tiny summer pleasures, 2020 edition.

Hello, friends. Somehow it is August, and though we are so many weeks into pandemic life that I have lost count, summer is still summer. We’ve had a stretch of gorgeous hot weather (though we desperately need some rain) and I am soaking up all the pleasures summer has to offer, while I can. Here’s a list:

• Sea breezes from the harbor through my kitchen window, which makes the heat in my apartment just about bearable.
• Stone fruits and berries galore: cherries, blackberries, peaches and nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, tiny tart red currants.
• Amanda’s spicy salsa roja with any chips I can get my hands on.

• Morning runs along the harborwalk (the earlier I go, the more shaded it is), watching for white herons and Black-eyed Susans, and the boats on the water.
• Related: funky tan lines and freckles on my shoulders. (I promise I do wear sunscreen.)
• Evening yoga in Piers Park, whether we’re sweating or catching a cool breeze.
• Sliced cucumbers from a friend’s garden with Samira’s spicy muhammara – red pepper spread with walnuts and pomegranate.

• Sunflowers, roses and catching up with my florist.
• Library hold pickup, about once every 10 days.
• My new-to-me bike, which I’ve dubbed my Wild Irish Rose.
• The music of I’m With Her, Our Native Daughters and several other groups I heard at Newport last year. (Related: reliving that magic.)
• Making chilled cucumber soup with dill, basil and Greek yogurt – one of the perks of garden caretaking. (See also: fresh marigolds.)

• Smoothies from Eagle Hill Cafe, a newish neighborhood staple run by two friendly women.
• Revisiting some childhood classics, including Maud Hart Lovelace’s stories.
• Daylilies, Queen Anne’s lace, beach roses, hydrangea, Rose of Sharon, bee balm, nasturtiums and other wildflowers. The world is lush and green and colorful right now.

• Bike rides with my guy – around the Seaport (where he works), over to Cambridge, around Eastie (where I live) or just about anywhere.
• Discovering new farmers’ markets on the bike. The Harvard farmers’ market has my heart, but I like visiting other ones.
• Jasmine tea lemonade or iced black tea from (where else?) Darwin’s.

• Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski mystery series – my newest obsession.
• Nicole Gulotta’s #30DayHaikuProject on Instagram, which I’m enjoying.

What small pleasures is summer offering you?

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Back at the farmers’ market.

The hardest part of quarantine, for me, has been the constant isolation. I live alone, have been working remotely since mid-March (until I was furloughed last month), and have been seeing very few people in person. (I do still get to hug my guy, and walk with a girlfriend or two once in a while. Thank goodness.)

I miss my friends the most, but I’ve also been feeling the loss of what sociologists call “weak ties”: those casual, in-person relationships with people like your barista or librarian or yoga instructor. And I’ve been missing the “third places” where those relationships often take place: communal spaces outside of home and work where people interact and enjoy each other’s company.

All that to say: the Harvard farmers’ market is back, and I am loving it.

The past few Tuesdays, my guy and I have biked across the river to Cambridge, to visit the half-dozen vendors set up on the Harvard Science Plaza. It’s a smaller group than usual, but they are cheery behind their masks, and the offerings are limited but delicious. We sanitize and keep our distance and browse the stalls with our eyes, and choose a few treats to eat on the spot or take home.

I showed up at this market all the time when I worked at Harvard, and that’s where I met Amanda, who makes fantastic tamales, salsas and chili beans. (She’s from Corpus Christi and she knows how tough it can be to find decent Mexican food in New England – plus she’s warm and friendly.) I am downright thrilled to be eating her products again, and I’ve loved seeing her in person, too.

It’s strawberry season in New England, and G and I have bought pints of them recently, plus crisp Boston lettuce and peppery Easter egg radishes. (Aren’t those colors gorgeous?) The latter, it turns out, are delicious with hummus, and I even made pesto with the greens last week. Weather permitting, we’ve sat on the benches or lawn nearby, eating strawberries till our fingers are stained red with the juice. I toss the tamales back in the freezer when I get home, but they never last long – and the strawberries and salsa both tend to disappear within 24 hours.

So many things are still strange and hard, but I am looking for joy where I can find it, these days. And fresh fruit + sunshine + time with my favorite person in a place I love = serious joy, pandemic or no pandemic.

Are you shopping farmers’ markets this summer?

Read Full Post »

Coping mechanisms for dreary weather

We haven’t seen the sun since Tuesday, friends, and frankly, I’m getting a little desperate. Boston hasn’t had much snow yet this winter (though my West Texas hometown got seven inches the other day), but it has been chill, grey and rainy for days on end. I am pulling out all my lifesavers from Monday’s post, but here are a few that have particularly come through in the clutch this week:

• Eating all the clementines. They remind me that brightness will return, and they taste so good.
• Making travel plans to see family and friends (in reliably sunny locales!) this spring.
• Dinner with a girlfriend the other night – the curry was delicious, but two hours of good talk was even better for my soul.
• My happy lamp – even if it’s a placebo effect, I will take the blast of bright light in the mornings when it’s so misty out that I can’t see across Boston Harbor.

• Reading fun kid lit. Currently loving To Night Owl from Dogfish, recommended by Anne.
• Daffodils from Trader Joe’s, which were on sale for $1.50 this week.
• Reading a gardening book – in this case, Six Square Metres by Margaret Simons.
• Writing snail mail love notes – I’m trying to write one every day in February.

How do you get through the truly dreary days?

Read Full Post »

Saving my life: winter 2020 edition.

It’s become a midwinter tradition: every February, dozens of us link up with Anne Bogel to answer a brilliant question (from Barbara Brown Taylor): “What is saving your life now?” I make these lists periodically throughout the year (the act of making them can itself be lifesaving), but I always need the reminder in midwinter. So here, as we head into February, is what’s saving my life now:

• The witch hazel blooming in the Prudential Center courtyard: a bright, hopeful neon yellow.
• Related: Tuesday indoor picnics in the Pru with someone I love.
• I say this every winter: all. The. Clementines.
• Maggie Smith’s poetry, especially “Bride,” which appeared in the New Yorker recently and is now taped to my bathroom mirror.
• My winter uniform: fleece-lined tights + black Clarks ankle boots + dress (denim, black or striped) + black quilted vest + scarf.
• That stunning red amaryllis in my kitchen, above.
• My umpteenth reread of the Harry Potter series. (Starting Deathly Hallows now.)
• Yoga at The Point every week, the occasional boot camp class there, and being recognized when I walk in the door.
• Shafts of full-on sunlight in the conference room at work, on the sidewalk and really wherever I can get them.
• The wisdom in Sheryl Sandberg’s book Option B.
• Making soup in batches for work lunches throughout the week.
• Shalane Flanagan’s superhero muffins.
• Slathering on the hand lotion and moisturizer (hello, dry winter skin).
• Acing a freelance writing assignment last week.
• Pulling out a beloved banana bread recipe.
• Sunrise over the harbor.
• Washing a sinkful of dirty dishes: reliably satisfying.
• Making a few fun plans with friends.
• Finding welcome, and being welcomed – both are such a gift.

What’s saving your life these days? I’d love to hear, if you’d like to share.

Read Full Post »

It’s not magic, but it’s helping.

…is something I am saying a lot these days.

One reason for that: it’s winter. Never mind the mostly-mild weather and wild temperature swings; this time of year is always tough for me. The lack of sunlight can leave me feeling dull and flat, and I’m always exhausted (physically and emotionally) after the holidays. But I am trying (as Maggie Smith keeps reminding us) to keep moving, whether literally or otherwise.

Here are a few things that are helping me, as we continue to move through January:

My light therapy lamp. Real talk: some days I don’t know if it makes any difference. But I flip it on every morning anyway, and most days I think it does take the edge off these long, dark evenings.

Putting the bread in the freezer. This is not like Joey having to put Little Women in the freezer on that episode of Friends (by the way, I saw the new movie twice and adored it). I live alone, so freezing a loaf of bread is one way to ensure it doesn’t all mold before I can toast it. (These days I’m loving Trader Joe’s multigrain sourdough.)

Taking a walk. Which is always a good idea – whether it’s down the street to the library or Trader Joe’s, around my neighborhood on a weekend, or over to campus for a meeting.

Eating all the clementines. I’m going through them like they’re candy, and I’m totally fine with that – because they’re bright, delicious and healthy.

My budding amaryllis, which I wrote about the other day, and which might actually be magic.

Working a puzzle at a girlfriend’s house the other night. I agree with Anne: puzzles are relaxing and good for your brain.

Yoga, even if I have to drag myself there (and sometimes I do).

What’s helping you get through, these days?

Read Full Post »

Apple memories

I had my first bite of a September apple last week, sampling a crisp Macintosh from the white bag on the kitchen counter. It tasted delicious: tart, juicy, the embodiment of fall in New England. And I was stunned by the wave of sadness that followed it.

Since I moved to Boston, apples have been tangled up with September: crisp sunny days, cool nights, black-eyed Susans and dahlias and late daylilies in the flower beds around town. September is the start of the academic year, and in a city like Boston, that shifts the rhythm in a big way. And every fall, September has meant apple picking.

Apple picking was and is a beloved tradition for my former church. I’d eaten apples all my life, but there are no apple orchards in West Texas, and I wasn’t prepared for the sight of their rambling, gnarled branches heavy with fruit. I fell instantly in love.

Last year, some dear friends who’d moved away came back to visit for a long weekend, and we made sure to plan our apple-picking excursion when they were here. We wandered the orchard and filled our bags to bursting and ate the traditional orchard lunch of hot dogs and apple cider donuts. There were photos and laughter and tired kiddos, and cold, fresh cider. It felt right.

This year, so much has shifted: I’m living across the water in Eastie, spending my Sunday mornings sleeping in or running instead of going to church. I’m navigating the end of the marriage whose story began when I was in college. I am not who I was, and my life is a testament to that fact. But it is still September, and the apples have appeared at the farmers’ markets and grocery stores.

I’ll keep eating them, because the flavor and enjoyment are worth the reminder of all I have lost. Things are different now, but life is still full of sweetness. I’m trying to feel it all, live it all, truly taste both the grief and the joy.

Read Full Post »

Small winter pleasures: a list.

 

Every year as the calendar turns over to January, I think: here we go.

My friends and family in Texas always ask, at Christmastime: Is it snowing up there in Boston? My verbal answer is usually Not yet, and my silent one, which comes right after it, is something like: Real winter starts in January. 

December was cold and bright this year, but now we are into the season of snow, wintry mix, biting winds and cold rain, not to mention record-breaking cold over the long weekend and (still) much less daylight than I’d like. We are – hallelujah – past the solstice, so the days are getting longer, but winter in the Northeast can feel long no matter how much sunshine there is.

So, as I often do, I thought I’d make a list of the good stuff: those small pleasures that are (mostly) limited to this less-than-favorite season of mine. Here they are:

• Slicing open a fresh pomegranate and scooping out the seeds – like handfuls of little tart jewels.
• Clementines, peeled and eaten out of hand, juicy slices bursting with tart sweetness. (Bonus: the scent lingers on my hands.)
• Chai, for me, is a three-season pleasure, but it’s especially comforting on bitter mornings.
• Winter sunrises out my kitchen window (see above): blue and gold, sometimes streaked with pink clouds.

• Growing paperwhites near those same kitchen windows. Watching their long stems grow feels like magic to me.
• Hearty, spicy soups and stews – nothing better on a bitter night.
• Those diamond-bright, blue-sky mornings – if I’m properly bundled up, I love them.
• Sitting in the right spot on a morning subway train to catch the sunshine flooding into my face.
• Morning light on the deep-blue waves of the Charles River, and watching the ice patches spread (it’s fascinating).

• Snuggling up under the faux-fur blanket I’ve had for years. (Related: plaid slippers and fleece-lined tights.)
• Dreaming of spring travel.
• Twinkle lights that linger after the holidays.
• Cozy handknits, especially my workhorse Evangeline gloves and my pink Gin Fizz.
• Long walks in the clean cold air, with hot tea – preferably Earl Grey – at the end of them.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be a true winter lover, but I am trying to develop a mind for winter, as Adam Gopnik says (to counterbalance the grumbling). It helps to notice and celebrate these daily pleasures.

What are the small delights of winter where you are?

Read Full Post »

June is…

June is sunrise before 6 a.m. and sunset after 8 p.m., the days stretching longer and longer to hold the fullest amount of light.

June is strawberries and asparagus, rhubarb and the first sweet corn. June is the long-anticipated return of tamales and salsa at the Harvard farmers’ market every Tuesday.

June is turning on the box and ceiling fans, tending a basil plant on the front porch, finally moving my geraniums outside.

June is weather whiplash: from 55 to 85 and back again in the space of a few days. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes,” people say, in both my West Texas hometown and my adopted New England city.

June is peonies and honeysuckle, roses and clematis and the first day lilies. June is thickets of wildflowers along the river trail: purple clover and wild daisies, tiny birdsfoot trefoil and tall elderberry bushes in full flower.

June is transition: the shift from the frenetic pace of the school year to the slower-but-not-stopped rhythms of summer.

June, this year, is more change piled on the change that has characterized the past year: my beloved boss retiring, other colleagues moving on. June is wondering what’s next for me as I dive into the job hunt, again.

June is the start of summer reading: light fiction, lots of young adult lit and mysteries, the latest stack of review books.

June is veggie quesadillas and huevos cooked on the stovetop, fresh fruit whenever and however possible, lots of lemonade and ginger peach tea.

June is stepping into summer and wondering what it holds.

What does June look like where you are?

Read Full Post »

Summer List 2015

After a hot, humid end to May and a truly frigid beginning to June (two days of April-like chilly drizzle and occasional downpours), the weather is behaving a little more like summer. I’m already drinking my favorite summer teas and eating strawberries with my breakfast – but there are a hundred other things I love about summer. So here are a few I’d like to indulge in:

• Eat all the summer fruits (rhubarb, peaches, tomatoes and every kind of berry I can find)
• Related: go to the farmers’ market at Harvard and maybe the one over at Copley Square
• Wear skirts and shorts as often as possible
• Get a pedicure (or two)
• Snuggle my friends’ baby, Evie, whom I met last week (isn’t she precious?)

• Go visit my family in Texas
• Laugh and laugh with J at episodes of Modern Family (we’re newly hooked)
• Go kayaking on the Charles River (I went for the first time recently, and it was fantastic)

• Drink lemonade and sangria
• Eat lots of ice cream (and fro-yo)
• Take lots of long walks (to counterbalance the ice cream)
• Soak up every bit of summer sunshine – summer in New England is lovely but fleeting.

What’s on your list for this summer?

Read Full Post »

Summer joys

I write some version of this post every year, from long lists of my summer pleasures to more coherent rhapsodies about the season. I adore fall and I have a soft spot for spring (winter and I are sometimes barely on speaking terms), but my years in the Northeast have taught me to embrace this fleeting season.

After a slow start (which nearly killed my poor, vulnerable basil plants), this summer has been golden and glorious. And I’m soaking it up.

I am walking over to the Harvard farmers’ market every Tuesday, wandering among the stalls and buying copious amounts of fresh berries, bell peppers and tomatoes. There’s even a tamale stand on occasion – a rare, authentic Tex-Mex treat. A couple of weeks ago, I tried a strawberry-basil popsicle – light, sweet and delicious.

I am wearing sandals every single day, dresses or skirts most days, and have even found two maxidresses that don’t drag on the ground (I’m petite). I’m sporting tanned arms and legs and crisscrossing sandal tan lines on my feet. (But I am also wearing sunscreen.)

I am spending my lunch breaks in Harvard Yard with a book whenever possible. Often concurrently, I’m indulging in flavored seasonal limeade from Crema for as long as it lasts.

I’m watering the basil on my wee balcony, plucking leaves to sprinkle on pasta, scrambled eggs, homemade pizza. I am eating the occasional plate of fried calamari or fish & chips from the local clam shack, with help from the hubs.

I’m watching the sunlight move across the dining room table as I drink my morning tea – ginger peach or blackberry sage. I’m delighting in sunsets, pink and purple and gold, seen from our living-room windows and occasionally from our beach.

I’m delighting in houseguests and weekend trips to Rockport, then indulging in a bit of hibernation to balance it out.

I’m reading like a madwoman (because when am I not?) and enjoying light fare like a beachy Greek travel memoir and a stack of mysteries.

I’m crossing items off my Summer Manifesto, and making a new list for August.

I’m reveling in the warm air, the wide blue skies, the green grass and blooming flowers, the feeling of ease and relaxation that only comes in these full, long, golden days.

What joys are you savoring this summer?

Read Full Post »