comments, complaints, quandries, curses
Does Sister Sue get her stockings free via shoplifting or sleeping with shopkeepers?
Does the sheriff really not know to look behind a hill when searching for illegal stills?
Why does anyone EVER invest in show business? Seems awful risky.
Where did Frank learn to crack safes so well? And knit a sweater?
Last night as part of my mission to Start Getting Out More and its sister effort to Do Stuff Other Than Work And Parent, I went to the Ledding Cultural Forum at the Ledding Library of Milwaukie to see Carson Ellis speak about her life as an illustrator and especially her most recently published book, Home. The reading/talk was at 7pm in the Ledding Library Pond House, a lovely little building across the duck pond from the modernist library building itself. I should mention that I have a particular affinity for the Ledding Library, as it was my childhood library. I read my way through the entire folklore shelf in their excellent children’s library before we moved away from Milwaukie when I was 9. I have what are for me unusually vivid, visceral, happy childhood memories of visiting this library, and my passionate love for libraries took root at the Ledding. So I love this library really a lot. Really.
Carson Ellis has a charming presence, seems quite comfortable speaking in public, and kept reminding me of Joni Mitchell in her striking and unconventional loveliness. She spoke about her childhood, her education as an artist, and how becoming the illustrator for The Decemberists (she’s married to Colin Meloy) helped her develop her technique. She’s a noted illustrator for children’s books, like The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket, and Dillweed’s Revenge by Florence Parry Heide. She and Colin are renowned for their Wildwood series, for which she produced over 250 illustrations. I enjoyed her talk, and I was too shy to snap any photos until she was surrounded by people getting their books signed. I was also too shy to get my book signed. But I had a lovely time at the reading and then also picking up some books for the kids at the library, and walking in downtown Milwaukie through the warm spring evening. The Ledding Cultural Forum is very cool — you should check it out if Milwaukie, OR is convenient to you.
My little girl is spending her second of three days (and two nights!) at Outdoor Science School today, learning about ecology and geography with her elementary class and the elementary class from another local Montessori school. She’s been super-excited for months about this, and in true Montessori style has had an active role planning the school fundraiser and in preparing herself for camp. I’ve seen a huge leap ahead in her independence and sense of responsibility. Also, she loves geography (well ok, pretty rocks), ecology (cats, slugs, worms, and flowers), and the outdoors. So I’m sure she’s having a fantastic time right now, and I’m so excited that her school offers such rich opportunities for learning.
That said, the child is SIX. And she’s my baby. And she’s the youngest kid of all the kids who are on this trip together. And the morning we dropped her off for camp, she woke up scared, and curled in my lap and cried. I’ve never been much of a “these are the wonder years” parent — I don’t prioritize my own needs well, so I’ve been enjoying the process of the kids getting older and thus needing less All-Mommy-All-The-Time — but right now, I get it.
She’s just going to get bigger and bigger, and she’s going to do amazing things in this world… farther and farther away from me. And I’m going to miss her. I miss her now (so does her little brother; ZOMG that’s a whole different blog post, let me tell you), and I can’t wait until she gets home and can tell me all her stories.
In a way, it’s kind of cool that she’s had this opportunity to range so far away from us this young, while she’s still small enough that I can mush her into a tiny little ball of love when she comes back. And so I can follow through on some of the promises I’ve made to myself in the last 24 hours to enjoy every moment I get to spend with my fantastic kids. Every moment they’re not whining, begging, complaining, or otherwise annoying me, that is. 😉
I got a new bike for Mother’s Day! 
Watch out Springwater Corridor. Watch out all the hills, everywhere. Watch out Cycle Oregon! I’ve got a new red bike, and I’m not afraid to ride it.
Yay for the return of grilling weather! Pictured: grilled “steak strips” (don’t ask me what this cut really is; they didn’t have skirt steak at Fred Meyers so I improvised) with blender chimichurri, rice, grilled spring onions, and grilled asparagus. Everyone in our family had seconds, and there were zero leftovers. (I mean, the kids didn’t have the chimichurri, and I made them grilled broccoli instead of asparagus, but still.) Chimichurri is basically the best thing that ever happened to meat.
Enjoying her breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham this morning, Amelia suggested we have breakfast burritos for dinner tonight. I told her I had planned to make salmon for dinner.
Her eyes lit up (she loves salmon), and she asked, “Can we roast it?” I said, “Yes, I think we can roast it in the oven.” She replied, “Do we have soy sauce and sesame seeds?” I told her we did, and she explained, “I was looking through a book with recipes, and I saw a picture of that recipe, and I thought it looked so yummy.”
I love this child. Sometimes it freaks me out that she is getting so big and responsible and independent, but it’s fun when we like the same things. 🙂 And tonight, we’re having teriyaki salmon.
We went to the Milwaukie Farmer’s Market yesterday — it was the first market of the year, and they were packed! Only 2-3 actual farm stands were there, but I got some spring onions, rainbow chard, asparagus, radishes, strawberries, and small “Russian gold” potatoes. Not sure who’s going to eat all these radishes — I’m the only one who really likes them, so I guess me! — and I have NO idea what I’m going to do with these spring onions, but it’s nice to have the fresh produce back! Next weekend we’ll try to bike down.
The clematis is really going crazy, and what I call our magnolia tree is ready to bloom with some stunning flowers. 
Celebrating Tom’s return with breakfast at Cricket Cafe. 
I’ve been super-lazy about cooking lately, but last night I finally made a nicer meal for me and the kids: apple Dutch baby, smashed potatoes, and wilted arugula salad with pancetta.
The Thing With The Stuff 