Down in Carlisle he loved a lady, many years ago
Me and Bullet have been going out back for me to work in the garden and him to doze in the sun on the mulch between the beds. Mostly I'm cleaning beds out for the spring, but I have planted some bulbs - narcissus, two kinds of allium, and some iris.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Peaches!
Stay the course
I planted 2 peach trees (Ranger and Redskin) and a blackberry bush a couple of days ago. The moment I decided to plant them I was saying to myself, this is a really good idea – why didn’t I have it before! This retirement scene just keeps on unfolding, from thinking more expansively to the realization that in terms of gardening, I’m back.
The garden was one of those things that fell by the wayside as I tired and cut back on all but the essentials so I could keep the essential balls in the air. Photo: back garden early summer
Over the past 1 or 2 months I’ve spent quite a bit of time (1-3 hours/day 3-5 days/week) going after one-by-one the kudzu vines that filled in the gaps of my absence with an amazing network of underground runners and roots. The front (cottage) garden is close to done & the back is in okay shape – recognizing that I’ll have to do it all over again at least once and the thing is, I’m fine with that – as opposed to the past few years when everything seemed like a burden.
Interesting (to me, anyway) change in direction: when I started gardening, inspired by Wendell Berry, it was all vegetables. Then I began to grow more and more flowers (especially perennials) and then roses. Now I’m shifting back to vegetables and for the first time, fruit along with mostly old garden roses – speaking of which, right now, November 19, several roses in the front yard are blooming very nicely. Perle d’ Or, Maggie, and Archduke Charles are blooming heavily and Marie Pavié has a few flowers. My Cottage Garden site
My plan for 2009 is to fill in most of the non-rose/perennial areas of the front and back gardens with tomatoes, peppers, green beans and other vegetables. I’m hoping that my friend & colleague, Aaron will pass on some heirloom plants and seeds for some of those. I already have all the perennial herbs I need (rosemary, oregano, mint, etc.). What a glorious display we’ll have in 2009!!!
----------
Someone posted a 2009 goals question on the backpacker forum I hang out on (http://forums.backpacker.com/). Backpacking goals? No, I’m thinking in terms of plans – I don’t really have that much in the way of goals, other than living well given whatever circumstances I’m given. When I was teaching I was always having to come up with goals and objectives for myself, so I’d just write something up – it wasn’t enough that I was committed to doing the best job pos
sible as a teacher, clinician and scholar. Photo: paan in Rangoon, ready to add the additives - look at the choices - some extra Euro Star for me, please, and not much 45
----------
Leslie just put together a bag of herbs and spices for David. We went through them made a list - and the smells - what a flashback! It's a Burmese market all over again, huge sacks of spices, women selling paan (well, we're not sending any of that to DK!), and on and on. The bag going to DK has crushed chili flakes, cayenne, coriander, cream of tartar, cinnamon, yellow curry powder, nutmeg, rosemary, oregano, thyme, tarragon, ground mustard, lemon pepper, bay leaves, sage, ground cumin, lemon grass & oregano. We had a wonderful time going through them, except that someone was too bossy, going so far as to say, "It's MY game!"
I planted 2 peach trees (Ranger and Redskin) and a blackberry bush a couple of days ago. The moment I decided to plant them I was saying to myself, this is a really good idea – why didn’t I have it before! This retirement scene just keeps on unfolding, from thinking more expansively to the realization that in terms of gardening, I’m back.
The garden was one of those things that fell by the wayside as I tired and cut back on all but the essentials so I could keep the essential balls in the air. Photo: back garden early summer
Over the past 1 or 2 months I’ve spent quite a bit of time (1-3 hours/day 3-5 days/week) going after one-by-one the kudzu vines that filled in the gaps of my absence with an amazing network of underground runners and roots. The front (cottage) garden is close to done & the back is in okay shape – recognizing that I’ll have to do it all over again at least once and the thing is, I’m fine with that – as opposed to the past few years when everything seemed like a burden.
Interesting (to me, anyway) change in direction: when I started gardening, inspired by Wendell Berry, it was all vegetables. Then I began to grow more and more flowers (especially perennials) and then roses. Now I’m shifting back to vegetables and for the first time, fruit along with mostly old garden roses – speaking of which, right now, November 19, several roses in the front yard are blooming very nicely. Perle d’ Or, Maggie, and Archduke Charles are blooming heavily and Marie Pavié has a few flowers. My Cottage Garden site
My plan for 2009 is to fill in most of the non-rose/perennial areas of the front and back gardens with tomatoes, peppers, green beans and other vegetables. I’m hoping that my friend & colleague, Aaron will pass on some heirloom plants and seeds for some of those. I already have all the perennial herbs I need (rosemary, oregano, mint, etc.). What a glorious display we’ll have in 2009!!!
----------
Someone posted a 2009 goals question on the backpacker forum I hang out on (http://forums.backpacker.com/). Backpacking goals? No, I’m thinking in terms of plans – I don’t really have that much in the way of goals, other than living well given whatever circumstances I’m given. When I was teaching I was always having to come up with goals and objectives for myself, so I’d just write something up – it wasn’t enough that I was committed to doing the best job pos
sible as a teacher, clinician and scholar. Photo: paan in Rangoon, ready to add the additives - look at the choices - some extra Euro Star for me, please, and not much 45----------
Leslie just put together a bag of herbs and spices for David. We went through them made a list - and the smells - what a flashback! It's a Burmese market all over again, huge sacks of spices, women selling paan (well, we're not sending any of that to DK!), and on and on. The bag going to DK has crushed chili flakes, cayenne, coriander, cream of tartar, cinnamon, yellow curry powder, nutmeg, rosemary, oregano, thyme, tarragon, ground mustard, lemon pepper, bay leaves, sage, ground cumin, lemon grass & oregano. We had a wonderful time going through them, except that someone was too bossy, going so far as to say, "It's MY game!"
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
2008 Photos
High up on that mountain
Someone on a backpacker forum put up a "2008 slide show" and I thought, sure, good idea. So here is my slide show for 2008 - with more to be told as before the year's end we'll be in Berkeley, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Hanoi, Sapa, Hue, Saigon and Phnom Penh.
Actually, this year kind of started in November 2007 when I went on a Sierra Club backpacking trip to Big Bend. Since then I've been back backpacking in Big Bend twice and to Bandelier National Monument, Rawah Wilderness, Maroon Bells and the Wind Rivers. This is a big year for me - retiring, backpacking, David in Berkeley, Leslie & I headed for Southeast Asia in less than 2 weeks.
Someone on a backpacker forum put up a "2008 slide show" and I thought, sure, good idea. So here is my slide show for 2008 - with more to be told as before the year's end we'll be in Berkeley, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Hanoi, Sapa, Hue, Saigon and Phnom Penh.
Actually, this year kind of started in November 2007 when I went on a Sierra Club backpacking trip to Big Bend. Since then I've been back backpacking in Big Bend twice and to Bandelier National Monument, Rawah Wilderness, Maroon Bells and the Wind Rivers. This is a big year for me - retiring, backpacking, David in Berkeley, Leslie & I headed for Southeast Asia in less than 2 weeks.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Grand Canyon
Aya!
Just got a Backcountry Permit from Grand Canyon NP. So far it looks like David, Katy, Patrick and I are the group. We got 5 nights and it looks like this:
Day/night 1. South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel Campground.
2. BA to Clear Creek Trail and go for ~9 miles. It’s a “use area,” so we can camp wherever as long as not too close to the trail or water
3. Clear Creek (probably same campsite) to day hike, probably to the river via Clear Creek through Zoroaster Canyon or to Cheyava Falls
4. Clear Creek to Bright Angel Campground
5. BA to Indian Garden or just on out
6. Indian Garden on out
The first time I thought of doing this was talking with Bruce, a man I met on my 1st Sierra Club trip to Big Bend. He was a right guy and he told me Grand Canyon was the best backpacking trip he’d taken. I started reading a little and so yeah, here we go. It’s a strange concept to hike down then up, instead of the usual up the mountains, then down – although I wonder if there is about the same up and down total in the mountains. I’ll have to work hard at getting into better shape – it’s a sustained hike down, then up and down inside the canyon and, of course, back up and out.
Just got a Backcountry Permit from Grand Canyon NP. So far it looks like David, Katy, Patrick and I are the group. We got 5 nights and it looks like this:
Day/night 1. South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel Campground.
2. BA to Clear Creek Trail and go for ~9 miles. It’s a “use area,” so we can camp wherever as long as not too close to the trail or water
3. Clear Creek (probably same campsite) to day hike, probably to the river via Clear Creek through Zoroaster Canyon or to Cheyava Falls
4. Clear Creek to Bright Angel Campground
5. BA to Indian Garden or just on out
6. Indian Garden on out
The first time I thought of doing this was talking with Bruce, a man I met on my 1st Sierra Club trip to Big Bend. He was a right guy and he told me Grand Canyon was the best backpacking trip he’d taken. I started reading a little and so yeah, here we go. It’s a strange concept to hike down then up, instead of the usual up the mountains, then down – although I wonder if there is about the same up and down total in the mountains. I’ll have to work hard at getting into better shape – it’s a sustained hike down, then up and down inside the canyon and, of course, back up and out.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Woman on a blue stool
Nameste
The last time we were in Burma, this (copied from travel journal) happened.
So we got on the bus and after it filled up the assistant (every bus has one) set out little blue stools (like the ones you can get at the dollar store) down the aisle. The baggage, boxes, etc. w
as piled into the area by the front door of the bus. Away we go - WooHoo! Photo: the "bus station" and the bus to Bago
Music pretty good, and we could hear it all because we were right in front of the speakers - I was about half deef to start - now eh, what did you say? We pass the back of Shwedagon and woman next to me offers prayer. Me too. I'm offering prayers for Burma, for the Burmese people. Pray to God for Burma and these people who suffer so much. The music on the bus is really pretty. It's hot on the bus - well, it's hot everywhere. The sun is on our side of the bus. My heart is aching for this land, these people, this beauty. We pass the British Cemetery - it's big, I offer prayer for the souls of these men who died and were buried so far from home.
I fall into conversation with the woman sitting on the little blue stool next to me. She tells me she is retired, a physician. She and her husband (also a doctor) have a small practice in a village near Bago. I ask her what is the biggest problem they see and she says, "Poverty." Diagnoses-wise, they see the basic primary care things, except more parasites. I ask her how people pay for the care and she smiles softly, "They cannot pay very much." I say, "So you are choosing to do this." And she looks at me directly and says, "Yes."
-----------
And I'm sure we could have visited their clinic there in Bago, surely helped a little. But I was weary as hell, as Bob Dylan sang, and it's been sick and suffering people for a long time and I decided to not say anything - just let it ride. In part, I wish we'd arranged a visit, but even now, as my strength slowly returns, I know I just didn't have it.
The last time we were in Burma, this (copied from travel journal) happened.
So we got on the bus and after it filled up the assistant (every bus has one) set out little blue stools (like the ones you can get at the dollar store) down the aisle. The baggage, boxes, etc. w
as piled into the area by the front door of the bus. Away we go - WooHoo! Photo: the "bus station" and the bus to BagoMusic pretty good, and we could hear it all because we were right in front of the speakers - I was about half deef to start - now eh, what did you say? We pass the back of Shwedagon and woman next to me offers prayer. Me too. I'm offering prayers for Burma, for the Burmese people. Pray to God for Burma and these people who suffer so much. The music on the bus is really pretty. It's hot on the bus - well, it's hot everywhere. The sun is on our side of the bus. My heart is aching for this land, these people, this beauty. We pass the British Cemetery - it's big, I offer prayer for the souls of these men who died and were buried so far from home.
I fall into conversation with the woman sitting on the little blue stool next to me. She tells me she is retired, a physician. She and her husband (also a doctor) have a small practice in a village near Bago. I ask her what is the biggest problem they see and she says, "Poverty." Diagnoses-wise, they see the basic primary care things, except more parasites. I ask her how people pay for the care and she smiles softly, "They cannot pay very much." I say, "So you are choosing to do this." And she looks at me directly and says, "Yes."
-----------
And I'm sure we could have visited their clinic there in Bago, surely helped a little. But I was weary as hell, as Bob Dylan sang, and it's been sick and suffering people for a long time and I decided to not say anything - just let it ride. In part, I wish we'd arranged a visit, but even now, as my strength slowly returns, I know I just didn't have it.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I’ve been in places of transcendental beauty
One
Robert Hunter wrote the words to Ripple and Jerry Garcia sang them. The Grateful Dead played and I guess Jerry is the only public figure whose presence I really do miss. I mean, you know, JFK & MLK & RFK did me in and whether people know it or not their killings did in part of the soul of this nation … soul sickness. I started writing about a song & transcendental beauty and look where I got to. Songs like Ripple, Brokedown Palace, Morning Dew and others were the songs of a new dawn for me and I'm grateful to the Dead and others like the Incredible String Band ("We were trying to do something genuinely wonderful ...") and the Beatles for being responsible to so many people.
There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night.
And if you go, no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone. (from Ripple)
Anyway, along the road (no simple highway), I’ve been in Places of Transcendental Beauty
Robert Hunter wrote the words to Ripple and Jerry Garcia sang them. The Grateful Dead played and I guess Jerry is the only public figure whose presence I really do miss. I mean, you know, JFK & MLK & RFK did me in and whether people know it or not their killings did in part of the soul of this nation … soul sickness. I started writing about a song & transcendental beauty and look where I got to. Songs like Ripple, Brokedown Palace, Morning Dew and others were the songs of a new dawn for me and I'm grateful to the Dead and others like the Incredible String Band ("We were trying to do something genuinely wonderful ...") and the Beatles for being responsible to so many people.
There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night.
And if you go, no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone. (from Ripple)
Anyway, along the road (no simple highway), I’ve been in Places of Transcendental Beauty
- Sitting by the Mekong running deep and strong through the hills of Luang Prabang
- In a mind that sees others, truly, truly
- In my Grandmother’s garden in the golden light of a dreaming vision
- My beautiful wife, ____
- Looking up at the desert sky in the deep night – a million stars shining like the First Night
- Baby David, asleep, safe
- In the kitchen with Jeff on Oram street, the walls yellow, off center, the warmest place in the world, it seemed
- Waking up in a redwood forest looking up at the ancient trees and a bluebird flashing across the vision
- My generation, from Vietnam to dancing free in forests and meadows
- Visions: God; we really are all One
- Leaving Vietnam in 1967 and returning in 2005
- Walking with David behind deserted temples in Angkor
- Seeing the strength of Cambodian refugees back in the bad old days of 1981-86
- Countless 1000s of babies; old people writing new love and strength stories; I mean I get off sitting in North Park and watching it all flow past
- Shwedagon; Burma (the people)
- The Wind River Mountains
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Pad Thai - a recipe for you, David
Aya!
David asked for a pad Thai recipe - like what they serve for 20 baht at a little stand near the Tha Phae Gate in Chiang Mai (photo below). To-go orders are wrapped in banana leaf and newspaper. Here is a recipe for a classic lunch dish in Thailand.
For about two servings of pad Thai
· Fresh rice noodles or ¼” rice noodles soaked warm water 15 m
inutes
· 2-4 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped some
· ½ cup firm tofu cut in little strips
· 2 beaten eggs
· 2 or more T peanut oil (more oil improves taste)
· 1-2 handful bean sprouts, maybe also some finely shredded cabbage
· ½ cup water
· Green onions (3-4) cut into 1” pieces
· T fish sauce
· 2 T sugar (palm trad)
· 2 T tamarind juice or rice vinegar (tamarind better, I think)
· Some soy sauce – ideally ½ & ½ regular and sweet Indonesian
· In Thailand they often add a little or a lot little dried shrimp – I prefer fresh shrimp (6-8 ounces or more). You can also cook with pork or chicken.
· On the side: lime wedges,* sliced cucumber and shallot in cold water and vinegar with some sugar, chili powder,* crushed roasted peanut* (don’t be afraid to use more than restaurants), black pepper and lime Cambodian style, mint, basil, little "rat shit" chilis sliced in fish sauce with lime juice & maybe a little sugar,* & anything else you can think of.
* = essential
Set up all the ingredients in bowls in the order they’ll be added.
Heat oil – hot, but not smoking. Wok is best (more hot surface), but anything okay.
· Add tofu, shrimp (shrimp is done when it turns pink)
· Add noodles, then water
· Cook until noodles soft (just a minute or so)
· Add nam pla, tamarind or vinegar, sugar, soy & cook stirring for a minute or so
· Push everything to the side of the wok, add a little more oil and soft-scramble the egg & onion together and flop the other stuff on top of the egg & onion, mix it around some and serve with peanuts over (and on the side) and bean sprouts (just a few sprouts for me, thanks) and cabbage if you have it.
As you can see, it's a little complicated if you cook it once or twice, but much less so if you make it more frequently.
David asked for a pad Thai recipe - like what they serve for 20 baht at a little stand near the Tha Phae Gate in Chiang Mai (photo below). To-go orders are wrapped in banana leaf and newspaper. Here is a recipe for a classic lunch dish in Thailand.
For about two servings of pad Thai
· Fresh rice noodles or ¼” rice noodles soaked warm water 15 m
inutes· 2-4 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped some
· ½ cup firm tofu cut in little strips
· 2 beaten eggs
· 2 or more T peanut oil (more oil improves taste)
· 1-2 handful bean sprouts, maybe also some finely shredded cabbage
· ½ cup water
· Green onions (3-4) cut into 1” pieces
· T fish sauce
· 2 T sugar (palm trad)
· 2 T tamarind juice or rice vinegar (tamarind better, I think)
· Some soy sauce – ideally ½ & ½ regular and sweet Indonesian
· In Thailand they often add a little or a lot little dried shrimp – I prefer fresh shrimp (6-8 ounces or more). You can also cook with pork or chicken.
· On the side: lime wedges,* sliced cucumber and shallot in cold water and vinegar with some sugar, chili powder,* crushed roasted peanut* (don’t be afraid to use more than restaurants), black pepper and lime Cambodian style, mint, basil, little "rat shit" chilis sliced in fish sauce with lime juice & maybe a little sugar,* & anything else you can think of.
* = essential
Set up all the ingredients in bowls in the order they’ll be added.
Heat oil – hot, but not smoking. Wok is best (more hot surface), but anything okay.
· Add tofu, shrimp (shrimp is done when it turns pink)
· Add noodles, then water
· Cook until noodles soft (just a minute or so)
· Add nam pla, tamarind or vinegar, sugar, soy & cook stirring for a minute or so
· Push everything to the side of the wok, add a little more oil and soft-scramble the egg & onion together and flop the other stuff on top of the egg & onion, mix it around some and serve with peanuts over (and on the side) and bean sprouts (just a few sprouts for me, thanks) and cabbage if you have it.
As you can see, it's a little complicated if you cook it once or twice, but much less so if you make it more frequently.
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