Memorial Day Hospitality Lesson

Memorial Day brought us, at long last, a warm sunny day. It's been a rainy spring around here and even though I'm a little sunburned and a little too warm I'm glad for summer weather.

It was the perfect day to try out the Gurnee Park District aquatic center. Wow. I cannot imagine a place better suited to our family. Water, water everywhere! Shallow water, deep water, spraying water, sliding water. The main attraction for Sam, Jude & Owen yesterday was jumping off into water about 3-4 feet deep. Through a waterfall. Sam and Jude could do it on their own. One note to self: more suntan lotion on my back next time.

When we got home we watched our neighbors set up for a big family birthday party. They had a bounce house and lots of long tables and spent hours clearing out the yard to get ready for a crowd. Ben stopped over to encourage them to use the empty church parking lot and our family was invited to join them. We had some afternoon plans and wouldn't want to impose so we planned to stay home.

Then the doorbell rang around 4:30 and it's Juan (the dad) and Mimi (11-yr-old daughter) inviting us again. Offering to take the boys over and we can stay home. These are fantastic neighbors.

We know this family a little bit from sharing the bus stop. Their youngest daughter Keren is Jude's age and attends preschool at the public school. All of us are a little reserved and since Juan is most comfortable speaking Spanish and we are most comfortable speaking English our relationship has grown s-l-o-w-l-y. This invitation was a big deal.

So off we went to meet the clan. We brought along the two friends who'd come for a holiday cookout. No one batted an eye at 7 strangers walking into the party. The boys ran (of course!) to the spiderman bounce house. We had incredibly hot and delicious grilled corn in our hands in 60 seconds. I wound up talking with 14-year-old Cindy, who might be the most sophisticated teenager I've ever met. She talked about career plans, clearly described her very realistic anxieties about high school, explained why she hoped for babysitting work this summer. I think I can help her out with that last bit about babysitting.

We finally met all 5 kids in the family, ages 21 to 4, and left with bags full of treats from the pinata and an invitation to the next family birthday party in June.

It was a stunning experience. I still feel overwhelmed by the effort that was put into making us feel welcome at a party that seemed to have nothing to do with us. That's a good neighbor.

Life with Veggies: A Preview

I mentioned this winter that we've subscribed to a CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm for the summer. We'll start picking up our weekly share in mid-June and last Saturday we got to visit 'our' farm.

We chatted with the chickens, fed grass to the goats, walked through the hoophouse, greenhouse, egg-washing station, and the fields. Sam was first in line every time the farmer pulled a radish or a carrot up to show us what's growing. It was more of a hoarding project than a culinary experiment for him. You have to start somewhere, I suppose.

A couple of nights ago I came across an essay by a woman who's suffering from a little veggie fatigue. I could barely read the thing because I was laughing so hard I couldn't keep my eyes open. I haven't picked up a single box of turnips and carrots but I can already see how this might go: a few weeks of vigorous, life-affirming creativity will segue to a fridge full of rotting, socially-responsible produce.

It's nice to know in advance that I will not be alone.

So if I call you this summer and beg you to come make dinner for me using the food I already have, or if you leave your car unlocked and find a bag full of tomatoes and swiss chard in the front seat, you'll know why.

Flower Garden Favorites

The boys asked me to take their pictures next to their favorite flowers (the only things blooming in our yard right now).

This geranium is my favorite. It had one bloom when I planted it a week ago.

Spring!

I am sitting on my deck right now. Jude and Owen are arguing over the rules of their t-ball game. There are newly planted flowers in the corner of the yard below me. It's a good afternoon.

Last weekend a gardening friend took me to a native plant sale - every thing on the shelves likes living in northern Illinois. I'm told that means they'll be hardy and endure more operator error than most plants. I hope it's true.

We have a big yard with not much other than grass and some gorgeous maples and evergreens. I'm having a good time planning and planting but it's hard to focus my attention. Ben and I have put new flower beds outside the gate (the main path to & from church) and inside the fence. Below our deck is a square of lawn about 12x12 feet and I hope to eventually make that all garden. I came across a shade-loving variety of japanese maple tree this weekend and think something like that might work nicely.

I also want to pull out the shrubs by our front door and plant perennials (hostas?) there. And a tree at the end of the house. And get something going in the back part of the yard (sumac? chokeberry?). And fill in the 4-foot-wide strip between the fence and the parking lot. A friend says she has black-eyed susans to spare and they'd probably go there.

Someday it may all be as I imagine. Or, more likely, I'll change my mind next week.