Week 41

Saturday walk through Browne's Addition

This might be one of my favorite weeks so far. It was a good one for someone who loves the color yellow. There was much sunshine, plenty of changing colors, and good events to keep things busy and interesting (Colin Powell!). I ushered in the weekend on Friday night with a massage at the Davenport, a wine tasting and tacos. Saturday weather was perfect for a long walk with the dog.

I love these trees next to the library at Whitworth

Reading: I started A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and am so thoroughly enjoying the depiction of the family life of the era and the place - the obsessive details about how the children collect trash for pennies and nickels, how they save and spend their money on small delicacies, the economy of the family meals, and the humor Betty Smith weaves in amid the tragic realities of their lives. I find it almost meditative to read and am trying not to rush through it.

Margot admires my handiwork from the bathroom sink

Making: I had given up on this sweater - I actually finished it back in the spring, but I thought I completely messed up the colorwork in the middle by knitting it too tight. I'm new to colorwork and kind of guessed my way through it. Turns out, all it needed was a little blocking to shape it just right, which I did over the course of this week. Once it dried it looked like an honest-to-goodness sweater I will actually wear (and did, on Saturday).

I appreciated this article as an imperfect hobbyist: In Praise of Mediocrity

Colin Powell at Whitworth

Colin Powell tells young people to not be so worried about stuff. "Don't be overly ambitious - enjoy this time in your life." He got a 2.0 grade average and did just fine, after all.

Impeccable day on campus

Recipes: Brisk autumnal days brought butternut squash soup (simple, nothing special), risotto with leftover roast chicken, and pasta. I made these pretzels again for the neighborhood block party.

Neighborhood block party

Mini pretzels

Watching: We worked our way through all 8 episodes of "Forever" (Amazon Prime) starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen this week. It was just OK. The real joy of the week was starting Samin Nosrat's series based on the her book of the same name, "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat." I want to have her along on our next trip to Italy - she is so joyful about food and actually knows her stuff. Joel and I both love her book - it's changed the way we cook and think about why/how food works - and this show is a nice companion to these four principles.