A catch-up post

Finally, a good use for the space basil.  Smells lovely!

That silence you heard here this week was school starting.  Not that we really start school in the sense of getting out a checklist and a planner, but there were some things that we did a little differently. There was a flurry of co-op correspondence.  We got used to the din of kids on the playground every day, and we walked upstream against Columbia students everywhere we went.  C.Z. started back with violin lessons from her regular teacher.  I even asked to see a piece of her writing.  

But probably the real reason I didn't post is that I spend most of Labor Day weekend reading Brideshead Revisited.  I had been put off by the cover of my version, which has images from the PBS series that make it look like something comical, perhaps out of Wodehouse.  But the reality is quite different, and I couldn't put the book down all weekend, so for the rest of the week I played catch-up.  

On Wednesday, we made our annual family Not-Back-to-School trek.  For the past three years, we've gone to the Hungarian Pastry Shop, a dimly lit Columbia hang out with an attitude and a touch of loopy St. John the Divine influence. The ordering process is cryptic, and the students stake out day-long tables with their laptops.  It's just the sort of place to make an "I don't have to be in class right now" statement.

But this year, we'd already eaten a lot pastry lately, so we decided to be different:  We went to the Bronx Zoo.  You can't really do the Bronx Zoo justice in one day, but we try, and every time we go, we find ourselves rushing back up to the north end of the zoo at 5 p.m., headachy and tired feet, but happy, in order to make sure we catch that last Liberty Lines bus back to Manhattan.  Over the years, we've developed three favorite emphases--rodents, monkeys, and birds.  

Here are some vignettes: 

We watched about two dozen mice of some kind in an 18" square enclosure.  They must have recently had babies, because the population density was just shy of having that swarming feel that can occasionally give me the willies about rodents.  It helped that these were furry.  They were chasing each other and running mindlessly in circles, and the little 2" creatures were so high strung that when one startled, it popped 8" into the air and landed right in an open cactus!  I figure that with such hair trigger reflexes, the animals can't possibly plan ahead of time where they're going to land.  

We visited the gorillas just as the keepers were throwing carrots and celery from an unseen point above our heads to a waiting group below.  The biggest gorilla, a silverback, not surprisingly had the best spot.  A little behind him was the sage of the group, a smaller male who used surprising ingenuity to fish carrots out of a little pond with his hands.  A little to one side, a child gorilla occasionally got beaned on the head with a carrot, just like you'd expect to see in an episode of The Three Stooges.  Some gorillas further back waited lazily, or perhaps submissively, for whatever came their way.  Another male ran furtively over the hill with both fists full of celery.  Apparently he had his dietary preferences and was making sure he didn't have to share too much.  We later found him around the corner wedged between a rock and the glass with his feet propped up, peeling celery leaves in a leisurely fashion and munching on the stalks.  All he needed was another gorilla to fan him and drop the stalks into his mouth.  

Gorillas at the Bronx Zoo (Mama is on the right. Don't you love her expression?)

Among the birds, we were pleased to find a Purple Swamphen, because C.Z. has always wanted to see a Purple Gallinule or a Moorhen, and this was a close relative.  She is amused by their big feet and chickenish behavior.  We were not terribly surprised to learn that they are relatives of the Coot, which may explain part of her interest.  C.Z. is a big fan of the Swallows and Amazons series, including Coot Club.

Purple Swamphen (image from Wikipedia Commons)

(If you have a video-capable computer, consider visiting the Bronx Zoo site above and having a look at some of the animal videos.  We watched the featured Spider Monkey baby for at least thirty minutes during our visit.  At one point, it grabbed onto a vine and missed, but slid down hanging by its arms.)

***

Our weather, quite far from being fallish, is downright tropical today, as Tropical Storm Hanna passes through.  We are having paper-curling-humid weather.  Still, the days are shorter, the leaves are beginning to turn sere and yellow, and the farmers' market offerings are showing signs of a shift.  As if by instinct, I've started putting up food.  First it was this week's CSA corn, which I shaved off into bags of two ears each and froze for use in tomato-beef-vegetable soup.  That will be good in the fall!  Then yesterday I bought one of those whole basil plants, stripped the leaves, chopped them up with olive oil, and put them into pre-measured bags for pesto and other recipes.  (Here's a link to some good directions for freezing basil.)  The first winter squashes are starting to appear, also the pears, and I bought some fennel for soup.  Next thing you know I'll be cooking with sage!

  

Farmers' market purchases this week (except for the not-local-at-all bananas!)

I've cooked a lot this week, but since it was a busy sort of week, I didn't photo document it or anything.  My favorite find was a late summer vegetarian spaghetti.  As usual, I found it in Local Flavors.  

***

Lastly, and somewhat uncharacteristically, here's a fashion item.  I am not much of a shopper.  In fact, I consider shopping somewhat in the same category as going through sorority rush or having to read the literature that comes in the mail from mutual funds--it's to be avoided whenever possible.  Yet, last spring I badly needed a new purse and my retailer sister suggested Orla Kiely, so when I saw this laminated lovely in the window of a local store, and then discovered that it not only had enough room for all my stuff (I carry a book at all times on the subway, and often a smoothie), but also several small pockets (including one for my cell phone, which I can never find in time), and even a key-ring clip and nice flaps on the ends to deter pickpockets, I knew this was the bag for me.

My handy, not-so-new-anymore purse

You know what?  Ever since I bought this purse, I've noticed them everywhere I go.  I see the easily recognizable Orla Kiely patterns walking down the street as diaper bags, as luggage, smaller purses, and in the same shape as mine.   My mom even wanted one for her birthday.  I think this is the first fashion trend I've participated in since I got a Gap sweater during Christmas break in college and saw myself coming and going when I got back.  Maybe I should to listen to my sister more often.

***

This is C.Z.'s first day back in her Saturday music program.  Bob and I met her for lunch and she filled us in with news of who moved up an orchestra or a section, what the new pieces were, and her hopes for chamber music later in the day.  We came back before the deluge began, C.Z. went on to music theory, and now Bob and I are sitting in our dark, quiet apartment with the windows open, listening to the rain.  I am getting sprayed with what practically feels like salt mist, several feet from an open window.  My fingers are sticking to the keyboard, and my normally straight-ish hair is sticking out like a Christmas tree.  Later we will be having a nice, pseudo-fall dinner involving a chicken, sage (see, I did start cooking with it), and a buttercup squash. 

***

Well, that'll teach me to go all week without blogging!  There's a bit of everything in this post.