Greystone Diaries
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Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
It's Been A While
A lot has happened since we last visited.
My husband and I both have different jobs.
We've moved further away from the city and our lives have somewhat settled into a routine.
In the past few months we've enjoyed some sunsets.
Fed some deer.
Chased away more of these than I care to count.
And even experienced a few earthquakes and the longest, hottest summer I can remember.
Needless to say, I am really looking forward to winter
and all that it entails.
And hope to do more things like this ...
Snuggle by the fire.
And hope to do more things like this ...
Snuggle by the fire.
And this ...
Cook in my new kitchen.
And this ...
Read a few books.
But what will probably happen is this ...
Giving our extreme weather,
by the end of winter,
I may look like this.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Summer Reading List
For me, summertime has always meant reading time. I inherited it from my mother. She loved to sunbathe and read paperback novels while my younger brother, sister and I splashed about in a kiddie pool in the backyard.
Mother read compulsively. And every time she finished a book she would proudly proclaim, "This is the best book I have ever read." Until she read another book, and then that became the best book she had ever read.
Of all the books mother ever read, the one that sticks out most in my memory was Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. It was a tome. Even as a young girl I remember thinking this was an unusually long book and recall it lying about the house for weeks on end.
One late summer afternoon with sprinklers swishing and lawnmowers humming in the distance, mother put her swimsuit on, spread a blanket onto the lawn and laid down to finish The Winds of War. Hours passed and right before finishing the last few pages, she got up for a quick break and left the book lying open face on the lawn, pages fluttering in the breeze. When she returned, she found our beagle slobbering and chewing on the book, the very last page missing.
This was bad, I remember thinking to myself. Up until that point in time, Old Yeller had been the longest book I had read and it seemed like the Oxford English Dictionary. I couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to read a book this long and not be able to finish the last page. For the first time in my life, I felt sorry for my mother.
We had no money to buy a new book and the library was closed. And lord knew no one else in our nonliterary circle had this atrociously long novel lying about. "Whatever will you do?" I remember asking my mother. But mother was a sly one. Swiftly she threw on a white blouse and some flip flops, loaded my brother, sister and me into the station wagon and without saying a word, drove like a mad woman to the downtown drugstore. Where in the door she strutted, red faced and bare legged, three soggy kids in tow, straight toward a spinning rack of books, picked up The Winds Of War, read the very last page, then gently placed it back upon the rack, turned and strutted out the door. Three elderly men stared, jaws agape, at the spectacle they had just witnessed. And I was impressed with my mother that day and never forgot The Winds of War.
Years later, during a late night college game of Trivial Pursuit, before my husbands drunken buddy could slur the words out of his mouth, I knew the answer to, "Who wrote The Winds of War"?
It is rare moments like these when I cherish my kooky, crafty mother the most. She didn't give me much, but she instilled in me a love of reading and books and for that I will be eternally grateful.
So what's on your summer reading list?
Nothing so long as The Winds Of War, I hope.
I am needing some ideas.
These are the books I have read so far ...
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Mother read compulsively. And every time she finished a book she would proudly proclaim, "This is the best book I have ever read." Until she read another book, and then that became the best book she had ever read.
Of all the books mother ever read, the one that sticks out most in my memory was Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. It was a tome. Even as a young girl I remember thinking this was an unusually long book and recall it lying about the house for weeks on end.
One late summer afternoon with sprinklers swishing and lawnmowers humming in the distance, mother put her swimsuit on, spread a blanket onto the lawn and laid down to finish The Winds of War. Hours passed and right before finishing the last few pages, she got up for a quick break and left the book lying open face on the lawn, pages fluttering in the breeze. When she returned, she found our beagle slobbering and chewing on the book, the very last page missing.
This was bad, I remember thinking to myself. Up until that point in time, Old Yeller had been the longest book I had read and it seemed like the Oxford English Dictionary. I couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to read a book this long and not be able to finish the last page. For the first time in my life, I felt sorry for my mother.
We had no money to buy a new book and the library was closed. And lord knew no one else in our nonliterary circle had this atrociously long novel lying about. "Whatever will you do?" I remember asking my mother. But mother was a sly one. Swiftly she threw on a white blouse and some flip flops, loaded my brother, sister and me into the station wagon and without saying a word, drove like a mad woman to the downtown drugstore. Where in the door she strutted, red faced and bare legged, three soggy kids in tow, straight toward a spinning rack of books, picked up The Winds Of War, read the very last page, then gently placed it back upon the rack, turned and strutted out the door. Three elderly men stared, jaws agape, at the spectacle they had just witnessed. And I was impressed with my mother that day and never forgot The Winds of War.
Years later, during a late night college game of Trivial Pursuit, before my husbands drunken buddy could slur the words out of his mouth, I knew the answer to, "Who wrote The Winds of War"?
It is rare moments like these when I cherish my kooky, crafty mother the most. She didn't give me much, but she instilled in me a love of reading and books and for that I will be eternally grateful.
So what's on your summer reading list?
Nothing so long as The Winds Of War, I hope.
I am needing some ideas.
These are the books I have read so far ...
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A Moment To Brag
Pardon me while I take a moment to brag.
For anyone living in the Oklahoma City or Edmond area, my son will be performing at the Vintner's Cellar on 15th and Bryant, in Edmond, on Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm..
It's a cool place to kick back, relax, and enjoy some great wine and music.
My son just graduated from college and is a talented musician.
There's nothing more enjoyable than good food, wine and music, and spending time with family and friends.
For anyone living in the Oklahoma City or Edmond area, my son will be performing at the Vintner's Cellar on 15th and Bryant, in Edmond, on Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm..
It's a cool place to kick back, relax, and enjoy some great wine and music.
My son just graduated from college and is a talented musician.
There's nothing more enjoyable than good food, wine and music, and spending time with family and friends.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Henry and Edith
Society seems to be stuck in the fast lane.
Busy, these days, seems to be the norm.
Sometimes when I bump into friends on the street, I find myself compelled to
convey an illusion of busyness, just because one feels inferior if one
is not busy.
Heaven forbid you have a quiet day with nothing to do but set beside a pond and think and read a book.
That is what I keep telling myself.
But I know better.
Because, if there is one thing I have learned from
literature, it is that mankind, over time, has changed very little.
Henry David Thoreau escaped to Walden's pond in search of a simpler life.
In a trance of endless social engagements and mindless activities, Edith Wharton wrote Twilight Sleep.
Thoreau died in 1862.
Edith was born in 1862.
One began where the other left off.
Both authors had a sense of how hectic life can be ...
Mankind, it seems, has always been busy.
Or, are we just busy being mankind?
Walden Pond
I know Thoreau well.
Not through his books.
I tried reading "Walden" once and all I could think of was show me the damn pond so I can throw myself in and spare myself the agony of this book.
I know Thoreau because I live with him.
My husband is Thoreau.
My husband could spend two years setting beside a pond.
Come to think of it, when we were dating, I lived near a
pond. And while my husband pretended to be visiting me, in reality, he was
really visiting the fishing pond … should have been a sign.
Now that I think about it, I realize hubby and Thoreau share
the same birthday.
Ironically, Edith and I share the same birthday.
Coincidence?
I think not.
As I began this post, Thoreau and Wharton were the two
authors whose works came to mind when I thought about mankind and how hectic
our lives have become. Each wrote - although with very different style - on
this very subject.
As it happens, hubby and I share more than just birthdays with
these authors.
We also share a love of place.
Thoreau loved his pond and preferred a simple life in the
woods.
While Wharton, on the other hand, appreciated the finer things in life and lived in a mansion and wrote The Decoration Of Houses.
So I guess it should come as no surprise when hubby wants to live in the country, while I prefer the city with its art and architecture.
Wharton split her time between The Mount and Europe.
Wharton split her time between The Mount and Europe.
Who wouldn't want that?
Thoreau spent two years on an isolated pond in the woods.
Thoreau spent two years on an isolated pond in the woods.
zzzz ... zzzz.
The Mount
Hubby and I, it seems, are the modern day equivalent of Henry and Edith.
Two complete opposites coming together through place and time with absolutely nothing in common but a love of place and an appreciation of books.
Next month we will be married twenty-nine years.
It's a union of mutual respect.
I respect the fact that he likes to go fishing and wander about in the
woods.
He respects that I am a town mouse and prefer cafes and libraries and big old houses on tree lined streets.
Edith Wharton
Henry David Thoreau I guess the moral of the story is, before you marry someone, check their birthdays.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
We went to a family gathering last weekend at my brothers home in the country.
It was fun seeing the family, but it was hot, tiring, and hectic, and it felt good to get back home again.
Funny how just a little time spent away, can often help one appreciate home again.
It gives one a new perspective on things.
I learned that I am a town mouse.
Oh, I love ducks and geese and flowers and big country kitchens and quiet afternoons strolling the open prairie.
But country life is a lot of work .... and there's not much food out on that prairie.
Also, there's a lot of hay fever.
Two hours after arrival, my son began sneezing nonstop, his head swelled like a balloon, and then he broke out with the most severe case of hives I have ever seen. For a moment we thought we were going to have to make a trip to the emergency room. Thankfully, now he is okay.
But I can just imagine the ER conversation ...
Nurse: What's he allergic to?
Me: The country.
Things have been a bit stressful lately, and we were tired and so looking forward to this trip.
But one weekend on the open prairie, near a small town with nothing but a couple rundown fast food joints and a meal of nothing but meat at my brothers home ... and my two kids and I came running home so fast it made our heads spin.
So much for the country life.
We barely lasted a weekend.
Tired, sun burned and hungry, we hit Tulsa late Sunday afternoon and headed straight for Whole Foods, where we ate like pigs and picked up enough groceries to last a nuclear winter.
Warning: never go to Whole Foods after spending starving weekend with relatives in the country. It cost me nearly $400 to get out of that place. No kidding. But I was stocking up, since OKC has no Whole Foods.
Even though our weekend in the country wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped, it did us all good to get away.
It's nice to visit another persons world ... it allows one to reasses one's own values and learn more about themselves.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to read The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse to me. And I always became giddy at the part where the town mouse takes his friend, the city mouse, back home for an elaborate feast. I always felt sorry in the end for lonely, scanty existance of the country mouse.
Now it's rather ironic, for I no longer feel so sorry for the country mouse.
Sometimes simple is good.
Someday I will invite my brother and his family to my home in the city where we will share a great feast.
It will be a grand time.
But something tells me, in the end, he will scurry home to his safe haven in the country, while I remain happily in the city.
Contented mice we will be.
It was fun seeing the family, but it was hot, tiring, and hectic, and it felt good to get back home again.
Funny how just a little time spent away, can often help one appreciate home again.
It gives one a new perspective on things.
I learned that I am a town mouse.
Oh, I love ducks and geese and flowers and big country kitchens and quiet afternoons strolling the open prairie.
But country life is a lot of work .... and there's not much food out on that prairie.
Also, there's a lot of hay fever.
Two hours after arrival, my son began sneezing nonstop, his head swelled like a balloon, and then he broke out with the most severe case of hives I have ever seen. For a moment we thought we were going to have to make a trip to the emergency room. Thankfully, now he is okay.
But I can just imagine the ER conversation ...
Nurse: What's he allergic to?
Me: The country.
Things have been a bit stressful lately, and we were tired and so looking forward to this trip.
But one weekend on the open prairie, near a small town with nothing but a couple rundown fast food joints and a meal of nothing but meat at my brothers home ... and my two kids and I came running home so fast it made our heads spin.
So much for the country life.
We barely lasted a weekend.
Tired, sun burned and hungry, we hit Tulsa late Sunday afternoon and headed straight for Whole Foods, where we ate like pigs and picked up enough groceries to last a nuclear winter.
Warning: never go to Whole Foods after spending starving weekend with relatives in the country. It cost me nearly $400 to get out of that place. No kidding. But I was stocking up, since OKC has no Whole Foods.
Even though our weekend in the country wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped, it did us all good to get away.
It's nice to visit another persons world ... it allows one to reasses one's own values and learn more about themselves.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to read The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse to me. And I always became giddy at the part where the town mouse takes his friend, the city mouse, back home for an elaborate feast. I always felt sorry in the end for lonely, scanty existance of the country mouse.
Now it's rather ironic, for I no longer feel so sorry for the country mouse.
Sometimes simple is good.
Someday I will invite my brother and his family to my home in the city where we will share a great feast.
It will be a grand time.
But something tells me, in the end, he will scurry home to his safe haven in the country, while I remain happily in the city.
Contented mice we will be.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Local Announcement
Life in Oklahoma City may be getting easier for us foodies.
This week Whole Foods Market confirmed that the chain would open it's first Oklahoma City store in late 2011.
Late 2011? I guess it takes a while to build a brand new store, but my family is going to be mighty hungry by then, so I hope they put a rush on it.
It must be noted that Whole Foods does have some bad press, particularly with their CEO, who seems to be about as flaky and nutty as some of that overpriced cereal they sell. But we food eating residents of Oklahoma City have gone so long without a decent grocery store, that I would let Atilla the Hun set up shop as long as he promised to provide some fresh vegetables and grass fed beef.
When it comes to grocery shopping, Oklahoma City is the absolute worst. Walmart somehow cornered the market in this state and it has severely hurt our image along with our health. So yes, I will shop at Whole Foods, but will continue to purchase as many things as possible from local farmers markets.
But it's not easy, I have a fifteen minute drive to and from the farmers market, and the good stuff goes fast. I am hoping that as demand for fresh, local food grows, the supply will grow as well. Small, local farmers put their heart and soul into what they do and it definitely shows in this basket of greens purchased at my local market. I've never seen Romaine and Savoy so fresh. They were purchased twenty minutes after the market opened and I bought the last head of Romaine. 
This goes without saying, but the opening of new, corporate retail stores can often hurt small, local businesses. And as much as I desire a Whole Foods, I worry about them putting Oklahoma City landmarks such as Kamps and Crescent out of business. These two stores have been a beacon of small town charm in a sea of impersonal, overcrowded superstores for decades. In today's corporate world, it is comforting to know there are still places like Crescent and Kamps, where the customers matter and the butcher stands behind the counter and wishes you a good day. It would be a tragedy to see either of these two stores go away, although, I seriously doubt that will happen.
This week Whole Foods Market confirmed that the chain would open it's first Oklahoma City store in late 2011.
Late 2011? I guess it takes a while to build a brand new store, but my family is going to be mighty hungry by then, so I hope they put a rush on it.
It must be noted that Whole Foods does have some bad press, particularly with their CEO, who seems to be about as flaky and nutty as some of that overpriced cereal they sell. But we food eating residents of Oklahoma City have gone so long without a decent grocery store, that I would let Atilla the Hun set up shop as long as he promised to provide some fresh vegetables and grass fed beef.
When it comes to grocery shopping, Oklahoma City is the absolute worst. Walmart somehow cornered the market in this state and it has severely hurt our image along with our health. So yes, I will shop at Whole Foods, but will continue to purchase as many things as possible from local farmers markets.
But it's not easy, I have a fifteen minute drive to and from the farmers market, and the good stuff goes fast. I am hoping that as demand for fresh, local food grows, the supply will grow as well. Small, local farmers put their heart and soul into what they do and it definitely shows in this basket of greens purchased at my local market. I've never seen Romaine and Savoy so fresh. They were purchased twenty minutes after the market opened and I bought the last head of Romaine. On to some really good news ...
Forward Foods opened it's newest store on 5123 N. Western last week where the old Coco-Flow used to be. It's a great place to buy healthy, gourmet food, spices, local produce and green cleaning products as well. I was thrilled to find unbleached muffin liners and parchment paper. It doesn't take much to make me happy. They also serve coffee, espresso, and tea, and my daughter said their coffee was better than Starbucks. Their cheese selection is their crowning glory, it alone makes it worth the trip. Very impressive. I almost forgot I was in Oklahoma.
I picked up some Brie for my daughter the French girl at heart; some Vermont summer sausage for my meat eating hubby; Spanish olives and hot peppers for my son who likes things a bit spicy; and then I went a little crazy and came home with a whole bag of goodies for myself: French bread, pita, dried organic beans, couscous, sea salt from Brittany, fresh herbs, and enough cumin to get me through the summer. I use a lot of cumin.
If you live in Oklahoma City, I encourage you to visit Forward Foods. Even if you are not a cook, they have a great selection of snacks and frozen foods. Also it would be a great place to buy a gift. My mind was spinning with ideas.
This goes without saying, but the opening of new, corporate retail stores can often hurt small, local businesses. And as much as I desire a Whole Foods, I worry about them putting Oklahoma City landmarks such as Kamps and Crescent out of business. These two stores have been a beacon of small town charm in a sea of impersonal, overcrowded superstores for decades. In today's corporate world, it is comforting to know there are still places like Crescent and Kamps, where the customers matter and the butcher stands behind the counter and wishes you a good day. It would be a tragedy to see either of these two stores go away, although, I seriously doubt that will happen.
So, is Whole Foods coming to Oklahoma City a good thing or a bad thing? As much as I desire a better grocery store, there is something in me that wants to picket the big bad chain store ... that's out to destroy everything we hold dear.
What is your favorite grocery store? I would love to know.
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