Tall Tales from Kansas

I tip my figurative hat to you

Any of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, know about The Quails. This is my long-time group of oncology nurse friends who worked together in the early 1990's, and still go out for birthday dinners, and really as often as we can work it in. While doing my "Swedish Death Cleaning" recently I happened upon a ton of old photos of us from the early years. In addition to the Quails there are some other folks we worked with through the years - most prominently, Alice Bailey. She was THE best, bar none, nursing assistant I have ever worked with. She tolerated no foolishness, could not abide laziness, and treated her patients with great love and care. If I needed to do anything that was going to be difficult, Alice Bailey could be counted on to be right there at my side. 

Along with all these pictures, there were notes and letters from patients we took care of through the years, obituaries clipped from newspapers, old work assignment sheets. Not to mention the cards we have sent each other through the years to mark occasions, or no occasion at all. A real trip down memory lane. It's been nice to go through it all, save some, and get rid of most because the time is right now, when it wouldn't have been 15 years ago. 

Whoever came up with the whole Swedish Death cleaning thing is a genius. I tip my figurative hat to you. This might take me 5 years at the rate I am going, but better that it be me who goes through all this rather than someone who can not appreciate the significance of it all. It's good to have just one more look before I recycle or pitch it.

Oh what a ride this has been. 

in case you were wondering...

My squeals of delight were kept on the inside when I saw these mini pumpkins at the farmers market on Saturday.  Same with the bucket of marigolds. Marigolds always put me in the mood to construct a "dia de los muertos" altar in honor of all my departed family members. 

Karen Pendleton is knocking it out of the park with the fall wreaths this year. I mean seriously get a load of this one will you?!?!?!?!

She was enjoying her bagel as she strolled. I am always impressed by those coordinated enough to walk, talk, eat, and shop. Not to mention smile (with nothing in her teeth) when I asked to take her picture.

These squash and eggplant were beautiful in the morning sun. 

Raise your hand if you have heard of mashed potato squash. Apparently you can roast it up, mash it, add milk, butter, salt, pepper, and voila! just like mashed potatoes. 

We are still on a serious BLT + turkey kick at our house. I like a sliver of turkey between the toast and the tomato to keep the bread from getting too soggy with all that juice from the tomatoes. 

These 2 were having a real good time, exploring at the market. I love their wild morning hair.

This week's cake - lemon poppyseed with a raspberry fondant. 

I snagged a bag of salad mix. With cooler temps we should be getting more great greens in the weeks to come. 

As I was walking out I snapped this budding thespian atop his dad's shoulders. His sister, who brought her blanket for warmth, is clearly used to his shenanigans. 

My haul this week...

My favorite pumpkin from photo #1 was still there as I was leaving the market, so I of course grabbed it. 

Now all I need to do is get a great fall candle to put on the table to go with it. I don't know about you all, but when I sense the change in seasons from summer to fall, it gives me this wonderful boost of endorphins as I anticipate all that this implies. 

it worked itself out to just the right place and stopped

I needed to drive around in the car for an extra 8 minutes and 37 seconds to finish Tom Lake the other day. I was spellbound by the tenderness of the story, coupled with the beautiful narration by Meryl Streep. There was no way to stop and pick it up again. Not even if I were to rewind it. I was having a moment that could not be interrupted. 

There was nothing I did not like about this novel by Ann Patchett. The story of a girl from New Hampshire, looking back from middle age, at a full life and all the choices she made. I wanted it to go on, but it worked itself out to just the right place and stopped. 

I loved the story, the settings, the characters, the nostalgia... along with the ache of it all. I reminisced about days in the theatre department at Marymount College in the late 70's and early 80's, and it made me want to find a production of "Our Town" to go and see at some community theatre. It also had me thinking of a drive to Michigan when the cherry trees are in bloom. 

For me, Tom Lake ranks right up there with The Dutch House (narrated by Tom Hanks), my previous favorite by Ann Patchett. I am giving it my highest recommendation.

P.S. Please give me the 4-1-1 if you are someone who travels to Michigan to see the cherry trees. 

productivity is the enemy of the porch

The more I sit on my porch, staring at the small piece of the world in front of me, the more I want to do it. Big birds soar on currents, kids ride their bikes by, squirrels think about planting nuts in my garden, wasps prowl on the periphery, breezes move the leaves, the fountain burbles, I hear Chris sneeze inside the house, an idea comes to me, I recall the popsicles mom made out of pineapple juice when we were kids, I sip coffee, I re-arrange myself in my chair. It's all wonderful. The key is to let go of any thoughts that there are more productive ways to use your time. Productivity is the enemy of the porch. 

I am well pleased with how this plant has performed out back in it's pot on the deck. Such a curious and interesting pattern of growth. Really the whole pot is doing well.

I have turned the heel and am headed towards the toe on these socks I want to wear with my Birkenstocks when it gets cold. Lows predicted to be in the 40's in the early morning this coming weekend. The needles are clicking. A second sock will have to be made. 

These strawberries were tasty. I ate them sliced up in a bowl of Wheaties with a few Cheerios dropped in for good measure. Sometimes you have milk that must be used before it starts to turn. You know what I mean. A bowl of cereal always makes me think of being a kid. Mom loved Puffa Puffa Rice - we hated it. She used Sucaryl and powdered milk in her cereal. How could that possibly have been good? She said it was. Who am I to question. 

There have been some great sunflower walks lately. 

The grasses are nice too.

Chris said "chili sounds good" the other day when we were talking about dinner menus. I agreed whole-heartedly and went on a search for the really good corn muffins from America's test kitchen that I like to make. 

We started watching season 1 of Hotel Portofino. I like it. Chris is going to give it one more episode to see if it hooks him. It will make excellent watching while sock knitting if I end up watching on my own. 

And with that, I conclude the whirlwind tour of what is happening as we move into September right here in Lawrence Kansas. Do share what you have been up to, if you can get yourself off your own porch. 

so I did

Dried flower arrangements are a sure sign of the coming of fall. The colors in this one are fantastic. The slightly minty green, the "berryish" red, along with all the variations of tan are unexpected and perfect. Not ready for full on fall but heading in that direction. 

Lunch box orange peppers? Apparently so named because they can be easily tucked in with your mid-day meal. Well they caught my eye for sure.

This caladium with the light coming through at the perfect angle, says nothing about fall to me, except if you had a room in your house with lots of windows and a Spanish tiled floor where you put your plants at the end of the season to keep them over for the winter. If I had one of those, I might start this right now. In that very room. The one with a big comfy chair for reading and dreaming in. 

I did not get mums get but only because my geraniums are still looking so good. I hope they have more of this color in the next month though. I love it. 

Almost as much as I loved this little boy with his dad. Carrying his own bag that he would fill with who knows what. Whatever he thinks looks like "the thing" he needs.

Like maybe some of these apples? Which by the way are delicious. With a sandwich for lunch, or on their own with peanut butter for any meal of the day. 

The sunflowers are so pretty right now. I also happen to love the design on the stickers from "Moon on the Meadow farm". The tuberoses are still available as well. 

Oh yes to the box of tomato seconds. Especially the backward "C" in the bottom left corner. Heirlooms are the best. 

These two were talking about something important, I didn't catch any part of the conversation because they would have wondered why I was eavesdropping, so I snapped the photo and kept walking. 

The bags of arugula made me very happy. 

Here is a shot of this weeks goodies. More bacon, lettuce, tomato, turkey, mayo, toast, sandwiches this week. They were so good last week. I also had to get some of the corn cookies from Chonky Sweets and Eats. 

Which did not stop me from also getting a slice of banana cake. OK, may I didn't have to, but it seemed important when I walked by to get both. So I did.

a red letter morning walk

I ventured over to the arboretum for a morning walk the other day, simply unable to consider another "neighborhood" walk. This decision, a very good one as it turns out, offered me a lovely sunrise, followed by a walk through a field of sunflowers. Along with unobstructed views of fields and sky.

Listen, every morning walk is pretty good, but if you are like me, you feel the need to mix things up so you can fully appreciate the beauty of nature. Today, in addition to the blue sky, clouds, green grasses, and trees, I saw a great blue heron fishing and listened to the splashing of a fountain. 

Oh and there was also this nice batch of purple thistle. All in all, a red-letter morning walk. 

if you are offended by cursing ...

I have just spent a very enjoyable number of days listening to this group of essays, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, written and read by David Sedaris. This is a selection that I might not have normally picked out as something to listen to, but a good friend of mine recommended it so I jumped in. With both feet. 

Oh my GOSH! It was fantastic. So many topics that I could relate to about family, travel, relationships, and just living everyday life... but so hilariously. Near the end there were also a few essays thrown in where he assumes personas/perspectives that are radically different. I covered my mouth in something like horror, and cringed a time or two and kept going. These were the essays that made me think (and still laugh - at the absurdity - nervous laughter... are there really people like this out there?). I absolutely LOVED it. Warning - if you are offended by cursing you should not listen. If however, you can roll with a well placed vulgarity, David Sedaris knows exactly how and where to use them. 

P.S. if you listened to this, please tell me you too almost wet your pants when he was telling the story of the family in the airport and one of the young people was wearing a t-shirt that he read out phonetically every time he said it.  I was crying. 

I did not say "howdy pardner"

There were raincoats AND shorts at the market on Saturday morning. I had an umbrella in my basket and a rain hat on my head. 

He rolled out of bed, threw on the crocs, and went as he was. I approve. 

We will be having turkey clubs this week with one of these big, juicy, amazing, flavor-filled, heirloom tomatoes.

I did not say "howdy pardner" when I saw this guy enjoying his piece of watermelon. But I wanted to. Instead I just asked to take his picture and he was happy to comply. 

There was a truck bed full of corn right next door to him. 

I grabbed a couple of these Italian sweet peppers even though I am not 100% sure what I will do with them yet... other than add them to a salad I mean. Anything can be added to a salad to spice it up. In my book. 

Will you look at these bottle openers and ice cream scoop. Who needs one for Christmas? 

There were colorful bouquets of flowers to brighten up every room in your house, and/or delight anyone you might want to buy one for.

Here is what came home in my basket.  

The cake was Pina colada this week. Packed with coconut and pineapple, it was moist and very, very, very, tasty.

Take my word for it. 

I am into building bridges

Happy Friday night... "ahh the weekend at last" sigh the working folk. As a part time employee don't think I still don't appreciate a weekend. It's kind of engrained in us isn't it... a well deserved 2 days off after a long week of work. 

Here is a garden update - the Bougainvillea is thriving. Good ratio of blooms (brackets) to greenery with this awesome fuchsia color.

I have been listening to the speeches from the Democratic National Convention on my morning walks since I can't stay awake late enough to catch the headliners. I think my walking speed is picking up as I listen. Lots of energy in these talks. I am into building bridges, I want us all to do better, that said I had to get a new tee-shirt.

I love the clever mind that came up with this idea. Almost as much as I love the reaction of Gus Walz when his dad was speaking. 

I had to try the blackberry bramble latte at Barkers on Mass today. Blackberry syrup with a hint of mint "we usually serve it cold but can do it hot". I worried the mint would overtake the blackberry. Nope. It was the kind of good that made me make mmmm noises with each sip. You know what I mean. 

How about a little Lawrence Kansas history lesson? This week marked the 161st anniversary of Quantrill's Raid on the city of Lawrence. William Quantrill was a leader of a guerrilla group of pro-confederates who attacked the town killing many unarmed men and burning homes and businesses. Lawrence was known to be supportive of abolition. There is an art and history exhibit up downtown at the Watkins museum right now. It's informative and small enough to digest in an hour. Also, not that it matters, Sylas and Maddie's ice cream store is directly across the street from the museum. I told Chris it's good to do things in your own town that you normally only do on vacation. The history AND the ice cream. They went together like peas and carrots, as Forrest Gump would say.

an experiential richness that can't be named

This week, at the August meeting of the Huff +1 lunch club, we tried to collectively recall, just how long we have been gathering for these luncheons. We each threw out a possible number, settling on somewhere between 4 and 8 years. 

Here we are at The Russell on main in Kansas City. I realized there has not ever, in the (however long) history of the lunch club, been a black and white photo of our group. Clearly an omission on my part. We had another enjoyable lunch with delightful conversation including the DNC, how it is that someone breaks into our homes at night and hides things from us, and the resiliency (or lack thereof) of humans when faced with hard things. A few podcast and book recommendations were shared, and Marti as always, amazed us with her knowledge of all things past and contemporary. 

After a review of the photo archives, I was able to find this photo from May 16th 2014. It may be that this was our first lunch, actually, the more I think about it, I am certain it was. Mom had died in February and it was at this lunch that I was officially "adopted" into the Huff family, after successfully completing all the application forms. 

As I reviewed my old planners, I realized that it was not until 2019 that we began to get really serious about getting something on the books monthly. Whoever decided that gets a medal, a badge, and a certificate. My friend Marti Huff brings something into my life that I can't get anywhere else. Don't ask me to identify exactly what "it" is. I can not. It's an experiential richness that can't be named. I'll leave it at that. 

If you go to The Russell in Kansas City, be warned it's loud inside... that said, the food is good, the seats are comfortable, and the carrot cake is out of this world and one slice will feed a party of four.