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Monthly Archives: June 2017
Revisiting Les Misérables
I’m making a valiant effort to thin out my very thick personal library. Like any parting, there is grief, but I’m choosing instead to grip the joy and gratitude I’ve garnered from my books. When I picked up this 1232 page brick I faced the glacial reality that I would never read all the words again.
The next best thing was to read the bits I’d underlined in neat pencil.
Because I’m a wee bit obsessive about my books, I knew I had to copy those adored sentences into my commonplace book.
Two long road trips, several shorter drives, the odd minutes gleaned here and there… and I’ve added 30 pages to my journal of quotes from Les Misérables. All the joy, people. All the joy/grief/delight/disgust/admiration of this magnum opus comes flooding back.
It was the next best thing to reading every word. And so many quotes!
One thing remains. Giving this book a good home. A place where it can sit on a shelf, get a few loving glances with the whispered promise to read it sometime.
If my penciled copy of Hugo’s masterpiece sounds like something you want (free), leave a comment. In a week I’ll make a decision where it goes and mail/hand it to that person. Otherwise I’ll donate it.
Salad of the Summer, 2017 Edition
They jostle each other, swinging hands in the air: choose me! choose me! Which salad will be crowned Salad of the Summer this year? They study winners of yore, searching for an edge to beat out the competition.
Pioneer Woman’s Asian Noodle Salad is the only entry in the storied history of Salad of the Summer to win two consecutive years. Cilantro must be the key. Black Bean and Corn was the inaugural winner. Color is vital. Spinach Salad sighs, recalling glory days. Broccoli Salad reminds her competitors that she won Miss Leftover seven years ago. Greek Salad pirouettes, posing, ignoring the sneers from the lettuce section. FourP Salad (pistachio, pear, pomegranate, and parmesan) receives a vigorous communal put-down: you’re a winter salad with pomegranates. Don’t even.
The judge is not unbiased. She determined, before the semi-finals even began that quinoa needed representation. Considered an ancient grain, it is high in protein. The runner-up was a Greek Quinoa with Kalamata olives (oh, yum) but the Persian flavors, especially cumin, in HJQS seduced the judge and jury.
Hannah Jane’s Quinoa Salad
The Base
2 cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups any combination of water / broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
Soak quinoa in water (not the water/broth above) 10-15 minutes; drain and rinse.
Mix quinoa, water/broth, and salt in pot; bring to boil, simmer 15 minutes.
Fluff and cool.
The Colors
black beans (14 oz can–drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans)
tomatoes (3 Roma or /1 Beefsteak or / a small container of grape tomatoes)
bell pepper (1/2 large red or 6-9 mini peppers, what have you)
onion (4 green onions, sliced or / 1/2 red onion fine dice)
cilantro (a bunch, it’s a beautiful thing)
Add prepared veggies to cooled quinoa
The Dressing (doesn’t the dressing always make the salad?)
2 limes, juiced
olive oil, 1/4 – 1/3 cup, your preference
ground cumin, 1 teaspoon (<<<the magic ingredient)
black pepper, enough grinds to equal 1/2 teaspoon, or to taste
salt, enough grinds to equal 1 teaspoon, or to taste
Stir together, toss with salad.
It’s gluten-free, dairy-free, boring-free, bland-free, calorie-free. j/k on the last one.
Even better the next day.
Frederick Law Olmsted
Morton Arboretum, the closest photo I had to landscape architecture
I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future. In laying out Central Park we determined to think of no result to be realized in less than forty years. — Frederick Law Olmsted
It is the breadth of Olmsted’s curiosity that makes his writing compelling.
His genius was made manifest when he, along with Calvert Vaux, created New York City’s Central Park. After that, Olmsted designed other huge city parks, the suburb of Riverside, IL, university campuses, cemeteries, the U.S. Capitol grounds, the World’s Fair in Chicago, and the Biltmore Estate. I enjoyed reading about the projects he didn’t get: Golden Gate Park, the city of Tacoma, WA.
The ability to think on a large scale, to project himself into the future, and to quickly master broad issues were skills Olmsted acquired while he was directing the United States Sanitary Commission, managing the Mariposa Estate, and chairing the Yosemite Commission. All these projects depended on his ability to digest and organize large amounts of information, and to integrate diverse requirements. All involved planning in time as well as space.
The timing of my reading was delicious! In some ways this is the daylight to the darkness of Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives. Riis writes extensively about the Children’s Aid Society, started by Olmsted’s closest friend, Charles Brace. Olmsted’s work on Central Park was more civic than aesthetic, giving residents the space to soak up sunshine and fresh air.
Other reading intersections: Erik Larson’s The Devil in White City made me thirsty to know more about FLO. Michael Pollan referenced Olmsted’s ideas in Second Nature. By chance, I’ve landed in books set in the late-19th century. The wider I read, the greater my familiarity grows and the joy of recognition sparks.
Finally, I believe growing up in Lombard, IL, walking through our own Lilacia Park, designed by Jens Jensen, and nearby Morton Arboretum, a 1700-acre tree museum, predisposed me to love this book.
For myself and those interested in cultural history: 5 stars
For those who like biographies, history, and books with an index and maps: 4 stars
For those who like biographies, history, and books with an index and maps: 4 stars
A Living Pencil 