Thursday, July 25, 2013

Happy Good Thursday

This is such a Happy Thursday you guys.

Ok so let's talk about the weather. It is glorious. GLORIOUS I tell you! Cool at night; warm, windy, and sunny during the day! Heck yes! Running is so much easier in this weather and running makes everything better. I'm more productive at work, I'm a happier Sam, and I wake up with gems like this stuck in my head:



Oh, my  childhood, there you are! This wasn't on TV when I was a kid, but it's one of my dad's favorites and he had the entire series on VHS. VHS I say! And my sisters and I watched them all. I was so in love with Artemus Gordon I couldn't stand it. I highly recommend this series: there are a lot of fun James Bond-ish gadgets, disguises, bizarre villains, all in a Western Setting. Not to mention karate style fighting and Robert Conrad splits his super tight pants in just about every episode if you watch closely enough. So, so much fun.

Which is all to say this is basically how I feel today:




Especially after, when looking for this video, I found this one:


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Because that's what people do

 
Hazel: Well, that's how life is, Lars.
Mrs. Gruner: Everything at once.
Sally: We brought casseroles.
Lars: Thank you. [looks around the sewing circle. The three ladies are knitting and doing needlepoint] Um, is there something I should be doing right now?
Mrs. Gruner: No, dear. You eat.
Sally: We came over to sit.
Hazel: That's what people do when tragedy strikes.
Sally: They come over, and sit.
 
 
These lines from this movie have been in my head all day. (Thank you internet in general and Google in particular for confirming this is a real movie quote and I am not crazy.) It's a weird, beautiful movie but this scene struck me in particular when I saw it the first time. There are so many cultural examples of this: tragedy strikes or is striking so you bring food, and you sit. When my sister had her first baby (not tragedy, certainly, but a major medical event) I brought knitting and granola bars and sat. When she had her second baby I was ready to do the same but his quick arrival meant I didn't even get out my needles. From funerals and wakes I've attended, I remember food and I remember groups of people, just sitting together. When someone is ill, in pain, tired, sad, or in trouble the instinct I have or the behavior I have learned from my family is to feed them, cover them in blankets, and sit with them. I think it's the most comforting thing you can do. We all know you can't do anything to heal heartbreak, so you take care of the body as best you can until the spirit comes around to a better place. It's the best gift you can give a person, your presence. And maybe a casserole and a handmade afghan to go with it. 
 
These are the reasons I love cooking and knitting: they are simple, tangible expressions of love. Whether it is for myself of for another person, every ingredient or stitch, every move of the needle or circle of the wooden spoon is from a place of love. They are ancient crafts that make me feel connected to the people who have made their love real through the ages in these ways. They are instruments to forge connections with the people you love in their time of need. They can even reach forward, the way my grandmother's Apple Cake recipe connects us even long after she's gone or the afghan my other grandmother made connects us long after she's stopped crocheting.

So when tragedy strikes, when your heart is full of love, in the good times and the bad times, just remember: feed the stomach, warm the body, and just go and sit.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Phoning in the weekend


Weekend reading about Genghis Khan. Star Wars reference compliments of funny coworker.
Hot weather=cold beer on porches

TVP nachos with locally grown tomatoes and greek yogurt. I could have eaten 3 plates worth.

This is where Henry sits in the morning. NO MATTER WHAT.

If the mug says so...

Hats on babies: cutest thing ever. Who knew?!

Finally finished this mammoth knitting project.
Not pictured: humidity, a couple of great runs, whole wheat pancakes with fresh strawberries, the season and a half (or two...or three..) of How I Met Your Mother that I watched (I had to knit!) and time well spent with my grandpa and grandma.