A Great Saturday Morning

It all started with stepping out the door into the beautiful, frigid fall morning to go to the Matthews Farmers Market. I saw our maple tree so brightly red in the rising sun that I had to take a picture.

Oops! The steam from my breath ruined the picture! 

Most of its leaves are on the ground already.

The farmer's market was lovely, as always. The main reason we go to this market is the eggs. These eggs have been laid by hens that are truly free to run wherever they want, yet have the protection of their human caretakers in the way of predator prevention, food supply, and warm dry quarters. We had to smile when the owner's young daughter related a story of the hens running under a trailer every time their horse runs by.

We bought some mini cucumbers from this vendor.

This is one of my favorite farms. Family owned, family run. See next pic.

Not only is her produce always super delicious, it's freshly picked that morning or the evening prior to market. She is actually a graduate of UGA and is an administrator at UNCC, and very nice to chat with. From her we bought some amazing lettuce and a new item: Russian Red Kale. I'll let you know how it is.

We bought some fresh collard greens and some sweet potatoes from this guy. I overheard someone call him 'professor' - are all small farmers university folks during the day? We're trying to eat more sweet potatoes for the health benefits and because their glycemic index is low... and they're yummy! (or should I say yammy?!?)

After the market we drove to Earth Fare to load up on everything else we needed that wasn't available at the farmer's market (like tofu.) When we got back home it was still just 10:00 AM - I guess that's the advantage of starting early! The weather is simply gorgeous so I took a long walk in the neighborhood. I'll put these pics in extra-large.

These lovely berries line our driveway.

Dew-covered multicolored leaves.

Pods on the left, pinks on the right.

Can you believe our roses are still blooming despite the frost?

Must not have been a hard frost.

While I was walking Tita called (I had my phone.) I told her that the sky was SO blue and the trees' colors against it were so amazing. See for yourself:

I've named these 'The Three Sisters.'

Mums.

My dad particularly loved trees. He often recited this poem to me when we were outside and came upon a lovely tree or grove of trees. When Martha and I spread his ashes we chose this poem to read as we placed our father at the base of a small tree that bordered both the pool grounds and the Fifty Fifth Street Pond, both favorite places of his. The poem mentions God twice. Our dad's Godiness Quotient was pretty low, so the fact that he knew this poem probably reflects the fact that he was required to memorize many poems in school more than his having an elevated GQ... that and the fact that he did love trees.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree. - Joyce Kilmer

For some reason there were a lot of airplane trails today. Pretty.

As I came to the top of our driveway I was overcome with how beautiful our trees were. Throughout the walk I was listening to Henry David Thoreau's Walden. That may have had something to do with it!

Turkeys

How beautiful they are! I adopted a turkey this year. I love how they run!

Under The Bombs

I just watched an excellent film called Under the Bombs - {Netflix watch instantly} - while folding two weeks worth of clean clothes. I give very few movies a five star rating -- I gave it to this one.

Zeina, a westernized middle class Muslim woman, comes back to Lebanon in an effort to find her six year old son (who was staying with her sister) on the day of the ceasefire with Israel during the 2006 bombings. Her sister and son were in the southern part of Lebanon, the most dangerous area, so she has a hard time convincing anyone to drive her there. Tony, a Christian cab driver, agrees to take her, partly for the money and partly because he is attracted to her. Their two days together and the changes their relationship undergoes is fascinating and very poinant. The setting of this movie, the situation in Lebanon under the Israeli bombing, is the other thread running through the story line.

Some in my family (Shirin, I'm talking about you) don't like to see movies that make them feel sad. I understand this. But the movie is so excellent - I'd hate for you to miss out on some of the best acting I've ever seen. It's also very artistic. There's a spot just over an hour into the film in which Zeina speaks what can only be called poetry, with some beautiful Arabic instrumental music in the background. She not speaking to anyone really, but we can hear her stream of consciousness. It's pure poetry. I'll post it below the video trailer.

My son is lost.

Everybody’s looking for him.

All this terror, these bombs –

The madness of some.

It doesn’t matter.

We must search.

Many have died.

It doesn’t matter.

Everything can wait.

We must search.

My son is lost.

What did he do wrong?

We have to fight back.

It’s not important.

First we must search.

Then we’ll resist.

Have I been a bad mother?

It’s not important.

I don’t care.

America, Israel, the Hezbollah, Syria, or Iran –

I don’t care.

I don’t care about religion.

My son is lost.

The ruins, the bombs.

Your help –

I don’t give a damn.

My son is lost.

I must find him.

My Trip To Illinois

I had a great visit with my mom, Martha and Ken last weekend. It always feels so good to return to my roots. True, I didn't go to my home town or my old house, but "home" is where the heart is, right? That was at Martha and Ken's house.

After an uneventful flight to O'Hare (remember, there were incredibly high winds just two days prior and a terrorist ink cartridge bomb) I visited with Martha a bit before she took me to visit our mom. Mom was where we always find her between lunchtime and dinnertime...

... in the library reading the Chicago Tribune.

She kept marveling at how long she's lived and at how well she can still do things. When Martha asked her how old she was she said cautiously, "89?" No mom, you're 91. "NO!" She couldn't believe it. :-)

It's really hard for her to hold her head level because her neck hurts, which you can see in this picture. But as long as nobody keeps trying to talk to her (me) she can keep her head down where it feels better. Each day I had to make my visits shorter and shorter; I tired her out. :-(  Still, she seemed really happy to see me.

On Saturday Martha and Ken took me on a Chicago Food Planet Food Tour, specifically the Bucktown/Wicker Park Tour. It involved walking through these two Chicago neighborhoods with a guide for food tasting and learning the history of these areas. It was a lot of fun and I was STUFFED by the end of the tour. The itinerary was:

• George's Hot Dog's: #1 rated Chicago-style hot dog "stand" (est. 1948)
• Hot Chocolate: Chicago’s top pastry and dessert restaurant (est. 2004)
• Goddess and Grocer: A gourmet foods and organic grocer (est. 2004)
• Sultan's Market: Middle Eastern food store and falafel deli (est. 1985)
• Piece: New-Haven style pizzeria and award-winning brew pub (est. 2001)
• iCream: Designs and creates ice cream instantly on the spot (est. 2008)

Whenever one drives from the suburbs to the city they have to leave early to allow extra time for traffic snarls. Since we zipped into the city in record time we had to wait for our tour to begin and did so happily by grabbing a coffee in a tavern called the "Map Room". All along the walls to the left you can see shelf after shelf of National Geographic magazines (thus the 'maps'), flags, and intriguing knick-knacks.

Coffee is not the beverage of choice in this tavern!

But that's what we had... with beer pretzels.

 

At the appropriate time we met up with our tour guide who led us to our first stop, "George's Hot Dogs". I had a hot-dog-less hot dog, otherwise known as salad in a bun! It wasn't George's fault. I guess he's never heard of a veggie dog. I imagine they didn't have fake hot dogs in 1948 when he established this place. I had better gustatory success at the remaining eateries. George and his wife still run this eatery and the whole place closes down if they take a holiday.

 The next place was called "Hot Chocolate", a restaurant and dessert bar. We sampled one of their most popular flavors of hot chocolate which was truly the best thing I've ever tasted. It was smooth, thick, and perfect. Holy smokes. I can't believe the best thing I've ever tasted is 800 miles away.

 This is an example of one of their bakery items. I didn't eat one of these but they did let us sample their homemade marshmallows (ausnahmsweise.) It was good but different. The owner is a pastry chef who has won many awards and been on the Martha Stewart Show.

Here's our tour guide (L), Carrie, explaining about the origins of "Hot Chocolate".

Here's my happily entranced sister (R), Martha, savoring the hot chocolate.

Next was "The Goddess and Grocer" where we sampled a cold vegetable (not lettuce) salad. The odd name of the place is due to it's founder, who was initially a caterer. She was in such demand they called her the Goddess of Catering, eventually being called just The Goddess. Later she opened this cute little store but she still does catering. I hope they keep calling her The Goddess and don't start calling her The Grocer, which makes me think of a short little Italian man with an apron and a broom.

 Everything looked really good. No hot dogs here!

I think Ken preferred George's hot dog to the sample he got here. He tried to give each of us his salad but Martha and I were saving room for the places and food yet to come.

Our guide pointed out some significant buildings as we walked down the sidewalks. I wish I could remember everything she said about each building and restaurant. I do remember her saying that this was the tallest skyscraper in Chicago when it was built in 1930. 

 She also pointed out this old bank built in the style typical of the time.

 We next visited "Piece" pizzeria and brewery. They didn't serve Chicago-style pizza, which has a thick crust, but New Haven, Connecticut thin crust pizza. They also gave us a small glass of beer that they brew there on the premises, but I gave mine to the underage boy across the table. (JK!) I'm sure someone drank mine.

 This building used to be something else but I don't remember what, maybe a lumber yard? Whatever is used to be, Carrie told us a story that one of the workers had to leave to return to Mexico. When he returned and tried to go back to work the place had turned into this restaurant, so they hired him on here!

Because our tummies were full of hot dogs (or in my case salad in a bun,) hot chocolate, vegetable salad, and pizza, we welcomed the next stretch of the tour - walking by some of the homes in the area.

 Carrie described how the area was a mixture of old homes (like this one with the Italian window arches) and homes that had been renovated (see the bricks of the new one on the left.) Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods have undergone many changes over the years as wealthy people lived there first, then moved out to the suburbs allowing poorer people to move in, then gangs, and now the process of gentrification is in full swing. The art community is alive and well in these two neighborhoods.

 Many of the commercial buildings have had beautiful facade renovation and others have added artistic flair.

 We walked to another neighborhood that had some really cool looking houses.

 I believe she said those pillars were made out of marble. (Is that right Martha?)

 The story behind this house is that the owner wanted to make it look like the houses back home in Germany.  When our guide asked some German tourists if this is what the houses look like in Germany they said no, but she thought perhaps in Baveria they may have more of this type design.

She pointed out that there is no door to this balcony, but I was too busy taking pictures to hear her explanation for this.

 Stained glass window.

 It also had this lovely yard, very unusual in a city where the houses are built so close together.

Carrie liked this house the best.

It's pretty cool, but not the prettiest. Perhaps it's the story of the...

 ... cannon being left in the yard that intrigues her the most. Technically the cannon belongs to the Navy, but there's a long convoluted story about why it's still in the yard and until they want it back (yeah right, to fight the evil doers?) it remains in this lady's yard. And oh, that skeleton? It was just a Halloween decoration.

 This tree may be just a baby, but it broke out into full fall color just the same.

 Our next stop was the "Sultan's Market" owned and operated by a lady from Jordan. It offers a mixture of Middle Eastern deli foods and American stuff, like fruit smoothies. We ate a falafel sandwich there.

 Cool light fixture.

 Our last stop was "iCream" which serves ice cream (or sorbet or yogurt) made to your specifications on the spot. The founder developed a rapid freezing process that allows for this. No ice cream is made till the customer orders it. Although my pic doesn't show it, big clouds of steam came out of those mixers as they created each customer's order.

As we came out of iCream Martha pointed out the building across the street. Many of the old facades had the title of the business carved into it, assuming no other business would ever move in? "The Peoples Gas Light & Coke Company" forever more.

 Off in the distance the Sear's Tower can be seen.

 This store grabbed my attention.

As did this one. Did it sell T-shirts? Did it sell sandwiches but only if you were wearing a T-shirt?

 It definitely sold T-shirts, printed on the spot.

 Happy and full we drove back to the burbs. We were supposed to have pizza for dinner but none of us were hungry till about 7:30! So that left me one more chance to drive over to Mom's and give her one last hug goodbye. Those goodbyes tear me up every time.

Thanks for everything guys. I'll be back.

Sorry I Haven't Blogged

There is so much I want to blog about but just haven't had time. Shirin & family were here last weekend but as soon as they went back home I had a 24 hour bug (more like 36 hours) that put me to bed and now I'm packing for a trip to visit my Illinois family. I'll catch up one day... maybe... probably not.