Lately
What was the last thing I mentioned to you? I'm by myself this week and it's fabulous. D is in CA and I'm on my own. I try to not listen when he tells me all the wonderful things he's seeing and eating. Last Saturday, Kristen, Ella and I picked raspberries. It was not as simple a process as I had thought. The berries were warm in the early morning sun, but we had to hunt to find big ones. As I picked through my row, I listened as a mother made her case to her her two teenage sons and younger daughter why they would not be eating ice cream after they were done.
Mom: I'm gonna haveta say no to the ice cream thing today.
Younger Boy: But, why?
Mom: You guys haven't had a good breakfast today.
Girl: Yeah-huh. I had cereal.
Mom: Cereal's just like ice cream.
Pause.
Older Boy: Mom, I had a good breakfast today.
Mom: Oh yeah?
Older Boy: I had a whole bunch of raspberries.
After about an hour and a half, our eight pints each were full and Ella was more than ready to leave. We got her an ice cream cone (Michigan Cherry) and I bought a loaf of homemade cinnamon bread. We drove 20 minutes north to Kristen's house, stopping for sandwiches. After eating at her picnic table in her big backyard, we started making raspberry jam. It was much more simple than I thought. After our batches were done, we were served a glass of her husband's, Greg's, home brewed IPA beer. Kristen, Ella and I climbed up to the tree house deck and sat watching Greg fix the gate until we all got down to pick flowers. I left her house about 3:30 with seven jars of jam, cinnamon bread and lavender.
The rest of Saturday night was devoted to making deviled eggs, doing laundry and watching the first season of The Sopranos. I'm half way through this season. It's a joy to watch this show from the beginning all the sudden, and notice the characters that aren't developed, the basic storylines being introduced. I got to know Johnny Sack only at the end of his life, as he wasted away in prison from cancer, finally losing the battle near the end of the series. It's wonderful to see him alive and vital, in an italian suit with cigar smoke wafting around him. I'm finding delirious pleasure in Livia Soprano, someone I knew only from conversations. They are all so complex. My Sopranos marathon will continue late tonight, after Red Robin and through the rest of this week.