Saturday, August 8, 2009

Saturday Pleasures

Saturdays have all kind of pleasures in store. One need not look very far.

A phone call from a rural friend Friday afternoon declaring free tomato giveaways. A morning of revisiting the process of canning tomatoes. I can't stop staring at their beauty; canned tomatoes in jars cooling on my kitchen counters while waiting for the pantry shelf. How much I will enjoy pulling them out this winter for soups, chilies, and spaghetti sauces.

What do these three items have in common? A trip to the store led to the purchase to all three, without any prior pursuit. Several years ago I borrowed the book by Susan Wise Bauer, The Well- Educated Mind, from the library. There it was on the book table grabbing my attention once again. I thought how my son would appreciate this book, so it was bought for a Christmas gift. He will like it. A traditional 8x8 brownie pan, in all my 31 years of housekeeping, has never been a part of my kitchen supplies, until now. It's about time I think. And the mug, for my morning coffee, of course. Somehow the thoughts of a woman who eats brownies and drinks coffee while reading how to improve her mind seems pleasurable.

And cucumbers soaking in a lime bath. A friend's gracious father shared several pounds of cucumbers with me from his garden's bounty. They will be sweet and crisp pickles, just right for my potato salads and egg salad sandwiches.

a chickadee

 I have taken to afternoon walks in the fields along the side of the woodlands. Today I carried along a small pair of binoculars hoping to c...