I'm Lucky

I consider myself lucky for lots of reasons, but today it’s because I have a kid who cooks really good food for me. Ryan enjoys being in the kitchen, and since John’s garden happens to be at Ryan’s house, we usually head over there once a week. While John checks the garden, Ryan makes us lunch. (Our soil here in New Jersey has untreatable verticillium wilt that makes it unsuited for a garden here and is also slowly killing our trees, but that’s a sad story for another day.)

We used to go out to diners, but no matter what we ordered, Ryan would usually say he could make it better. (And honestly, he’s right.) These days he often asks if there’s anything we’re hungry for, and I usually tell him it’s chef’s choice - whatever he feels like making is fine with me. He’s made us omelets, egg salad, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, sausage corn chowder, “supper on a bread slice” (a dish my mother used to make, but Ryan’s version is much improved), and his absolutely stellar onion soup gratinée.

Last week I was grumbling about a disappointing canned clam chowder I’d tried, and Ryan offered to make some from scratch. He watched Jacques Pépin (I’m not sure clam chowder really needs leeks or corn like Jacques adds) and then checked out a few more videos on youtube. He decided the method was similar to sausage corn chowder, just with clams and clam juice instead. So that’s what I was served for lunch yesterday, along with Ryan's special cheese toast. 

And of course, it was fantastic! I've never had homemade clam chowder before, and it turns out the canned stuff doesn’t even come close. Ryan’s version had onions, garlic, celery, potatoes, butter, half-and-half, bacon, clams, clam juice, chives, parsley, a little hot sauce, and plenty of seasoning. I'm not sure whether this is my favorite or if his onion soup wins, but I will take either one of them any time he is willing to make them.

And one of the best parts?

Ryan sent me home with the leftovers. I am, without a doubt, very lucky.

 

Small Celebration of Small Good Things

Things are still Going to Hell in a Handbasket, but I only have control over so much and those things are going reasonably well. Here is a small celebration of some small good things.

Good Thing 1: My youngest son celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday. That is a good thing, but the fact that Justin is a truly wonderful young man that I'm incredibly proud of is the best.

Good Thing 2: When we went up to Ryan's on Monday, I was thrilled to find that he had baked a carrot cake. It's one of my favorites, and he was kind enough to send me home with some of it. I've been enjoying carrot cake for breakfast!

Good Thing 3: Jess and Justin will be visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio over Memorial Day, and that means I get to kitty-sit for Nugget. It's just a long weekend, but I do welcome any chance to visit her, scratch her ears, and give her plenty of pets and treats. 

Bonus Good Thing: Typing "Hell in a Handbasket" above prompted me to smile at a nice memory. I was driving one day and Ryan was in the backseat. I don't remember exactly how old he was, but it was whatever age kids learn state capitals, so he was probably around 10 and in fourth grade. I was quizzing him about state capitals while I drove, but our town has three traffic circles in a row and traffic gets crazy if you're not familiar with how to drive on them. Traffic was worse than usual and after narrowly avoiding rear-ending a car that had just stopped in the circle I said, "This town is going to Hell in a Handbasket!" Ryan was quiet for a little while, and finally he said," I think that Helena is the capital of Montana, not Nebraska." Now whenever I write that expression, I always think of Helena Nebraska. It's one of those gentle memories that always makes me smile. 

I'd love to celebrate the small good things in your life, so please feel free to share them in the comments!

 

All I Had to Do Was Mention It Twice

Ryan and I talk on the phone several times each week and often we end up talking about food. It's something we both enjoy, so we discuss shopping, shortages, what we might be making, new recipes. and things we might be hungry for. 

I have been craving carrot cake for at least a month now. The last time John and I ate at our nearby diner, I even checked to see if they had carrot cake since I was thinking about ordering it for dinner, but sadly, there wasn't any. I made baked macaroni and cheese to take to Justin's a few weeks ago and mentioned to Ryan that I needed to find a better recipe. 

Apparently, I mentioned mac & cheese and carrot cake at least twice in our phone calls because Ryan invited us to his house for lunch last Friday. And guess what he made? Macaroni & cheese and carrot cake! 

He said that he knew he needed to pay attention after I mentioned it twice, so now I feel like I know the secret password. The mac & cheese was delicious - elbows with a cheesy roux were layered with three kinds of cheese. Wonderful, creamy, and perfectly seasoned. The carrot cake was moist and tasty, with decadent cream cheese icing made with whipping cream. And Ryan sent most of the leftovers home with me! We could hardly wait to dig in at lunch, so the only photos I have are of the leftovers. These looked a lot better right after they came out of the oven, but you'll just have to trust me that they were both delectable despite the pictures not exactly being something I would post on instagram.

My grandmother used to say that food always tastes better if someone else makes it for you, and Ryan proved that statement. It's honestly been a hope of mine that with both boys living nearby, they might make dinner for me once in a while. That dream came true and all I had to do was mention my menu choices twice. 

My birthday and Thanksgiving might be more interesting and tasty this year!

A Post About a Post

I mentioned that I was running out of ideas for blog posts and Ryan suggested, "How about a post about a post?" That made me laugh, so that's what I'm writing about today.

Ryan has this white vinyl fence around his property, a remnant from the previous owners who had dogs that needed to be contained. There's nothing wrong with the fence aside from a few missing balusters that we'll replace once we're done working on some projects. Soon after he moved in, we had to remove a big section of fence so they could bring his new shed in. 

His shed is the yellow and green one on the left and we had to take out the whole front section with the gate and a section on the side for access. The posts are set in concrete so we dug out one of them, but after much digging, John ended up cutting the other two off at the ground. He put a sturdy piece of wood back inside, slipped the cut-off posts over them, and screwed them back together. All the posts are now re-installed and sturdier than they were before.

But that is on the right side of the house. There is another project that we've started on the left side of the house that also involves a post.

Last year he got about eight inches of rain within a few hours and his basement flooded. We got things remedied in short order with three shop vacs and fans, but then we had to figure out how to prevent this in the future. After talking to several neighbors, the ones that had installed a second sump pump didn't have any flooding. So we did have a second sump pump installed, but the drainage from the original one was also a problem. It was only pumping water out a couple of feet away from the house and the sump pump drain is also at a low spot. Last Sunday we went over, cut off another post (you can see the white square at the bottom right of the photo above), and removed a couple sections of fence. 

Then we (and this is the "royal we" because I was not personally digging) dug a 30-foot trench from the house down toward the front yard. 

Then we laid pipe from the sump pump outlet in the trench and filled it in. 

Phase 1 of the project was completed on Sunday and it looks pretty good. Phase 2 begins on Thursday when we are having seven cubic yards of topsoil delivered. This will have to be spread over the side lawn to help create a better slope down towards the street and aid drainage away from the house. I didn't have to dig the trench but I suspect that I will be shoveling and raking topsoil on Thursday and Friday. (And then maybe I'll write another post about a post when we fix this fence post and finally complete the project.)

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... looks like a day for meal planning. 

Ryan's birthday is on Friday and since he's now local, I'm making dinner for him. He lives by himself and even though he enjoys cooking, it gets to be a bit of a drag sometimes. My grandmother always said that food tastes better when somebody you love makes it for you, and I definitely think that is true. So I wanted to make him some good things, but not necessarily difficult, complicated, or fancy. I looked through my recipe box for inspiration and here's what I arrived at. 

• Swedish Meatballs
• Mashed Potatoes
• Green Beans (from the garden)
• Watergate Salad (from John's mother)

• Mrs. O'Neill's Pound Cake - she was Ryan's 7th grade English teacher and one of the best bakers I know. I feel very lucky that she wrote the recipe out for me one day, and once I confirmed that she had forgotten a few things, it was perfect.

The pound cake is the best if it's made a day ahead of time, so that's what I'll be doing on Thursday. 

I can hardly wait to taste all these. They are some of Ryan's favorites (and if I'm honest, mine, too)!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Ryan's birthday, and he's 31 years old. For the past few years his birthday has brought a tinge of sadness to me because we've been 1700 miles apart. I visited him in CO several times for his birthday, but it wasn't like a big family celebration. 

This year is different. He is coming over tomorrow night and cooking dinner for us. He enjoys cooking and welcomes the chance to do it for other people. Venison steak with mushrooms over mashed potatoes with green beans should be delicious. My grandmother used to say that food tasted better if somebody you loved made it for you, and I think that's true.

I will making him some zucchini bread, which he wants instead of a regular birthday cake. It will be made with extra love so I hope it will taste extra good. 

He had a tough time in CO, by himself, with some big challenges of several types, all beyond his control without easy resolution, and then there was the pandemic. I'm proud of all that he's managed to do, the person he's become, and especially glad that he's doing it all a little closer to home. 

Moving Week!

It's finally moving week - time to move Ryan's stuff into his new house. Our plan is to head over there this morning, rent a carpet cleaner, and clean all the carpeting upstairs (the previous owners had two dogs and two cats). We'll see how long that takes, and then begin cleaning the floors downstairs along with everything else that needs it.

After those things are accomplished, we'll start bringing over the boxes from the storage unit. It's only five minutes away from the house, but there are 28 boxes and some other assorted bits, so it may take us a while. We'll unpack what we can (maybe the kitchen?) and possibly bring over some of the smaller furniture (end tables, lamps, etc.). 

We might paint the red wall in the living room, but we'll see. Next weekend (the 21st and 22nd) we've got family members with two trucks and lots of muscle to help move the furniture. Ryan may be sleeping there by the 23rd!

I will be busy cleaning, moving, and unpacking, so I won't be posting here for the rest of this week. I may post a few photos on instagram (I'm @readknit if you want to take a look) and I hope to be back here on the 23rd. I hope you all have a great week ahead!

The Road to Heaven

Many years ago I was talking to my sister on the phone, and said something like, "You know what they say about good intentions." She completed my thought by saying, "Yes, the road to heaven is paved with good intentions." I hated to burst her bubble by explaining that it was actually the road to hell, but it still makes me laugh when I recall that conversation.

I had good intentions when I headed out to CO. My main goals were to help Ryan finish packing, maybe enjoy ourselves a little bit, co-pilot and do my share of driving on the way back, and knit and listen to audiobooks along the way. 

I accomplished some of those intentions. We did have all the packing finished by the time the moving truck arrived last Friday morning. We did enjoy ourselves; John fished almost every day, we ate at our favorite taqueria, Ryan and I went to The Loopy Ewe and we went on one of our favorite Fort Collins hikes to Reservoir Ridge looking for musket balls (and found some). 

I did my share of driving, but I barely knit a stitch and we didn't listen to any audiobooks despite my careful consideration of listening materials, knitting projects, and our intentions. Ryan and I talked a lot, but with the crazy high speed limits on Route 80 (80 mph in Wyoming, and 75 mph for most of the other states we went through), neither one of us was very relaxed while driving and we needed to keep our attention focused. We drove five hours on Friday and got to Nebraska, but Saturday was a terrible 17-hour day on the road. We couldn't find any hotels with vacancies despite checking 16 of them in South Bend and Elkhart, Indiana. We were lucky with the 17th hotel, and got what was probably the last room in Elkhart around 1:00 am. We were determined to get home on Sunday, so we spent a mere 12 hours on the road that day and then and fell exhausted into bed in NJ on Sunday night. 

Ryan is a minimalist, but we still cleaned out and donated 11 bags of stuff to Goodwill, and packing up everything in his house gave me a new appreciation for all of the stuff/crap that is in our house in NJ (and let's not forget MD)! One of my intentions going forward is to really clean out over the next year. I've already been putting things in the Goodwill box as I notice them, and there will be many, many more boxes in the future. Hopefully I'll be able to pave a road to a far less cluttered house and not one in the other direction. 

So what are your own good intentions and how are you sticking with them?

I'm Back With Three Things

After a long week of cleaning out and packing, driving for 1750 miles and 27 hours, and several failed attempts to meet the moving van at the storage facility before we finally succeeded, we are back. I enjoyed sleeping in this morning and not having any scheduled tasks that had to be started at the crack of dawn. There is still plenty to do - catching up with bills, laundry, and life in NJ before I head to MD next week to catch up there, making room for Ryan and some of his stuff since he can't move in to his house until Aug. 15th, and making a little time for a bit of reading and knitting.

Since it's Thursday, I thought I might ease back into blogging and share three things we saw during the drive from CO to NJ.

1. Some interesting skies

I took this one on Saturday morning as we left Kearney, Nebraska. There were torrential thundershowers that woke us up frequently during the night, but at least we didn't have to drive in the pouring rain.

2. Thousands and thousands of acres of corn

All we saw through Nebraska, Iowa, and much of Indiana was corn, with a few soybeans for contrast. Nebraska is the Cornhusker state, and it turns out that Iowa grows more corn than any other state in the US (2.7 billion bushels). We got a real feeling for just how vast corn production is in these states.

3. Wind Turbines

We got to see hundreds of these along Route 80, and they were interesting every time. Most of them were in Nebraska with a few in Iowa, and most had their rotors turning slowly and steadily, even though there was no wind evident at ground level. 

We saw several trucks towing turbine rotors and they gave us an even better idea of how massive these things are. It took us a while to figure out what they were were!

I'm glad to be back. Be sure and check in with Carole to see what three things others are writing about today.

It's Crazy!

And by "It" I mean real estate. With more people being vaccinated, at least a year of pent-up demand, and a low inventory of houses for sale, all bets seem to be off if you're looking to buy a house. Things are much better and there is a lot more control if you're lucky enough to be selling. Thankfully, we've been able to do both.

Ryan's New House

So we bought Ryan a house. He found it online, but John and I have seen it in person and it seems like just the right place for him. We don't close until July and moving plans aren't definitive yet because the sellers are building a new house. They may need to stay for another month after closing, but by the end of August, Ryan will live about 30 miles away from our place in NJ and it will only take me 50 minutes to get there.

There were multiple offers, and we had to pay over asking price and make the home inspection for "informational purposes only" (meaning no negotiations with the seller). That was a bit scary and we've never bought a house under circumstances like that, but luckily, it worked out and was a small price to pay to have Ryan back here. There are some possibilities for him to work online from home, and if that doesn't pan out, his new house is in a location with a lot of other possibilities. 

Ryan's Current House

Then we had to list his place in CO. At least this time we were sellers instead of buyers, but it was equally crazy. His real estate agents had several offers an hour after his house was listed, before it had even been shown. The listing agents decided to do an open house on Saturday and another one on Sunday rather than a bunch of showings, set a deadline of last night for any offers, and then we would have until 1:00 pm today to respond. We haven't yet made a final decision, but I got my wish that we would have multiple above-asking price offers to choose from.

There have been a lot of things going on around here, but I'm glad to report that despite the craziness, several of them have been happy, and Ryan will be moving back this summer. I can not wait. <3

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... is a day when I can really begin to see (and believe!) some glimmers of hope. 

John and I both got our second Moderna shots last Wednesday, so I'm very glad and thankful to be fully vaccinated. The side effects kicked my butt on Thursday, but I slept much of the day and felt great on Friday.

Since we are on our way to feeling safer doing things (still masked and socially distanced), we are starting to think about the real possibility of helping Ryan move back east. We've just started to look online at possible places for him, and even though it's early days, it's exciting. In a few weeks we may even venture out with a real estate agent to look at some houses in person. Ryan has had his first shot, will get his second one soon, and is also ready to re-enter life. There are a lot of plans, packing, and driving that will have to occur, but it finally looks like they just might happen.

It's felt a bit like we have been living in suspended animation, waiting for our lives to begin again. I've been a little bit afraid that there might not be much of the life I once loved left when we were able to resume. This is the first time I've felt real hope and can see possible good things in the future, and I hope the same is true for you.

Worry over the Weekend ...

 ... and beyond. I've written about the Cameron Peak Fire before but it exploded again last Wednesday when wind gusts approaching 70 mph pushed the fire 15 miles east and closer to Fort Collins. Strong winds persisted throughout most of the weekend and will continue into next week, keeping the fire near-critical for the period. The last time I wrote about the fire 103,000 acres were burning; it's currently 203,000 acres and growing. It is now the largest wildfire in CO history, and this weekend two new wildfires ignited near Boulder in addition to the hundreds burning throughout the west. 

My worries and concerns are for Ryan, and also the thousands of firefighters and all of the people who have been evacuated, many who don't yet know if they will have a home to return to or when this destructive wildfire season will be over. We all know how difficult it is to live with the uncertainty of the coronavirus and the uncertainty of knowing what will happen on a day to day basis with wildfires only adds to the apprehension and anguish. 

I was at home in NJ this weekend, doing mundane things like laundry, vacuuming, making calzones, reading, and knitting, but my heart, mind, and thoughts were with Ryan and all of those suffering in the west. I sincerely hope we elect a new president on November 3, one that knows that climate change is real, is guided by science, and willing to take action, not simply suggest that we sweep up dead leaves. 

Poetry on Thursday

Today's poem is one that I've had in the back of my mind since I got an anxious phone call from Ryan on Monday (the emergency I referred to yesterday). He was in a panic, which kind of sent me into panic mode. We had talked before about the Cameron Peak Fire burning near Fort Collins CO since August 13th, but it grew explosively over the weekend (20,000 to 103,000 acres), and the eastward movement closer to his house and mandatory evacuations really worried him. Ryan moved to CO in 2013, after the nearby High Park Fire, and being from the east neither one of us have much fire experience. The apocalyptic-looking sky, falling ash, and daytime darkness from smoke didn't help, and it also doesn't help that he lives by himself. His first instinct was to get on a plane and fly back east, but we've been avoiding that due to virus concerns. Ryan had an accident just about a year ago driving back from Wyoming in a snowstorm. He flipped his car, totaled it, and mangled up his arm, so he is still a bit wary of driving in the snow if he doesn't have to. Long story short, we talked on the phone four different times on Monday and decided that he needed to pack a bag and gas up his car, stay where he was and wait to see what happened when predicted rain and snow arrived, drive south towards Denver if he truly felt unsafe in Fort Collins and stay at a hotel near the airport, and get a flight back east only if it seemed absolutely necessary. Ultimately he decided to stay home and for now, that looks like it was the right decision. He felt much better when he heard the Larimer County sheriff say during the Monday evening fire update that he didn't envision evacuations for Fort Collins or Loveland in the next 48-72 hours. 

Both of us have been watching the morning and evening fire updates and it looks like the precipitation and cooler temps have helped park the fire temporarily, but the estimated containment date is not until Saturday, October 31st. There will be warmer temps by the end of this week and presumably lower relative humidities and more fire activity. It's possible that Ryan and I both over-reacted, but now we have a plan for the future that feels like it balances fire and virus safety. (Many thanks to Eileen who offered me calm and reassuring words, based on her previous fire experience!)

This is not the only fire in CO, nor the only fire in the west. There are far too many fires as you can see from the Inciweb map, and they are all causing uncertainty, suffering, loss, and devastation. Fire season is a reality of life in the west, made worse by global warming and lack of resources. 

This is a photo of Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins around noon on Monday. Snow moved in late Monday so you can see why I had fire and ice on my mind.

Fire and Ice

Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Frost, Robert. December 1920. "Fire and Ice", A Group of Poems by Robert Frost. Harper's Magazine. p. 67.
You can read more about Robert Frost here. 

I wish you mindfulness, peace, safety, and some poetry as this week winds down.