Signs of Summer

It's summer in Seattle! How do I know?

• We can make sun tea on the porch - most days, at least.
• I can hang the laundry to dry on the porch - again, on most days.
  
• Michael even cleaned the porch to get it ready for summer shindigs (Hmm, many of these reasons seem to focus on the porch...)
• We have a new barbeque (also located on the porch)! In fact, it arrived today, and I, with some help from our summer housemate, David, who moved in today with his wife, Joan, and daughter, Hazel, put it together tonight.
• David, Joan, and Hazel have moved in for the summer!
  
• I can leave my heavy coat behind and go in to work with my jean jacket instead.
• The dog has new red toenails! No more of those winter booties in the house, she can now come straight in from the outside in her little plastic red nail caps (chosen because it would be difficult to easily notice should she lose a black nail cap) with no fear of scratching the floors (this, not the weather, was the real reason behind the house booties). Doesn't it just say summer when you see a dog out for an evening walk with crimson toes? Doesn't it? Anybody?

Well, red toenails or not, summer is here and we - including Lucy - are loving it.

Easy as Pie

Today was supposed to be a busy day. I needed to bus to the U District Farmers' Market to buy hostess gifts for our upcoming trip and vegetable for the coming week, make a pie, walk Lucy, bake some bread, get some final things cleaned up around the house, help Amy V move in, and go to a BBQ with some church friends. On paper, so to speak, it sounds like quite a list.

In practice, it was actually a fairly relaxing day. For me, that is. I'm sure it was an extremely busy day for those more involved with the moving. As it turned out, Amy & Co. arrived later in the afternoon than I (perhaps naively) had anticipated, so in the end I didn't feel especially useful. Perhaps I can make up for that this week by applying felt pads to all the furniture that will be moved upstairs.

But while I was home baking, I realized that although baking is time consuming in the sense that several hours must elapse from the time one begins until the product is ready for consumption, rather little is required of one in the meantime. Still, one can't really leave the house when baking, as there tend to be short periods of downtime sandwiched between small tasks, and everyone knows better (I hope) that to leave something baking in the oven unattended.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes with baking that sets it apart from simple cooking. Perhaps it's the transformation of flour, yeast, and milk into a chewy loaf of sandwich bread. Or perhaps it's the fact that everyone loves pie, and mine, despite being incredibly messy and soupy, was still a hit at the BBQ.

I did have one moment of near panic today, however. Loaded down with bottles of fruit wine and veggies, I saw my bus pull up to the stop across the street. I didn't make it in time; the bus had pulled away from the curb by the time I got to the stop. But I am hard pressed to give up on a near bus connection, and was soon in hot pursuit, bags flailing wildly (and dangerously) at my sides. It was all worth it when the driver actually stopped to let me board. And he was even pleasant about it! That's more than one can expect from your average Metro driver, let me tell you. Some of them are real sticklers. This one was definitely deserving of piece of pie, or maybe a bottle of fruit wine. All I can hope is that the rest of his day was as pleasant as mine.

Golden Gardens Fills Your Eyes

On Sunday my friend Amy V (I say this to differentiate her from my friend Amy G - heh, that rhymes) and I hosted our (almost) annual barbeque and bonfire at Golden Gardens park in Seattle. The day was gorgeous, and on a gorgeous day the views across Puget Sound are enough to keep you from thinking too much about how sooty your feet are getting from all that charcoal-blackened sand. After somewhat uneven and unpredictable weather this past summer, we ended up with one of the flat-out nicest days of the season - after Labor Day, no less!

We even managed to get the charcoal grill going without lighter fluid or any other fancy tricks other than some newspaper, a few slivers of "kindling" found on the beach, and Amy's special skill with extremely long matches. Guests had brought marinated chicken, beef and pepper kabobs, sausages, and hot dogs. Any of these items will, naturally, taste better when cooked over a hardwood charcoal grill on the beach rather than in the confines of your own kitchen over an electric burner.

The only unfortunate thing about the day was how few people were able to join us. While it was great getting to visit with the friends who came, I think we have to concede that this year's turn out was unusually low, so in the end it was more of a casual afternoon with a few friends rather than a real party. That's OK, but I can't deny I was hoping to see more people and enjoy a rip-roaring bonfire. As it was, we didn't even have a bonfire because we didn't get the wood we were expecting. All was not lost, however, as the few of us who were there in the evening snuck over to another fire pit that appeared to be abandoned, but still contained some glowing embers, so we could roast our marshmallows for s'mores. They're still delicious after all these years!