TGIF

Another nice week of Summer has gone by and I have to look at the calendar to see if I did anything exciting. I would say not unless you think cleaning the church fits in that category or reading a really good book or trying a new recipe or just taking care of the garden flowers and herbs.
The flowers are blooming and herbs are providing us with new flavors daily in our meals. I keep most herbs in large pots on the patio and they need watering every day. Our vegetable garden has taken off and we should see red tomatoes next week especially if the heat wave we are told is coming actually happens. The leaf lettuce magically produced yet another crop and I have bouquets of basil in my kitchen and find myself just picking one and eating it as I am working in the kitchen. An organic snack that is tasty and almost calorie free. Looking at my Vidalia onions in the pantry made me realize I had to do something with at least three of them as didn't want them to start getting mushy on me. I use onions in many dishes but just to make them as a main dish? Didn't have a clue till I just happened to see Sandra Lee on The Food Network make Balsamic Roasted Onions. I had all the ingredients in my kitchen so made it yesterday and yummy was the result. It was easy as you put the onions in a ziplock bag to marinade in the fridge for a few hours in a balsamic salad dressing, tarragon, garlic bath. Then in a 400 degree oven just roast them for about 25 minutes. Not only tasty but smells wonderful while baking.
My newest fiction character hero is Jack Reacher. I sometimes find myself not breathing as I read his exploits. He is outrageous and a deadly killer but a huge likeable guy who travels around the USA mostly by walking and just taking in the sights. He travels with no bags and makes me wish my Life could be so decluttered. Reacher is ex military, cop and hero all the time. Just pick up any of the 14 best sellers by Lee Child and you have pure escape yet you also learn from the character. I just finished "One Shot" which will be made into a movie.
About cleaning at my church. I really don't want a job at this point in my life but to do some honest and appreciated work for St. Mary's is a no brainer. I am slowly realizing as I have gone the last three weeks that there are many parishioners involved in running a church and isn't this what taking care of our piece of the planet is all about and I am blessed to serve.

Harry Potter

Yesterday I went to see the new Harry movie 'Half blood Prince' and truly enjoyed it.
I was introduced to Harry Potter by Kat and Steven when they were about the same age as the three main characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Seeing them made me remember going to see the latest Harry movie which a few times coincided with Steven's birthday The kids loved the books and one Summer Sue had to buy them each their own hard cover book so they wouldn't fight over who got to read it first.
One of my favorite Hallmark stores had a Christmas in July sale and sold all the Harry Potter stuff for half off.......I swooped on it all and made sure I had two of what I bought and that became their birthday themes in October and November. I still remember Steven looking at Kat's presents and saying "Hey, I want that Hogwarts banner too".........I then had to tell him don't worry your birthday is next month.
I have seen more kids and adults reading these glorious books and I say Hurrah for JKRowling for bringing back reading for the masses. The books have been a publisher and bookstore dream and you don't ever see them in garage sales. Methinks there are many homes with their own Harry Potter library proudly on display.

Churchill neighborhood walks

I have been taking short early morning walks around our hood. I was inspired by a book called 'The Path' by Chet Raymo in which he relates his thoughts on walking the same one mile path from his home to a college campus where he taught physics and astronomy. He recognized that his path was commonplace to everyone and we all have such routes in our lives. He opened my eyes to the realization that there is wonder in even a short walk around our block. A few mornings ago I set out and immediately noted that every door had a big colorful Comcast advertisement hanging from the knob. Since it was 0930 I started wondering how many folks even used their front doors . We have been going in and out of our garage door for years. Then I started noticing that many homes seemed to use their garages as storage rather than to park the car. You see how this can work....open your eyes and start really looking.
There was an apple tree with fruit on the ground in the parkway that looked very tempting but I just couldn't bring myself to pick one up. Did this not belong to the owner? I had to refer to my mantra borrowed from Robert Fulghum that "All I Really need to Know I learned in Kindergarten"..........don't take things that aren't yours. Feeling very elated about that I wandered on to other streets and enjoyed looking at the flowers and veggies being grown in folk's front yards. I saw corn, pole beans, artichokes, tomatoes and many herbs. It is enjoyable walking at this time of year. I suspect I will be a fair weather walker but am trying to make it a routine.
If Chet Raymo could walk the same path for forty years, I will strive to do it for 365 days.

Tour de France 2009

I have been following the race and highly recommend checking out two websites for those who can't see it live. www.letour.fr/
www.versus.com
The race is a wonderful way to see the scenery of France.........I have especially enjoyed watching the stages in southern France as we were there last year in May. Provence is truly gorgeous with magnificent history, food and wine. We enjoyed the countryside very much and had pleasant times with our French families.
The Tour saved me from the MTV aka CNN coverage of the gloved one. I enjoyed the child star and the early music before "King of Pop" descended into total wierdness. My happy solution to escape the wall to wall coverage was letour in the morning ........turn off tv during day. Sit on deck in evening and read the real news online. Actually I find myself reading news online as I can go to the article I want and read it without the dribble drabble of tv. My home page online is the New York Times and trust me the gloved one wasn't the only topic to find on their site. We do subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and another good one online to escape the tv fascination with celebrity idiots. I had to really cruise tv last evening for one reason........to check on Obama's trip to Russia and did I find anything? I rest my case.
Bonnie, a OPB mind in a MTV world.

Juillet

July arrived in sweltering fashion with temperatures in the 90's for our valley. Today it is cool and overcast reminding me once again that truly hot days have their own mystique. Going outside to feel that warmth and total sun knowing that you can dash in and get that glass of cold iced tea and become instantly refreshed. The heat tells us to slow down or even stop to savor this moment. Today is refreshing in the coolness but I miss the sun already.
The Fourth of July is a busy time in Eugene. We have The Butte to Butte race, Art in the Vineyard, Rodeo, Ems baseball game, and many excuses to do our Summer food. Most folks enjoy a simple burger or hot dog cooked on the grill. I have a "flag cake" that I have made over the years mostly because it is easy and uses fresh fruit in season. Oregon strawberries are smaller but sweeter and we are eating the berries as they arrive. Going to the Farmer's Market downtown is an enjoyable activity and we have learned to embrace the local farmers. We even buy our pork and beef from local farmers. Our little garden has been producing leaf lettuce since we got home Memorial Day weekend and looks like we are going to have a bumper tomato crop. I have picked zucchini for salad as they were small but looking forward to putting the big ones on the grill with a drizzle of olive oil.
This Summer I have used all red, white and blue decor outdoors. It is working well to celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July and soon Labor Day and 911 Day..........seems like a natural for this proud American.
Bonnie

No Shame Show July 3rd

On Friday we had our second No Shame Show at the Atrium building in downtown Eugene. It was over 90 degrees outside and downtown was dead in the afternoon, but somehow we still packed the house to standing room only -- maybe 70-80 folks-- not bad for "the new kid on the street."

Steven, Jesse and I did a mock security checkpoint at the entrance as "Drunken Viking Secuirty Service,", complete with Viking helmets and plastic battle axes. People had to pass through a mock metal detector and pat down search to be sure all bad attitudes and heckles were left at the door.

We had a good turnout of writers and scripts, and a couple had to be turned away for next time. We had a full 15 monologues and skits, to make a complete show. I did an opening skit called, "How to No Shame" so new people could see what we do.

-- Mike