chasing summer

Last week this here mama got severely itchy feet.  I couldn't sit still, focus on my children, enjoy all that I usually do.  I needed to go somewhere, away.  Not sure what I was looking for, I declared I needed a "mama day,"  grabbed my camera, some snacks and water, and off I drove.  First I poked around a couple of old antique stores.

I love going into these little old houses stuffed to the rafters with milk glass, door hinges, china, linens, furniture and myriad items I cannot begin to identify.  I only bought an old window this time which will be turned into a cold frame come next spring.  I thought that maybe what I'm looking for I will find in a little town (one with a good bakery, perhaps?)

I am still enchanted by the little white homes you find scattered throughout small New England towns.  They are often decorated with flower gardens, or flags like this one.  After living in the suburbs for so many years, I still think of these as "real" houses.  They have held so many lives within them.  Happy memories, sad occasions, many, many meals shared, children arriving and leaving to make their own lives.  Somehow it always seems that these houses have held onto some of the history of their inhabitants and have become just a little ensouled themselves.  I keep thinking of what stories they might tell if they could...

Well, the bakery was closed that day, so I kept on driving along winding country roads.

I stopped near a swamp.  There are places like this all over.  They always come as a little surprise, when you suddenly leave the shady forest and come out into the sunshine.  I keep hoping that one day I will see a moose in one of these spots.  But not today.

The cold water in the brooks and streams is still inviting in late August while the days are still hot.  But in the late afternoon a little chill begins to creep in, so no wading for me this time...

As I kept driving along a small road lined with an old stone wall overgrown with ferns, I kept yearning to see the sunlight slant just so through the trees.  And then I realized what I had been looking for all this time:  the last of the summer sun, still warm but already lower in the sky.  It is the kind of light you want to pocket to pull out and remember in February, this delicate brightness that brings with it long shadows and makes the time-worn deep greens of the forest so luminous and lively.  I had come all this way, driving, to load up on sunlight, the kind that we will not see again until April or May next year.  This light tells me that it's almost time to think about soups and wool socks and layers, but not quite. Summer is leaving, but I'll be holding on to every last ray of sunshine until it's gone.

thai comfort curry

I've always been fascinated by the foods people reach for when they seek comfort.  The stereotypical American comfort foods of donuts or french fries or potato chips and the likes have never held appeal for me. Instead, I think I was influenced more than a little by spending a few of my formative years in Asia.  Thai food is my number one comfort food, partly because I love the mixture of coconut, basil and spice, and partly because it is quick and easy to make.

Tonight I found myself home alone after a very active day out of the house, so I didn't much feel like putting much effort into dinner or eating cereal.  This meal is wonderful because it comes together so quickly and still tastes so wonderfully fresh and nutritious.

Ingredients:
Thai curry paste of your choice (available at Asian markets and many supermarkets)
1 14 oz can coconut milk
juice of 1 lemon
a handful of basil
a handful of cherry tomatoes
6 oz fish (I used salmon)
vegetables like red peppers, summer squash, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, mushrooms
cooked rice

Heat about 1/3 of the coconut milk in a pan on low heat and add curry paste to taste (1-2 tsp to begin with).  Mix until you have a consistent liquid.  Add vegetables and cook until peppers and carrots are somewhat soft but still a bit crunchy.  Add the remaining coconut milk, the basil and the cherry tomatoes and heat through.  When the sauce is hot, mash the cherry tomatoes against the side of the pot so they release their juice into the sauce.  Add fish and heat thoroughly.  If you don't like fish, you could use beef or chicken, but I would cook them separately first.  When all is well heated through, turn off the stove and add the lemon juice.  Stir well and serve over rice.  Enjoy with a glass of cold white wine.

Please excuse the poor picture quality.  I did not think to share this recipe until just before I sat down to eat, and it was already dark out.  Oh well, so it goes.

her riding adventures

Zany is the official animal lover in our house.  Elvin tolerates them, the Man and I take care of them or ensure the kids take care of them, but Zany wants them all sleeping in her bed and really, truly, deeply loves them.  Which doesn't always translate into her taking care of them, ahem, but love is like that sometimes.

You can imagine how happy Zany has been to live right next door to beautiful horses.  Sometimes when their owner has to go away, we take care of them.  Zany is very proud that she knows how to feed these big beauties, though so far her interest in mucking out has lagged behind considerably....

This spring we finally were able to begin regular riding lessons for her, and she has made impressive progress in fairly little time.  And then, last week, she got to go to camp for three days.  Two hours of daily riding were included, as well as lessons on grooming and care taking.  Then, on Sunday there was a horse show at the barn with competitive classes ranging from equitation to sack races.

We drove through misty morning hillsides to arrive at the barn early.  Zany got right to work with mucking out (yes, indeed), grooming and tacking up her little sweet pony with the help of her six-year old partner.

She participated in horsemanship, equitation, pair riding, poles on the ground and sack racing and came away with two first and two third prizes.  She also came in sixth (out of seven) in stable management points from camp, harking back to this lack of enthusiasm for shoveling poop.  No big surprise on that front, cleaning stables is a lot less rewarding than riding itself.  The show was a fantastic experience for her as a first competition.  She watched others struggle and laugh off horse misbehavior, kept her composure when her horse became nervous and stopped obeying her, won a few ribbons and had a lot of fun. I mean, sack racing?  How could anyone do that and not have fun?

And yet. It speaks volumes about this girl of ours that her favorite activity of the day did not offer ribbons.  She has fallen in love with the challenge of vaulting, or essentially doing acrobatics on a horse.  She now is thinking of taking vaulting lessons, because what could be more fun than sitting on a moving horse?  Well, moving on a moving horse, of course!

this summer

Frankly, it's been a challenge, this summer.  No sooner did the kids start their break that I came down with the flu (or something that looked a whole lot like it) and my car died.  A very difficult visit with family has led me to re-evaluate relationships and set priorities.  It's a painful, slow process that involves a lot of grieving and letting go, but it is also helping me grow and celebrate my life.

At the same time, I have met some most lovely people, spent time in breathtaking beauty and begun another leg on this long journey towards healing and my destiny.

So with a couple more months of warm weather left, I am taking stock of all the loveliness that this summer has brought so far:  giggles and whispers with friends, finding unexpected beauty in hidden corners, sisters working together at living history events, birthdays and the stunning flowers from our garden to celebrate them, projects involving the whole family, antique shows, whale calves breaching, making art at a wonderful camp, and much needed time without shoes.

Yes, I think we'll be turning this challenging summer around yet, one unique and wonder-full day at a time.