now.

Blogging.  I have a fun week ahead for you – a garden to-do list for August (it’s a looooooong one) on Wednesday, and the first of a couple of PNW hiking recaps on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  If you’re in NoVA, do check out Mia’s Italian Kitchen!  We were wandering around the waterfront area on Saturday afternoon, intending an early dinner at our local pizza joint, when Nugget stopped short in front of Mia’s and said, “I want pasta!”  We thought about it for a hot second and realized we all wanted pasta.  It was delicious!  We’ve walked by Mia’s so many times, always saying “We need to check this place out sometime.”  I’m so glad we finally did.  I had pasta pomodoro with fresh basil, and it was fabulous.  I want another bowl right. now.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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PNW Adventure 2019: Whale Watch Park

Knowing that we only had a day and a half to explore San Juan Island before we’d be meeting up with our paddling group, Steve and I had to accept that there was no way we were going to be able to experience everything the island had to offer – but one thing I did insist on was a visit to Lime Kiln Point State Park.  The locals call Lime Kiln “Whale Watch Park” because with its rocky vantage point, and expansive views overlooking Haro Strait – prime southern resident killer whale hunting waters – it’s an ideal place to spot orcas from land.  J, K and L Pods are known to swim within feet of the shoreline!

I wasn’t especially hopeful that we’d see whales – the southern residents had not been spotted in these waters for months, and the Biggs (transient) killer whales don’t wend their way over to Lime Kiln nearly as frequently – but I still wanted to see the park that featured so prominently in the multiple killer whale updates I receive each month.  And – I’ll confess – a tiny part of me still thought she might spot a dorsal fin.  Alas – no orcas, not surprisingly, but we did see a few porpoises rolling through the waters off Lime Kiln Point.  (As I learned later in the week, this isn’t surprising; porpoises are most often found swimming off points.)

We ended up hitting the park on probably the busiest day all summer – the centennial celebration for the Lime Kiln lighthouse.  There was live music and entertainment, and the park was crawling with people.  (I know it looks like we were the only ones there.  That’s strategic photography, my friends.)

We approached through the trees and took our time picking our way along the bluffs, taking in the stunning views of the Olympic Mountains in the distance.

Less talk, more pictures!

(Getting closer to the lighthouse, you can see the people clustered around, jamming to the music and collecting literature on the history of the lighthouse and on the killer whale communities around the islands.)

We went inside the lighthouse at one point and talked to the park rangers staffing some information tables.  They had a very depressing chart on which they were recording the killer whale sightings for the year – just a handful of “T” sightings, and no SRKWs at all.  Sob.

But it’s impossible to be disappointed in such a beautiful place, with sunlight dancing on waters you’ve been dreaming of seeing for years.

Shiny happy people holding hands.

Lime Kiln was breathtakingly beautiful.  I hope to return someday, and to see J Pod cruise by when I do!

Next week, we check out a hike with views great and small.

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Reading Round-Up: July 2019

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for July, 2019…

The Library Book, by Susan Orlean – One morning in the spring of 1986, a fire broke out at the main branch building of the Los Angeles Public Library.  The fire spread quickly and swallowed up hundreds of thousands of books, including some irreplaceable treasures.  To this day, how the fire started and who was responsible is a mystery.  Susan Orlean dives into that mystery and spins a fascinating narrative – part history of the LA public library system, part true crime exploration of the possible 1986 arson, and part personal memoir of her own love affair with libraries.  I confess I was reluctant to read this one because of the hype surrounding it, but I’m so glad I picked it up – it was a wonderful read from the first page to the last.

In Morocco, by Edith Wharton – After reading about Wharton’s high maintenance travel habits in Hermione Lee’s doorstopping biography Edith Wharton, I was anxious to check out some of Wharton’s travel writing.  (I also thought it would be fun to read some of Wharton’s wonderful writing without getting depressed at the end.)  I downloaded both In Morocco and A Motor-Flight Through France for my kindle and decided on In Morocco first.  It was enjoyable and atmospheric, but I can definitely see the problems with it – namely, Wharton is very Eurocentric, pro-Colonial, and a little racist.  I read it as a product of its time, and was able to appreciate it for what it was.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf – I won’t say too much, because I’ve already posted a full review here, but I’m so glad I finally made time for Mrs. Dalloway.  I’ve had mixed experiences with Woolf (who hasn’t?) but I think the story of Clarissa Dalloway’s day is a new favorite – I might like it even better than Between the Acts.  I was swept along by Woolf’s style and masterful use of language, and I found myself empathizing with almost all of the characters (didn’t really see the point of Septimus Smith, I have to admit) and loved every moment.

Ayesha at Last, by Uzma Jalaluddin – This has been the summer of Pride and Prejudice updates – first I read Eligible, then Unmarriageable, and now Ayesha at Last.  Ayesha was my favorite of the three – I loved that I could spot the Austen influence, but Jalaluddin put so much of her own spin on the story that it really felt like reading something new.  The story of Ayesha, her self-centered cousin Hafsa, and religious neighbor Khalid, was fresh and sweet.  There’s a twist for Hafsa, which I saw coming but enjoyed all the same, and I delighted in the solid and supportive friendship between Ayesha and her college BFF, Clara.  Overall, just a charming and lovely reading experience.

Celine, by Peter Heller – I kept hearing Heller’s name come up and decided to give him a try when I read a blurb billing Celine as a “missing persons novel in Yellowstone National Park.”  It was, but there was a whole lot more going on than that.  I really liked Celine overall, but bogged down in certain parts.  Heller spends an inordinate amount of time on Celine’s backstory, which was mostly relevant but didn’t warrant every other chapter dedicated to it.  I often found myself thinking, ugh, can we get back to the mystery, please?  The chapters where Celine and her husband Pete are working to track down their quarry – a National Geographic photographer who disappeared in the park 23 years prior; the official story was that a bear killed him, but his daughter never believed it – moved much faster and were more fun to read.  The best part was the characters – I absolutely loved Celine and Pete.  Celine is an aristocratic elderly private eye – think Miss Marple, but New York WASP and packing heat.  She was completely bad@$$ and I loved her.  (There’s a scene in a rough biker bar where septuagenarian Celine single-handedly takes down a misogynistic biker who assaults a waitress.)  I loved the relationship between Celine and taciturn but loving and supportive Pete – who is described as always dressing as if he’s repairing a boat in Maine – and between the elderly characters and their young client Gabriela, and Celine’s son Hank.  Just a joy.

On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas – I’d been looking forward to Angie Thomas’s sophomore effort, On the Come Up, pretty much since I read her debut novel, The Hate U Give, but I was underwhelmed.  The Hate U Give was a brilliant book – timely, urgent, and with a compelling main character who was easy to root for and care about.  On the Come Up didn’t feel like any of those things.  I understood the book’s central message – the hypocrisy of people who believe that guns are just fine in the hands of white people, but view people of color with suspicion even without guns.  I agree with the point Thomas was making, but it just didn’t work as well as THUG.  The book didn’t feel like it was especially timely or of the moment, and the main character – Bri – was an obnoxious kid who made terrible choice after terrible choice and treated her family and friends horribly.  I’ll still read anything Thomas writes, but this one fell a little flat for me.

July was a short, light, somewhat slumpy reading month.  Part of this month’s low book total – only six! – can be attributed to a vacation earlier in the month, on which I didn’t really read anything.  Steve and I were kayaking in the Salish Sea and I was trying hard to pack light.  Anything that wasn’t strictly necessary did not make it into the boats – so, no books; I even left my birder’s journal and Audubon marine mammal guide back on shore.  And since I don’t like to read on my phone (headaches) I spent the week watching sunsets and chatting with new friends instead.  Hashtag worth it.  The rest of the month was slow because of my weird commute.  You never really appreciate what you have until it’s gone, right?  Come back soon, Metro!  I need that hour of reading time every day!  But even with the slow month, I managed to squeeze in some good books, with the best ones front-loaded at the beginning of the month.  Mrs. Dalloway was the highlight of the month, and I also loved The Library Book.  Here’s to a good bookish month in August!  I have a great one on the go right now, and a beach trip coming up later in the month – so while I’ll choose watching the waves (and lifeguarding the kids) over reading on the sand, I’m looking forward to a long car ride and a week’s worth of post-sunset evenings in which to get my book on.

What were your July reading highlights?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (August 5, 2019)

Wow – somehow, it’s August already.  Only a month left of summer!  It’s flying by, seriously.  We were looking for a low-key neighborhood weekend, and we mostly had that.  It started a little early – sort of – when Steve and I took an extended lunch break on Friday and snuck off to watch the kids perform in the annual camp talent show.  Peanut told jokes this year, and she was great!  Nugget and his “class” performed an adorable rendition of “Baby Shark” (doo doo doo doo doo doo) – sorry if I’ve now caused that song to be stuck in your head forever, but what can I say?  Misery loves company.  Even though we left the kids at camp for the afternoon and headed home to do some work to close out the week, it felt like an early start to the weekend.  Saturday was a quiet day – we just hung around the house in the morning and hit the pool in the afternoon.  I slipped out for a grocery run, but other than that, we spent the whole day within two blocks of the house, and it was wonderful.  Sunday was mostly more of the same, although Nugget and I did a little running around in the afternoon – a birthday party at Michael’s (the kids did unicorn crafts, and it was both adorable and extremely hard work for the parents) followed by a library run.  Ended the weekend as I always do – curled up on the couch with a book.  I could use one more day, but I’ll take what I had and be happy with it.

Reading.  Pretty good reading week, for once this summer!  It was almost all back-loaded toward the end of the week, but hey – I’ll take it.  I finished up On the Come Up on Wednesday, then read G. Willow Wilson’s memoir of her conversion to Islam and marriage to an Egyptian man, The Butterfly Mosque, from Thursday to Saturday.  Over the course of Saturday evening and Sunday morning, I tore through Pies and Prejudice – still having such a lovely time with my second time through the Mother-Daughter Book Club series.  Finally, I decided to knock another book off my Classics Club list, and picked up Silas Marner.  I’ve read Middlemarch, George Eliot’s door-stopping magnum opus, a few times – but never took on any of her other works.  I’m just a little ways into Silas Marner, but already enjoying it.  Eliot can really set a provincial English scene.

Watching.  Nothing, really – snippets of whatever the kids were watching on their screens, and of course, watching them like a hawk in the pool, as always.  When I’m between shows this tends to be a boring category.  Sorry about that…

Listening.  A little of this, a little of that.  I’m about halfway through Daisy Jones & The Six on audio, listening during my commutes.  Really good!  The full-cast audio production is outstanding and I am loving the story.  The best part is the relationships between the female characters – Daisy and Simone, Daisy and Karen, Karen and Camila…  So that’s in the car, and around the house I’ve been listening to Fireside Collective again – trying to decide if I should snag tickets to see them at Appaloosa Fest later this month.

Making.  Not much.  I’d intended to do a bunch of batch cooking this weekend, but all I ended up getting through was the red lentils that were supposed to be the basis for a taco “meat” experiment I was planning to try.  I had a long list of food prep to do, but didn’t end up getting through any of it.

Moving.  Another week with only one run – gotta do better.  It’s just hard to fit in around work, commuting, parenting – all of that.  I know I deserve the movement, but making it happen is another story.

Blogging.  July in books coming atcha on Wednesday, and the next PNW recap on Friday.  Check in with me then!

Loving.  I have spent several summers trying to find the perfect reef-safe, mineral-based, all natural sunscreen that actually works, and I think I may have finally hit on something I like – Goddess Garden mineral sunscreen for sensitive skin.  It’s a lotion – I’m trying to get away from sprays – but it smooths on easily and dries sheer, unlike many other mineral sunscreens.  And best of all, the whole family can use it.  The kids actually don’t mind being slathered with this stuff, where they’ll shout about Alba Botanica or (shudder, but Steve still uses it) Coppertone.  I still want to pick up some Blue Lizard to try with them before we hit the beach later this month, but I’m really glad to have finally found something that seems to work.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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PNW Adventure 2019: On Foot in Friday Harbor

Steve and I had a big adventure planned – five days of kayaking from island to island in the San Juans, but with almost two full days before we were scheduled to meet up with our paddling group, we had time to explore a little first.  Friday Harbor is a postage stamp-sized town, but it packs a lot of scenery and fun into a small area.

As we walked from our B&B into the downtown area, I spotted a street sign reading “Granny’s Way.”  I mused aloud to Steve, I wonder if that’s named for J-2.  Sure enough, as we got closer to the intersection, I read the smaller words just above: In Honor of J-2.  Steve laughed and told me I’d really found my people.

(For less whale-obsessed friends, J-2 Granny was an iconic orca and part of the southern resident ecotype.  She was the matriarch of J-pod for many years before she passed away, at age 105, in 2016.  Scientists are still speculating about whether any whale will ever be able to fill Granny’s place in the pod.)

We grabbed some coffee and checked out a big map of the islands – found Friday Harbor and speculated about which other islands we’d be visiting on our kayaking trip.

After a pick-me-up, we wandered the Friday Harbor marina.  I practically grew up on the water – sailing and paddling in the Adirondacks and splashing in the ocean waters of New England and North Carolina – and I can’t get enough boats.

The water and the sky really were that vibrant.  I never wanted to leave!

We found a little park with a totem arch – headed, of course, by the iconic blackfish.

I’d spotted a tiny beer bar right off the Clipper dock, and pointed it out to Steve – I knew he’d be into a visit.  We sat and chilled at the bar, sipped PNW beers (IPA for Steve, sour for me) and toasted to our great adventure.

On Sunday morning, Steve suggested checking out the Whale Museum.  After getting mail from them every month for years – they run the orca adoption program through which J-26 Mike, J-51 Nova, and L-119 Joy joined our family – I was totally into it.

A shrine to my loved ones!

HELLO BLACKFISH, I LOVE YOU.

Steve is definitely not a “dorca” like me, but after this trip he’s getting there.  He thought  the museum was fascinating.  I welled up at pictures of Granny, Doublestuf, Sonic, Scarlet and other departed friends, and beautiful Tokitae who has suffered so long in captivity.  Steve pretended he didn’t know the weird lady who was crying in the Whale Museum.

But, I mean, really!  Look – a paper quilt in Granny’s honor, made by local grade schoolers:

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING

J-pod!  Hello… Mike, Nova, Eclipse, Blackberry, Tsuchi, Talequah, Slick, Cookie – and you, too, Onyx.  And baby J-56!

And Peanut’s loves in L-pod!  Joy, Matia, Windsong, Magic, Mystery, Ocean Sun, baby L-124…

Friday Harbor!  You totally captured our hearts, and we’re already wondering when we can get back for a return visit.

Next week, a historic lighthouse and the rocky coastline the islanders call “Whale Watch Park” – check in with me then!

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Garden Notes 2019: U-G-L-Y, You Ain’t Got No Alibi

Happy hump day, friends!  Sorry for the late post – one of those weeks.  After being out of the office in a training conference most of last week, I feel like I’ve been on the phone for three days straight this week (which is my least favorite thing ever).  My to-do list keeps getting longer and longer and between work and parenting, I don’t have time to breathe or do anything else – including garden, as you can see.  This isn’t the only space I’ve been neglecting!

The whole garden is looking pretty burnt out and sad.  I’d like to blame the Virginia summer, but the truth is it’s no hotter this year than any other summer.  We’ve had one heat wave so far, and otherwise, just an unbroken stretch of days in the low 90s.  (And yeah, temps in the low 90s is not a heat wave here.  To get that honor, you need a few days up near 98 or breaking 100.  Otherwise – nope, normal summer.  This is Virginia.  It’s HOT.)

My herb corner, pictured above, has been a mixed bag.  The lavender is doing decently well, although it’s a little droopy with the heat today.  I picked up some chamomile and golden sage at the farmers’ market to replace the lettuce that bolted last month; neither one is sprouting particularly quickly, but they’re not dying either.  And Nugget insisted that we get a pot of pet grass.  The farmers’ market ladies helpfully explained that our cats would enjoy eating it.  I said we don’t have cats, while Nugget wailed “I waaaaaaaaaant it, Mommy!” from deep inside his plush dinosaur costume.  Yeah, we’re that family.  So I bought the pet grass, solicited a promise from Nugget that he’d take care of it, he didn’t take care of it, and it promptly died.

Also dead: one of my blueberry bushes.  I came home from Washington to find one blueberry bush glossy green and thriving, and the other completely brown and crinkly.  My mom just shrugged.  I yanked it; haven’t decided what I’ll plant here instead.  Beans, maybe?  Or a climbing squash that I can harvest in the fall, if I can find one small enough?

The mint is still prolific, but is looking a little leggy and needs pruned like whoa.  It’s on my list for this weekend, if it can make it that long.  Sprinkle some salt for me.

As usual, the mixed herb pot seems to be doing best.  The chives are looking a little burnt out, but there’s plenty of green in there.  The rosemary is hanging in – that’s one hardy herb, and good for all kinds of home uses – and the lemon thyme has spread out and made some sort of carpet in the rest of the pot.  I didn’t know it would do that, but I can’t say I hate it.

Definitely a neglected space.  I feel badly about that, but I can only do as much as I can do.  Steve has been out of town for most of the past week and he just got back, so maybe with someone else to pick up the slack around here I can catch my breath, beat my to-do list senseless, and get this garden back under control.  One thing’s for sure: my August task list is going to be a long one.

Do you have a garden?  How’s it doing?

 

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 29, 2019)

Sigh.  Monday.  Here again.  And almost August – how?  I’m exhausted.  Last week was a doozy – from Wednesday through Friday, I was out of the office (but not out of town) attending training workshops on all things deposition (how to take, defend, use exhibits in, and – unfortunately relevant – deal with aggressive opposing lawyers and recalcitrant witnesses).  I made a special request to my firm to allow me to take the training (and to fund it – it’s expensive) and I really, really wanted them to get their money’s worth – but I also had to get all of my regular work done and meet a couple of major external deadlines, so after each full day of attending lectures and conducting mock depositions, I headed home to put in another full day of work.  After a week of working more than twelve hours a day from Tuesday through Friday, I really needed a relaxing weekend – but that wasn’t in the cards for me either.  Steve headed out of town on Thursday for a boys’ weekend in Chicago to celebrate a friend’s milestone birthday, so I spent the weekend kid-wrangling.  Even on a normal two-parent weekend, the kids tend to orbit around me shouting requests (Mom! Can you get me a coloring book? Mom! I’m thirsty. Mom! I need to potty.  Mom! Can I have cereal without milk? Mom! She made a face at me! Mom! I WANTED MILK WHERE’S THE MILK.) – you get the picture.  On a weekend when it’s just me – it’s like they smell blood in the water.

Actually, they could have been worse.  It was pretty much the normal amount of belligerence and not-listening.  And we did have fun.  On Saturday, I let them ease into the weekend and spend some time with their own toys after a week of camp, then we headed out for our afternoon activities – Nugget to see his first movie in the theater (Toy Story 4 with his former nanny – I was a little sad to miss out on his first movie theater experience, but I figured she’d earned the milestone) and Peanut and me to a sweet little secret garden across the street from the library, where we pitched a picnic blanket, set out cookies and lemonade, and hosted two of her friends for a “reading party.”  Peanut came up with the idea herself – she’s been planning it for months – and I was glad to make it a reality.  On Sunday, we logged a couple of hours at the playground and then hit up a pool party for the rising first graders at Peanut’s school.  The kids had a fun time playing with their friends and the moms caught up on summer plans and exchanged vacation recommendations.  I left with several restaurant suggestions for our upcoming trip to Duck.  (Although I’m not sure I’ll be able to find “the hole-in-the-wall crab shack in Kitty Hawk,” come to think of it.)  All in all – a fun weekend, but tiring.  We sure were glad to see Daddy back on Sunday evening.

Reading.  Another slow reading week – surprised?  Me, neither.  On Monday I finished Ayesha at Last, which I really enjoyed.  I’ll say more next week in my July reading round-up, but it felt like I was finally reading a Pride and Prejudice update that borrowed just enough from the original, but brought something new to the table, too.  Next – library deadlines – I turned to Celine, which I just finished reading last night.  Liked it very much, but not a love.  Ended the weekend curled up with On the Come Up, Angie Thomas’ sophomore effort.  I’m going into it totally cold.  All I know about it is that I loved Thomas’ debut, The Hate U Give, and I’m looking forward to digging into her new book after waiting months on the library holds queue.

Watching.  Kids, kids, kids.  Watched them like a hawk in the pool, mostly.  And a little less anxiously on the playground.  Oh, and we all together watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on Saturday, because, of course.

Listening.  Just podcasts – the podcatcher is as out of control as ever, I’m sorry to say.  But I just downloaded Daisy Jones and the Six on Audible, so I think I might switch over to an audiobook, just to mix it up.

Moving.  A run or two this week – I think just one, but tbh I can’t be bothered to go look at MapMyRun to confirm.  Otherwise, nothing, ugh.  When you’re working 13+ hour days and solo parenting all weekend, some things fall by the wayside.  Like self-care.  Here’s hoping for a better week next week.

Blogging.  Plans for the week include a July garden update on Wednesday (spoiler: it’s ugly) and the continuation of PNW travel recaps on Friday.  I get emo in the Whale Museum.  Check in with me then.

Loving.  I try to vary things, but I have to tell you about another non-dairy product this week.  Two in a row, I know.  Sorry.  But if you haven’t tried vegan coconut Reddi-Whip, you need to correct that ish, now.  I tossed it in my grocery cart on a whim, because I needed whipped cream to go with the angel food cake and blueberries that we were serving alongside the cookies at Peanut’s reading party, but I wanted to go with a non-dairy option because I like to save my dairy intake for things that really matter (like Greek yogurt and fancy cheese).  And – WHAT.  I have a new favorite whipped cream.  The coconut Reddi-Whip was delicious!  Very sweet, but I was serving it to kiddos, so, you know.  They were good with that.  And it has more than a hint of coconut flavor, which could be a non-starter for some but which is a bonus for this coconut lover.  I told my BFF, Rebecca, that I was trying to think of desserts that wouldn’t be enhanced by the coconut Reddi-Whip and couldn’t come up with a single one.  I think it would literally make anything better.  (She said she’d tried the almond Reddi-Whip and thought it was okay, but I think I sold her on the coconut.  It really was phenomenal.)

Asking.  What are you reading this week?

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PNW Adventure 2019: On Island Time

Time for some travel recaps – hurray!  Steve and I had been dreaming and scheming and planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest – specifically, to the San Juan Islands, in the Salish Sea off the coast of Washington State – for years now.  We had a huge adventure planned – kayaking from island to island and camping in remote spots, and hopefully seeing lots of wildlife – and about a year ago, we decided that 2019 was the year to make it happen.  We enlisted my parents to watch the kids, since the trip we were planning was way too strenuous and adventurous for littles, and finally the day arrived.  Time to go!

Wheels up for adventure!

Our first order of business upon getting to Seattle was to get ourselves to the islands.  I’d thought we would have to figure out how to get from Seattle to Anacortes and board a Washington State Ferry, but Steve discovered that the Victoria Clipper had added service to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, and that the Clipper left straight from the port of Seattle.  Much easier!  So at 8:00 a.m. on the first morning in PNW, we boarded the San Juan Clipper.

Plus 100 would definitely take the Clipper again.  It was comfortable and convenient, there was a naturalist on board pointing out the islands and wildlife as we steamed past, and the views were outstanding.

Hello, Mt. Rainier!

Whidbey Island!

We sat at a four-top and were joined by a couple headed out to the island for a spontaneous weekend getaway.  They started out fun and got progressively more fun as they hit the DIY mimosas available for purchase on board.  (Their little bottles of champagne drained quickly, but the orange juice stayed full…)

Eventually I left Steve at the table and headed up to the top deck with my camera.  The wind was whipping, but I didn’t want to miss any of the gorgeous Puget Sound scenery.

Deception Pass!

I couldn’t get over the color of the water!  I’d never seen quite that shade of green-blue before.

 

We steamed through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and before I knew it, we were approaching our destination – the San Juan Islands!

Spotted the ferry, also headed for Friday Harbor.

I drank in the island scenery as we approached Friday Harbor – home for the next few days.

As the Clipper pulled into its dock, the ferry drew up right alongside us.  I loved the Friday Harbor ferry terminal.  Check it out – orcas!

Views of Friday Harbor.  I was sad the Clipper ride was over, but couldn’t wait to get my feet on the ground and start exploring!

Two happy people, ready to soak in the scenery and log some adventures.  But first, a little relaxation – we’re on island time!

Next week, we wander and explore Friday Harbor on foot!

by

The Classics Club Challenge: Mrs. Dalloway

Clarissa Dalloway is having a party.  She doesn’t go in much for religion, but parties are her church and her art form, and Virginia Woolf’s classic quotidian novel focuses on the day of one such party.  As the novel begins, Mrs. Dalloway has walked out to buy flowers for a party she is throwing that evening.  Throughout the day, as the bells of Big Ben toll the hours one by one (and the half hours, and the quarter hours) Mrs. Dalloway muses on the past, on love, on her marriage, and on what might have been.  Meanwhile, as she goes about her day, the reader skims from Clarissa’s thoughts to the thoughts and contemplations of her husband, daughter, servants, ex-flame, and others she encounters or nearly misses each hour.

Somehow, I had not managed to read Mrs. Dalloway before – as I mentioned to a work colleague, I think many people hit these modern classics in college, but I majored in industrial relations.  I mostly read economics textbooks and labor studies during the school year, and I really only had the summers to catch up on fiction.  I’ve read a few Virginia Woolf novels before – Between the Acts, To the Lighthouse, Night and Day and The Voyage Out come to mind – and while I liked some of them (especially Between the Acts) I can’t say I really “got” Woolf.  I still probably don’t “get” her entirely, but I loved Mrs. Dalloway.

There’s so much in Mrs. Dalloway, I can see myself reading it again and again and again and taking something new away with me each time.  On this first reading, what I was most struck by was the widening gulf between Clarissa Dalloway and her nearly-grown daughter, Elizabeth.

As Clarissa walks down the London street on her flower-buying errands, she muses on the state of being mid-life.  She will never be a bride again, or a new mother.  Instead, she looks ahead at a stretch of years unbroken by any more milestones except the final milestone – death.  (And Clarissa has been ill – some trouble with her heart.)  Perhaps that’s why she cares so much for her parties:

Well, how was she going to defend herself?  Now that she knew what it was, she felt perfectly happy.  They thought, or Peter at any rate thought, that she enjoyed imposing herself; liked to have famous people about her; great names; was simply a snob in short.  Well, Peter might think so.  Richard merely thought it was foolish of her to like excitement when she knew it was bad for her heart.  It was childish, he thought.  And both were quite wrong.  What she liked was simply life.

“That’s what I do it for,” she said, speaking aloud, to life.

Elizabeth, by contrast, stands at the very beginning of her life.  She is just recently “out” and has sprouted into a beautiful young woman.  Men are starting to notice her, heads are beginning to turn, but she’s not interested in the glittering city life that her mother thrives in.

And Elizabeth waited in Victoria Street for an omnibus.  It was so nice to be out of doors.  She thought perhaps she need not go home just yet.  It was so nice to be out in the air.  So she would get on to an omnibus.  And already, even as she stood there, in her very well cut clothes, it was beginning. . . . People were beginning to compare her to poplar trees, early dawn, hyacinths, fawns, running water, and garden lilies, and it made her life a burden to her, for she so much preferred being left alone to do what she liked in the country, but they would compare her to lilies, and she had to go to parties, and London was so dreary compared with being alone in the country with her father and the dogs.

Elizabeth, in short, is nothing like her mother – she is her father’s daughter in every respect.  Richard Dalloway is a good, kind man, who loves his wife and daughter but struggles to speak Clarissa’s language – and Clarissa always wonders whether she made the right choice, when she married security and steadfastness in Richard, instead of fire and passion in Peter Walsh.  And Clarissa can’t reach Elizabeth any more than Richard can reach Clarissa.

(She was like a poplar, she was like a river, she was like a hyacinth, Willie Titcomb was thinking.  Oh, how much nicer to be in the country and do what she liked!  She could hear her poor dog howling, Elizabeth was certain.)  She was not a bit like Clarissa, Peter Walsh said.

Of course, the reader doesn’t need to wonder what it’s like for Clarissa and Elizabeth, since Woolf takes you inside their minds and thoughts – a mother and a daughter thinking and speaking past each other and wanting different things always.  Having a daughter myself, I was fascinated by this dual perspective, and Woolf does it so well.  You can feel Clarissa’s mild melancholy and twinges of envy and misunderstanding; you can feel Elizabeth straining at the strings binding her to the city and wishing she was in the country – you can see the gap between mother and daughter widening.

I’ll be coming back to Mrs. Dalloway over and over again, I know.  I wonder what I’ll find there next time.

by

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 22, 2019)

Happy new week, friends!  According to local friends, we are in the middle of a heat wave here.  Part of me totally believes it – the thermometer in my car registered 111* when I started running my errands, and only got down to 105* by the time I’d finished trundling to the library, gas station, natural foods store and liquor store.  But part of me just feels like this is run-of-the-mill July in Virginia.  I don’t know – either way, it’s hot.  We’ve been beating the heat with plenty of pool time and ice cream, and the kids don’t hate it.

On Saturday morning, we hosted a toddler friend for a play date – mainly so that I could pass off hand-me-downs to her mom (a former work colleague and current fellow steering committee member for our professional community), who is expecting.  It also gave me the chance to mess around in the kitchen and whip up an elaborate brunch, which my kids didn’t appreciate, but my friend’s two-year-old did.  They left when it was time for the wee one’s nap, and we headed to the pool.  Sunday found us at the pool again, and around that, just hanging out at home (in the air conditioning!) and running the aforementioned errands.  Ended the weekend on the couch with Ayesha at Last.  All pretty simple stuff, and refreshing before a busy week.

Reading.  Had a very slow reading week – even slower than usual.  On top of continued commuting woes without public transit, I had to work every night this week – even Friday.  Every day I steamed through my to-do list in the office, determined to come home and enjoy a nice long evening curled up on the couch with Mrs. Dalloway, and every night I found myself hunched over my laptop, churning out more work.  It wasn’t my craziest workweek ever, but it was definitely a big billing week.  I needed it, because this coming week I have three days when I’ll be in a non-billable training program.  But it definitely made for a miserable week last week.  I finally finished Mrs. Dalloway on Friday night, after wrapping up work, and turned to Ayesha at Last, which I have out from the library and which I’m really enjoying.  The library stack more than doubled over the weekend; I’m up to eight books checked out again (will I never learn?) so I have my reading mapped out for the next few weeks… or months.

Watching.  Again, no screens this week, unless you count the screen of my work laptop.  But good watching this weekend – I watched the kids do coordinated jumps and somersaults in the pool.  Man, I love summer.

Listening.  Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts!  You’d think that with driving to work all summer, I’d have made a dent in my podcatcher, but – nope.  I also listened to a little Decemberists, requested by Nugget.  YES!

Making.  Lots of yummy food this week.  I made a huge batch of goulash (my version, with kale, gardein meatless ground instead of ground turkey, and whole wheat pasta, wasn’t quite as popular as Nana’s – but the kids still ate it and we have lots of leftovers for the week) and, more exciting, a fun farmers’ market brunch for our Saturday play date.  I made three-layer vegetable quiche in a homemade sourdough pastry crust, and peach-walnut coffee cake.  The peaches, tomatoes, and eggplants I used were from the farmers’ market; the pastry crust was whipped up with my discard sourdough, and the herbs for the quiche were plucked straight from my container garden.  It was all delicious.

Moving.  Hand-in-hand with a busy workweek goes a slow workout week.  I only managed one run – ugh.  I definitely get a workout tossing the kids around in the pool, but I’m itching for more activity this week.  We’ll see if I actually get it – I’m predicting another hectic week on the work and parenting front.

Blogging.  I know I’ve been flaking a lot on you lately, promising posts and then not delivering.  I’m sorry!  Vacation re-entry has definitely been challenging this time around, as I came back to a mountain of work.  (What I wouldn’t give to still be kayaking…)  With this bizarre summer schedule I’m keeping, I don’t know if it’s going to get any better, but this week – at least – I can promise you that I will deliver.  I’ve got a Classics Club book review on Wednesday – making progress! – and the first PNW recap, for real this time, on Friday.  They’re written and scheduled and they will post, and you can take that to the bank!

Loving.  Probably premature to declare this, but I think I might have a new favorite milk!  I’ve been intrigued by Ripple, which is a high-calcium and high-nutrition dairy alternative made with pea protein.  I picked up some of the unsweetened original flavor at the natural foods store, and it’s really creamy and tastes pretty good.  And then – hashtag shopping while thirsty in the middle of a heat wave – I also tossed a small bottle of the chocolate milk into my cart and chugged it on the way home, and – oh. my. word.  12 grams of protein, and just so yummy and rich.  It’s definitely not an everyday kind of thing, but for an occasional treat, yes please.  (Now, if only Ripple would make a Greek yogurt that tastes as rich as Fage…)

Asking.  What are you reading this week?