Apr 2009
Happy May Day!
April 30, 2009 10:08 Filed in: A bit of history
As an adult I’ve explored my celtic roots and learned that the month of May is about Beltane, which is celebrated in early to mid May. According to Wikipedia, “... Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands." The hills glowed with bonfires and May bushes of rowan or whitethorn were decorated with ribbons and flowers. It’s a “cross-quarter day,” midway between the vernal equinox and the solstice on June 21, our traditional first day of summer. For the ancient Celts, summer began in May and the solstice signaled “midsummer” -- the halfway point to harvest time! Interestingly, their year ends on October 31, but let’s talk about that closer to Halloween (one of my favorite days, in my favorite season).
I recently learned that May Day is also known as International Workers Day -- essentially Labor Day for the world beyond the United States and Canada. And its origins are right here in Chicago. To oversimplify a complicated (and very interesting) story, in May of 1886 a rally at Haymarket Square (just west of the loop) in support of a strike in support of the 8-hour work day turned violent -- a bomb was thrown, shots were fired, and a number of civilians, strikers and police officers were killed. Eight men were charged with a police officer’s murder; six of them were sentenced to die. They became martyrs for the international movement toward an 8-hour workday, and May 1 became their worldwide day of commemoration. In other words, people died so we could work 9-to-5! To disassociate from those turbulent events, our Labor Day was established on the first Monday in September, while almost everywhere else in the world it is celebrated -- with similar turbulence -- today.
Of course, none of this should be mistaken for “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” the common distress call rooted in the French phrase “m’aider” meaning “help me!” A lot of us are in distress these days -- over lost jobs, the daunting task of finding new employment in a desiccated job market, shrinking retirement accounts, the sluggish housing market, swine flu. I’m sure many people are having moments when they feel like things are hopelessly spinning out of control and they want to shout “Mayday!” while they grope for the eject button and the parachute ripcord. We all deserve a break from the gloom, and I'm taking mine today. In keeping with my daydream of a lovely, peaceful place in the country, I shall recall my childhood celebration of May 1 as a day of flowers, sunshine (hopefully) and surprises. No matter what you do this May 1 ... Happy May Day to you!
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Nightcap at noon.
April 25, 2009 05:37 Filed in: In the kitchen
The sherry sipping came on the heels of some mid-morning scone baking, inspired by the promise of a visit by my friend and knitting buddy Wendy. I made “classic scones” cut into heart shapes, and cheddar scones, except I used dill havarti cheese and some parmesan. And I didn’t have chives so I put in 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder and some dried parsley. Both recipes are from the “Taste of Scotland” edition of Bon Apetit magazine. I love to browse through this issue (and the Ireland issue) and dream about the day we take our honeymoon to Scotland.
I couldn’t fit all the cheddar scones into the pan and didn’t feel like cooking two batches, so I plopped blobs of excess dough on the top of each one, like mini brioche. Kenny pronounced them delicious!
Happy Earth Day!
April 21, 2009 10:54 Filed in: In the kitchen | This and that
Since we’re not yet ready to build a compost heap in the back yard, install solar panels on the roof, buy a new hybrid car, or start collecting rain water to feed the garden, we’re going to celebrate by ... digging into some dirt cups! Yummy chocolate pudding (instant) mixed with whipped cream (from a tub) and crushed Oreos (low-fat), plopped into pretty recycled glass juice glasses (environmentally friendly), and topped with gummy worms and more crushed Oreo "dirt." Fast, easy, delish. What better way is there to honor our precious Earth AND make our tummies happy? Make some, eat and enjoy. Then go outside and hug a tree!
Seeing stars.
April 20, 2009 10:20 Filed in: Science gal
Looking for a little nighttime thrill? If you happen to be awake very early on Wednesday morning -- say about 3:30 a.m. -- go outside to watch the Lyrid Meteor shower! Even though we don't have the darkest skies, being just outside of how-orange-can-we-make-the-night-sky Chicago, I've seen meteor showers before in this area and it's pretty darned magical! Dress warmly and bring something hot to sip. Then lay back on a lawn chair or lie down on a blanket, and point your eyeballs to the sky.
I like tracking meteor showers and other celestial events such as aurora displays (there was an amazing display that lit up the skies back in 2003, and almost everyone in the entire midwest missed it!), brighter than usual planets, International Space Station flybys, moon phases, and the like. With the best of intentions, I get excited about meteor showers. I mark them on my calendar, and check the weather forecast in the hopes of having clear skies. Naturally they are best seen in the middle of the night when the skies are darkest and, not surprisingly, when I'm usually asleep. So I keep missing them. Oh, you’re usually asleep in the middle of the night too? No wonder we keep missing these meteor showers!
If you don’t happen to catch any shooting stars, then you still might see a satellite flyby of some sort on Wednesday morn. (Substitute your local zipcode at the very end of that link to see the flyby schedule in your 'hood.) Even though the flybys themselves aren’t tremendously spectacular -- really just a quiet steady light that cruises peacefully across the sky -- it’s pretty amazing to know there are people in that thing. Or you might literally see some space junk or a toolbag dropped by an astronaut. Again, mostly just specks of light traveling slowly overhead, but I am fascinated that this stuff is orbiting above us while we go about our business on the mother planet.
If you don’t happen to catch a flyby then keep an eye out for the Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter converging at dawn. Satisfy your inner astronomy geek at the SpaceWeather site, which has lots of great user-submitted photos of planets, satellites, and awesome pictures of the northern lights.
And if all that isn't enough for you even before you have breakfast, Wednesday is also Earth Day! Maybe you should take Wednesday off.
I like tracking meteor showers and other celestial events such as aurora displays (there was an amazing display that lit up the skies back in 2003, and almost everyone in the entire midwest missed it!), brighter than usual planets, International Space Station flybys, moon phases, and the like. With the best of intentions, I get excited about meteor showers. I mark them on my calendar, and check the weather forecast in the hopes of having clear skies. Naturally they are best seen in the middle of the night when the skies are darkest and, not surprisingly, when I'm usually asleep. So I keep missing them. Oh, you’re usually asleep in the middle of the night too? No wonder we keep missing these meteor showers!
If you don’t happen to catch any shooting stars, then you still might see a satellite flyby of some sort on Wednesday morn. (Substitute your local zipcode at the very end of that link to see the flyby schedule in your 'hood.) Even though the flybys themselves aren’t tremendously spectacular -- really just a quiet steady light that cruises peacefully across the sky -- it’s pretty amazing to know there are people in that thing. Or you might literally see some space junk or a toolbag dropped by an astronaut. Again, mostly just specks of light traveling slowly overhead, but I am fascinated that this stuff is orbiting above us while we go about our business on the mother planet.
And if all that isn't enough for you even before you have breakfast, Wednesday is also Earth Day! Maybe you should take Wednesday off.
Spring Cleaning in the Garden.
April 18, 2009 08:25 Filed in: Gardening
Sweet little primroses look on as the detritus of last year's growing season
collects on the front sidewalk.
Our big stripey kitty Mr. Sass loves to roll around in the fresh green grass!
He gets covered with dirt and is as happy as a ... well, as a cat in dirt.
