by Maureen | Aug 15, 2010 | Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, People, Photos, Quips, Seattle
“We’re having a crab feed on the beach tomorrow night. Do you want to come?” There’s only one answer for that question. “Of course!”
This is a great neighborhood: wonderful people in a beautiful setting. I’m back in this little piece of paradise with longtime friends. (I know few people that actually KNOW their neighbors; I’m fortunate that we all enjoy each other’s company.)
My waterside neighbors have been putting out crab pots lately. They pull up the pots, bring home the catch, and boil ’em up in a bucketful of water right out of Puget Sound. (It keeps the crab flavor sweet and salty.)
A picnic table right at the water’s edge is an ideal gathering spot.
As sunset came on, a glow was added to the scene.
Sparklers are festive any time of year.
What’s nicer than a bonfire at the shoreline on a lovely evening?
S’mores, certainly! Sally and Terry pressed a gooey, golden marshmallow into the chocolate and graham crackers for the classic campfire fare. (How long has that tradition been around? See below*)
Gary has a super-duper flashlight that casts a beam out onto the water to the boats tied there. Pretty powerful!
I can’t believe Terry and Gary sent me home with a whole crab. Can you guess what I ate for breakfast? The WHOLE thing! Those old bent pliers were the perfect crab crackers. I also use them for irrigation in my yard.
S’more appears to be a
contraction of the phrase, “some more”.
[3] While the origin of the dessert is unclear, the first recorded version of the recipe can be found in the publication “Tramping and Trailing with the
Girl Scouts” of 1927.
[4] It is unknown whether the Girl Scouts were the first to make and enjoy s’mores, but there appears to be no earlier claim to this snack. Although it is unknown when the name was shortened, recipes for “Some Mores” are in various Girl Scout publications until at least 1971.
by Maureen | Aug 12, 2010 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
Ahh, nothing like kickin’ tires on a used car lot on a sunny, summer day!
I’ve been carless for over a year, relying on my own two feet and good shoes, my two-wheeled “bici“, subways and trains. I’ve planned my comings and goings based on how far I could walk and where the nearest Metro stop was. For the most part, I liked that. Goods and services were central. To get away from it all, I’d hop on my bike, engage the extensive Trenitalia rail system, or accept invitations from friends to ride with them in their travels.
Fast forward to Seattle, 14 months later. I’m back in the land-of-sprawl. My dear Dad loaned me his mini-van so I can get around and get settled. In the first week, I hit Southcenter twice, plus Costco and Ikea, cathedrals of consumerism, not accessible on foot.
Considering how spread out everything is here, and how far away family members are, I need to find a car. Since I was moving away for a year, with the possibility of extending that time even longer, I sold my Honda CR-V before I left for Italy. Now in the market for wheels, after having been in Europe where every car could park-on-a-dime, I’m torn about what to buy. How do I weigh its cost, its size, its fuel efficiency and “environmental impact”?
So I figure this may be an interim car. Something inexpensive yet sound enough to get me around the state safely. Clean enough to appease my designer’s eye. AND it must be able to carry a bike in it or on it… a bike that I do not yet own, on a rack that I have not yet selected.
Enter CraigsList and the questionable world of used cars. Two Nissan Muranos caught my eye. I sent e-mail inquiries and BOTH said the car was out of state (in Miami and Atlanta), that the car had been owned by a husband or son that had served and died in Iraq and that they couldn’t bear to look at the cars any longer and wanted a fast deal. “Please wire the money through E-bay and we’ll have the car shipped to you.” Yeah right. Scam alert!
Today, I looked at a couple of Volvo wagons. One had looked great in the pictures, but the images didn’t reveal the myriad little tears, breaks, cracks and such that I found upon inspection. The other looked good, but was at the upper range of what I want to spend right now. I kicked a few other tires on the lot, while some guy walked into the “showroom” and insisted on test driving the Cadillac “boat” that had been lodged there and required battery-jumping and careful maneuvering down a skinny, rounded ramp just to access the road. How serious was he really about that Caddy? Right. Scam alert! He was likely just messin’ with ’em.
Further tire-kickin’ is one of my tasks in the midst of my settling in.
by Maureen | Aug 4, 2010 | Discoveries, Introspection, Journal, Quips
This post comes with caveats. Yes, these thoughts are generalizations. Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, stereotypes paint a broad swath rather than acknowledge the individuals.
This is a list, in no particular order, of some confounding quirks I encountered in Italy. They were sometimes treasured, sometimes tolerated, (sometimes jaw-dropping and infuriating). These are traits that made me shake my head, chuckle in resignation and question my own rigid, structured thinking.
- Passion vs. intellect.
- Lax, loose regard for rules: ie. traffic, laws, ADA, etc. Unconstrained by regulations.
- Double system: “under the table” and “above board”.
- Mutable sense of timing and deadlines.
- Circular, roundabout thinking.
- Chaos and disorganization.
- Lack of fear.
- Unclear communications.
- Low-finish vs. refined. At times sloppy, at times polished.
- Blend of historic and contemporary, “high design”.
- Anti-rigid. Nothing’s pinned down. Approximate vs. exacting.
Perhaps, now, I will be more “flexibly systematic”. Looser around the edges.
by Maureen | Aug 4, 2010 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
This return is both emotionally and mentally harder than I had expected. I had a LIFE and friends that I left behind. I had my patterns and my joys; I was wide open and received openly. My busy zone in the city held familiarity for me. The unknowns had eased into old-jeans comfort, and the quirks were either treasured or tolerated.
I sought such nestling in, the knowing and being known. Contrary to the anonymity of tourists, I wanted the intimacy of friends. And I received that, more deeply than I could have dreamed when I first imagined making such a move.
So I find myself stirred and mixed. I am nostalgic for a place I left just 3 days ago. I am not finished with Italy and her people. They remain with me.
by Maureen | Aug 4, 2010 | Food!, Journal, Quips, Shopping & Markets
What have I been having a hankerin’ for while I’ve been away?
What didn’t I find a substitute for to satisfy my yen?
White, sweet corn on the cob.
Salsa, avocado and cilantro.
Rosemary bread.
Convection-roasted, whole chicken.
Sea-salt pita chips.
Hummus.
Guess what I bought at the grocery store in the first couple of trips!
– – –
August 4 Update
For breakfast this morning, I had cajun scrambled eggs on rosemary toast with habanero mustard and American Mozzarella* cheese. Flavors I hadn’t had in a year.
*In my year-plus in Italy, I never saw the “mozzarella” I grew up with: that rubbery, dry, cream-colored cheese that Americans buy shrink-wrapped in a ball. Mozzarella in Italy is white, made of cow or buffalo milk, packaged floating in water, and bleeds fresh milk when it’s cut. Completely different foods!
by Maureen | Aug 2, 2010 | Discoveries, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Journal, Quips, Seattle
Just because I’ve returned to Seattle, will my blog come to a halt? No.
There’s still more to say. I have more mulling over to do. Comparisons to draw. Reflections to note… And having shot 16,314 photos in my close-to-14 months in Italy, I have more images to share.
I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting, but do keep checking back now and then. I’ll be adding posts about Seattle, too. Next week I’m being taken on a personal tour: “100 Amazing and Bizarre Sights in Seattle”. As a native Seattleite, I want to see this city with the same wonderment and freshness I reveled in while exploring Italy.
by Maureen | Aug 2, 2010 | Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Journal, Quips, Seattle
As Dorothy said, “there’s no place like home”.
This spring, in anticipation of leaving Milano, I had my eye open for some symbolic “ruby slippers” and found these at a little street market for 20 euro. They’re not really for wearing, but rather to have as a visual reminder of what I’ve just done, where I left and what I’ve come home to.
by Maureen | Aug 2, 2010 | Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Introspection, Journal, Meals, People, Photo of the Day, Quips, Seattle
Sunday Morning. August 1.
(I arrived home yesterday in late afternoon.)
Home in the summer chill of Seattle with a 60 degree morning. I slept well with the window open to fresh, cool air. Absolute silence filled the night until the crows started talking as day dawned. No neighbor above me in spike, high heels. No garbage pickup or street cleaning outside my window.
I’m tired, certainly, but calm and relaxed and a bit in a fog. I don’t want to go into a flurry in unpacking and launch into my old routine, but rather be thoughtful and deliberate as I create my renewed life here. I have the gift of a “clean slate with a foundation”. How rare for any of us to have that (without its arising from trauma). I have family, friends, clients, continued work and a home; together they give me a solid base. But the house is nearly empty and I can start from scratch in placing things. I can choose freshly what commitments I make and activities I involve myself in.
– – –
The refrigerator was empty this morning except for a frozen tamale. I heated it up and it sufficed as enough breakfast to take the edge off for a few hours. Late morning, I walked up into Burien (I still don’t own a car) and ate fish tacos for a Sunday brunch. The tastes of spicy guacamole and pico de gallo were welcome changes.
After my morning meal, I went north with my brother and friends to Dad and Arlene’s house. We had a relaxed chat looking out to the bay, then sat for an early dinner. If ever there were a classic American meal concept, perhaps it’s the casserole. Today, our dish was chicken breasts with mushrooms, swiss cheese and a few other goodies that formed a tasty “goop” that begged for a spoon with which to harvest every bit of sauce. Our consciences were appeased by green beans with butter and cut fruit salad (called “Macedonia” in Italian.)
THEN came dessert: Freshly baked rhubarb pie with a crisco crust! What a homecoming! What a welcome! Casserole and pie. (What could be more American?)
