Writings

Particularly in light of having to forsake our favorite low country boil the previous weekend, we can't wait to join our new friend John Hodges at his church for this gospel concert.  Y'all come.

Kenny is out of town, and Katy had her first day in weeks with no commitments .  Thus, a rundown of the highlights of Katy’s day:

-Sleeping in.  Woke up with the thunderstorm at 7 or so?  Realized that God was watering my garden, went back to sleep.

-Got up around 9 and had coffee, enjoyed the vibrance of my garden, popped to life with the morning rain.  There are no fewer than fifty gorgeous, fragrant red roses showing off like flamenco dancers on our rosebush.  It feels a little showy.

-Over coffee, continued to nourish my heart and imagination with N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope, all about resurrection and kingdom coming- present and future tense.

-Poked my nose down into my seedlings to see what progress has been made since I planted them last week.  Little seeds are starting to pop open, coaxed out by the warm weather and moist soil.  C’mon chamomile and peppermint- Katy wants homemade sleepy-time tea!

-I drove to Rainforest Café at the mall and bought four rubber snakes to put in my garden.  I hear that this will sometimes deter birds from eating one’s strawberries.  Cheaper and easier than building a frame with netting to cover them- we will see who is smarter, Katy or the birds.

-Baked three loaves of wheat bread from the “secret” L’abri recipe. 

-Washed my sheets and blanket with a cup of bleach, and they are now bright white!  (had to write that three times….”bright wight”! “brite… crap.”  “bright w…i….backspace…”)

-Swept up glass.  Someone, apparently for sheer spite, broke one of the windows in my little back-entry writing room.  They must have meant it, too- it was a light, porous little rock- they must have pegged it hard.  It really hurt my feelings.  I have this deep sense of justice that feels like I MUST confront that person.  But it probably won’t get to happen, and so I will have to trust to mercy.  Kenny and I are fans of Rudy Giuliani’s “broken window” policy and will repair it ASAP.

-Played Uno for an hour or so with Elizabeth next door.  I had started to work on the story I was writing, on the front porch swing with my journal and a glass of wine, and was pleasantly deterred.  She’s awfully sweet company. 

-Wrote a bit afterward.  Some sights, sounds.  Realized that the cracks in the paint on our porch that we’re about to re-paint look like the map of some other place, one with a major fault line, foothills and caverns.

-Watched half of Enchanted April.  Took a break for popcorn with parmesan cheese, realized there was a Harry Potter movie on, lost all momentum for the other story…

-Went to the grocery store for 100% dark cocoa chocolate and cream after finding a recipe for hot chocolat, in hopes of being a bit more like Juliette Binoche after watching Chocolat again last night…  The Mexican folks have got it.  That bit of chile in the cocoa is the perfect counterbalance on the palate.  (Popcorn and chocolat was dinner, for the record.)

-Realizing that there is no good reason whatsoever for going to bed right now!  I’m not tired, and I don’t have to.  You can’t make me, and neither can I.  Enjoy the magic of a cool spring evening, friends. 

Dear friends,

I have neglected you sorely.

I’ve been at a bit of a loss as to how to blog for you, my music-oriented folks.  This year has been a time of me branching out and exploring.  I think I’ve found that I’m a renaissance person, or at least a whole person.  I’ve still been writing songs, just not marketing them.  I’ve been writing a story, and working on this funny other little project that I’ll tell you more about sometime- just not yet. 

Meanwhile, I’ve been:

-Reading Flannery O’Connor’s Mystery and Manners and writing quotes on long pieces of art paper with sharpies.

-Baking bread from the L’Abri “secret recipe”.

-Tilling my garden.

-Listening to Kenny make beautiful new things.

-Cleaning house.

-Walking

-Taking my first hot yoga class.

Well, there’s enough for the moment.  We will come back.  Promise.  I think we may even begin playing shows regularly again.  And recording. 

Love to you all.  Drop a line anytime.

We’re crashed out on the couches in the living room, seeing out a night of storms and tornadoes here in Nashville.  We’re all set up in the basement for when Memphis sends over the next round.  We set up a card table and took the computers and best guitars down.  I packed a supply bag with: nine grain bread, peanut butter, water bottles, oranges, bananas, chocolate and cereal.  The basics.  We broke out the Uno cards and had a little wine and chocolate while we listened to the tornado sirens.  The first storm has blown by now, and we are thankful for our sturdy little brick house.  One more round to go.  I feel like baking biscuits- probably bad timing.

We live in East Nashville, a neighborhood defined by a couple of devastating tornadoes.  The last one was in 1997, when I was in college.  From Belmont University dorms, way up on the hill, we watched the tornado tear through downtown, hop the river and wreak havoc in East Nashville.  Amazing to think that the damage caused precipitated the revival and gentrification of the neighborhood (for better and worse) and that ten years later, I’d be married and concerned about our house and our neighbors, most of whom saw through that really rough one in 97. 

Our rosebush is weathering the storm well- it’s good and hardy, and bends well with the winds. 

My friend Steve is on a business trip in Germany right now, and he knows more about the storm than I do because of this.

I just heard that there are thus far fourteen known fatalities as a result of this storm tonight.  Bless those families whose lives were changed forever by this weird “spring” storm tonight.  I’ve been whiney because I have a tooth infection and between the soreness and the pain meds, I just want to go to bed.  Pain is relative- I’m happy to be here, safe and dry.  We have homeless neighbors- it just occurred to me to wonder where they might be tonight.  They’re amazingly spirited and resilient people, the four of them.  Bless and keep them, too. 

Peace to all of you tonight.

I haven't blogged in forever.  I've been writing a story...or, kind of.  Today I decided to hit the snag I've been working out head on.  I went to the downtown library where I figured I'd have a special treat in the bakery  (our library, by the way, is attached to a Provence).  But Provence was closed.  I picked up the movies I had on hold (Pan's Labrynth and a Sherlock Holmes) and headed over to the Russian Orthodox Alektor Cafe.  The first time I was there a little boy named Nikolai made me cocoa- he's probably in college now.I had just settled into the cozy back room, enjoying the light scent of incense and the gorgeous view of Scarrit-Bennett chapel when I was politely asked to move to the front room because they were about to have a catechism class.

So, on to Provence's first and loveliest location, where I gave up entirely on writing and focused on every loving bite of my triple chocolate mousse- enjoyed each bite so thoroughly, in fact, that I had all the joy I could get out of it and was headed into diminishing return by the time I'd had half. 

Ah well.  I'm a little closer- all the drive time was good time for plot consideration.

The other big moment of the day was making my seed order from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I ordered:

St. Valery (carrots) 

Red Wonder Wild Strawberry                         

Fine Verde Basil

Lavender

Thyme - French Summer

German Chamomile

Cilantro

Dill - Bouquet

Marjoram - Max

Russian Tarragon

Peppermint

Carentan (Leeks)

Texas Early Grano 502 (Onions)

Rocky Top Lettuce Salad

Ronde de Nice (round squash)

Zucchini - Black Beauty

Tomatillo - Verde

Henderson's Crimson Cushion

German Red Strawberry

Riesentraube (little grape tomatoes)

Did I mention that I got Mastering the Art of French Cooking, The Way To Cook, Gardening for Pleasure, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Keeping Food Fresh, and a pressure canner for Christmas?  I did.  This "being at home" and "not on the road" for a season thing has given me lots of time to indulge and consider my enjoyment of food- where it comes from, how we think about it, how to preserve it, how to cook it in such a way that it's not only necessary but delightful. What a treat that God has made food in so many forms- not just manna or that bread that the Elves ate in the Lord of the Rings, but food in all of its different textures, nutritional values, means of growing, means of preparation.  I'm so glad for the movie Ratatouille- what a joy to introduce children to the great adventure of food!  I'm so grateful.  Good, good gifts.  And all of these senses with which to enjoy them.

More later, of course.  Hopefully sooner than later.  As Mr. Rogers says- "You'll have things you'll want to talk about- I, will, too."