A belated Happy Hannukah to my friends out there who celebrate.

Wanted to post some pictures from a recent Urban Expedition. Also wanted to talk about another added bit of fuel to my neurotic fire about returning to France in the near future. All this is getting put on the back burner, because Harry's back from Africa, safe and sound, and that trumps all.

Pavel tells me that the hamburglers are out again by the Mystic. He heard the high-pitched calling, approached a blueberry bush and scared a half dozen or so out.

Hooray!

Had noticed that, when I'm down, tend to isolate myself when the healthiest thing is probably to be reaching out.

Tried a bit at breaking the feedback loop I'm in and find that, actually, am feeling a bit better for having done so. Things aren't great, but they could certainly be a whole heck of a lot worse.

Pho.

Am on a quarterly schedule with a lot of friends - not bad or good, just is so. Actually, I think that an awful lot of folks run on that sort of calendar due to life changes, etc. At holiday time, it gets worse. Family issues strike, even more so. Anyway, one of the brighter sparks in my life that'd been somewhat reduced to a distant glimmer, came back into the foreground lunchtime today*. Enjoyed the food, particularly enjoyed the company.

Generally, we opt for Asian food of some sort, so decided on the relatively new pho place around the block and down the street from me. Now, I like them; have found the basics that I like and that should be good to be perfectly fine**. He gets out a bit more than I do to such restaurants, so was curious about his take on things. Started off with the summer rolls and an order of tod mun***. Was first off charmed that the fish cakes were obviously made by hand, hot and fresh. The sauce was wonderfully perfumed with citronella and coriander. Could feel myself smiling automatically at the taste. Nothing to complain about on the summer rolls, either, save that we couldn't eat all of what they'd given us in order to save room for the soup.

My friend had the pho ga (chicken), while I had bo vien (beef with meatballs). I think he was happy with his; I know that I enjoyed mine. Heck, didn't even feel the need to spice it up with pepper paste or the sweet sauce. Just enjoyed it nature, with the fresh basil and sprouts. As we'd been debating pronunciation of the name, got the definitive answer from the waitress: [fə], just like the French feu****.

Lunch over, time to get back to life. Should get out more to see folks, to lunch in general. Glad that there's a pretty good so far Vietnamese place in the neighborhood. They're actually kind of few and far between north of the Charles.

***

* Am trying my darndest to not reference flickering shadows on a cave wall.

**Summer rolls, bun, Vietnamese crepe. The last is one of my favorite comfort foods, and I think theirs is particularly luscious.

***A serious favorite of mine, but always fraught with hazard. Have ordered this in much more expensive restaurants and have been served what seemed like fish sticks served with a dipping sauce.

****I've read that the pho comes from 'pot au feu.' Makes sense. Come to think of it, most of the soups I make tend to be less French soups than pots au feu; in fact, unless I make something specifically French like an Onion Soup or a veloute, we generally call it pot au feu.

Yesterday, got a phone call from an old neighbor, then ran into another on at the grocery store. Ran into a third on the walk back. Somehow I think that someone's trying to tell me something - like maybe I should stop being so miserable, get out some and see friends? (Don't know.)

It's That Time of Year Again.



Many of these are in the process of being knitted/sewn together/stuffed. All will be revealed a week from Sunday; don't want to ruin the surprise.

The day wasn't a total loss, though: went north to the wilds of Woburn to pick up some more cat medicine and got to visit the Starbucks Drive Thru again. (Love that thing). Took a state route back instead of 93 just to take a look around. Held a spectacular sunset to the right shoulder all the way home.

Ran into the neighbors who were heading out to dinner, so joined them at the Highland Kitchen a little ways away. Dinner was darn good (comfort food), but the real attraction was the company.

Took some valerian and, while waiting for that to kick in, will continue to read about Audubon's adventures in England after he finally convinced his wife to join him.

(Good night.)

Pavel's back from his annual trip to shores farther north of here, so the household's seeing a fair bit of activity.

Am really really happy he's back; the house is too big and lonely otherwise.

"...For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)/it's always ourselves we find in the sea."



Ripples in the sand at Sandy Point.

Spent some Quality Time with the Pavel and his sister on Plum Island yesterday. I share the quotidien with Pavel, so often miss the forest through the trees in his case. Anna, though she lives so nearby, is someone I don't spend nearly enough time with. This is hammered home each time I do see her. Idem for the Sea. (More pictures here, if you're interested.)



I was trying for a candid shot of Anna, but Pavel ended up walking on scene. Love it when he does that. Adds interest.

Toured Hellcat Swamp, looked at* birds at Sandy Point, then had dinner at The Grog**. Really, could there be a better way to end Summer?



Off into the sunset.

***

* As opposed to "birdwatching." We see birds and identify them. We do NOT go out to remote places with expensive equipment and identify plastic shopping bags as eagles.

** For an appetizer, we had squash ravioli with a cranberry-apple-apple cider sauce. Anna had the Sole Almondine with a really nice homemade pilaf. I had the Meatloaf special (luscious!), and Pavel had the burgah of the day. Wasn't totally happy with it; said was kind of gilding the lily with the port wine cheese and rosemary ham. Oh well, two outta three ain't bad.)

This reminds me:

I haven't talked to Raphaella in a while. Really need to do that.

Fourth of July, Salem, MA

A picture perfect end to what turned out to be a gift of a day:



Anna keeps insisting that her brother's adopted. I'm not convinced.



Flyover! The building in the lower left hand corner is the Salem Custom House, where Nathaniel Hawthorne (who, coincidentally, was born on the Fourth of July) worked for a spell.



Fireworks! Salem really put on a nice show. The moon offset rather than outshowed the rockets.

(More pictures here, in case you're interested.)

While Pavel and the Frenchie worked on a birdhouse (almost done! just needs to be finished. The Frenchie recommends canola oil.), I got the garden plot measured out, cut into and bordered. Got the soil mixed and heaped up in the center of things just before the rain started, so it looks kind of like a newly-dug grave. Pavel took a couple boards, nailed them into a cross and hammered it in. Ought to give the neighbor a bit more food for thought with tomorrow morning's stogie.

Not a big garden - only about 4' x 5' - but should be enough to keep me out of trouble this season. When the weather improves (hopefully by the end of the week; we'll see.), I plan on evening things out and planting the lettuce, pea seeds and radish seeds. After that, tomatoes, cukes, bok choy. Will have to get some more containers for the herbs (sage, thyme, oregano, tarragon, lavender, marjoram, mint) as I used my two big ones up on the strawberries.

***

Time now for a late tea, showers for everyone, an even later dinner, than some other work (reading on Fascism for class and this.) Pavel and the Frenchie are going to attempt this tonight. (Wish them luck).

The Frenchie is slated to arrive sometime this afternoon. Unfortunately, there was some sort of delay at Roissy because (of all things) a truck hit the airplane and repairs needed to be done.

Made a ratatouille and a pork loin pour casser la croute, as I think that both the Frenchie and Pavel (who went back to visit family) are going to be wiped out when they eventually get home.

In less than two weeks, Paris comes to Boston again. Can't wait.

Not a tremendous lot of things went on today. That's good, given what the past few weeks have been like.

Heard from the Frenchie - he got back from the hospital okay. Nothing terribly wrong; all things in order for now.

Got some paperwork together for school stuff. Everything's not completely in order, but, well, close enough for jazz or government work or whatever.

Went out to visit my best gal Aimee at work today - it'd been ages since I'd seen her; heck, maybe haven't seen her since before Christmas. Was good to catch up. She's had her own craziness going on, what with a family, school, the place I used to work for to juggle. Though my life's been nuts the past couple years, at least I don't have a toddler and a rotten job to deal with.

Had a good walk up and down Cambridge Street, talked about crazy moms, guys, school. Ran errands and window shopped. Ducked into our favorite yuppie bah (Bukowskis) for chili dogs and sodas, then went on our ways.

Checked out the bank balance, and was none too pleased by that. Will have to get the resume out and find another petit boulot to stave off dipping into the savings again (am saving that for a later, hopefully sunnier day). Am not looking forward to the runaround involved.

Had a loverly walk home, as the sun finally came out. Actually was able to take off the coat and swing it over my shoulder like Fred Astaire or something. Gosh, life is good sometimes.

I mentioned the housemate making pancakes yesterday because he wasn't too worried about getting into work late. It was nice to have him around in the morning, to sit, talk and to watch the birds. However, the news of his impending layoff is kind of weighing on him.

Myself, I've been pretty cavalier about leaving my job last August. I'm not too worried about finding un petit boulot to tide me over until I do decide to find serious work again, either. I've never really defined myself by what I've done for a living. Pavel's a bit different, though. He's always worked in his line of work, rather to the detriment of other aspects of his life. Though he's all set financially and, to be honest, he didn't really even *like* the work he was doing, this is a bit of a setback for him. A huge chunk of time is now going to need to be filled and, well, though they let him off easy, he still got dumped. That hurts.

I suggested that, as soon as work's done (end of the month), he take a vacation. He'd been to Hawaii before and absolutely loved it. Why not spend more than just two weeks there? Afterwards, there're plenty of around the house projects to work on (setting up the dining room, for example) and Spring planting to do. I'd love that he take a cooking course, as well. Oh, and maybe take a class somewhere, too. (His degree's in Mathematics, but he's worked as a programmer forever. Has spoken about doing some work in CS/theoretical programming. Might be good for him. Get him out of the house a bit). The Frenchie would love it, too, if he'd come visit Paris.

All this is not really a crisis, and there's so much opportunity for him. I'm hoping for the best, as he has all sorts of potential.

Seven Courses?

Crudites / relish tray

Welsh Rarebit

Mushrooms with sausage stuffing

Pumpkin Soup with Molasses cream

Squash with fruit stuffing (dates, walnuts, figs, raisins, apples, cranberries)



Chuck pretending to be a Warner Brothers Cartoon Headhunter with a leftover stuffed squash.

Turkey and Ham with Fixings: green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, yams with brown sugar, oyster stuffing, orange pineapple jello mold, Watergate Salad (complete with copy of Alice's Restaurant), potato rolls, biscuits...

Dessert: Pies, pies and more pies. I had a bit of cherry cheesecake that someone had brought along.

Washed it all down with some of this. It's not really good wine, and one seldom is able to manage more than a few sips, but am such a sucker for the posters announcing its arrival every year.



The label's particularly pretty this year.

There were plenty of breaks for naps, conversation and keeping up dishes (a necessity, as Shanna's kitchen is pretty small). Chuck and I also got into running around the house in between courses. Don't know that any amount of exercise or pacing would have saved us from feeling like just-fed boas afterwards, though.

Well, I'd intended to spend the day alone doing work. Didn't quite work out that way.

Essentially, got an unexpected visit from friends who'd originally invited me to their place and was all but shanghaied. As Chuck put it, "everybody should have dinner today, even if it means dragging them out of their house in their pajamas."

He was right, I had a very good time (though am overstuffed - it was a seven course meal). Sometimes your friends know better than you what's best for you.

Pavel helped make dinner today. Actually, he did most of the work, and pretty well, too.

For a starter we had cucumbers with some saucisson sec I picked up at the cheese market and a bit of feta.

The main dish was sweet sausage sauteed with onions, peppers and mushrooms.

Dessert, a bit of yogurt with dried fruit.

He's getting there.