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.

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.

Which is why I always make sure to blow out the candles

The other day, I bought a new knitting book that I am CRAZY for. I was telling my sister how bonkers bananas I was for this knitting book and I told her it was one of the items I would go out of my way to rescue in case of a house fire. Here is the rest of that list:

1) My favorite knitting book

 The book that started the whole conversation, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns has absolutely changed the way I design and has me actually knitting gauge swatches just like a real knitter. Erica told me about it months ago, but I was resistant because I thought I had enough knitting books (I do have a fair few). But finally at her urging I checked it out from the library. The minute I opened it, I ordered my own copy from the local bookstore. It's a series of charts which allow you to either make basic hats, mittens, gloves, etc or a pattern upon which to base your design. It is the most useful book I own and I would encourage any knitter at all interested in designing their own work to take a look at this book.

2) My favorite cookbook

The Joy of Cooking is as valuable to me for cooking as the pattern book is for knitting. It has a great index in the back so that when I bring home a butternut squash from the farmer's market because it looked pretty, I can look it up and find a couple of options of what to do with it. Joy has more information than I may ever use about setting a table, nutrition, stocking a pantry and certainly more recipes than I'll ever try. But it is my go-to resource in the kitchen.

3) My favorite kitchen tool

For my birthday last year, my sisters bought me this immersion blender. Before I had my immersion blender, I got squash all over my ceiling. I made that same recipe this weekend and voila, no squash anywhere but in the soup pot! I love my immersion blender so, so much!

4) All three copies of Jane Eyre




I have been trying to get my book collecting under control. I work in a library for goodness sakes, and in the interlibrary loan department for that matter! I can get most any book I can think of! But there are some books that deserve collecting which is why I have three editions of Jane Eyre. There's the Signet Classic edition that was the first edition I owned and it is in tatters (I read Jane Eyre at least once a year). Then, I picked up a Norton Critical Edition at a used bookstore in town a few years ago. And then. The jewel of  my library, the best gift I have ever in my life received (yes, even a notch or two above the immersion blender). A copy of Jane Eyre in Thai. My ex-boyfriend Casey went to Thailand when his brother and sister-in-law got married and brought this back to me. His family thought he was nuts because I can't read Thai but I love it so much. It's not pictured above, I couldn't find it anywhere online, which actually just makes it cooler.

So while clearly I would be most concerned about my cats were a fire to break out, while I would of course want to rescue pictures and other sentimental objects, and while there's no way I would ever actually take the time to rescue any material thing from a house fire (my police officer father didn't raise any fools), these are my "Things I would save from a house fire" type of possessions, my favorite things.