So, I get a little bit impatient with grandchildren. They ask me to get them water, find their baseball belts, Boy Scout belts, regular belts...cleats, ball caps, Lacrosse gloves, ski masks, make them grilled Swiss and pickle sandwiches for school lunches---and before I even realize that it's a stupid thing to do, I jump up and do their bidding! Since I run circles for about 18 hours a day, I do whatever they ask, and then feel resentful, irritated, taken advantage of.
Harrison is obsessed with Bonsai trees. It's hard to live with someone obsessed! He had to have the dish, plant, shears, soil, little decorative clay figurine, how-to book. After all of these demands were satisfied, he wanted to visit Bonsai nurseries all the way through northern California and better still, to collect seedlings along the freeway! All the way home from our family Easter weekend, he gushed and droned about the glories of collecting his own trees. This went on...non-stop...for about three hours. Not able to get in a word, Carter fell asleep in the back seat of the car with "Mrs. Pete," his parakeet, and I drove and listened and thought of just the hazards of pulling to the side of the freeway! And then scaling the road cut to pluck tortured seedlings from decomposing granite! Really, I just needed to get the kids back to Reno for two Little League games!
Nearing Donner Summit, I noticed a service road parallel to the freeway, with tiny trees growing in the lush underbrush. I could see pine and manzanita...I left the freeway, and drove slowly along until I spied a tiny incense cedar seedling. Naturalized daffodils were blooming everywhere in the gloom of a passing snowstorm and the trees were dripping and quiet. Harrison filled an empty Starbucks cup with soil and gently pulled the seedling out of the ground. He also pulled up a tiny manzanita, and two acorns that had split and started to root. He now considers the boxwood he planted and trimmed---a little "tree" that he has adored--- to be a "fake." It's a bush, not a tree, and though it will remain as part of his "Bonsai garden," his prizes will be the cedar, the manzanita, and hopefully, two oaks.
I had given in again! But what a reward! This Bonsai fascination will likely be life-long. He will remember those moments off of the freeway, with joy and tenderness! With a lightness of heart, he had a few base hits during his baseball game that riled the stands to gasping cheers! He talked the outfield into collecting dandelion flowers and greens for Mrs. Pete, and he fell sound asleep tonight with a sweet smile.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spring Break
I understand the harassment young married couples get from their mothers...the instant the wedding is over, the moms start in on "when are you going to have a baby!" If you're my age, you understand perfectly. If you're one of those young marrieds, get going! You'll have thrilling joy when you become grandparents! You need to, have to, give your moms a baby! I delight in the faces of my fellow grandmothers when they tell me of a new one on the way, or even better, giddy, more glowing---that that first one is nearly here!
Happily, I didn't have to wait long. I've got SEVEN grandchildren, and I'm having the time of my life!! I want all of you to have this fun! Keep up the harrassment, unashamedly! We just spent a whirlwind week while the kids were out of school.
Harrison, Carter and I met the southern California kids, Emma and Dylan, in Lone Pine and headed towards Death Valley for a few days. We camped at Panamint Springs...for the express reason that the kids like to toast breakfast croissants on a campfire. We ate great handfuls of peanut M&Ms, Emma and Harrison had frappuccinos with breakfast (they felt so grown up beside the little boys with chocolate milk!), we kept Cutie tangerines and Oreos on the car seat to snack on all day long!
In the morning, we went down into the valley, to ski on the Mesquite Dunes. Carter surprised me by telling me that the most memorable part of our trip there last year, was that drive down to the bottom of the valley. I saw it through his eyes then...and love him so much more for seeing beauty along the way! The kids skied, we cooled off with "Death Valley" orange cream soda---Scotty's Castle, Devils Golfcourse, Artist's Palette, Badwater, swimming in the geothermal spring-fed pool at Furnace Creek Ranch! Dinner, ice cream, sound sleep!
Leaving the depth and heat of Death Valley to climb home through snow, is the loveliest homecoming. The kids skied the dunes and then 24 hours later, skied the home snow at 7000 feet. They had a defining experience when they skied down a side of the mountain that doesn't have a lift...they had to decide what to do---without adult help/intrusion! On their own, they found that there is a shuttle just for that reason! They got themselves back to me, where I was standing and wondering...worrying why they were gone so long! They learned that they can be self-reliant! I decided that I better learn to ski...
Our week together went by so fast. We snowshoed along the snowy beach of Lake Tahoe and ate salami and brie. We baked a chocolate "Thunder Cake" from Carter's reading book. The kids skied at Homewood, our favorite sweet local family resort, that has plans and pictures for fancy development posted all over the place...we'll miss it when it changes. We stayed in when it rained like crazy one day; the kids played in the attic and ate candy and cake for lunch. They move together in a little noisy "herd," and there's nothing I'd rather do, anytime-anywhere, than follow and watch. Sweet times!
Happily, I didn't have to wait long. I've got SEVEN grandchildren, and I'm having the time of my life!! I want all of you to have this fun! Keep up the harrassment, unashamedly! We just spent a whirlwind week while the kids were out of school.
Harrison, Carter and I met the southern California kids, Emma and Dylan, in Lone Pine and headed towards Death Valley for a few days. We camped at Panamint Springs...for the express reason that the kids like to toast breakfast croissants on a campfire. We ate great handfuls of peanut M&Ms, Emma and Harrison had frappuccinos with breakfast (they felt so grown up beside the little boys with chocolate milk!), we kept Cutie tangerines and Oreos on the car seat to snack on all day long!
In the morning, we went down into the valley, to ski on the Mesquite Dunes. Carter surprised me by telling me that the most memorable part of our trip there last year, was that drive down to the bottom of the valley. I saw it through his eyes then...and love him so much more for seeing beauty along the way! The kids skied, we cooled off with "Death Valley" orange cream soda---Scotty's Castle, Devils Golfcourse, Artist's Palette, Badwater, swimming in the geothermal spring-fed pool at Furnace Creek Ranch! Dinner, ice cream, sound sleep!
Leaving the depth and heat of Death Valley to climb home through snow, is the loveliest homecoming. The kids skied the dunes and then 24 hours later, skied the home snow at 7000 feet. They had a defining experience when they skied down a side of the mountain that doesn't have a lift...they had to decide what to do---without adult help/intrusion! On their own, they found that there is a shuttle just for that reason! They got themselves back to me, where I was standing and wondering...worrying why they were gone so long! They learned that they can be self-reliant! I decided that I better learn to ski...
Our week together went by so fast. We snowshoed along the snowy beach of Lake Tahoe and ate salami and brie. We baked a chocolate "Thunder Cake" from Carter's reading book. The kids skied at Homewood, our favorite sweet local family resort, that has plans and pictures for fancy development posted all over the place...we'll miss it when it changes. We stayed in when it rained like crazy one day; the kids played in the attic and ate candy and cake for lunch. They move together in a little noisy "herd," and there's nothing I'd rather do, anytime-anywhere, than follow and watch. Sweet times!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Watermelon Juice
It did snow again, after our little taste of spring last week. The daffodils started blooming with their sassy attitude...much more nervy than the tulips...the tulips are just totally confused by the winter-spring-winter! I'm not confused at all!
I've made a tradition of certain special things that ring the warm season in with Mother's Day. I wait till then to serve the feta stuffed squash blossoms, rose margaritas, fresh-squeezed lemonade in Mason jars, onion pancakes with dandelions and parsley butter. This year, I'll introduce Root Beer Milk, which is very much like a melted root beer float on ice...oh, yum. I know it will be a big hit.
The sunniest summer thing that we do though, is watermelon juice. We serve it in a Mason jar with ice and a thin sliver of watermelon. Your mouth just waters at the color of it! This is so easy to make at home, you'll glow like a daffodil!
Watermelon Juice
Fill half of the blender jar with large chunks of melon.
Add a cup of ice, and blend.
Taste the blended juice, and add a sprinkle of sugar if you like.
Once you have the taste you want, strain the blended juice through a fine strainer into a bowl or pitcher, and serve straight or over ice. Happy spring-summer!
I've made a tradition of certain special things that ring the warm season in with Mother's Day. I wait till then to serve the feta stuffed squash blossoms, rose margaritas, fresh-squeezed lemonade in Mason jars, onion pancakes with dandelions and parsley butter. This year, I'll introduce Root Beer Milk, which is very much like a melted root beer float on ice...oh, yum. I know it will be a big hit.
The sunniest summer thing that we do though, is watermelon juice. We serve it in a Mason jar with ice and a thin sliver of watermelon. Your mouth just waters at the color of it! This is so easy to make at home, you'll glow like a daffodil!
Watermelon Juice
Fill half of the blender jar with large chunks of melon.
Add a cup of ice, and blend.
Taste the blended juice, and add a sprinkle of sugar if you like.
Once you have the taste you want, strain the blended juice through a fine strainer into a bowl or pitcher, and serve straight or over ice. Happy spring-summer!
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