Cherries, Heat, and Missing Bits

Yesterday was another annual ritual - picking cherries from Bev's remarkably prolific little tree. It was a scorching hot day, but nice in the shade of her yard. We picked cherries, ate, cooled our feet (and the dog) in her metal tub (a repurposed cattle trough that she keeps cool water in for humans - not to drink!), picked more cherries. Now today I need to pull out the industrial pitter and prep about 6 pounds to freeze. The kids are singing the pie song. (All together now, "Pie pie pie. I like pie." Repeat. Repeat. Repeat... ) Anais was here visiting with her daughters, who like cherries too - a good thing! Today Reed and Vivian pitted enough cherries for our first pie of the season - with home made cherry ice cream! Read it and be jealous!

Some things I missed telling

On the weekend of May 30 I went up to Seattle with my mom. We stayed at the house of some very dear old friends, Pien and Tom, and celebrated the wedding of their son David.
It was marvelous to be up there - all of us who stayed in the house, as well as the bride's family and others, helped to cook, and prep, and cook, and prep, and had a great time hanging out together doing it. We told stories, and laughed a lot, and learned a few recipes. Pien has always been one of my heroes (what little girl wouldn't admire a vivacious, funny, pretty woman who tells it like it is and swears like a sailor?) and it was really nice to be able to be there and be part of such an important event.

Pien had a funny story about me that I didn't know. (I'm going to censor it slightly, but only because this is the internet.) When I was 4 and Bryan was 8, Pien and Tom babysat us one day. We went hiking, and it was really really hot. So when we got to a nice cold river, we all went skinny dipping to cool off. Apparently I checked Tom out thoroughly, and solemnly told him, "My father's _____ is MUCH bigger than yours!" Pien said the funniest part was that Tom didn't mind, but SHE got defensive and started to explain about cold rivers and male anatomy to me, before realizing that I was just 4 years old and it REALLY didn't matter!


Another trip I took this month was the 4th grade overnight field trip to the Gold Country. I say you haven't lived until you've spent 4 hours on a bus while 15 4th graders sing The Bazooka Gum Song, and the other 15 sing Wimoweh, very loudly. But a good time was had by all! Well, all but the parents foolish enough to sit in the back of the bus. We went to Malakoff Diggins State Park - saw the devastation that's still there, all these years later, from the hydraulic mining. It looks like the cliffs of Abiquiu in New Mexico - strange orange and white eroded shapes. We camped out, then the next day took a tour of a hard rock mine. It was really cool and, though I have to admit I was dreading it just a tad, I had a really good time.

Plus there's been live theatre - my mom took me, Carson & Reed to see The Wizard of Oz at the Mountain Play - it was very well done - they added some humor that helped a lot. Plus, the play is always a little unique because of the concessions they have to make on account of being on the side of a mountain, in a stone amphitheatre. For example, Glinda the Good Witch arrived from the sky by cherry picker, and the bad witch flew by in an airplane towing a "surrender Dorothy" banner (at least, we assumed it was her!) It was hot, but we survived, and the kids really had fun. Then, just this week, my mom and I went to see Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris - it was marvelously done. So I'm not feeling as totally uncultured as I usually do.
Add to that houseguests (I love guests -but so few are brave enough to stay in the House O' Bedlam) and cherries and I'm a happy camper!