Australia on my mind

I've been listening to this remarkable audiobook - a historical novel set in the early period of colonization in Australia....The Secret River. Highly recommend it. The themes it explores dovetail nicely with my earlier post about Maureen Dowd's piece on blue-eyed greed.

Then today I got an email from girlfriend Elizabeth, who is in Australia right now have the time of her life (judging by the fantastic photos). Cindy went last year for World Youth Day....The best people go to Australia.

New gardening resource

As a relatively new gardener I am always on the look-out for good resources on gardening - blogs, web sites, books, people, classes. You name it, and I'm seeking it out like a heat-seeking missile. Ok, that is perhaps not the best analogy for a pacifist.

Anyway, I just came up the Christian Science Monitor's gardening blog, and it looks like a keeper.

http://features.csmonitor.com/gardening/

Pozole part II

Here are some photos of the yummy reddish pozole. I would recommend cooking it for 6-10 hours on slow, rather than 4 hours on high. Pozole or hominy takes a long time to get soft and fully-cooked. The organic avocado rocked. I think the toppings for pozole really make it fun. Besides ripe avocado we had onions and chopped jalapenos.

Blue eyes

I'm always interested in reading about race and class...two issues that were pretty formative in my life.

Here is an op/ed that upon a third and fourth reading, I'm wondering where exactly Maureen Dowd is going with her observations. Does she really think Lula is crazy or ranting for making a valid observation - that those who run are economic system (and thus have run it into the very ground) come from a very specific racial group (whether they have blue eyes or not)? The greed inherent in capitalism comes from Europe (go back and check out Viggo reading de las Casas to see how old this goes back) and has been exported globally since the Portugues and Italian explorers started heading out in their boats, followed by assorted company men, armies, priests, and the millions of huddled masses who were economic refugees from the ravages of capitalism in the Mother land.

I think her turn to reflecting on her own brown eyes deflects from the very real grievances that the majority of the planet (people of color who primarily have brown eyes) who are suffering from the pillaging of the bankers.

Here is also another dimension that is operating, and that she does touch on -- that there is a class element operating. There are brown-eyed and blue-eyed people who have been crushed by this economic system.

If we think it's rough here with our recession, it is infinitely worse when there is no social net to catch you and where under/unemployement and lack of capital already were the norm long before the global crisis hit their shores.

Sorry Maureen, like a lot of Americans you are exhibiting a distinct lack of global awareness and too much self-absorption (get over your own self-esteem issues growing up with blue-eyed siblings). There are people going hungry. Children who will not grow to be adults....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/opinion/29dowd.html

Pozole

The pozole was a big hit! I made a small batch - enough for 2 hungry adults. Partly because I wasn't sure how it would turn out....It was a white pozole - only in that it didn't have any green or red chile sauce (which then makes it green or red pozole, get it?). However the pozole was made from blue corn, so it was not really white. Confusing, huh. Whatever color, we both enjoyed it with the traditional toppings of onions, oregano, chile.....

Right now I'm making another large batch in the crock pot, after searching the Internet and finding that you can make it in a crock pot. Making my first small batch was a lesson in never leaving the stove, because pozole absorbs a lot of water. I kinda burnt the bottom of the pan a bit. Skip that, I want to be able to blog and cook at the same time.

The recipe as follows. A lot of this is according to your tastes and judgement. Like a lot of salt, add more. Like garlic or not -- adjust accordingly. Depending on where you live, you will probably need to visit a Latin grocery store to get your dried chiles, pozole and oregano. I also think it is so worth using real chicken broth.

1 whole skinned organic chicken cut up in pieces
ground cumin and black pepper
Mexican oregano
Salt
1 chopped white or yellow onion
3-4 cloves of garlic chopped
5 guajillo chiles (deveined, toasted, rehydrated and liquified)
chicken broth (mine is homemade, makes a big difference)
2 cups of dried pozole (soaked overnight)

Throw all these ingredients into a crock pot and see what you get! Pictures to come later today.

In the garden

So I totally forgot to mention that I've planted a bunch of seeds - lettuce and chard and brocolli rapini (one of my vegetable "discoveries" last year). These seeds are in the bed with the garlic, where the 2 chile plants were last year. Kale from last year's garden is coming back after the brutal winter, and I think I can harvest some leaves in a week's time.

Awesome.

I adore kale.

Rainy Saturday

Today is the kind of a day that gives Portland a bad rap. Cold rain...all day. Grey skies. However it does make you appreciate the sunshine way more.

We went out for an early breakfast at LRBC....I had the huevos divorciados, and Fede the Rudy Fernandez egg sandwish. Background note: Rudy is a Blazer basketball player, and Fede loves basketball, so do the chefs at LRBC (see their blog on the right-hand sidebar. Both most excelente, especially the black beans. We went by to visit his sister Fabiola and her new baby - Kevin. Totally adorable and tiny. I got to feed him part of a bottle. I've decided this is my week for psychological tormet. Oh well. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm not going to avoid infants....that seems....counterproductive.

I'm working in the kitchen on my first ever pozole recipe - chicken with blue pozole that I got from Native Seeds Search in AZ. It smells fantastic; let's just hope it tastes good!

Cool kids and libraries

Thanks to Ana for sending me this great photo....
validates my career choice for sure.

:)

More song and dance

So I'm a big Bollywood fan, and I'm watching this good movie right now....Saawariya, which adapts a Dostoevsky story into a modern Indian love story.

This is one of my favorite song and dance numbers for lots of reasons. It's got a lovely melody, of course. I like is that it features a bunch of men. Muslim men celebrating Eid en masse no less. For something completely different from a bevy of women dancing. Men dancing Rockette style in one part of the choreography. Totally messes with all our stereotypes of scary Muslim men (although I'm not sure that the filmakers had that intention). There are comic touches too, exquisite costumes and set design that is dreamy.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Gyoega_84

Farmers Market in our barrio

It's official. Concordia is getting its own farmers market, starting May 3rd. It's only blocks from church....how cool and easy is that??? I love going to the Portland Farmer's Market, but it is too packed, too far away and to much of a hassle to find parking.

I'm so so excited!!

More details at the link below.

http://concordiapdx.org/2009/03/25/grand-opening-of-kings-farmers-market-sunday-may-3rd/

Spiritual bathing

While I was still bedridden and unable to take a bath I was reading and blogging about a beautiful book by Rosita Arvigo called Spiritual Bathing, which highlights the varied religious practices centered around bathing rituals, weaving in specific recipes for baths using flowers and botanicals. It made me long to be gardening and bathing in equal measure. To read that post, click here: http://iwalkinbeauty.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-im-reading.html

In Oaxacan a bathing ritual I experienced was when Elvia heated up bath water in a bucket and threw in leaves from a lemon tree to scent and soften the water. I was treated to that several times during my visit, and it made for some fragrant water....a luxurious touch to an otherwise very non-luxurious bath experience.

Since my parent's backyard is full of blooming citrus my dad and I cut some leaves for me to bring back to Portland for a lemony Oaxacan bath.

Last night I came home zonked and made myself some homemade bath salts (a mix of epsom salts, sea salt, and baking soda with lavender and rose essential oils) and threw in those lemon leaves. It was DIVINE.

What I'm reading

I'm still working on that daily laugh habit, and my current audio-book is titled: Democracy: a citizen's guide to inaction by Jon Stewart. What do I love about it? He narrates himself, with hilarious appearances by Stephen Colbert, God, Thomas Jefferson and a very earnest Canadian. He blends harshly accurate analysis blended in with a biting humor. Brillant "discussion" questions at the end of each chapter. I can listen to it while I drive.

I don't have cable, so I miss out on some of the pop culture icons, like Jon Stewart. I've never watched his show, only seen clips. Lucky for me I can check this stuff out for free and skip the cable fees.

Vespers etc.

Yesterday Federico and I went to vespers, which is this oasis of quiet in the middle of a typical hectic workday. One thing that was tough and unexpected was that parents with infants ready for Easter baptism were there, as they had a class afterwards. One couple are church friends from the English-speaking Mass, and I hadn't even known they had a baby. Shows you how I stayed away after the miscarriage, and then my surgery....months go by. A baby is born.

Anyway, watching these babies and parents was painful. I kept thinking that our baby would be about their age. It took my not insignificant strength to withhold tears, smile, and warmly greet my friends and their daughter. It helped that the songs and scripture gave me some consolation. Sometimes I surprise myself with my ability to go beyond my own feelings or pain. I don't have any clue exactly how, but I do it. There are lots of people who do this. Armies of people. Quietly and without notice. Either that or you run around screaming or crying, I suppose. There are armies of those too.

We sat and ate soup together, chatting and enjoying the meal. I liked watching how happy Jorge was with his little baby, one of those happy creatures who smiles at everyone in this bright alert way.

Later on Kelli helped me with my new knitting project, teaching me a new way to cast on. I got the hang of it, finally. She learned the stitch on a train in Ireland. Federico was playing loteria with some folks and having a good time at the next table.

Our lawn

I just was reading Garden rant's post on Michael Pollan and the American lawn. It is well worth a read.

Gosh, did you know that Americans pour more chemicals on their lawn than our industrial farms? Yikes.

We ripped out lawn a couple of years ago and now have only a little organic piece. It is now all beds for veggies and flowers, with some bushes thrown in for good measure. As a new homeowner I couldn't bear the thought of investing my time or energy in mowing and watering all that turf. Way too much work. If I was going to work and water, why not get something tangible for my effort? So far, I'm the only person on our block who's got a veg garden in their front yard. At first, it felt a bit...adventurous or daring. I got over the yard looking different gradually. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Organic tomatos and corn. Robins munching on happy worms. Lots of bees and butterflies. I think that is beautiful.

He writes that "the lawn is a symbol of everything that's wrong with our relationship to the land. Lawns require pampering because we ask them to thrive where they do not belong." Ana and I were just commenting on the craziness of the immaculate green lawns in Tucson. Total insanity to see them getting all that water in the middle of a hot spring day. That should be illegal, in my opinion.

This year I've interplanted more edibles among some of the flower beds. Argula and strawberries are growing amid roses and bulbs. I'm going to borrow the White House garden idea to edge my veggie beds with zinnias and nasturiums. Last year I've edged them with Italian parsley, but I really like the zinnias -- tall and pretty.

Family

Returning to Portland has been great and hard. I do feel like I'm home and happy to be here....yet, there is a big part of my heart in Arizona.

My parents, sister and her family are there, and as I get older, I start to realize that having them in my life isn't something to take lightly. Sicknesses, accidents, twists of fate and luck that we have no control over can erode our sense of control and longevity in a blink. 2008 certainly drove that lesson home, over and over.

It's hard to watch my parents get older, and this past year has been a rough one. A car accident, lung disease....it all is taking its toll. My little sister handles this with so much grace and love, as always she's inspiring me (and humbling me) by her example.

Today the reading at Mass talked about Christ rubbing mud with his spit to make the blind man see. I thought how much I'd like to get some of that mud to cure my Dad's lungs. That if I had enough faith, would that make a difference? But I know there are people with enormous faith, and they remain uncured. I don't think God doles out miracles based on the depth of our faith.

Nuestras raices

My last few hours in Tucson were spent with my familia downtown enjoying the 6th annual Nuestras raices festival at the downtown library. Library junkies. That would be us.

It was a sweet festival....ballet folklorico with local kids in awesome costumes. A bilingual storyteller. Booths with local crafts and food.

We had to miss the kids mariachi group, because my flight was leaving too close to call.

Dad got me some of the most beautiful Mexican paper flowers I've ever seen. Gracias papi. They are going on the altar.

I had a chance to get a great tip for helping Gladys with her reading. Tumblebooks e-books. The librarian was extremely helpful. Eager even. We got home, and she loved it. Thanks Mom!

I'm home in Portland; we head straight to Yam Yams for the best BBQ in Portland. Debbie came along too, as she's always wanted to experience Yam Yams. She ordered fried catfish and sweet potato pie, both rocked our world.

I miss my family, but I'm happy to be home.

White House garden

Well, I'm a not so secret fan of Michelle Obama. I think she's an inspiration in so many ways...don't get me started.

One of the cool things is that she's a big advocate for families eating local, organic and healthy....one of my personal goals for a few years now.

I just read on the NYT online that the Obamas will be starting their own garden on the White House grounds, with some help from local school kids from Mt. Pleasant.

I love this for so many reasons. Great role model and a chance to bring even more regular folks into the White House....

I love the idea of city kids getting to experience gardening at the White House. How totally fantastic for them.

Not sure how this will go down for Gladys, who is a big Obama fan because we are....

Wrapping up my visit home

Yesterday was a lovely mellow day, starting at the Ventana Canyon Lakeside Spa. I got the blue corn body treatment, which was really yummy. My whole body was as smooth and silky as a baby's, at least until Ana and I went swimming that evening. Mom got a mani/pedi, and Ana got a massage (their early Mother's Day gifts!). We definitely want to go back again....great service, and you have the run of the fitness center and pool as spa visitors. Nice.

Today Ana and I hiked up Sabino Canyon (about 2.5 miles RT), and my foot pretty much hurt the whole time. It was a pretty fair incline, but still, I didn't like the pain one bit. Sabino is one of my favorite places, and it never disappoints. We saw a deer and lots of birds.

Later on we went for a swim at the Y (in the 75 degree sunshine), and then picked up Mom and Dad for a fantastic lunch at Cafe Poca Cosa, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. Their menu changes daily on their chalkboard (photo above), and Ana got the best dish by far - the vegetarian pastel de elote with a creamy carrot sauce with curry. Wow. (see the photo) We shared some amazing Mexican chocolate mousse desserts....another wow. My pastel de pollo was ok, but nothing to write home about. A rarity. Dad got a fish machaca that we enjoyed, and Mom got a fideo soup that she loved. At least I burned some serious calories earlier in the day!

We then headed to the Fourth Avenue Street Fair, which I've not been to in YEARS. It was nice to see all the bustling vendors. I got some cute Day of the Dead earrings and a few gifts.

We wrapped it up by stopping by the Gardens of Gesethame, a sculpture park near the freeway. It is a fitting place to visit during Lent....see the photo for the life size Last Supper.

Relearning history

It took me until my 20s until my eyes became slowly opened to different stories and versions of the histories I had been taught and what I saw played out in popular culture. It was like being blind and then seeing the harshest and brightest sunlight.

I "discovered" Bartolome de las Casas in that time, and I still cannot read or hear these accounts without filling a mixture of great sadness and anger, mixed together. After all I am the mixture of Spanish, Indian and African blood. It is easy to demonize people, unless you carry their blood. Then it gets more complicated. More tragic.

Here is the amazing Viggo reading in Spanish and English from Howard Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States. I find the laughter and applause of the audience bizzare and inappropriate, but it is otherwise powerful and well-done.

My father's story

My mom was actually the one who bought that book, which my Dad was unaware of, until I excitedly grabbed him and told him to read the paragraph about the mining accident.

Although my father was barely 4 years old when it happened, it left a terrible mark on his family of 11 siblings. Imagine a peasant (jibaro in Puerto Rican Spanish) family living in the depths of the Great Depression with 11 children. There are days of hunger. A father who works in the mine to feed his family and tragically dies.

The aftermath of mining accidents are the people left behind.

Hearing my dad tell me his memories on video is painful for him, and painful for me.

Video coming

I'm going to post a video of my dad telling us what he remembers of that fateful day when the mine caved in on his father, hopefully later today.

Aguada

Last night I was hunting around for something interesting to read and came upon this book: "Aguada: Panorama Historico Diccionario Biografio" by Ruben Arcelay Medina. This translates to: "Aguada: Panorama of History and Biografical Dictionary." My father was born in the town of Aguada, a rural area on the opposite side of Puerto Rico from the capital city of San Juan. He must have gotten this book on his last trip home, as I've never seen this book before.

This the first book I've ever seen about that small town, and what an incredible treasure. The writer is a social worker, organizer, trade unionist who writes about the "unwritten" history and people of the island. Arcelay has a definite Howard Zinn analysis of how things went down. Given that my people are from peasant (and slave) stock, I'm empowered to read their story (and not just that of the landowners and Spaniards).

Here are some facts about Aguada's history that left me thinking well after I had closed the book to sleep:

In 1511 there was rebellion of Taino Indians against their enslavers in Aguada. While the initial revolt was successful, Ponce de Leon came in with troops to quell it. The Tainos who remained were branded with hot irons, enslaved or murdered. The survivors fled to the mountains.

The same year African slaves were brought to the island and disembarked in Aguada, as the Tainos were being decimated by overwork and disease. These African workers came from the areas that are now Mali and Angola. I can't tell you the pleasure to know where some of my ancestors came from....The Aguada area was a big sugar plantation area, so many of these Africans remained to work the sugar cane fields for generations to come.

Finally I actually found a mention of my grandfather's death in the mining accident I've heard about my whole life in this book! In 1935 there was exploration of a manganese mine on the farm of Anselmo Villarrubio. The mine was closed after the accident that killed Walter Delrio (a USer) and 3 Aguadan men, my grandfather Hermenegildo Rivera Perez, Castulio Rivera, and Juan Mendoza. The author interviewed my uncle Mon for this entry.

I realize that it might seem strange to take pleasure in reading what is essentially the brutal legacy of colonization, even including the mining accident that claimed my grandfather, just as the Spanish gold mines claimed my Taino ancestors.

However I know that knowledge is power, and to know that my ancestors resisted oppression bravely(Tainos were famed for being extremely pacific and welcoming people), to know where my African ancestors come from (thus regaining knowledge of their culture and languages), and the accident that shaped my father's life is recorded for others to know about. It somehow validates what has happened in a small corner of the world where my father's family comes from.

Small corners of the planet matter as much as the great cities. The brave people who resisted colonization, the miners who died trying to feed their families....they merit their moment in our histories.

Thank you Ruben Arcelay Medina.

In sickness and health

That saying goes for married couples, but what about the children? I say this because I've watched my dad suffer illnesses his whole life. As a 2 year old I walked alongside him as he recovered from back surgery, and as a kid I saw him limp and ache with pain.

Now he has an incurable lung condition that is impacting his quality of life. Never seen him so tired or without much desire to eat.

It makes me so sad that he's had to suffer illness his whole life. I've heard stories that as a child he was sickly, and that my grandmother nursed him back from death through her sure will or skill (they were too poor to afford doctors or medicines). His twin sister was not so strong or lucky.

I pray almost daily for my parents' health and long life, but I'm not so sure that the miracle of good health is going to visit my father in this life.

I wish it were so.

Wanna laugh?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

John McCain's Air Quotes

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Mellow Monday

Another gorgeous sunny day in the desert. It is so lovely to be warm right to your bones.

Today Nanci, Ana and I went swimming at the Y, and I got a tan after a mere 40 minutes outside!

We went home to get the parents and headed to South Tucson for some Sonoran Mexican food at the Crossroads Restaurant, our first visit. Nanci and I split an order of shrimp-filled chile rellenos (yum!), and my Dad ordered some Sonoran shrimp tacos....Ana ordered shrimp in a garlic sauce, and it came with rice and french fries (!).

We then headed to funky 4th Avenue for some shopping. I treated everyone to raspados (Mexican-style snowcones or shaved ice)....mango, coconut, strawberry....good stuff.

We stopped in one of my favorite Tucson places - Native Seeds. They sell heirloom seeds, as well as crafts and food products connected to the region. I think that anyone who comes to Tucson should come here....our plants and food traditions are truly unique. I got some gifts for friends back in Oregon...

To learn more, here is their web site:

http://www.nativeseeds.org/

I love Tucson

It is wonderful to be home for so many reasons....

to see my adorable parents, my sisters, my cute nephews

to be in the warm desert sunshine

to be surrounded by the rich borderland culture of Southern AZ

Today we went down to the UofA for the first ever Tucson Festival of Books. Totally free, hundreds of authors, children's activities..fantastic. This is nirvana for a librarian.

Mom and I discovered a local author during a reading. Alberto Alvaro Rios grew up in Nogales and was reading from his memoir, which was chosen for the Arizona One Book project this year. Capirotada (Mexican bread pudding) is a series of stories of his life growing up on the border, and he is a gifted storyteller and engaging presenter - funny, sharp....LOVED him.

Here is a poem that he read:

Border Lines

A weight carried by two
Weighs only half as much.


The world on a map looks like the drawing of a cow
In a butcher's shop, all those lines showing
Where to cut.

That drawing of the cow is also a jigsaw puzzle,
Showing just as much how very well
All the strange parts fit together.

Which way we look at the drawing
Makes all the difference.
We seem to live in a world of maps:

But in truth we live in a world made
Not of paper and ink but of people.
Those lines are our lives. Together,

Let us turn the map until we see clearly:
The border is what joins us,
Not what separates us.


©2003 by Alberto Ríos

Axis of Evil comedy

I'm continue to go after as much daily laughter as possible. Listening to funny audio-books in the car, watching comedy DVDs.....a laugh a day keeps the doctor away.

I just finished watching a hilarious DVD - the Axis of Evil comedy tour. Besides being funny, you get to see people of color find ways to get you laughing about things that don't necessarily seem funny. Poking fun at racial profiling, nuclear weapons, etc....

Enjoy

Health report

Yesterday was another exciting trip to the surgeon's office. He bent the hell out of my toe. He was shaking, he was pushing it that hard, but it wasn't as bad as last time. I didn't beg him to stop, cry or find it quite so bad. He was pleased with the ROM and told me to keep it up. He said Federico would do a better job, as there is something about the angle and fact that one tends not to push one's own toe until you cry. I don't have to go back. Just call in 3 weeks to check in. I take that as a sign of progress.

I am headed to AZ on Saturday and so excited!!!

Right now I'm feeling rather tired. I don't know if I'll be blogging until I get to AZ.

Stay tuned.

Lent and the Lutherans

Last night I participated in Redeemer Lutheran's Wednesday evening story and prayer, which they hold during Lent. It takes place at their storefront on Alberta, called Enterbeing (I know that sounds New Agey), a space that tries to connect with the secular neighborhood through holding events rooted in developing community through people telling their stories.

The man who told his story is a pastor and organizer who "started his life during the last great economic crisis and is living to see another." His family was blown apart by Great Depression, and he told of their suffering plainly. One grandfather died of an untreated tooth infection (no money for medical care); another committed suicide when his farm went under. One of his life's questions has been why does our economic system allow for families to be treated like this?

A powerful question right now.

SPIN gardening class

We just got back from a 3 hour class on SPIN gardening sponsored by the City of Portland. While it was geared towards gardeners thinking about farming their urban plots for CSAs, we definitely learned some things. What I came away with were some very practical and basic tips about setting up beds, getting free fertilizer, etc.

Here are some gems:

Plant a bed as wide your legs can comfortably go wide....so you can straddle the bed to weed and harvest. Sort of basic, but if you've never done this, good advice.

Go to the local cafe and ask for free coffee grounds to fertilize.

The technique they use for intensive gardening is to focus on crops that they can harvest and then plant another different crop afterwards. Fast turnaround, as they say in retail.

The downside is that these guys don't really have much depth of experience in farming (which is inspiring for novices), so they didn't have much to say about crop rotation or whether their techniques might bring on pests or soil depletion after a longer period of time. This will be their 2nd year as a CSA.

As they talked about their pricey tools that make their operation efficient, I kept thinking of rural Mexican farmers and how everything is done by hand. Everything.

What I'm listening to

Thanks to the library's blog I'm discovering new things to read and listen to....

My latest discovery is the group Ratatat, electronica is the genre. Not my usual stuff...which I think is a good thing.

It has a nice ambient soundtrack feel, which I like. It's danceable while I'm cooking....This is my favorite song on the album.

Answering a question

Gladys has been studying orcas in school and came home with a lot of questions. Good librarian that I am, we logged into the World Book Kids online encylopedia and learned interesting things about orcas. She was particularly wanting to know what they eat. We got those answers nicely, but she wanted to know exactly how.

So I thought, let's go onto Youtube and see what we can find.

Lordy, how far school report research has come in the age of the Internet!

We got to witness orcas hunting baby seals with a National Geographic clip. No more musty dry books for us.

On the one hand, there is nothing like actually getting to see the answer to your question. No encylopedia entry can quite capture raw footage. On the other hand, I kept thinking, is this doing some damage to her sensitive 9 year old spirit? Then I counterargued that this is the planet Earth and how animals live and die, everyday. We do much worse things by chomping down on murdered cows and chickens, filled with antibiotics due to inhumane conditions.

Anway, we were both fascinated and horrified by the whole spectacle.

Monday monday

This whole blog thing is a fascinating project. Always interesting to see what I put in and what I leave out.

One thing I left out is that I overdid it on Friday, so by the afternoon my foot (right one that has 2 healing fractures) was hurting in new ways. Maybe it was the overintense stair machine workout? That is going to be my bet. So I spent the rest of that day and the weekend backing off. I forget that I have healing fractures much of the time, and in my zealous way am bent on increasing my aerobic and fat-burning time on cardio machines, like in the pre-surgery days.

I need to rethink that strategy. So my foot is telling me, should I chose to listen.

So I did yoga on Saturday and that was pretty much it. The pain has much subsided.

Today Fede and I went for an hour long walk to Alberta Street and back home. I started out with some pain, which faded (endorphins, who knows?) early in the walk. We enjoyed the morning snow (which gratefully didn't stick). I remembered that just a couple of months ago I was confined to my bed, watching snow come down, unable to walk. The gratitude I feel is so great.

Weekend highlights

Ok, so once again I didn't document the meal with photos. Sorry. Trust that it was good, and fairly pretty. Gladys adores my empanadas, so it does an ego good to cook for someone who is so appreciative. Her dad is also incredible with the compliments...but he is like that about everything he likes. A good quality in a person.

Other fun stuff we did this weekend include:

Gladys took my yoga class, and it was fun to share that with her. She was really into it and did a whole hour yoga class. Said it was both relaxing and hard. Ain't that the truth.

We played ninja warriors in the yard with old sunflower stalks (which were about 6 feet tall and make an excellent biodigradable toy, fyi). She loved beating me with her awesome strength. Once we mashed them to bits we composted them.

We then worked in the garden together. Planted chamomile and radish seeds, hostas, and weeded. She was really helpful -- learning how to slug bait. Gladys is no longer afraid of worms, in fact now when she sees one she picks it up and moves it (when we are digging around or weeding). When I first started composting she'd freak with all the worms, revolted. Now she understands they are a blessing to the garden.

I enjoyed a quick stop at Pistil's Nursery today. Got some argula seedlings and planted those in a bed.

Can you tell I have a major case of spring fever?!?

Dinner tonight

I've been cooking up a storm since yesterday for a dinner party tonight. We're having some of Federico's friends over (finally!). While this meal isn't totally anti-inflammatory, I'm trying to have more vegetables woven into dishes, less fat, and minimal gluten.

Here is the menu:

Baked chicken empanadas with homemade salsa - filling includes roasted poblano chiles, potatos, carrots, and chicken

Red chicken enchiladas - totally from scratch! The red sauce has roasted ancho and guajillo chiles. The filling has poached chicken, roasted zucchini, and red-skinned potatos.

Black beans - a Veracruzan recipe from Zarela Martinez with organic butter and onions

Agua fresca de jamaica sweetened with agave - my special secret recipe with an array of spices

Dessert - Hagen Daz mango sorbet (not homemade!) and an agave vegan ice cream for me and Seraphin's wife, who is diabetic.

Photos will come later...

What I'm watching

I'm watching a poignant Swiss film "Vitus" right now. It is a gem of a movie about a child prodigy who struggles with the oppressive way his parents and the school system view his gifts (which seem more like curse in some ways). The saving relationship is his grandfather, a dear working-class grandpa who nutures his grandson's heart and soul.

A big thumbs up.

Divorced

I just found out today via a letter from the Court that reads:

"A General Judgement was entered in the register of the court in the above-noted case on March 2, 2009."

Legalese for "you and your husband are officially divorced."

Last night I had a very strange dream about Roberto. I turned on the TV, and there was some dreadful McLaughlin-like show, but with an audience (think Jerry Springer, but only White people). The topic is immigration, and Roberto comes out in this bizarre long leather jacket that kinda looks like it has wings. He parades around, and the crowd is booing. I'm cringing in front of the TV wondering why he is there and wanting him to get off the stage. I have no idea what it means.

I can't quite believe after all we've been through that it is really truly over, when it feels like it never truly was.

I waver between sadness, grief, anger, and being way past it all.

SIlly joke

I read this joke; it made me laugh....so I thought it was worth sharing. Hope it makes you smile......

Three women -- one engaged, one married and one a mistress --- are chatting about their relationships and decided to amaze their men. All three buy black leather bras " stiletto heels, and masks for their eyes.
After a few days, they meet over lunch to compare notes.

The engaged women says:

The other night when my boyfriend came over, he found me in the black leather bodice, tall stilettos, and a mask. He said, "you are the woman of my life. I love you". Then we made love all night long.

The mistress says:

I met my lover at his office and I was wearing the leather bodice, heels, mask over my eyes and a raincoat. When I opened the raincoat, he didn't say a word -- but we had wild sex all night.

The married woman says:

I sent the kids to my mother's house all excited about having alone time with my husband. Had the lights dim, candles going, I was wearing the leather bodice, black stockings, stilettos heels and a mask over my eyes. As soon as he came to the door and saw me and said,
"What's for dinner, BATMAN?"

Faith based

I got to church for the weekly Lenten vespers and soup. The time to be quiet, be with God, with friends...to feel warmly welcomed...surrounded by my community, by beautiful stained glass, candles and incense. Some hymns and readings speak so directly to me.

It is a sanctuary that I need.

Afterwards it was good to connect with folks, share a simple meal of potluck soup....these evenings are my highlight of Lent.

Woman in the kitchen

So I went to the gym yesterday and had a great pain-free workout! 50 minutes on the elliptical...at a level 10 intensity, with no pain of any kind. No twinges. Nada. I did my PT and got on home....chuckling to David Sedaris' weirdness in the car. I bounded up the stairs this evening. My body feels normal.

At home I threw myself into cooking. First a cream of broccoli soup with no cream...potatoes, some roasted turkey bones (from the freezer), and roasted broccoli. No fat, no dairy. Quite good. My taste tester is Federico, who votes this a winner. I then made a mango-meyer lemon agua fresca with agave syrup instead of sugar. I love it. My final touch is the roasted Oaxacan hot sauce with onions, roasted dried chiles, a roasted clove of garlic, salt, and a roasted tomato....all blended into a fiery salsa.

Autentica

So I had my camera ready to take pictures of our meal and Federico, but then we got carried away with talking and eating, and oops, the meal was over before I realized I meant to document it.

So you are just going to have to imagine it.

We started with shrimp ceviche and hot off the comal blue corn tortillas. Then I ordered an habas soup, and he ordered their fabulous mole. Both were fantastic, but their mole is beyond. I've eaten mole in the heart of mole land (Oaxaca), and this is one of the best I've eaten. Fede says that Oswaldo's mother makes it. It has that abuelita touch.

We wisely restrained ourselves from dessert, because the last time we came we did appetizers, 2 entrees, and dessert...and had stomach aches to go with it all.

The only other dish that rivals their mole is their pozole, which is also beyond. Get yourself to Autentica on Thursdays to taste that glorious soup.

Then I've spent the last hour bending my toe a zillion times, moxa, stretching my calves, and trying one of the yoga poses that makes my hips zing.

It's raining and dark outside, and suddenly I have this urge to experience intense sunshine and heat. This might be the Autentica effect. We might not have this climate until August.

Argh.

Sunday update

For those who want to know more about my foot, read on. For those who don't, skip this paragraph and go to the next one. My left foot had had plantar fascia for roughly 6 months. I got it when I moved from walking to running too quickly. It hurts in the morning, but honestly with the right foot the focus of so much energy and attention, I sort of neglected the left one. However when you are hobbling on 2 feet, you sort of go -- bummer. Time to do something. I've been icing the foot, and that has helped. What will help even more is stretching out my calves, which are ridiculously tight due to years of running, walking, weight training, and precious little stretching. That is where the weekly yoga and PT is helping me.

Blog music update: I've picked out songs that my Dad likes for this current playlist. I've tried to get a wider selection, but this web service is limited. They don't have "Viejo San Juan" or much Trio los Panchos for Goodness Sake!

Today's Federico's birthday, and we are going to Autentica tonight to celebrate with a special meal. I'll blog on that later on.