Reub's journey

30 September 2010

Simonetta and Leonardo at the Willow Manor Ball



There is a ball tonight, and we have all been invited. Pick your date. Pick your partner. Pick everything.



Botticelli's Birth of Venus, 1486, modeled after Simonetta Vespucci

I desperately need a dress for this occasion.



I'm going for this, by Donna Koran, and for just under $4,000, a steal.



Tonight I will be myself, but I will be channeling Simonetta Vespucchi, at age 19, from Florence, Italy in the year 1473. She (I?) was the young bride of merchant Marco Vespucci, and all of Florence was besotted by her--okay--me, including the brothers Lorenzo and Giuliano Medici, from the most powerful family in the city...


Sandro Botticelli's self-portrait, a detail from Adoration of the Magi

...and the artist Sandro Botticelli adored me (her). It was an unrequited love; I was after all a married woman (dear John, err...Marco), and the mistress of Giuliano d'Medici (that bastard).



Portrait of the Ideal Woman, 1480


Over and over again Botticelli used my image as his model of the ideal woman.



Madonna of the Pomegranate, 1487

Upon his death he requested to be buried at my feet. I had died decades earlier at the age of 22, sadly taken by tuberculosis.


But tonight I am alive again, happy and ethereal. I thought about choosing Sandro as my date, but no. Sandro Botticelli was obsessive, and who needs that? Instead I have asked Leonardo da Vinci, handsome in his youth, and gay as a spring zephyr, how perfect.

Self-portrait, Leonardo da Vinci, 1513

Although I know he was fetching in his younger years, I have requested his presence as an old man. I have questions that only an old man such as he can answer.



We shall arrive at the ball, each of us astride our favorite horse. My horse will be a white mare, a good match for my red dress.





Amid the swirling dancers, the dim lights, and the music, tonight Leonardo and I will talk. I have armed myself with great knowledge, and I know he wonders...

..about flight... and I, having prepared myself with the facts of aerospace engineering, will describe a jet.

I will ask him about his mother, the peasant from Vinci from whom he was separated as a child; I know that she must have been excessively beautiful and intelligent...

He will be surprised that helicopters were actually produced in the 20th century, and I will have to tell him about the combustion engine, and alloy metals.
I will want to change the subject, of course.

I must ask him if there is a hidden fresco in Florence. (I do hope so!)

He will be interested to know that submarines have been feasible for over 100 years, and that parachutes are unremarkable these days.

I will want to know his secret recipe for the color blue.



Bronze horse, September 1999, in Milan, Italy. Designed in honor of Da Vinci's clay horse destroyed by the French in 1499.

Leonardo will be glad to know that horses are as lovely as ever...


July, 2010

...and that the trees still look the same in Tuscany.

We will have so much to talk about.

Leonardo, who designed weapons for the Duke of Milan, will dine on stuffed mushrooms because he is vegetarian, and really very gentle.

Join us. It will be a perfect night.

28 September 2010

Kang Kong

Last week I found this large, lovely bunch of greens at a local Asian market and I wondered what they were. My beautiful and clever niece suggested that they might be kang kong, or "water spinach." I wanted to find out if this wonderful new pair of words was right, so I stopped by the market and asked the owner, a Chinese man. He had to think for a few seconds, but he said that in Chinese it's called ong choy, Chinese water spinach. Disappointed, (because I like the sound of kang kong) I went ahead and inquired hopefully "It's not kang kong?"

"Yes, yes!" he said enthusiastically, "in the Philippines! They call it that there."

Good. I will call it that too, because it sounds a lot like King Kong and I can remember it. Just so you know, it is called phak bung in Vietnam, and rau muong in Thailand, and almost certainly something entirely different in southern India, where it is also used in cooking.

But, here's the thing. I always hate it when I decide something is great, and then find out it has an evil side to it: Toyotas kill people. Nalgene bottles cause cancer. Wind turbines decapitate migrating birds. AND it turns out, kang kong is a horrid, noxious invasive weed in Florida and Texas. Really? No! It was so good in my soup and stir fries, and now I learn that it is supposed to be eradicated?



It might be wise to point out to myself that Toyota has recalled its faulty cars and fixed the problem, that Nalgene now produces BPA-free water bottles and the old Nalgenes that I still sometimes use won't hurt me because they never get hot, and that wind turbines actually pose a very low risk to migrating birds. How bad can kang kong be? Can't we solve the problem by simply eating it? I'm pretty sure it would be good for us.

22 September 2010

September 22

Today is the autumnal equinox, and the season is turning the corner from summer to fall before my eyes. I always look forward to it, this distinct change, hinged with a bit of sadness. School has begun, the nights are chilly, and we have already had our first rains of the season. It's time to put on a sweater and look forward to a fire in the woodstove.



The adventures of June and July still linger though: Italy, and those walls all golden in the warm summer light.



I remember the sky showing blue through the parapets of the duomo in Florence.




In my mind I can always walk these streets again, no matter what the season may be.







19 September 2010

Fenugreek, tamarind, and mystery greens



I bought this but I don't know what it is. Do you?

This was the week of exotic ingredients. While John was gone I entertained myself by cooking. I made split pea fritters (Indian) one day and Pad Thai another. Happily this required a visit to both the local Indian food mart and one of two local Asian food markets. I was searching for fenugreek powder for the fritters, and tamarind paste for the Pad Thai: I had never used either of these before.




Why could I not immediately find fenugreek at the Indian food store? Because they call it "methi powder" that's why. What an unfortunate name. Meth is one of the most destructive and addictive drugs to ever hit the illicit drug market, and it is a big problem here. So I wrote "FENUGREEK" all over the Methi Powder bag when I got it home to make it sound better.




These greens were close to 3 feet long from top to bottom.

There was a woman unloading a large crate of greens at the Asian food market, and they were so fresh and beautiful that I bought a bunch without knowing what they were. I asked if they were for stir fry, and through gestures and nods it looked like that was correct and that I should chop the tops but not the whole stem.



The stems were hollow and reminded me of aquatic plants that I have seen growing in ponds. I discarded most of the stems and added the chopped leaves to the Pad Thai and also put some into chicken noodle soup to give it color. The taste was mild, like spinach, and the color was bright green when cooked. Any ideas as to what this was? I would like to be able to ask for it by name next time.

16 September 2010

Friday My Town Shoot-out: Flora and Fauna




The idea of the My Town Shoot Out is to post photos of your community every Friday, and hopefully improve your photography skills. This week's assignment was chosen by the Town Blogger Team.

All photos shot in or near Corvallis, Oregon.



The wild countryside that surrounds my town abounds with exciting animals: cougars, bobcats, black bear, elk, deer, osprey, eagles, spotted owls all make their home here. You will have to take my word for this because I have never managed to photograph any of them!


It is much easier to snap pictures of the critters close at hand.



So here is a picture of Eddy, our Portuguese Water Dog,



and Reuben, our moody pound dog.




The local fauna likes to eat the local flora.





Sometimes the local fauna likes to watch the other local fauna (or is that "fawna?")through the (dusty) window by the front door.








Some of the local flora is gigantic. This is an old-growth Douglas Fir, native to the region.



Way down on the ground, this little girl is observing a slug.



See? Slimy!




A gopher snake making its way through my garden.



Do ducks sleep with their eyes open? I don't think so.



Corvallis is in a broad river valley that lies north-south, so it is a major flyway for migrating birds. These are snow geese who come through twice a year as they travel between the Arctic tundra and the American southwest: 5,000 miles round-trip.



The Pacific Ocean is an hour west of us, another great place to watch birds.



Or sea lions.



Oysters, rock fish, steamer clams, Dover sole, bay shrimp, and salmon are all caught or raised locally.



A lot of people love to catch Dungeness crab when it's in season. Delicious, but you have to work for it!

15 September 2010

The new mistress

In August I was gone for two weeks, and at John's request I left behind a list of stuff to do. It went like this: refill hummingbird feeder, check water softener, pay car insurance, water houseplants, fix rotten deck boards, buy a pony. One of these was "just a joke," and it wasn't the thing about the house plants or the rotten boards.

When I returned I found that he had, almost but not quite, bought something that began with a "p."



But it was not a pony.




No.



John has always been, at least since I have known him, a very good guitar player. Before that he was a good trumpet player. In the past ten years he has become a very good jazz guitar player. When I see him handle all musical instruments, it is with great love and tenderness. He has explained that the sinuous form of the guitar is female; with its graceful curves, it really is. His love for his instruments is deep and sensual, and his passion for music is serious.



Sleep-deprived as I was when I arrived back home after my two weeks, how could I argue against this new, beautiful thing that had miraculously presented itself at a bargain price in my absence?




Well I couldn't, could I?



So now there is a new mistress in the household, deep and mysterious.




She demands attention while the guitars look on quietly from across the room.




I am getting used to her. She is lovely.




Although John spends long hours with her I know it's OK.


I am still, however, concerned about the rotten deck boards.

12 September 2010

*Poof*



My plans for the day included a hike near here.

Today was one of those spectacular Oregon days, with a sky so blue and air so clean and easy to breathe that you hate to spend any time indoors. It was a day to spend playing in the good weather that we have before the winter rain sets in.


Wallawa Lake, where John is right now, and this is his photo.

Knowing that John is conducting a field class with graduate students, spending the week in a splendid mountainous environment in eastern Oregon, I was left to decide for myself how to spend my own day. So I packed a bag of snacks and treats, a water bottle, leashes, and loaded Ed and Reub in the back of the Subaru. Time for a hike!




Poof

But you know, sometimes I get my heart set on something, head out to do it, and *poof* it doesn't happen. I had barely driven out of the neighborhood when I saw a man waving at me with one hand to slow down, his other hand gripping the leash of a golden retriever. Careening cluelessly back and forth across the road was a huge gangly gray dog. I avoided hitting him and proceeded another 20 seconds, picturing the awesome hike I had planned to take, before turning back. Sigh.



"He's not my dog!" the man was quick to tell me, as I handed him a spare leash and a handful of treats through my window. "See if he'll come to you for a treat, leash him, and put him in my back seat. " I said. While struggling with his own excited dog he quickly managed to lure the gray dog, who had been trying to follow him anyway, and loaded the stray into my car, the whole time looking nervously to see if we were all about to be rear-ended by some unsuspecting car coming over the hill behind us.


So I had an 80 pound Weimaraner in the car, with Reuben furious in the back, but luckily separated by a sturdy gate, and Eddy puzzled by the turn of events. What was Kerry thinking?

Indeed. He was my problem now.


Leaving Ed and Reub in the car, I took Crazy Gray Boy into the house, his little tail wagging madly, his big body lunging forward, and his nose to the ground. As I grabbed for the phone book, the dog sprang up, paws on the kitchen table, sniffing for food, then again onto the counter top. Nooo! He dragged me into the living room, directly to the corner where John has a collection of African drums. Crazy Gray Boy was quick to note that the drums are made of animal skins! Nooo! Dammit where was the number for Animal Control in the stupid ^%$#!@phone book?

Relax Kerry, it's just an excited dog, I told myself. Feed him and give him some water; maybe he'll settle down. Then you can find the phone number. By this time CGB had located the bag of dog food kept in the laundry and I could tell he was famished. I made him sit politely while I served up his meal. As he wolfed it down I fretted--knowing that his breed and body type are terribly prone to this-- that I might have just given him a case of bloat. Please, not that.

I wanted to leave him in the garage while I left a message at the Humane Society, but he barked and cried. Having to put him somewhere while I brought in Ed and Reub, I put him in a kennel in the back yard where, for about 5 unrelenting minutes he made the neighborhood resound with his Sunday-morning barking.






By this time it was 10:45, a full hour and 15 minutes before the Humane Society opened. What to do?



Hmmm?

I'm not proud of this, but one thing I occasionally did when the kids were small and unreasonable, was to take them for a car ride. So I apologized to Ed and Reub, loaded up CGB, and drove 30 minutes south to Hazelnut Hill, where I bought chocolate-covered hazelnuts, chatted with the nice lady there, and bought some chocolate-covered blueberries as well. That was fun. CGB enjoyed it immensely. Then I took him to the Humane Society, where I had to fill out a form that explained to me that just because I found him, didn't mean that I would get to keep him if his real owners didn't show up. For a split second I felt bad. But only for a split second.

No hike today, but I did go for a 35 minute run and Ed & Reub enjoyed it just fine.