Getting in Line

Yesterday afternoon I brought home a bag of books from school (from a newly-arrived order) and a pile of books from the public library (from newly-arrived requests). I looked at them repeatedly before getting them in line, the deciding factor being which I wanted to read first. It began with the story of a boy named Elwyn and later nicknamed Andy.

The Story of Charlotte's Web: E. B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic by Michael Sims is the title that topped the list, and I have been engrossed in it all morning. From his family's Summit Avenue home in Mount Vernon, New York, to the summer months spent at Great Pond, Maine, Elwyn's love of the natural world shaped his actions, words, and artwork.

Having loved Charlotte's Web since my elementary school years, it feels good to read about how his life experiences shaped that story. I wish I could stay home all day and remain in that world.

Cook-a-Doodle-Doo

"You can make frosting?" my niece asked me last night at SuperTarget in the baking aisle. I assured her we did not need to buy a can of frosting. I did, however, get the Funfetti cake mix because she was set on having something with sprinkles in it. We spent a great deal of time in the candy aisle, looking for just the right things to decorate the butterfly cake she imagined.

She mixed well (though her arm got sore, she said), licked the beaters with a smile, and waited for the cake to bake. While it baked, we read Cook-a-Doodle-Doo by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel (one of my favorites) on my library window seat. She loved how only Rooster knew the right ways to bake and measure and laughed at the oven mitt on Iguana's head, especially when it came in handy for extracting the cake from the oven.

Then we beat the real frosting, added the pink and violet gel coloring, and cut the candies she chose as decorations. The antennae were a favorite (strips of Twizzlers with a half piece of a Mike and Ike on the ends). The finished product generated pride and drawing in her art book. Her face will glow even more when the seven candles adorn the cake tonight.

Fair Weather

When summer weather is hot and humid, I camp indoors with my books, knitting, journals, and other projects. Today's weather, though, is excellent for summer. It is mostly cloudy with a wonderful breeze that sweeps through the entire house. My son noted that he hardly got sweaty on his morning run.

As I write this, a box of envelopes, maps, letters, multi-colored pens, and State Fair tickets sits next to me. With every volunteer response, I add fill another slot on our schedule in the Alphabet Forest and then address an envelope and fill it with the other necessities.

This year the Alphabet Forest will look much the same with the popular photo tent, mini-banners, vocabulary game cards, and ferris wheel coloring sheets. The new features are sure to delight the crowds: a different guest author/illustrator for each day of the Fair, a fabulous Minnesota Home Grown Author booklet, and an incredible spinning wheel for winning a word from our State Fair Dictionary. Fair-goers can also purchase books by those authors and illustrators and have them signed in the Alphabet Forest, thanks to the wonderful folks at Mackin (my favorite book vendor).

I love how projects come together with help from so many sources and willing volunteers. Fair weather is only two weeks away!

Remembering

Today my maternal grandmother would have been 97 years old. For much of my childhood, she cared for me while my parents were at work. Summers were spent at her house, helping with the day's chores. Monday was washing day with the wringer washing machine and tubs. Friday was deep cleaning day. In between, she taught me to scramble eggs, make pancakes, set a perfect table, and bake cookies.

I baked Caramel Cream Sandwich Cookies today in memory of Grandma. I always thought they were her recipe. As a high school senior going off to college, I copied this recipe into a book I received as a graduation gift. Only when I purchased The Complete Book of Baking from Pillsbury almost 20 years ago did I discover the recipe was actually a Bake-Off winner back in 1955. That book has been a mainstay for recipes in my kitchen.

I still like to clip recipes from magazines and catalogs, and I imagine my grandma cutting out this one to save. She baked it many times in my childhood, and I hope my mom will enjoy a sweet bite of her mom's cookies when she visits tomorrow. It feels good to keep someone you love close in one's heart and kitchen!

Wondering About a Book

I have written books. They are recipe books for dear friends as gifts of thanks or in honor of marriages. Some of the recipes are my own concoctions, but most are revised from another source.

I wonder, though, if I could write a real book. The thought has been echoing in my mind intensely over the past month. This morning as I read-walked with Geraldine Brooks's newest novel Caleb's Crossing, I marveled at the research she did to take one piece of history and create a story about Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk's life. See http://bookpage.com/interview/finding-a-piece-of-history-in-her-own-backyard for an interview with her.

I would not be a good science fiction or fantasy writer...I have a hard enough time reading those genres. I love historical fiction, art, music, photography, and baking. There are so many tidbits I have written in journals through the years that I would love to incorporate in a novel. Could I do it? The ideas are cooking.

Where the Wild Things Are

The National Park Service provides excellent learning opportunities at Evening Programs throughout the parks, and we took advantage of several at the Lake McDonald Lodge Auditoruium while in Glacier National Park. One featured a local actress portraying Josephine Doody, the "Bootleg Lady of Glacier National Park," another focused on characteristics of glaciers, and a third put the spotlight on an endangered tree (the whitebark pine) and a bird species (Clark's Nutcracker) whose caches of seeds (pinenuts) help the tree replenish.

The latter was also featured in a documentary we viewed prior to visiting the park, so we were especially interested in Ranger Becky's presentation. What I really loved, though, was how she integrated just the right illustrations from Where the Wild Things Are to introduce the main points of her program. It was her favorite book growing up, she said. When I watch children read and reread their favorite books, I can only imagine the impact those books will have in their grown-up lives. I could imagine a younger Ranger Becky reading about Max and the Wild Things as I listened to her connect the book to a topic of great importance to her and the environment.

For more information about Whitebark Pine, go to:

http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/whitebar.htm

For more information about the Clark's Nutcracker, go to:

http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/clarksnutcracker.htm

National Park Lodges

When folks find out our family is going to visit a National Park, they inevitably ask, "Are you camping?" My husband chuckles. I shake my head. No, I prefer to have a bed and indoor shower after a long day of hiking. Besides that, we love the history and beauty of the National Park Lodges. A calm settles over me when I enter the lobbies of these buildings.

The trip to Glacier National Park found us staying at four such places: Many Glacier Hotel (1915), Glacier Park Lodge (1913), Lake McDonald Lodge (1914), and Belton Chalet (1910). The craftsmanship and foresight involved in their creations is clearly evident. Each has charm and architectural uniqueness and a notable sense of character. I marvel that a century has passed since these opened to the public, and I often wonder about those who have come before me. If the walls could speak, I would love to know their stories.

Great Lodges of the National Parks (and its sequel) by Christine Barnes provides the history behind many of the notable dwellings, and I have returned to it this week to reinforce and add to the things I learned about the four places we stayed. Not only does the text inform, but the accompanying photographs vividly bring each place to life.