Mahler's Fifth Symphony

If you open your program and see words like "monumental" or "massive" describing a symphony, be prepared to warm your concert seat for a long time. You sure get your money's worth with a Mahler symphony. The "Mahlerian" scholars have written millions of words about this man and I have nothing to add, but Mahler probably summed it up best when he said, "the symphony should take in the whole world." We heard his 75 minute long Fifth Symphony on Sunday afternoon, after Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, which seemed like a little musical appetizer.

But speaking of appetizers, John took us out to the Wild Ginger Restaurant after the concert, a nice treat to kick off a week of vacation and family celebration. The only problem with Wild Ginger is everything on the menu sounds so good, it's hard to choose. So we had the three course sample menu for two, perfect! We'll be packing up the Honda and heading to Eastern Washington tomorrow. It looks like beautiful weather ahead for the Northwest, and we wish everyone safe travels to the wedding.

Marshmallo harvest

"When the frost is on the marshmallow and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock..."

(etc, etc, etc.)

http://bartleby.com/104/10.html

Thanks Dave, for the Enumclaw hay harvest picture. We have to do things a little differently up here in the damp northwest!

Bird watching

One of the best places to bird watch in Seattle is on the shore of Lake Washington, at the site of an immense old municipal dump called the Montlake Fill. This area has an interesting history. In 1916, long before the days of environmental impact studies, Lake Washington was lowered 9 feet to construct the Ballard locks and link Lake Washington with Puget Sound. After the water gushed out to the Sound, the mud and marsh that emerged was considered a wasteland, so the University of Washington leased it to the city as a garbage dump for the next 50 years. When the landfill finally closed, this artificially created landscape became the Union Bay Natural Area and one of the premier birding sites in the state.

The local Audubon Society leads birding field trips here almost every weekend. Even if you don't spot many birds, it's a nice place to take a Sunday walk, like we did recently. The place is crawling with serious birders, so on a good day you just have to lazily point your binoculars in the direction of their spotting scopes to see many birds.

"The Philosophical Baby"

How do babies think? What is it like to be a baby? Who hasn't wondered while walking the floor with an inconsolable infant, or making eye contact with a blissful gaze.

In this new book, Alison Gopnik makes a case that babies are actually more thoughtful and conscious of the world than adults. Because babies must learn so quickly, they pay attention to everything and are totally "into" the world around them. They absorb like sponges without making plans or judgments or worrying if learning is relevant to some future goal or plan.

She describes the "lantern" consciousness of childhood, as opposed to the "spotlight"of adult attention, which allows us to focus on a single task, like sitting at this computer. Baby consciousness is more like the meditative state adults practice so hard to achieve even for a few minutes at a time, and they do it without the slightest effort.

I enjoyed this book, but reading about babies is no substitute for the real thing! I can hardly wait to see our little Nova again, and we're leaving for the Methow Valley soon to help Amanda and Tom prepare for their big day on October 10.

Angel trumpets and missions

A friend of ours grew this angel trumpet, and she should be proud because they not easy to find (or grow) in our climate. I managed to keep one going for several years by lugging the pot in and out of the laundry room on freezing nights, but finally gave up. Although it is beautiful, all parts of this plant are very poisonous. This is one trumpet you don't want to blow, unless you're in a hurry to SEE the angels! :-)

The Datura Brugmansia grows into a big, beautiful, jaw-dropping tree in California. They remind me of the California Missions because you often see daturas blooming in the cloister gardens. Over several long California car trips, we managed to visit all 21 missions which are strung out at intervals along Highway 101 (the old "Camino Real") from San Diego north to Sonoma. John researched all the locations in advance-- most were easy to find, but others way off the beaten track. All these old missions are now historical sites, many have been beautifully restored and most are still working parish churches. They share a common history, but the architecture varies greatly from the rich and fancy Santa Barbara to down-to-earth San Miguel Archangel, with a vegetable garden and donkey named "Paco." We have favorites that we've visited several times, like Mission Sonoma, Mission San Diego and Mission San Juan Capistrano known for the swallows (and a fine taco stand across the street, if you ever go there.)

Anyway, thanks Tammy for sharing this picture, and hope you have good luck wintering it over.

Cake

There isn't anything special about this cake, its just a spice cake out of the box. But these candied pecans are very, very good. I found a recipe for candied walnuts in a stir fry book, which sounds weird because they topped a zucchini/garlic stir fry. But I used the same recipe for pecans and they are delicious on salads, cake, whatever. You can hide them in the freezer and just dole out a few at a time. In fact, better to keep them out of sight, or you might gobble them all down at once. The recipe is a bit of trouble, but worth it.

Candied Nuts
1/2 pound walnuts or pecans
2 tbs. honey
2 tbs. sugar
pinch salt
2 tbs. cooking oil

Cover the nuts with water in a small saucepan, and boil over high heat for 5 minutes. Immediately drain in a colander. In a 2 quart saucepan, mix the honey, water, sugar and salt. Bring this to a boil, then add the nuts. Stir and cook until the nuts become almost dry, several minutes. Spread the nuts in an even layer on a baking sheet, and bake in a 350 oven until they become a dark brown color (but not burned) about 12 minutes. Cool.

I have a friend who makes a delicious green salad with apples, nuts and dried cranberries. She gave me the recipe, but mine is never quite as tasty as hers. To a daily cook like me, there is just something about the pleasure of eating good food other people prepared.
Julie, these nuts would be perfect for that salad!