See??

Every day

I have been a food preserving maniac this past 2 weeks. Upcoming trip notwithstanding, it's the final weeks of summer and that means the end is in sight. The end of my shelf thing on top of my counter to stop being covered with produce and fruit flies, mocking me.

I love summer for all the veggies and stuff. Now that I'm all weird and label read-y and also all "I can cook", I totally dig knowing where my stuff comes from and putting it up for the winter so I can open a jar of summer anytime I want. But summer produce-a-palooza also makes me crazy. 1) produce attracts flies. ick. fucking blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh on bugs. Seriously. I hate bugs. 2) I feel pressure to do something with it all so it doesn't get wasted. Only after like a month, I'm tired and about out of ideas, and yet there it all still is; watching me, mocking me lookatthebaby lookatthebaby. Or worse, going bad, which makes me the craziest of all. Because I'm crazy-prone.

Anyhow. The every day referred to above is the at least once a day, my kitchen gets douched and taken to a state of grace. Dishes dealt with, produce dealt with, everything put away where it belongs and stuff wiped down. Like a nice kitchen. Inevitably within 12 hours, it will look like a play-doh factory exploded. There will be food splattered all over my oven and counter, a sink full of dishes, water everywhere, and probably still more fucking produce, with the dirt that accompanies it as it's dumped out of it's garden bag onto my formerly clean counter top.

So, a nice thing about fall is that this will slow down. Then it will be back to once a week produce explosions, on market day.

Pictorial essay of the mess in my kitchen over the course of a week to follow.

It's always when you forget that you remember how important remembering can be

• Like bringing your camera when you go on a bike ride, because you're going somewhere specifically to look at the prettiness. Yesterday I took a sunset bike ride through Druid Lake Park and to the Rawlings Conservatory because their outdoor garden is amazing and inspiring. I went without my camera, so of course the light was just right, all the plants were blooming and I passed a solitary handsome man practicing his trumpet in the park. Because pictures of all of that would have sucked right? Said man was my favorite part, I think because I'm not sure he will be there next time while all the other stuff should be. I noticed him at first because he was looking around to make sure noone was looking, which is always a flag for me that something awesome is about to go down, so I parked my bike and took a water break to hang out and see what was doing. Imagine my surprise when he started busting out trumpet scales. That was sooooooo not what I thought he was getting out of the trunk! After a while he noticed I was there and was all "I'm struggling a little today", which I think was meant to encourage me to leave, but really only served to put me in automatic cheerleader mode. I heart underdogs and sad people; they are my kryptonite, at least the first few times. Every time he made a mistake he would look to see if I was there and I would give a big smile and wave and yell something encouraging. Eventually he stopped looking, but I kept yelling. My top 3 lines (IMHO) were:

1. "that one wasn't even that bad, I wouldn't even have noticed if you didn't stop"
2. "It will get easier the more you do it"
3. "ok, ouch that one was bad. But that's why you're out here practicing right? RIGHT?!"

I like to think I'll be seeing more of him, and he'll be thanking me from stage when he gets there.

• Also like: If you have a fibertastic menu for a full day because you feel bloated and want to get the (other) poison out, then it's a good idea to stay near the house the next morning when you have your coffee. Specifically, don't go for a walk with your old lazy farty dog who doesn't understand about emergencies and won't jog home with you (not that jogging was that great an idea anyway).
  

• That's really all I have right now. I haven't yet remembered what else I forgot.
  

Question...

Why are shadow pictures so awesome??

Thank you earl indeed. Balmy 76 degrees in mobtown today.

Expect prolificity

Lots of work to do today. That means blogging is more fun!

LIFESAVER. or AGGRAVATIONSAVER anyway

squee!

Oh, I feels you

Man, it's like this chick is talking to my heart!!

and i haven't even been drinking!





* She just doesn't know it yet!