Independence

I’ve been teaching about American history and the American system of government for more than 25 years.  Like every human story that I know of, it’s filled with imperfections and injustices.  This past year, working through the complexity of early American history in the company of 7th graders reminded me again of those complexities and opened my eye to the ways in which adolescent citizens perceive them. 

I take the 12 and 13 year olds in my classroom seriously and treat them as equal citizens.  In this way, my classroom becomes one where questions and opinions are encouraged and discussed.  Through my 47 year old eyes, there are tiers of injustice in American history.  The original sins of slavery and the genocide of Native American Indians rank first among them.  The inequality of women, immigrants, gays, and society’s most vulnerable are certainly troubling but somehow less venal in my understanding of our history.

Over time, I’ve come to see the many frustrating complexities of American history in the complicated light they represent.  I teach the Declaration of Independence and Constitution which followed as bold statements about the shining promise of freedom and equality.  It was imperfectly applied on the very first July 4.  I believe that over the next 200-plus years, the promise is being haltingly fulfilled for the remainder of society.  Because our notions of them change over historical time, freedom and inequality remain a work in progress.  That is the power of the ideas first articulated in 1776.

But for the 7th graders with whom I keep company, the line of right and wrong is more stark.  On the wrong side of history: slavery, the treatment of Native American Indians, the inequality of women, immigrants, gays, and society’s most vulnerable.  Full stop.

Part of their stark views can be explained by the age of my students.  7th grade is the year that 12 and 13 year olds insist upon the right to express themselves as separate from their parents.  At times, they struggle for freedom and independence; seeking distance from the structure and expectations of parents and the rules of school.  At other times, they seek the comfort of the very things they struggle against.  Sometimes they seek these seemingly conflicting goals at the very same time.  They long to be heard and valued; they aren’t always eloquent about this demand.  But, oh, are they thoughtful and passionate.  To explain our imperfect union to such idealists is a challenge and a reminder that they expect justice for all.  Moreover, they aren’t prepared to tolerate anything less.  There is a great promise in such confidence about the world, well worth celebrating on today of all days.

Food Friday: Blueberry Scones

I have a couple of different scone recipes.  This one results in a moist, rich dough and is less dry than a traditional scone.  The recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman, which perhaps explains the richness and certainly accounts for the butter!  The dough looks lovely studded with blueberries.

Once baked, I add a glaze but they could just as easily be served with a bit of jam.

The recipe:

- 3 cups Flour

- 1/3 cup Sugar

- 3 teaspoons Baking Powder

- 1/4 teaspoon Salt

-  2 sticks Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces

- half cup Heavy Cream

- half cup half & half

- 1/4 cup Milk

- 1 whole Egg

- 1 teaspoon Vanilla

- 1 cup fresh blueberries

Glaze

- 2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

- 2 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted

- 1/4 cup Milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter to cut them together until they resemble coarse crumbs.

Stir together the heavy cream, half & half, milk, egg, and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix them together until they're halfway combined. Add the berries and stir until mixed. Add the remaining berries and stir until everything is combined.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and press it into a rectangle that's about 16 inches tall by about 6 inches wide. Using a floured pizza cutter or knife, cut it in half lengthwise and then make 4 cuts across to create 4 squares. Cut each square into two triangles. Transfer the scones to a baking sheet lined with a baking mat. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until done. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

To make the glaze, whisk together the melted butter and powdered sugar.  Add the milk a bit at a time, until the glaze is smooth and somewhat thick. Place the racks of scones over baking sheets to catch the excess, then use a spoon to drizzle the glaze all over the scones. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

Four Eyes

I first began to consistently need glasses when I was in my early 20s.  I didn’t really mind wearing glasses, though I never recognized myself in the mirror when I wore them and I missed peripheral vision.  Extended wear contact lenses became my solution —— I loved them for the peripheral vision they provided and I wore them all day and all night with nary a problem.  As my 20s disappeared into my 30s, wearing contact lenses was sometimes a challenge.  Not much, mind you, but enough that I gave up extended wear lenses in exchange for monthly disposable lenses that I took out each night.  

When my early 40s arrived, my eye doctor suggested that contact lenses would be more of a problem as I aged, with dry eyes becoming an uncomfortable reality of daily living.  I denied that this was a problem for me, though I did become more careful about selecting glasses.  Over time, with better-quality glasses at hand, I began to wear my glasses more and more often.  Sunny days always meant contact lenses so that I could wear sun glasses outside.  But on cloudy days, I’ve become increasingly likely to skip the contacts and wear my glasses all day long.  The more I wear my glasses, the more I realize that peripheral vision not withstanding, I can see better in glasses.  I’m still surprised when I see my face in the mirror, but hey, who isn’t sometimes surprised when they realize they aren’t 25 anymore?

A few months ago, T suggested that I would enjoy prescription sunglasses.   I deferred, claiming them to be unnecessary.  But the idea had been planted and more and more often as I put in my contact lenses in the morning, I’ve come to wish I simply had prescription sunglasses at hand, so that I could skip the discomforts of a long day in contact lenses.

And now you know where this post is headed.  I’ve finally gone out and obtained some prescription sunglasses.   I still don’t recognize myself in glasses but dang, I can see very well when I wear them.  All of this is just a way of admitting that  I’m 47 years old and just now starting to use my common sense on a regular basis.  So that's promising.

July 1: Peach Tree

We’re at that point in summer when things are green, lush, and growing quickly.  The warm, long, sunlit days are making the plants happy.  My peach tree has a few peaches (the rest have been gobbled by the backyard squirrels) but it’s otherwise flourishing in its corner of the yard.

The garden is at its most verdant and charming at this time of the year.  I have a few days off to enjoy it.  That’s most happy!

Summer Days

Summer has finally taken hold in my world and it feels glorious.  It’s sunshine; leisurely mornings; time to cook; zinnia seedlings; t-shirts, flip flops every day; warmth on my toes; green tomatoes on the vines; quiet in the afternoon; the cool of my home when I step inside out of the sunlit day; the chirp of birds in the morning; the blink of a firefly in the darkening twilight; the feel of a soft quilt on my bed; pots overflowing with flowers; the ease of day with no obligations.  Sometimes I wonder if Summer is so nice because it was so hard-earned.   Then I realize that the thing about Summer is to avoid over-thinking it and just enjoy the glory of it all.

Monday, June 29: Garden Update

In the last week, we enjoyed plenty of heat and rain, the two ingredients that make my garden most happy.  The plants are coming along quite nicely.  There are several tomatoes.

The latest rows of zinnia seedlings are looking good.

My shady glen project has made the area more welcoming than ever.  

I’ve a few more additions planned for the perennial garden.  Just as I make it a point to sit on the front porch for my morning cup of coffee, I plan to enjoy a daily class of iced tea back here in the afternoon shade.  The best part of a garden at this time of the summer is that each  day’s growth brings me that much closer to warm tomatoes and fresh bouquets.

Fairy Garden

I have neither a room full of dolls nor an entire house crammed with stuffed animals and, having barely dodged those fates, I was helpless when the idea of a fairy garden showed up in one of my gardening catalogs.  To say that I became quickly consumed by planning a magical fairy garden of my own is an understatement.

T and JT quietly endured the planning and organizing.  They rolled their eyes as I rambled on about my plans.  If they were concerned about the state of my mental health, they never let on.   So full steam ahead and my fairy garden is on its way.  I cleared weeds and tree branches in spot under old man tree and up against the back deck steps.  The ivy seems like a useful thing for fairies seeking privacy.

I hung the door to a secret fairy wonderland.

Then I settled a cottage here amongst the ivy.  

I planted the terra cotta pot full of pink impatiens.  

I’ve more plans in the works but I’m already quite pleased with this secret treasure in my garden.  It’s nice to have a new project for my garden daydreams.  I know a few toddlers who will find it quite charming to admire and their amusement will remind me, as it always does, to find something magical and thrilling in every day.  

Garden Lessons

The best-laid gardening plans - and boy do I make organized gardening plans - sometimes come to naught.  In fact, that’s one of the greatest appeals of gardening in my world.  It’s a lesson in patience and a reminder of all the ways that I am not in charge of the world and must make do with the cards I am dealt.  Case in point: this section of my backyard garden patch.  

I tilled it a few years back and gave a try at planting carrots back here.  There wasn’t much of a harvest.  That fall, I laid out some fertilizer and the following spring I planted zinnias in this patch.  I had some flowers but not as many as I would have liked.  Again, I concluded that the soil was poor.  That fall, I tried a deeper tilling and discovered that the area has fill dirt and layer of concrete just about a foot below the fill.  That’s great soil for growing weeds and grass but no good for carrots or zinnias.  At first, I thought that the patch would simply lay fallow this summer.  

Then I got a new plan.  

I’ve always thought it would be nice to sit out here and admire the garden in the late afternoon shade.  Now I can do just that.  Presenting my backyard garden shady glen.

Next to the chairs is the section of the garden I’ve devoted to perennial plants: hostas, rosebushes, a hydrangea, and a patch of gladiola bulbs.  It awaits a layer of mulch, a task for next week, when I plan to take a few days off.  The rest is my annual garden with tomatoes, cukes, herbs, rows of zinnias, and the annual dahlia bulbs.

It’s a peaceful refuge back here amongst the thick green foliage of my fruit trees and my garden.  I can admire the plants I’ve cultivated.   It’s a comfy spot for enjoying a cold glass of iced tea, reading a good book and enjoying an afternoon doze.  If I play my cards right, I might even see the mama bunny who lives with her babies under the hedge.  It’s summer and there is time enough to watch my flowers grow and my tomatoes ripen.  That’s happy.

Food Friday: Comfort Food

Perhaps its because of my California origins that I find homemade Mexican food to be the best sort of comfort food.  And at the very top of the comfort hierarchy is the corn tortilla.  These were fried into homemade tortilla chips and served with a heaping bowl of guacamole.

Delicious.

Expert

I am due for some time off and intend to take a few days on either side of July 4.  In preparation for what I am treating as my festival of rest and relaxation, I intend to get some tips from Tiger.

I think that he could teach me a thing or two on the art of letting go and enjoying a summer nap.