I AM BACK!

Back from what I am not quite certain.  Today I just did what had to be done.  And that something was cooking.  I left cooking and I am back cooking.  Yesterday was Thursday and that is an important day in my week.  It is the day that I have a delivery from the organic farm that we subscribe to.  Our home is a drop off site for many people.  Those who subscribe in this area come and pick up their food here.  Sometime a box or more is leftover because of people going on vacation and it is left for us to dispose of.  We give it away or use what we can.  Yesterday was delivery day.  Unfortunately for my refrigerator I was not here last week to cook up what was delivered.  Some of it was still usable and now I had two more boxes of food to fit in.  Of course I take it out of the box but it is still a lot of food volume.  So today I cooked.  I made a multiple grain  dish to compliment the soup I planned to make.  I had a lot of greens that needed cooking so I “cooked up a mess of greens”  as my mother used to say.  I originally was going to make it into a soup but the greens were so delicious I couldn’t bear to put them into soup. I’ll eat them plain.  Then I made the soup.  Kohlrabi soup.  I added beets, huge radishes, carrots, white beans,  chicken broth and southwest seasoning.  At the end I added Quinoa, a tiny whole grain to thicken it up a bit.  It is delicious.  I put 6 quarts into the freezer and one quart in the fridge.   I also made a cucumber and onion salad seasoned with dill.  So my fridge is stocked up for a few days.  “Good pickins”.  The fridge is still too crowded.  And we even gave some of the food away last night.

Dave and I had a leisurely sleep in day today.  It has been a long time since we have been able to do that.  I’m usually up by 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. but I just waited for him to wake up.  After all this was his first day after working for 50 years.  And besides I needed the extra rest too.  We talked about our hopes and dreams and plans and goals.  Just because you get older does not mean you quit dreaming about the future.  I felt like Rip Van Winkle.  When I left Wisconsin there was fresh snow on the group.  I had a perpetual spring.  I first went south and the spring was just coming awake.  As I went across the U.S. it seemed the spring was coming with me.  I did go up to Denver and had a bout of snow while there but came back down to Albuquerque and spring was in the air again  I go West and find that they are having a later spring than usual and I was right at the beginning of it.  The weather was wonderful most of the time.  I ran into very few storms.  Then as I traveled further and further north spring again was just coming alive with new buds.  It seemed like Butchart Gardens was in full spring/summer mode when I arrived.  The flowers were exquisite and beautiful.  Then on through Canada and again spring was presenting itself before me.  It was an amazing trip.

Now I am home!  It feels as if I have awakened from a dream and time has sped up.  It is not spring anymore.  Here it is full summer.  Lush green growth everywhere. Trees fully opened, no new growth.  My garden is already in summer bloom.  I missed the peonies and Lilly of the Valley, and my bleeding hearts.  It is as if I have stepped out of a time machine.  Snow to summer.  And all between was simply a beautiful long dream.  I have tomatoes on the vine yet to ripen. Berries are in the stores and the weather is warm and friendly.  Mid 70’s today.  When it is past 80 degrees it is too hot.

I loved my dream.  I love waking up to reality.  I am back where I belong, with the man I love and who loves me and now I will have him every day, all day long.  And I have my own kitchen back.  I love that too.  I apologize to all you guys out there who had to put up with me in your kitchen.  A kitchen is like a play area to me.  Yes, sometime it is work but I love handling food.  I love working with it, creating new recipes, trying out recipes others give me and then eating all the food.  My freezer has almost two shelves emptied.  I’ll start filling it with my new soups.  I don’t have much vacant space considering all the food I still have coming this summer.  Both freezers are almost full.  We are thinking of getting a new fridge for the garage because this fridge is on overload when I have all this food delivered.  We even have people over and still can’t use it all up fast enough.

Not one bit of unpacking was accomplished today.  After getting up quite late and showering it was time to start my cooking.  I cooked right up until we had to leave at 4:00 p.m. to go to dinner at my son and daughter-in-law’s place.  They outdid themselves.  The dinner was absolutely delicious!  The best part however was being with the grandsons.  What a delight it is to be around such super little boys.  We all had so much fun.  After dinner Courtland showed us what they have done to the house since I’ve been gone.  They moved in last year and because of their schedules, law school, finishing a masters for Amy, sports and working, things having been moving slowly as far as them getting settled in their new space.  Tonight we had a dance party.  A WILD DANCE PARTY.  Court put on music and the boys started dancing.  We adults were sitting in the media room Court is working on completing, in recliners, looking at the blank wall where there will soon be a screen.  So what better place to dance.  A nice big room just waiting to be used.  Well it wasn’t long before I joined the boys in dancing and I had on a long flowing dress that I could swish and twirl in.  I felt like I was 7 years old again (instead of getting closer to 70) and before you know it Courtland was up danced with me.  We danced and danced and laughed and giggled on the floor as Zach did somersaults and tried to stand on his head.  Xander just kept dancing his heart out.  To witness such uninhibited joy and pleasure was such a sweetness to me.  They are still so innocent and protected.  Oh but if I could just make these moments and hours last.  I just feasted on the pleasure of their enchantment with life and fullness of their love.  I was so happy to see them.

Now I am home.  Must soon go to bed as we must get up early tomorrow.  We have an invitation to be at our close friend and neighbor’s home through the back woods by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow for a 4^th of July celebration.  I don’t know what kind of 4^th of July celebrations begins at 8:00 a.m. but I certainly don’t want to miss it.

Let’s see if there is a poem left in me today.

TWO SPECIAL BOYS

By Kathleen Martens

July 3, 2015

Oh to experience the beautiful joy

Of my special two little boys.

Heart of my heart, soul of my soul

To be close is always my goal.

Little boy smells inhaled deeply

Little kisses given so sweetly.

Cherub faces untouched by grief

So innocent in their belief.

Willing to love, no questions asked,

If but this hour would only last. 

But time passes on and so soon grown

And no longer to be my own.

Their father did the very same,

My beloved son who shares my name

And now his boys, grandsons of my heart

Oh so beautiful and oh so smart.

Someday too soon they will be a Dad

And I’ll be the grandma who they had.

Who danced and loved and had such fun

With two special boys, her beloved grandsons.

Good night and sweet dreams.

11:25 pm