Old friends and comfort food

Last night was lovely but no time to post.

We did have mouth ecstasy when we reached dessert: chess pie. A riot of distinct and wonderful flavors: lemon, cane syrup, cornmeal, perfect crust.

--the BB

Pray for Wangaratta

Oh, and pray for Rob too!


"You have called me here to be repeatedly born in the Spirit... in light, in knowledge, in unknowing, in faith, in awareness, in gratitude, in poverty, in presence and in praise."
--Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander


It has been quite a journey since he and I were in CPE together.

Every blessing on his ministry.

--the BB

I bless God for you

Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts
of your faithful people
and kindle in them
the fire of your Love.

The outing

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK!

Said the Libby to the Miller: "The aspens are turning."

A beautiful day!

Kathy and I drove up to Hyde Park outside of Santa Fe and adjacent to the Santa Fe National Forest. It was an incredibly beautiful day. We saw the glories of autumn in forests where aspens turn golden, like a shower of coins (feeling nervous, Danae?).

She heard the full tale of how my ex and I met, the wild incandescent fling I had after he and I split, all the poems of love and grieving I wrote a few years back (well almost all). Themes of life and hope and loss and grief and ongoing transformation and the eternal invitation into the future.

As we were descending from the mountains we saw some plumes of smoke. By the time we got back down to Santa Fe you could see great clouds of smoke. Pray for those endangered by wildfires.

We had lunch at Tomasita's next to the train station in Santa Fe. Kathy remembers when Tomasita's was a converted private house on Hickox, many years ago. I promised to lift a margarita for Doxy and I did so. The food was delicious.

Lots of revisiting memories for both of us, and allowing time and grace to carry us forward.

And that, my friends, was my sabbath adventure. (I know - I traveled more than 1,000 paces from home; do I look observant? Mr. Green Chile Cheeseburger?)

The conclusion of one poem:

and I breathed the morning air
grateful for the time
our hearts made love
as we slept.

--the BB

It's a cooking day - updated with photos

Hardly an event for those who cook every day, especially those who feed families on a daily basis. For someone too lazy to cook for himself, it becomes an occasion. Nothing new today. I am making mom's potato salad (described here) and will barbecue ribs (see here). I will have a platter of cantaloupe, raspberries, and blueberries. Diane is bringing appetizers and Bill is bringing dessert and, I hope, a tomato and basil tart. It is a 1987 Best of Gourmet recipe and you may find it here. We are talking another once-a-year treat. Bill suggested it and I begged him to do it. One of my favorite foods.

OK, back to it.

UPDATE: Oink. What a wonderful evening. Kathy came early with ice (I have never hooked the water up to my refrigerator) and we chatted. I played the Kiri Te Kanawa video at almost full volume for her. Then the rest of the crowd arrived. There were garden tours under the gray cloudy sky. We had grapes from my yard - small and turning to raisins on the vine but sweet. The tomato and basil tart was awesome. My BBQ was too hot so the meat was tasty but not as moist as I had hoped. Still delish, nonetheless. Dessert was a reine de Saba cake and Kathy blew out all the candles. Lots of interesting discussions and laughter. We all need the laughter. My heart is very full.

Potato salad in need of a good stir

Tomato and basil tart - zuke from my yard

The Gang of Four
James, Kathy, Diane, Bill

I love these people.

--the BB

Yes, I'm spoiled, your point being...?

Good friends, good food, good wine. A lovely evening (and a nice interlude in a truly crappy week at work, in the lives of my friends, and the world could do better too).

Homegrown garlic and peppers (both roasted) with goat cheese on great rich-in-various-grains-and-seeds bread.

Homegrown cabbage in the lightly dressed coleslaw and homegrown cherry tomatoes and basil.

Homegrown eggplant, sliced, basted with olive oil, and grilled; homegrown corn on the cob; grilled salmon with a salsa of diced cantaloupe, homegrown New Mexico peppers, homegrown mint (?), and lime juice.

Clafouti of raspberries and homegrown figs.

Maggie's Reserve Zinfandel from Rosenblum (thank you, Steve!).

Summertime, and the livin' is easy....

Chatting, then dining in the front courtyard with the fountain at my back, the zinnias in bloom, Jupiter shining in the heavens.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Bill and Kathy. Thank you, Steve. Wopila, Ina Maka, Ate Wi, Tunkasila Wakan Tanka, and all my relations.

--the BB

And now for something a little different

Our monthly dinner group met tonight and afterwards we got to visit Jan's three horses, feed them carrots, watch them dine on timothy hay, and see them run around the ring. May I introduce you all to Tuxedo, Charro, and Chica?



Jan rides Chica and Charro to church on Sunday mornings. Tuxedo is young and he has not been ridden yet.

--the BB

Happy Canada Day!

David@Montreal reminds us that today is Canada Day / Fête du Canada. So here is a shout out to all you Canadians and Canadian expats!

You may read about the True North Strong and Free here.

Click to embiggen

--the BB

Celebrating the Canon to the Extraordinary

This one is for my girl (I use the term deliberately, if not advisedly), Jane R.



HB, babycakes! Yer still a pup.

--the BB

A meet-up in Albuquerque

In this case it's not a blog chum but a high school classmate. Norma Smith is in town this weekend and we got to have lunch together with her friend Mandy, who publishes the Albuquerque Almanac.

Norma and I were in Mr. Amend's humanities class at Fresno High School. We met one other time since high school days, when she was visiting in Berkeley in the 80s. At that time she had been working at a newspaper in Managua, Nicaragua. Currently she lives in Oakland and works with The Edge of Each Other's Battles Project ("bringing together social justice academics with grassroots community-based projects to work collaboratively toward social change").

It was nice to do a bit of catching up. I wonder if anyone could begin to predict their life's journey. We have certainly had interesting times.

As for the photo, she says she brings out the halo in others. That must surely be the case because I know I wasn't dragging along any halo of my own today.

--the BB

This one's for David@Montreal

I wanted to post a photo of these on St David's Day but only got the picture taken today. These daffodils are blooming near the entrance to our office building.

I think of you, mon frère, each time I pass them.
--the BB

Wonderful news

I just got an e-mail from my friend JoAnne.

Dear Friends,

I just hung up from the chair of the search committee proclaiming by unanimous vote of the vestry an invitation to become the new rector of ____. I'm so excited and scared at the same time.... Please pray for me because I need it on all levels.

With Love,
JoAnne

With great joy let us hold her and the people before God.

JoAnne did her field ed at St Cuddy's while in seminary and became a dear friend. She is also an artist and I have a lovely painting by her of a female nude in my living room. She is a person of great heart and dedication. Her life in the church has had the challenges, heartbreak, and frustration that many vicars know - and yet she has the most resilient joy and trust in God.

May heaven open and pour every blessing upon her and the congregation with whom she will minister.
--the BB

Dinner last night

One of the things I love about Albuquerque is that it retains a rural character. People do raise goats and chickens in the city (it may be pockets of county outside city limits, I don't know). It is a horsey area and Corrales (a city named "corrals" in Spanish) is even more so.

Last night we dined at my friend's home in Corrales.




Out in the back garden where all kinds of things are grown we see asparagus (second year, next year it can be harvested).
And corn. (And strawberries and Swiss chard and tomatoes and onions and all manner other things at various times.)
Speaking of corn, we had some very sweet and tasty red corn for dinner.
We also had some havarti and brie with crackers, shrimp remoulade, grilled pork loin that had been macerated in provençal herbs (rosemary, thyme, lavender, salt, pepper), grilled squash and red peppers, and a strawberry tart with strawbs from the garden and a lovely pastry cream in a yummy shell.

All this with good friends and lots of stimulating and fascinating conversation. Se vive bien aquí.
--the BB

Scrumptious Brunch

The road to my friend Diane's house


The wild turkeys who think they own the road and are sufficiently interbred with domestic turkeys to be terminally stupid

The very delicious frittata with strawberries from Bill's yard, blackberries that Diane picked not that many yards from where the table was set, canteloupe (my favorite melon), and green salad. We also had browned butter biscuits and plums I picked from my tree this morning.

Thunder rumbled as we sat down and we ended up moving under a porch. You can see why.

After the rain, the chickens came out.

Diane lives near the river, as you may guess by the greenness of the scenery (well, there is that dirt road and it had lots of mud puddles when I left).

Last night I had a teppan-style meal with Kathy. The laciest tempura as appetizers and tender filet mignon in teriyaki sauce for me, scallops and shrimp for Kathy.

Now if I could only extend the stay home for a couple more days.... But at least I don't fly out until tomorrow.
--the BB

Dixie Divas

Our own Dixie Diva, Grandmère Mimi, during our little romp through the Vieux Carré this afternoon.

More to come.
--the BB

Son et lumière

The flight back to New Orleans was blessedly uneventful. Both legs of the journey left on time, each landed a few minutes ahead of schedule. I am safely ensconced back in my apartment. The weather was lovely up to the time I got here. Then Louisiana broke out the son et lumière treatment for me with some serious thundershowers: lightning crackling and thunder to make me jump (and I love thunderstorms and am not afraid of them). Quite a show indeed.

Mimi's recent post on the levees does nothing to reassure me and my friend Kathy in NM said today she would not rest easy until I was back in ABQ for good. Well, somebody has to mother me, even if she's younger than I am.

It was a good trip home, in spite of the grueling adventure of getting there. I got to do some leisurely blogging, dropped off and picked up shirts at the cleaners, bought a new cell phone, and had dinner with my best friend on Friday.

Saturday I redeemed a Christmas present, a pre-paid (tip already included) 90-minute massage. Given the circumstances I had not anticipated this year, it seems my delaying this paid off. What a perfect time for such a bodily treat, right in the middle of too much work and too little rest! Followed that with a trip to Costco to stock up on raw nuts and dried fruits and my premier drug of preference, Diet Pepsi. I have a huge caffeine habit and loathe the taste of coffee, so I swill Diet Pepsi from the minute I get up. (Save the health lectures on the perils of artificial sweeteners; we all choose our vices.) I then had lunch with my friend Diane. Picked up a handful of items on the way home, baked a dish of hash browns, onions, green chiles, Cotswold cheese (that's the double Gloucester with green onions and chives in it), and some cream, then headed to a dinner party. Got to see friends I did not expect to see for two months.

This morning I played hooky from church, blogged just a bit, packed, had brunch with Kathy, and went to the airport.

So, there is Mr. Bear's wonderful weekend. Normally I would not socialize that much in such a short time span but these were all good friends and mostly one on one and it was wonderful to reconnect.

I also brought back a little memento: garden photos. I think I will parcel them out to savor the memory.

Here are the roses I wished I had photographed on the last trip home when the bush was covered with crimson blooms at their peak, almost eclipsing the greenery. Now they are past their prime and with all my partying I did not get around to dead heading this weekend.


We have Santa Rosa plums.

And Elberta peaches.

As ever, it was good to be home, however briefly. I don't head back until Friday the thirteenth (of June).
--the BB

Happy Birthday, Contessa!

Jane R - she of Acts of Hope - celebrates her natal felicity (as well as that of her Adorable Godson) today.

Whoop it up amid all the paper grading!
--the BB

I cannot compete with the Cunning Runt

No exotic ingredients, no pretty photos. Though I must hand it to the CR: he may be very creative but his cooking is honest.

I just baked cornbread to go with the beans that simmered all day yesterday with the tail end of a ham. We are talking simple, honest eats. Off to my friend Diane's for a walk followed by comfort food.

A buddy's birthday coming up

Vibol Peou turns 24 this coming Sunday, so here's a shout out to him. He built the website for St Cuddy's. I just want to wish him a great celebration and a fabulous year ahead.

--the BB

Sancte Cuthberte, ora pro nobis

Candles lit and prayers offered for Maddie and Themethatisme and for all the faithful in the patrimony of St Cuddy. [Read the comments thread; it's not grave illness.]

--the BB