little things

"To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization."

H.B Stowe

And not a virtue that I am anywhere close to achieving.

This shot is not part of serendipitous visuals, but it was the first time I was present for those city-wide processions that occur when a police officer is killed.  They shut down the main roads by my place and I stood on my balcony for over twenty minutes worth of watching car after car after car pass by.  The uplifting bit I took inside with me was how much one life can impact the world.  Which, after this aggravating work week, was a good pull back into perspective thinking.

To end on a lighter note...this whimsical candle holder was given to me when I left my steady paycheck and launched into graduate school.  I did use it as a candle holder that first summer and then when I needed laundromat monies, it amused me to use it as a coin holder.  The import of this shot is, that for the first time in it's existence, it is overflowing.

a dime, no dozen

The magnificent moonrise last night.

the day's earnings....

Went for a puddle-hopping walk today and found an odd mailbox, nailed to a wall with a large sign saying "NOT a U.S. post box.  Free poem, help yourself."  (sorry, no photo; evidently I'm going to need one of those nifty scuba cameras for my winter wanderings.)  So, today's poetry is a gift from Guy Holliday a Capitol Hill writer.

Kowloon Entry

Bristling white, the towers rise to starboard

hard against the backdrop of the green hills.

The sky's morning grey is gone and black

and white and green and blue turn to.

Bright footings soft along the shore

cut through the heavy air, the dew unset.

The bow comes round and more revealed

the discipline gives way--

the buildings surge and preen and there

to port the pleasure point we lay to.

Men with mooring lines prepare to

make us fast.

We join and hold the breath of time

of tales untold.

wilder, be

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.

Rumi

I just finished my twelve-week readings and exercises in this book.  I've noticed subtle shifts in my viewpiont and wonder if these joyful days are a result of doing the practices of this course.  Whatever the cause, I am reveling in the minute inner transformation that seems to be bubbling around. 

a lifetime of days

"It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny.  But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days.  It is that simple.  What you see is what you get."

Annie Dillard from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Wealth by Jiang Tiefeng

spiciness

Spice–noun
1. any of a class of pungent or aromatic substances of vegetable origin, as pepper, cinnamon, or    cloves,  used as seasoning, preservatives, etc.
2. such substances collectively or as material.
3. a spicy or aromatic odor or fragrance.
4. something that gives zest: a spice of humor in his solemnity.
5. a piquant, interesting element or quality; zest; piquancy.
6. Archaic. a small quantity of something; trace; bit.

Was out of cinnamon and my favorite chili/tabasco sauce, so a trek to the local Cost Plus was the adventure of the day.  It's over five miles of walking, so there was much to see.

Very hard to see, but there is poetry along the walls of the main bus terminal.

A closer look; it's very cool because it makes sense reading it horizontally, as well as vertically.

As my kitchen is a rather stark black and black, thought it was time to retire the black towels and get something peppier!  And the Eiffel Tower motif was fitting as it's time to renew my passport.

Another penny found as I was headed into the shop to get my passport photos taken.  With the thousands of days that I've lived, the three days that I've gotten my photos taken for my passport are so vivid in memory.  I was 18 when I got my first one and had no idea of the fascinating worlds that were going to be explored with this magic blue book.  As Dr. Seuss would say, "Oh, the places you'll go!"

Wonder where the next decade will take me?

And my receipt from the spice purchases yielded a FREE movie pass!  Saving it for a rainy day--which in Seattle isn't a long time to save anything....

november breakfast

I do not know why my camera will not focus at the moment, so I apologize for the blurriness of these shots.  These are the jeweled pomegranate seeds that I shelled out.

Pumpkin creme brulee, hanging out with an icon of its ancestry.

This is a serious contender for the honour of being my birthday cake this year.  For those who are unacquainted with my taste buds, I absolutely loathe cake and substitute other baked goods for my annual celebration of my birth.  I received a mini-butane torch a couple of years ago and enjoy torching many things in my kitchen.  Unfortunately, this week it was my finger that got sugar molten onto to the tip.  Not a good maneuver!

Here's the recipe from the Bonjour book on creme brulee:

Mellow Pumpkin

Ingredients

1/4 cup          pumpkin

1/4 cup          sour cream

3                    egg yolks

1/4 cup          firmly packed brown sugar (either light or dark)

2 T                granulated sugar

1/8 t              allspice

1/8 t              cinnamon  (yeah right, I used more like 1 T)

pinch            nutmeg

pinch            salt

1/2 cup         heavy cream

Method

Preheat oven to 300 F.  In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the cream.  Stir the pumpkin mixture with a small whisk for a full minute.  Set aside.

Put the cream in a saucepan and stir while heating, just to the point of boiling.  Whisk the cream into the pumpkin mixture in small amounts until all is blended, stirring for a full minute.

Pour the mixture through a fine strainer.  Place 4 (4 oz) ramekins in a bain marie.  Fill with the pumpkin mixture (I have to laugh at recipes--what else would you be pouring in there?  Cheerios?) and place on an oven rack slightly below the middle of the oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or less if centres are softly set.

Cool the ramekins until comfortable to handle.  Cover with wrap and refrigerate from 1 hour to 2 days before using.  When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and sprinkle sugar on each ramekin and torch to carmelize.

 Bon appetite!

unending delights

chevre souffles

aren't they lovely?  I add cayenne, so they're quite piquant.

a penny found on 7th and Pike

Was fortunate enough to see the closing night production of La Traviata.  Gorgeous set and lighting design and some rather stellar singing.  And!  A nice dinner at the Sorrento Hotel which I wrote about previously.  A yummy wild mushroom risotto was enjoyed.

With forgiveness asked of Seattlites, this just is not as stunning as the SF Opera House.

But it was still a good evening of good music.

And the good music trend continued this morning with some glorious trumpet and Vaughan Williams to kick off the All Saints celebration and my favorite month of the year.   Happy November, all.