Seeing Sonia Sotomayor

Each year when the freshmen move into campus, the town of E. Lansing has a program called "One Book, One Community."  A book is chosen for all the freshmen (and other members of MSU community) to read and for the townies to read and then the author is invited to come and talk to the students and the townies. It's the 17th year of this program and this year Sonia Sotomayor is the author and her autobiography "My Beloved World" is the book.  I'd read the book and the family was interested in seeing the Associate Chief Justice in person.  So we all walked up to the High School an hour ahead of when they let people in and waited in line.  It was a hot humid afternoon, but luckily we had a place to wait in line in shade.  Once we got in and got good seats, only five rows from the front, it was comfortable waiting for the second hour.  Sonja and Erika shared Paul's IPhone playing games.  Paula graded papers and Paul and I relaxed and just waited.  It was worth the wait!  Justice Sotomayor got a standing ovation from the crowd when she came out.  She definitely came across as very human and humble.  She spoke about writing her book, why she wrote it (to remember where she came from) and how she wrote it (giving us advice about getting stories from our older relatives: when asking them about their lives asking why and how they felt about the story they tell).  She didn't sit up on the stage to answer the questions, but rather walked around the auditorium, shaking people's hands, getting hugs from the children, as she answered the questions.  Talk about working your audience!  Both Paul and Paula found her wise and very engaging.  I was very impressed especially with her closing advice about how to be happy:  every day make sure you learn something and that you do something kind.  I was enthralled with her humanity and to hear such an important person reflect on her life and work in the Supreme Court.  What a treat to hear her here in little old E. Lansing where good things happen.

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Simple Pleasures

It's Saturday morning and I'm just back from a visit to the local Farmer's Market.  Younger granddaughter, Sonja, went with me.  She had $5 is buy herself a special treat for breakfast.  Ever the careful shopper (when it's her money), she looked at everything.  Finally she consulted me about what fruit to buy - blueberries or raspberries.  She chose the raspberries and in the car, she said "These raspberries are a song in my heart!"  I am impressed when given freedom to buy anything, she chose healthy fruit.  The girls are a delight in every way.  Sonja is still her exuberant self, enthusiastic about whatever she's doing.  The chickens are flourishing, giving her 4 eggs a day.  She delights in giving them away to friends and neighbors and us. Erika is quieter, often seeking alone time for her reading but still amazing sweet and thoughtful.  She was very surprised I beat her at Connect Four.  At camp, she made me some beautiful beaded earrings.  After 4 days here, we've slipped easily back into our Michigan life.  I've made a point to do some of my favorite things: getting a haircut, working out with my favorite trainer (who, although she is expecting a baby any day now, is still working), going to the library, getting a fabulous massage, eat local peaches and tomatoes.  Dinners together are so much fun.  Last night, Paula made homemade roasted tomato soup with homegrown tomatoes from our yard, Brussel sprouts with bacon with homegrown Brussel sprouts from our yard and barbequed shrimp.  Yum.  Then we all went out for a long walk around E. Lansing in the fading evening light.  Simple pleasures and family time are the best.

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Redwoods Monastery

For 22 years, I've been going to Redwoods Monastery on retreats.   It's hard to believe it's been so long.  Even though  I haven't been for the last 3 or 4 years mostly because of my fears of my eyes burning and making long distance driving most difficult, I feel very connected to this place and these people.  This year, well, I just went and had no troubles.  Returning to the Monastery felt like a homecoming.  I was greeted by name and felt so happy to be remembered.  I slipped right back into the routine.   Being with the sisters in their liturgies is like stepping into a river, a river of living water that just flows on as I step in for the time I'm there.  This time all the participants without talking to each other decided our time at meals and beyond would be in silence.  I find it's so easy love people , to feel kindly to those on retreat when we're in silence.  No mean words, no words misunderstood, just presence.  After 3 days, I was really relaxed and peaceful.  It's like I have a spiritual charge given by the sisters, by the liturgies, by their angelic singing, by all of our singing antiphonally, by being in the beautiful redwoods and by separating myself from problems and concerns I have here at home.  All is well in the world and I am so happy to have been on retreat for 4 days with the wonderful warm hearted sisters at Redwoods Monastery.

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An Owl Calling

I hear an owl outside tonight.  It's in the woods in Tilden Park not far from our house.  Last week, we walked the block up to the local path to have a look around because there's been great activity up there.  The nearby meadow is filled with heavy machinery, a giant chipper, a huge grabber, big trucks:  they are cutting down a small forest near here.  Big trees have been felled probably to reduce the fuel load just in case of another fire.  There was a fire last October just over the hill.  If the winds hadn't died down, no doubt our houses, as well as the forest would have been burned down.  But now the ugly destruction of the forest looks like a battle field and made me sad.  As we walked the path, I spotted a great horned owl sitting on a high branch of a remaining pine tree.  It was calling, like it is doing now.  I wonder if it is grieving the loss of trees.  When I think about all the hundreds of thousands of trees that are being destroyed in the fires burning now in California, I too am grieving.  A tree is a wonderful living thing, creating its own environment, its own shade, and it provides a place of life for countless organisms.  I understand the need to make our neighborhood safe, but like the owl, I am sad for the loss of trees near here and beyond.

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Smoked Salmon on Toast

Yesterday I went out for brunch with a friend.  She suggested we go to Lalime's, a restaurant I've always liked here in Berkeley.  Well, I'm not a "foodie" and rarely do I get excited about food, but my meal was totally spectacular.  I find myself thinking about it, reliving the tastes and the color of it.  I had Smoked Salmon on Toast.  It sounded so pedestrian, I almost didn't order it, but something caught my eye and I kept coming back to it.  When it came, the server at first put it in front of my friend and I thought, "Wow, I wish I ordered that" and then low and behold, it was my Smoked Salmon on Toast.  But so much more than that---it was a feast for my eyes, bright rainbow of colors topped with a sprinkle of coarse bright red paprika.  Greens of many shades, red tomatoes and radishes, pink salmon, yellow tomatoes, white cheese and egg, orange tomatoes and runny egg yolk.  I got pleasure just looking at it.  But then I tasted it!  Every bite was different.  The greens were so varied: fresh mint leaves, dill, basil, Italian parsley, radicchio, arugula, they added a different taste of spice to each bite.  The ample serving of salmon, perfectly lightly smoked, was draped over the thick piece of white toast, a poached egg was on top, a dollop of ricotta cheese was next to the egg and both were covered with a delicious mild red bell pepper sauce.  There were cut radishes, cucumbers, halved pearl tomatoes of many colors arranged on the side and then it was surrounded with a halo of greens.  All my senses were astounded and delighted as I relished each and every bite.  What a marvelous experience!  And it only cost $12.  Maybe I could become a foodie, after all these years in Berkeley.

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Crickets

The grandchildren are gone after our week together.  I am filled with echoes and sweet memories of our time together.  I want to remember all the good times: the special smiles, the hugs, the ah-ha moments of discovery we had about each other.  Erik left this evening and now it is so very quiet here.  The quiet is so deep and strong, it feels loud.  As I sit here alone in the fading evening light, I hear the evening crickets and I'm glad that I am quiet and can hear them singing and remember all that has happened.

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Gramma and Grandpa Camp

It's Day Four of "Gramma and Grandpa Camp", the week we're taking care of our Palo Alto grandchildren for a week.  The larger family (the parents) thought it was a bit much for us and recruited Uncle Erik (the kids favorite uncle) to fly in for a week from the UK.  And bless his heart, he came.  They bought a HUGE Lego set "Big Ben" with over 5000 pieces to occupy them all.  Big Ben is now in the final stages of completion but there is also a huge imaginative free style train downstairs.  I've played innumerable games of Connect Four.  The eight year old beat me until she explained her strategy to me and now she wins no matter what.  If I win, it's because she is such a good teacher and if she wins, she wins.  We've been to the Oakland Zoo, the Lawrence Hall of Science, the UC and Tilden Botanical Gardens, and the Steam Train.  I've enjoyed getting to know the children better and find the little joys very rewarding.  Joys like seeing how they love nature and have great patience watching lizards, newts, birds and snakes, hearing the 8 year old singing to herself in the bedroom, seeing their creativity expressed in different ways.  Meals have been fun, all of us sitting at the big table.  The "camp" and all the meals has me really tried out by evening but it's definitely been fun.

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