Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Nochebuena

Christmas Eve menu in Zaragoza:

• Assorted canapés with spreads like mousse de bacalao, oliva, anchoa, langosta. 
• A very large crab called buey de mar 
• razor clams (navajas) with a green sauce. 
• Largish sea snails called canadillas.

 Not pictured because my camera battery ran out:

•  langostinos, 
• champiñones rellenos,  
• lomo embuchado, 
• ensalada de quinoa,  
• cardo en salsa de nueces, 
• lubina al horno con salsa, 
• macedonia de frutas, 
• turrón, champán.

Great-aunt Alma:

My mother's aunt Alma is her mother's youngest sister. My grandmother, Giovanna Nitti, was the oldest sibling, and Alma was the youngest. Alma is only ten years older than mom, about the same age as my mother's oldest brother, Jim.  She was the only woman in the family who didn't marry or have children. Instead, she had a career in Manhattan working at BMI until she retired in the '80s. She loved interacting with the musicians. I don't think she was well treated at the end of her career, something that happens to older women rather frequently.

        When I used to visit her in New York, while she was still working, she would always send me to her hairdresser (she was always perfectly groomed, then as now, and was appalled by my lack of polish). She would buy me tickets to a Broadway show from the half-price dealers: I saw a Tommy Tune musical, Frank Langella in Dracula, and the original cast of Hurly-Burly.  When we went out to dinner, she never let me pay, although I always tried. She  told the maitre-d' ahead of time not to take my money. It seemed to me that she lived differently than many other women of her generation, as a career woman when it was not the norm, but she always upheld very traditional gender roles. The man was always right.

         Now she is 92, and lives in an assisted living facility on Long Island. They have filmed these short interviews, or "Life Stories," and my mother shared this with me.  

Castillo de Peracense 2/3

 Back in the olden days, there WAS a drawbridge!

 Inside the first ring of fortifications you can see the walls of the second ring.

 It's hard to realize just how far you can see in all four directions from this photo, but if you click on it to enlarge it, you can see that these rounded outcroppings are actually very tall rock formations rising from a deep valley below.

 The red sandstone is covered with a soft green lichen.

This is the entry into the next level of fortifications, overlooking the valley. The wind was so strong, I was mildly terrified the whole time.

Our day trip to La Laguna de Cañizar in Teruel

Between the villages of Villarquemado and Cella is an area that was a shallow lake until it was drained 300 years ago, for agriculture. A geologist, working with the mayors of the two towns, managed to get community support for a project to return some of this land to its natural state, despite the fears of some farmers. As of last year, the Laguna de Cañizar is now once again a "humedal" or marshy fresh-water lake. Thousands of cranes have arrived to overwinter, and dozens of other species of wildlife have returned or become more visible, including wading birds, ducks, swallows, raptors, frogs and toads, snakes, fish, otters, badgers, and other creatures. Because the canes can grow so quickly, an experiment with a few water buffalo is being conducted to see if  they do well through the winter, and if their grazing will help keep the growth under control.

We had a wonderful walk, windy and cold, but with gorgeous clouds. Our lunch in Villarquemado was excellent. We went on to other adventures (a castle!) later in the day, but that's for another post.

This place is a birder's paradise. The most impressive sight for us were the clouds of cranes. My photos hardly give an idea of how many there were, or how loud they were!

Here's one TV clip that shows the water buffalo (which we didn't see) and some of the many bird species that have returned to the area.

This video gives more of an idea of the cranes we saw.

Nochebuena

The table  set, waiting for the family to arrive:


Mr. Lobster.


Quique was the chef for the evening.



Los tíos: Florencio, Blas,  Carmen and Quique.


Los primos: Alba, Rosemary, Rubén


Rubén y el yayo Daniel.

Surprise in Shanghai

My daughter has been on the road in China with her Mandarin teacher, another parent chaperone, and 18 other students for the last three weeks. I've been recording their adventures on the blog Tigers on the Road for our families and friends, posting the pictures and reports sent back by Mr Yu using his iPad. In just a few days they will return with countless stories, pictures, souvenirs and life-changing memories.

A surprise was waiting in their hotel: Blas and a colleague were awarded a grant to do field work in Mongolia, so he had to travel to China for a week for the planning. He secretly arranged with Mr. Yu to surprise Miss R. by taking a room in the same hotel. Apparently there is film  of their reunion, which I hope to see on their return.

They have been able to spend a day together wandering the streets of Shanghai with a friend. Priceless!

Tigers on the Road

These tiger pictures are from a May Day parade.

My daughter has been studying Mandarin in high school for 3 years. Now, she will be traveling around China with her teacher, another chaperone and seventeen other students for about a month.


They have a great itinerary, and Mr. Yu has led many such trips in the past. Since I can't go myself, I made a blog so those of us who have to stay home can follow along, virtually. Their school mascot is the tiger ("the Gallant Tigers") so I called it Tigers on the Road. This gives me an excuse to post lots of tiger pictures to my Tumblr.

Mallorca's wild life

My daughter has now been to Mallorca two times. That is two times more than I have. *Sigh* She is there with her dads, and I hope they are able to get out of Palma to see something of the natural part of the island. Since I am stuck here in snowy Minneapolis, I must travel via YouTube! This BBC program on Mallorca is quite lovely. "El buitre negro" (the black vulture) has been an the brink of extinction, but people have been trying to keep their population going.

Christmas in Crookston

We spent the holiday up north in Crookston with family. The day after Christmas, the sun came out.

We walked across the way to have a little something at Dave and Ida's place.

Although it wasn't super cold, about 5 degrees above zero, the moisture-filled air had covered the trees with hoar-frost.

It looked as if the trees were in bloom.

Felices Fiestas/Happy New Year to all!

Dear family and friends,
the seasons change; our children grow; but our love for you remains constant. May the coming year bring you health, peace, and joy!
momo/Joanna

I'm listening, even if the Bishop is not

When my big girl was little, we would watch Sesame Street together. I had never watched it before, so I was almost (almost) as captivated as she was. There are so few places that give us messages of hope and pride, it seems. But in the past week, I have been thinking every day about Lucinda Naylor's calm, brave, love-filled message to us all.
Today, Fresca is accompanying Lucinda Naylor this morning at the Basilica in a manifestation of the power of love over hate. As Lucinda says in this letter to the Star Tribune* her art project of turning the Catholic Bishop's (funded by the Knights of Columbus and an anonymous donor) DVD messages of hate into a work of art that manifests the spirit of love does not come from hate, but from love. She the solidarity and support of many people of faith as well as those of us whose families are targeted by the the Bishop and all the others who try to tell us we are bad or wrong or unworthy.

So, Bishop, listen up!


We need to help our children survive the messages of hate. Too many are succumbing to despair and ending their lives because of hateful acts against them.
This morning, my daughter and I watched this video that Dan and Terry made to kick off their "It Gets Better" project, in response to all the stories of young people taking their own lives, many of them because of the relentless bullying to which they were subjected by their peers. Art can make a difference. Let's spread these messages of strength, love and solidarity, even as we mourn the stunted spirits of those consumed by hatred.
UPDATED TO ADD: here's a handy round-up of some of the more famous folks who've contributed to the "It Gets Better" project, not because their stories are more important, but simply because their fame helps attract attention to the project itself, and is especially likely to appeal to teens who are looking for role models.

*Because it is so beautiful, I'm including Lucinda's letter to the paper:

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Lucinda Naylor on her DVD to ART project

The Star Tribune's Sept. 28 article about my DVD to ART project, "Job on the line over DVD protest," missed the point. I aim to create a hope- and spirit-filled artwork that expresses inclusion out of the archbishop's disheartening, divisive DVDs. The project is not an anger-fueled protest. Instead, it is energized by all the wonderful, loving Catholic people who know the sky won't fall if Minnesota legalizes civil marriage for same-sex couples. It will be a positive expression of this spirit of love and transformation.

This is a personal project. I never capitalized on my title of artist-in-residence at the Basilica to promote this project. I accept my suspension from that role as the unfortunate by-product of taking art down off the wall and into the hubbub of the community.

Many Catholic congregations support this project. DVD to ART has accepted the support of Protestant churches to host collection boxes because their congregations have the freedom to support the project without backlash from the archdiocese. Obviously, Catholic churches do not.

DVD for ART is partnering with ReturnTheDVD.org, which has pledged a financial donation to St. Stephen's Human Services, an outreach program for the homeless, for each DVD that is sent to them.

ReturnTheDVD's website states: "We are a group of Catholics who are concerned about the priorities of the leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis." Their action, distributing 400,000 DVDs on the single subject of same-sex marriage shortly before the upcoming election, reflects misguided priorities and strays from the essential teachings of Christ.

The money and effort expended would be put to better use by focusing on Catholicism's "preferential option for the poor" and the commandment to love thy neighbor.

LUCINDA NAYLOR, MINNEAPOLIS

The dads

The nieces

When you get winter, make winterade

After the first big snowfall, put on the snowsuits, break out the sliders and hit the slopes!

Dance injury

see more Lolcats and funny pictures
I need to buy my daughter a trampoline. Or sign her up for dance classes. She likes to dance with her iPod in our tiny kitchen, but she keeps injuring herself. First a sprained ankle, now a toenail that has been semi-detached (OW! Ew! Ick!). she'll be OK, but I have prohibited kitchen dancing, and decreed that she must find a subsitute for getting her yayas out.

Cleaning house and finishing the job

In 20 years of living here, starting with 36 boxes of books and not much else, I've accumulated too much stuff. Much of it was from garage sales, Savers or Good Will, donations from friends or family. My living room furniture is from my mother's house, a piano I bought from a friend, several large items like bookcases and chairs were given to me by people who were moving. And then there are the things my child has hoarded, because there were years when we had to save everything. That phase seems to have passed, and this year we determined to repaint her bedroom and get rid of a very large, dark piece of furniture that was not really serving its purpose and which made her very small room feel even smaller. But that job was not one I could tackle by myself.

Over the last few years, I've been making steady progress in reducing the mountains of clutter in my small apartment: I've sold, recycled or given away baby toys, books and clothing; several carloads of stuff have been taken to Good Will or Savers--odds and ends, furniture, clothing, books; I've cleared out cupboards, closets, drawers, and shelves. But there was still a lot sitting around, waiting to be disposed of in one way or another, and between work, travel and laying around on the couch reading the New Yorker, my tendency toward inertia meant there were piles of stuff accumulating cat hair. Some of the piles had become invisible as such, but they were just clutter.

When Fresca took care of Leo and my place while I was away, she kindly cleared some junk off the porch to turn it back into the lovely bower it can be when it is clean and has a few plants. This was both kind and inspiring. We all stood and looked at it, and since the guys had promised their help with painting R's room, we put our heads together and came up with a plan of operations for transforming the rest of the place in the same way.

First step, I finally gathered 20 years of old electronic gear and brought it to one of the Hennepin County "problem waste" disposal sites, where I could leave it without paying a fee and knowing it would not be put into the landfill or burned with toxic parts still in it. There was my first and only TV set, the VCR, several phones I'd inherited or bought but which are now obsolete or interfere with my broadband signal, an ancient camera, batteries, Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs, and assorted parts of computers past.

Now, with the guys, we are undertaking a massive project that involves a domino-like transfer of stuff: we've removed everything from my daughter's bedroom and we'll rip out the old carpet and paint it today. She has sorted out all the old clothes she's outgrown, and the stuff she no longer needs or uses, and we've packed up the nostalgia items suchs as Halloween costumes and some dress-up items. The rest is bagged and off to Good Will or will be turned into a sewing project (t-shirt pillows!). We also pulled all the stuff off the porch, including an old desk that went to the basement, and a bookcase that will go into her bedroom, and did the same sort-and-purge. A lot fo what needed to be sorted were odds and ends of recycling abandoned there during the winter.

We moved a very large bookcase/drawer thingie from her bedroom onto the porch, where it looks splendid and holds my sewing project materials, and other boxes of stuff like holiday ornaments. We removed another bookcase that was holding the computer and are doing the same sort-and-purge in the living room office space. All the loose CDs, DVDs, magazines, and electronic gear and peripherals (iPod cables, rechargers, etc) have been coralled and given a garage of some kinds, many with boxes I got from Ikea. Being from Ikea, they all had to be assembled, so I have punched out little cardboard holes and put together a zillion boxes with little screws in the last two days.

The guys repaired one file cabinet whose drawers had lost their front panels, and I got another one at Ikea so my files can move out of the milk crates in the dining room. I tell you, it's a delicate operation! In order to move one set of things, another set has to be displaced. Every piece of paper, book, envelope, paper clip, pen, coin, battery, old toy or art project has be to sorted and given its new home: recycle? donate? move? discard?

But the results, although we are still in the middle of the process and my dining room is the temporary holding area, are already making me extremely happy. I've been meaning to do these things for literally years, and to have two strong and handy guys to help me muscle things around, and to have my daughter's complete cooperation in sorting her stuff (which I am not allowed to touch and rightly so) means this is happening!

Thanks, Fresca, for inspiration, and thanks to Blas and Loren for patiently assembling something from Ikea, moving big cabinets, helping me bring things to the basement and being willing to paint and grub up the carpet. By the end of the day, we will be done painting. It finally looks as if it will be possible for me to finish the job I started about three years ago of divesting m myself of the things I don't want or need anymore.

Rock The Garden '09

I was sorry to miss Rock The Garden last year, with our local favorites Cloud Cult, so this year I made sure to get my tickets before it sold out. Co-sponsored by MPR's radio station The Current (here is their Flickr set from the event) and held outdoors at the Walker Art Center, it happens on the Summer Solstice. The weather this year was perfect for an outdoor concert.

I was a little hesitant about taking my daughter with me: on the one hand, she would probably like at least some of the music, the outdoor setting, and the crowd-watching. On the other, she has a low tolerance for high decibels, she's 14 and if she got bored that might put a damper on my good time. I remember how fried I used to get at outdoor concerts back when I was in college, and I wasn't sure if either of us could last until The Decemberists went on last.

We had a great time. First, lunch at Moto-i, on Lyndale where we were treated like royalty and had excellent food. We got a good spot to sit, and kicked back for great people-watching and a well-run event. I enjoyed the sets local band Solid Gold, the very trippy Brooklyn-based band Yeasayer, Calexico and then by mutual agreement (she tired, me keeping in mind I had to get up at 4AM to drive the gang to the airport the next morning and we still had an hour's drive to Northfield after the show) missing The Decemberists. Oh, well, we are big fans and will eventually own all their CDs, so too bad. But I didn't want either of us to burn out, and she will be in Yellowstone for a week with her dads, so it wouldn't be fair to wear her out!

Lathering up with SPF 70 meant neither of us got broiled. We brought our own water bottles, but happily indulged in shaved ice, lemonade, french fries, and souvenir t-shirts (I let her choose).

Two friends even found us in the crowd!
It was a "No waste event" co-sponsored by Eureka recycling, which made sure all cups, untensils, etc, were compostible, and set up compost bins with volunteers to help us get our stuff in the right bin. Apparently, after 8-9000 people ate and drank their way through several hours of music, there was only have a dumpster worth of garbage; all the rest was recycled to be composted. Hats off!



I tweeted a few #rtg09 haiku (didn't realize there was an official @RockTheGarden on Twitter!)

Masses of white meat
Gently broiling on the grass
Aztec monkey skull
#RTG09 haiku


Hands down, best tattoo we saw: complete arm sleeve with Digimon characters. The gentleman agreed to pose so we could get this close-up.
A good time was had by all.

Anatomy lessons the hard way

My poor sweet baby took a tumble yesterday and hurt her ankle (she may be taller than I am now, but she'll always be my baby girl). When I saw how swollen it was, I flashed on when I broke a bone in my foot a few years ago and was afraid she might have done the same, but it's a painful, nasty sprain (a Grade II eversion sprain, if you want to get technical) nothing more. I'm glad nothing is broken, but it will be a few weeks wearing an ankle brace and an ace bandage, probably a week at least of evil crutches, and a month for full recovery. What a bummer. We are so fortunate that we have good medical care. Every single person who helped us at urgent care was wonderful to her. She even got to ride in a wheelchair for a little, which is sometimes the only highlight of the tedium of waiting around in a clinic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon instead of going for a walk. It was very cool that the doctor let me look at the X-rays on the computer with him (being the physiology geek that I am). They can see so much more know because they can zoom in. My daughter has lovely bones!

When I was six, I had my first of what would be four ankle sprains, and two twisted knees. The treatment then was a plaster cast for six weeks (and apparently there continue to be arguments about the best form of treatment for sprains!) prolonged immobility is no longer the fashion, but there are arguments to be made for "giving the foot a holiday" for the first phase of treatment. I spent so much time in those freakin' casts. A plaster cast is still the best for a complete ligament rupture (Grade III) but I'm sure mine weren't that bad, and I know that at least two of the sprains were re-injuries because of atrophied muscles and no rehab. I got very good on crutches and also enjoyed a lot of plaster cast artwork. But now, the emphasis is on evaluating each injury and beginning to strengthen the ankle and leg muscles (without pain) as soon as possible so as to prevent further injury. For now, she is doing homework, drawing, reading, and listening to music while I dose her with smoothies!

Coincidentally, my daughter also just found an amazing T-shirt that has a drawing of internal organs on it (yep, she's my daughter). And I just found this great blog Street Anatomy, where artists combine medical illustration with all the ways people (not just artists) are using anatomical drawings, for art, fashion, furniture and more.

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

We were both so sad to leave San Francisco and ten wonderful days! we revisited the Ferry building, with its wonderful markets, and also did the Saturday morning Stockton street crawl, visiting all the chinese markets where the locals shop. North Beach, Crissy Field, West Portal, Golden Gate Park, Fillmore street, Japantown: we walked all over and breathed in the foggy, fragrant air.

Now we are grateful to be back home, suitcases unpacked, in our pajamas, catching up with our lives. I'm sure my mother will be glad to have her place to herself again, to return to her painting. we'll miss being spoiled by her. My sister cooked us some magnificent meals; she made us one of her famous apple pies and a cheesecake the other night, and generously gave us the recipe for her incredible home-made graham crackers (with the secret ingredient!). I don't know if I'll be able to make them like hers, but I'm going to try.

We arrived to temps in the 20s, a fine sleety, snerty snowfall. The taxi-driver took the long way, but I didn't care because road conditions were iffy, and the freeway was probably safest. It appears that Al Franken will be announced as the winner of the Senate election on Monday (yay!).

We opened the door to find a very happy kitty! Fresca, you are the greatest!