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Monthly Archives: June 2012

The Little Sisters of the Poor and Peckish

Sister Patience, Mother Superior Here’s an update on the sisters of the convent adjoining Acorn Abbey. Though Sister Patience continues to hold office as Mother Superior, she is widely expected to announce her retirement when Sister Evangeline gets just a little bigger. Sister Evangeline: Her motto: Modius primoris, precor laxus (Peck first, pray later Sister […]

Fried squash

Last summer, I somehow resisted the temptation to make fried squash, partly because it makes a mess in the kitchen. But tonight, after coming home peckish from a county commissioners’ meeting and needing a snack, I opened the refrigerator, saw one of those beautiful yellow squash, and decided to fry it. Fried squash is a […]

Sauerkraut day

Of all the old-fashioned farm and kitchen chores I do, making sauerkraut is probably my least favorite. Yesterday I pulled all the cabbages. There was a wheelbarrow load. Six hours later I had two full crocks — about 30 pounds — of sauerkraut starting to ferment, plus a few heads of cabbage to eat fresh. […]

Magic always moves on …

Above: From an Armistead Maupin status update on Facebook So Armistead Maupin is leaving San Francisco. For those of you who have read his books (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, etc.), this is a big deal. That aura of myth and magic around San Francisco was […]

Normal weather at last??

My whole-house fan, as seen from the attic I am starting to feel optimistic that the frighteningly hot, dry, droughty weather of the past few years was abnormal, in spite of climate change. I am hoping that we are returning to more normal temperatures and levels of rainfall. When I say this, I am ignoring […]

The delocalization of religion

Watch this first, to better understand where I’m coming from Once upon a time, the gods were in your own back yard. To get an idea of how that might have felt — the wonder and magic of it — watch the video above. Or think of the world of fairy tales. Fairy tales, of […]