Over the past seven months, 11th Avenue has become overrun with children, and they've all become playmates. Our house seems to be in the middle of it all, offering a lawn for kids to use as a shortcut to get to one of our neighbors, and offering us surround sound in the afternoons of shouts and giggles and resolutely declared rules of some new game, as well as barking dogs and one mom yelling, "BRADEN!" During the times when I'm trying to concentrate on work, I quickly become annoyed, but most of the time I'm amused and even grateful to witness these scenes from a seemingly bygone era. It helps that there's a tree swing in one front yard, a trampoline in another backyard, and one house's large front porch has been set up as a kids corner of sorts, with books and a table and some art supplies for all of them to use. I wonder how much of this would have happened without a pandemic, now that other types of play and friends are less available. I wonder what will happen now that the weather is getting colder. And I wonder what all the retired folks who have lived across the street for decades think of all this.
We have eleven weeks remaining in 2020. Eleven is my favorite number.
Recipes
We had a lot of eggplant and squash in the house this week. On Sunday Joel made Pasta alla Norma, a saucy tomato-eggplant pasta, continuing his Italian themed meals following the Giro d'Italia.
Finally, I made a new recipe for pizza because it was too ridiculous not to try - it was from America's Test Kitchen and promised chewy, crispy pizza, start to finish in one hour. It used lager and vinegar in the dough for fermented flavor, and you pre-roll the dough between parchment and let it rise that way. The result was thin and crispy pizza indeed, but not good enough for me to stray from my usual methods. It took not one hour, but just over one and a half. Still, fun to try.
Reading
I finished The Poisonwood Bible this week and was totally moved by it. There is so much to think about with these characters and the setting that I'm still processing it. Throughout the book I loved the theme of language - from Adah's ability for wordplay and palindrome, to misinterpreted and mispronounced words, to the slang and the names characters were given, and the words we don't have equivalents for in English. It had been awhile since I had read a book with such rich foreshadowing that caused me to revisit chapters at the end. And the political history of the Congo that I was totally unaware of was fascinating and gut-wrenching. I'm glad I finally know this book.
From there I moved to Mavis Gallant's Across the Bridge. She is one of my favorites when it comes to writing about details we don't often put words to. Her short stories are a pure delight to read.
Watching
Haven't given you a Frasier update. We're still watching and on season 9. And Schitt's Creek has become that 20-minute wind-down show for us before I get ready for bed. We're real creatures of habit around here.
We rented Paris Can Wait on Friday night because it was a Diane Lane movie we hadn't seen (someone in this house has a real crush), and it was a cute one that showcased France in its culinary glory. And Diane Lane.
I also bought my first livestream concert ticket from a local venue, trying to do whatever I can to keep these places around for when we can join again in person.
Listening
I mostly just want to listen to jazz right now. We're looking for music that doesn't make us melancholy even as the clouds roll in and the sun sets too early.
Making
Yup, the sweater. I think I've gotten to a critical point where I attach the sleeves to the body, but it requires more than 5 minutes of concentration which I haven't prioritized this past week. That's my goal for this next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment