View from a window

Dinner by the Santa Monica Pier. We had a table by the window. It was just 5:30 pm and the sun had gone down into the sea. The Pier, with the carousel and the ferris wheel, seen through palm leaves.

We did it again

January 16th came and went. What was going on? We were busy. Our son was flying back to college after winter break. We had things going on at work. The annual budget process. An important committee meeting. An event. An unexpected car breakdown.

A couple of days ago, something made me think about it. Oh, hell!

We forgot our anniversary! Again!

It's been 23 years now, and for some reason, this keeps happening. We forget our wedding anniversary. One year, we were hanging out at home, going about our business, and my mother called, uncharacteristically, in the middle of the week.

"Congratulations!" she said.

"What for?" I asked.

"It's your wedding anniversary!" she said.

Ooops.

For several years, [The Man I Love] and I couldn't agree on which day it was. We knew the month, but there was a difference of opinion on the actual date. It was far too embarrassing to consult Mom again, so we went online and had to look it up at King County's vital statistics website.

We met in March of 1986, and [The Man I Love] moved into my little single woman's bungalow the following fall. We lived together for a while, and then got married - I know it was January! What year was it again? We appeared before a judge at the courthouse, with two friends as witnesses. No family - they all lived so far away it would have been foolish to make them travel. We drove down to the courthouse with our car packed for a short honeymoon at a cottage at the shore - our dog in the back seat. We left him in the care of the garage attendant while we said our vows.

As we walked up the hill from the garage to the courthouse on Third, we encountered a friend. "Hi there!" she said,"I'm on jury duty. What are you guys here for?"

"Oh," we said. "We're getting married."

We've been together ever since. It's been a good time, except for the fact that we can't remember to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

We managed to get it together enough to celebrate it in style on our Twentieth....I think. What did we do again? We went somewhere? Did something nice? I know it was something cool.

So, this year, dammit, we forgot again. But at least we remembered that we forgot, before Valentine's Day, so - this Sunday, we're going to do something nice together.

Hope you all have a wonderful day with your favorite sweetie!

Thematic Photographic - on the road

Each week Carmi at Written, Inc. has challenged readers with a theme for photographic inspiration. This week the photographic challenge continues with the theme "On the road."


Here's a birthday cake displayed in a downtown bakery's case. A wrecker pulls a crashed car back onto the road as a fire engine waits. "Happy birthday!" says the inscription. The cake is ringed with sharp lightning-bolt symbols all around.

It's a SigAlert in sugar!

Whose birthday cake is this?

Cooking a dinosaur

Did I mention that [The Man I Love] loves vegetables in the brassica family? That's cabbages to you - the whole cabbage clan. Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard greens and kale.

Last week at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market I picked up a bunch of kale - a variety called Tuscan black kale. It's also called nero di Toscano, lacinato, cavolo nero, and dinosaur kale.


Kale is rich in folic acid, Vitamin K and Vitamin C and beta carotene, so it's good for you. Unlike the frilled and ruffled Siberian kales and ornamental kale, cavolo nero has narrow leaves with pebbly-textured foliage in a deep blue-green color. I don't know why it's called "dinosaur" - maybe its texture is supposed to be like the giant reptiles' skin.


To prepare it, strip the thick central stem from the leaves. Then chop it as fine or as rough as you like. I chopped it into pieces about 1" by 2".

Greens like kale, collards and mustard have a bitterness that is complimented by rich fat. Cooking bitter greens with pork is a tradition in many cultures.


In Tuscany, the pork of choice is pancetta - a salt-cured pork belly like bacon. In U.S. supermarkets, you find it sliced from a roll - like a spiral of bacon.

Chop the pancetta and saute it in olive oil until it's brown. While the pancetta browns, I chopped up an onion and peeled three cloves of garlic, and smashed them with a knife blade. When the pancetta is just a bit crispy, I took it out and put the onions and garlic into the combined fat from the pancetta and the olive oil. If there's too much fat, pour some of it out.


Let the onions and garlic cook over medium heat until they are golden - about 15 - 20 minutes. Then, add the chopped kale, and about a cup of broth - chicken broth is good, but you can use any nice broth.


With the greens and broth, add a teaspoon or so of dried thyme, a couple of bay leaves, and some chopped parsley.


Bring it all to a boil, and then cover it and cook for about an hour. You can keep it at a simmer on the stove or you can cook it in a 350 degree oven.


When its done, the kale is deep dark green and smells rich and flavorful. The taste is intense, dark, with a touch of bitterness that's a perfect foil to meat. We served it alongside a roast pork tenderloin. The next day, we cooked some pasta, and tossed it with butter and the warmed-up leftover kale.


Black Tuscan kale. It's good and it's good for you.

Thematic Photographic - on the road

Click to "embiggen" for greater detail

I am re-posting this photo for Carmi's "Thematic Photographic" challenge. The theme is "on the road" and this photo was taken on the road - from the window of a moving car.

We're on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. The large building with the mural is the former Olympic Auditorium - once the premier boxing venue on the West Coast, now a Korean Christian Church. It's framed by the trappings of a different kind of King. The sky on that day was so like the sky in the mural it all blends together and adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts - don't you think?

I apologize to those who are seeing it for the second time in recent weeks - but I think it's perfect for Carmi's theme.

Spring?

After two solid days of rain, today the sky was clear and bright. We took a walk out Red Rock Canyon Park.

The creek was full but not overflowing, and everywhere was the sound of running water. Water poured off the sides of the huge rocks and trickled into the stream.


The wildflowers are not yet blooming - at least not many. I found this little yellow mushroom growing up in the grass. It's smaller than my little finger.

Lots of people were out, especially families with small children and dogs - the children in their rubber boots splashing in the puddles and wading in the creek.

Jack's not interested in the water - he prefers to keep his paws dry and clean. But he sure had a nice time.

Is it almost spring?

Pink Saturday - pink umbrella

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!


The rains are back. It started raining Friday morning, and now - at 8:51 pm on Friday as I write, it's still raining.

I have an umbrella - one of those compact umbrellas that collapse and fold into something that fits into your handbag. I got it at a drugstore or a discount store, and I don't even remember why I chose this one.

It's pink.

Yes, pink.

Bright shocking pink.

It's easy to find, since it stands out in a dark and cluttered closet. It adds a note of cheerfulness to a gloomy day. It makes me visible on the street when I'm walking with it. At work, when people put their umbrellas out by the loading dock to dry out, I can always recognize mine. And the best part?

I figure that neither my husband nor my son will make off with this one.

Stay warm and dry this Pink Saturday, everyone!

Update, Saturday 6:37 AM: It's still raining!

Thematic Photographic - on the road

Each week Carmi at Written, Inc. has challenged readers with a theme for photographic inspiration. This week the photographic challenge continues with the theme "On the road."

On the road outside of Houston, Texas. I have no idea what's in that tanker, and I'm not sure I want to know. Click to "embiggen" if you need to read the script.

Gone - The Lyceum Theatre

Lyceum Theatre, Main Street Los Angeles, 1941. Photo from Los Angeles Public Library
Click to "embiggen" for detail

A commenter posted a question in a post below asking why downtown Los Angeles appeared so dangerous and run down, when in most cities, the central core is usually vibrant and quite posh. It made me think, and I started looking through the photo collection at the Los Angeles Public Libray.

I ran some searches on a few random terms, one of which was "parking lot." And among the results, I found a photo of this amazing building that once stood in downtown Los Angeles.

It's the Lyceum Theatre, that once stood at 227 Spring Street. Built in 1898 as the Los Angeles Theatre, it became L.A.'s second Orpheum Theatre (there would be four), it was renamed the Lyceum before being torn down in 1941.

What hauled it into the search engine's net was that the caption said it had been demolished to make way for a parking lot.

Gone.