fresh citrus

We seemed to have arrived just in time for the end of the citrus season. Ryan’s Mom has clients bringing bags of citrus to work. Oranges, mandarins, grape fruit… and we even got to help pick the final products off some trees.

Fresh oranges and lemons, needing to be picked! It turns out, the trees can only be trimmed after the fruit is finished and before the blossoms arrive. (I kind of want to stay a few weeks just to smell orange blossoms again!)

We are in citrus overload…oranges for snacks, juice at breakfast, lemons in everything…
Can’t you just picture turning this into juice?

Mmmmm. Orange julius!

But what I want to do most of all, is grab a bunch of clean wine bottles and make lemonade syrup.

I did this last year (with bags of lemons from the grocery store) and it worked so well. We could store the concentrated lemon juice as a simple syrup and then simply add water (or seltzer or wine) to our exact specification and get just the strength of lemonade we desired.

Tell me more about this syrup, you say? Funny, because I wanted to link to my lemonade syrup recipe. It turns out, I posted it exactly one year ago right here.

Okay, maybe canning is not practical right now, but a fresh bottle at least?

Quotable Sunday: we strive

Flame of fire, spark of the universe
that warmed our ancestral hearth-
agent of life and death,
symbol of truth and freedom.
We strive to understand ourselves
and our earthly home.

Leslie Pohl-Kosbau

In these short days I think back to the Christmas we spent in Stockholm four years ago. If we think the days are short here, daylight was even more dear in Sweden. I also think of earlier generations who could not drive out the darkness by fliping light switches as we tend to do.

In Stockholm, I was quite taken by the cozy ambiance that people created with candles, luminaries, and lanterns. There seemed to be an acceptance of the shortened days with these more gentle lights that did not overpower the darkness. Another thing I recall was that during our trip, Stockholm had record breaking snowfall. In the parks people built these lovely little igloos of snowballs and lit them with candles. In honor of that we built a little snow house and left a candle flickering inside. The snow melted a bit, leaving a face-like image but you get the idea.

In these darkest nights of the year may you be filled with light that accepts and does not drown out the darkness that surrounds. May you be filled with a gentle peacefulness, time to be mesmerized by flickering candles, the space for reflection in what could otherwise become a very hectic time. Peace be with you.

update Monday morning: our firey snowglobe burned through the night. how happy to be greeted by it this morning.

six golden years

Ticks Happen

Very late night thoughts here… for the first time in our history, we actually abandoned a camping trip.  I don’t know much about karma, but maybe I should have tried harder to find a way to be at peace with the people next door.  Or maybe, these things just happen and serve as a reminder that a) life can change in a moment b) always be prepared c) ditching a trip isn’t always a failure d) check for ticks very carefully… the jury is out.

After spending our spring vacation with the stomach flu in Phoenix, we kind of wanted a peaceful weekend away. So with temps set to be in the 80′s, we headed for Wharton State Forest. Ry (the super-Dad)  got everything ready, picked me up at school’s dismissal, and managed to arrive at the Park Office to snag a fire permit just minutes before they closed.  The scenery was that of a lovely pond full of frogs, large turtles, and many birds. We had a spot at the water’s edge and all was well.  There were some annoyances (loud neighbors with an ATV, broken glass scattered throughout the camp…) but we had a lovely time.  Amelia discovered the tastiness of dirt and pine needles, Riana spotted many birds, and we got to take a drive to the ocean. Oh, and of course there were plenty of strawberry-chocolate s’mores!

4-25-09

eating dirt? some things are a little harder to let her learn

throwing sticks into the pond

The girls were finally asleep on Saturday night and I was just getting into a book when Ryan found two ticks crawling on his leg.  With a headlamp, we examined each other and then Riana.  It was looking okay until Ry found a tick, already under her skin, at the base of her neck.  After we tried what we knew to do but could not release the tick, we called the Ranger, who advised that it is an active tick area and we ought to go to the ER.  Now, if we had been home, maybe I would have found something helpful on the NIH’s website or dug out some info in an old book, but we were far from such support.  So, for the first time, Ry packed up camp and adding to the firsts, we found ourselves in an Emergency Room.  I would like to think that as a parent I do not generally over-react…for me to go to the doctor or hospital, it has to be a pretty big deal. Thankfully, the nurses were calm, the doctor was easily able to remove the tick intact, and Riana was not too worked up by the experience.

Back home, now in the early morning hours, I just thought I saw a tick on Amelia, but it ended up being a smudge from the much-needed chocolate that wraped up our first camping trip of 2009.  Reflections:  I kind of didn’t think that ticks were such a big deal.  I never heard other campers talk about them…I had never seen one up close and personal, and while I have learned to id many plants and birds, I have clearly not read enough about wilderness care and safety.  My Aunt asked if this was the end of camping for us.  On the contrary, I am sure we will continue to venture in the woods.  Though, based on the cost of one ER visit, I think that this has prompted us to invest in a wilderness training course!