Exactly. I'm still not over "it."

Thanks to my sister for passing this along to me. Unfortunately I have one "friend" who I can no longer look in the eyes without thinking about who she voted for. In a brave and honest moment this is what I would like to say to her. But I almost certainly won't. I will carry the script with me just in case.

Recipes in novels

 

I'm going to try this recipe tonight. From the novel Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Enjoying the book; plan to enjoy the eggs too.

Oh come on..

Ivanka Trump — who’s supposed to be running her dad’s “blind trust” — wants to move to Washington D.C.

 

As Elaine Benes would say,"that's a big coincidence."

The cover of the latest New Yorker, on the right, is obvious in its meaning. The cover on the left is from the week before (dated April 25 but we all know that magazine cover dates and, what's the term? drop dates? are different).  The adoring-fans-in-red-and-blue-with-guitar-in-foreground issue arrived in my mailbox after Prince died on April 21. I remember thinking, very briefly, wow, that was fast. I even thought, oh that's clever, they used red and blue, which of course together makes purple. The title of that cover art is Closing Set, appropriate title for a farewell to Prince, who was a great guitarist, something I didn't appreciate until after he died. 

Today the Purple Rain issue arrived so I checked on Google just to be sure I was right about the magazine devoting two covers to his death. I mean I get that he was beloved, talented, and successful but two covers? In the New Yorker? 

No, they didn't devote two covers to him. The left cover is by artist R. Kikuo Johnson and is described by him in the New Yorker this way:

“Everyone in Brooklyn is a d.j., so I rely on my much cooler friends to take me out,” the artist R. Kikuo Johnson says. “I have been taken to many one-night-only warehouse parties—I love dancing—but this was my first time at the Palisades,” he continues, referencing the underground venue in Bushwick that was the model for his cover of this week’s issue.

I say R. Kikuo should be credited with some unconscious foreknowledge. 

-------------------

**From "The Statue," Seinfeld, April 11, 1991:

RAVA: Yes, that's all, a coincidence!

ELAINE: A big coincidence.
RAVA: Not a big coincidence. A coincidence!
ELAINE: No, that's a big coincidence.
RAVA: That's what a coincidence is! There are no small coincidences and big coincidences!
ELAINE: No, there are degrees of coincidences.

Sad Beautiful Tree.

My neighbor has trained a wisteria plant, or plants, to create this tree -- picture taken in May 2015.

Here's what it looks like today, April 22, 2016.

It's getting very late in the wisteria season...I've seen wisteria shrubs and overgrown vines in full bloom nearby. But this guy has only a few emerging leaves. My neighbor is worried. I'm worried too, mostly for her mental health. This lady is very attached to that tree and will mourn grievously if it dies. I suspect, but really don't know, that it might need a serious pruning, now rather than later. Any opinions?

A frost we had a few weeks ago got to it for sure, although there wasn't much visible spring growth at the time. But much of the emerging greenery got fried by that frost -- it just didn't seem like enough damage to make the entire tree stop producing leaves and blooms.

I know wisteria is a wildly invasive plant, scorned by true gardeners. But with care you can prevent it from spreading.  

Arthur and Anne. And Rebecca.

A good friend, and lapsed blogger at The Complaint Department, gave me this print in honor of my love of crows (and a convenient birthday). I loved it from the moment I saw it. It now hangs in my dining room so I can see it every time I eat at the dinner table. Which is most nights of the week. The artist is Colette Davis. Thanks again Anne!

I named the crow Arthur, and of course the lady is Anne. She asked if I thought the lady in the painting looks a little like my daughter. I think she does!

A Worthy project.

Every Wednesday I spend a few hours volunteering at my local library. This is my all-time favorite volunteer activity -- shelving books, recovering books, moving books. I even get to push one of those library carts around like a big shot.

Recently the head librarian asked me to take on a special project (!!). Mr. Worthy, a daily library patron I've never met, leaves little slips of paper with quotations he's found in books he's reading. The librarians, not knowing exactly what to do with all these slips of paper, have kept them in an envelope waiting for an idea to emerge. Now I have the slips of paper and I'm typing them up, cutting them into strips, and they'll be folded and placed in a basket so other patrons can pick one up as they leave the library. Sort of like fortune cookies without the cookie. 

When I'm working on this project, I always think of my good friend San Francisco Margo. She makes adorable book marks and sends me a supply every couple of years. She often uses old Christmas cards or other greeting cards to find a nice image. Then she laminates the pithy quotation on the back and viola! a sweet bookmark. They are well used in this house. 

Most of Mr. Worthy's quotations are sweet thoughts about how to love and live happily. This, however, is my favorite so far:

When you criticize someone you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them you are a mile away from them and  you have their shoes.

                                                                                                           Author Unknown

Again with the crows.

There are a lot of nice books about crows. I've read some, but not all, of these. Doug got this whole crow thing started by reading Gifts of the Crows -- we think I brought a copy home from the library. That led to us paying more attention to our own local flock, and to reading more about crows. As Margaret pointed out in a comment to the previous crow post, crows are said to recognize faces, bring gifts, and generally interact with humans in a way unlike other birds. 

My lovely crows.

Look closely and you'll see six kitty ears pointed toward four crow friends. We've been feeding the crows a little, almost every day, for months. We really like having them around. They're talkative in a pleasing way. We only give them a couple of slices of bread each day, usually in the late morning. I think they are quite pretty. In fact, I'm smitten with them.

pictures obviously taken before the January snow storm

We visited the Montrose Crossing shopping center at Randolph Road and Rockville Pike late one Sunday afternoon in December. Thousand and thousands of crows arrived just after sundown. They came in waves. Many stopped on the buildings around us. It was amazing to watch. I took this little video, which may or may not be viewable. During the winter for 80 years at least crows have been coming to this exact spot, even though the area has become heavily developed. Doug and I remember the crows congregating back in the 70s/80s. One writer (Lisa Courturier) wonders if this particular piece of real estate has been home to crows for a very long time, even longer than the 80 years she can vouch for. If they were coming here 80 years ago, why not 280 or 580? We can build all the parking lots and grocery stores we want but they are coming home to roost. There are just enough tall trees scattered here and there, not to mention tall buildings, that thousands obviously find it acceptable for staying overnight for months, year after year.

Jazzed-up eggs

A new food addiction. Hard-boiled eggs marinated in soy sauce and sherry. No need to add salt to these babies. And they're good on a salad too. 

Life in the slow lane

As requested by a friend I'm adding a new post ("may I request a new post, if for no other reason than to bump down the image of that buffoon, Mr. Donald “They-tell-me-I-could-shoot-someone-and-still-win” Trump ?")

Yes, we got snow. Over 2 feet of it. This picture was taken 24 hours ago and the road is still not plowed. 

This is my first attempt to blog from my phone. Hope it works!