Today was a rough day. I always have done this - start the day with a huge list of things I'm going to do, then get about a third way through and run out of time, or energy. We're getting ready to go on a long road trip, so there are lots of loose ends to tie up. Today I started with mowing, and got the front field done, then came in and had a coughing fit that lasted for most of the rest of the day and completely wore me out. I washed three loads of laundry and could only find the energy to fold half a basket load. I'm stressed out because the furniture is dusty and the toilets are scummy and the garden is full of weeds and I'm too exhausted to bend over to pick up a sock. Greg works non-stop and he tells me to just tell him what I want him to do, but there's only so much one man can do. I'm amazed to think that just a couple of years ago I was working in my studio full time and doing art shows on weekends and keeping the yard and the house. My gosh, what would I do if I had children at home?
When we built this house and moved in, in 1995, Justin and Nathan still lived at home, Nathan was half was through his senior year. Greg's mom had brain cancer and was failing, and we had Greg's parents, "Wally" and Judy over for dinner just about every Saturday night. Nathan would be on the way to somewhere, and Justin would be wishing he were, but always we listened to Prairie Home Companion while I cooked and Greg made salads and drinks. Nathan went away to college in fall of 1996, Justin gradually did find some kind of trouble to get into on Saturday nights, but still Wally and Judy came over for dinner every week.
The Gramma (Judy) died, and it was just Wally. Every Saturday night Wally came over and had a martini, and we listened to Prairie Home Companion. Justin got big, became a football jock, and got his drivers license, and would wolf down more groceries in a sitting than you could imagine, and he'd hang out with Wally for a bit, and then go out hound dogging on a Saturday night.
Wally used to sit in the hammock chair on the back porch with his martini and I'd throw the frisbee for the dog to catch, and we'd listen to Prairie Home, and then make dinner. And then one day in 2004 he had a stroke and never came home again. He died this year in January. I can only imagine what it was like for him to be trapped inside his body for those last five years.
Every Saturday night in summer we still sit outside and have our drinks on the back porch, and the hammock swing sits empty. Garrison Keillor had a stroke this week. The summer is at its peak, but dying, and the hummingbirds have mostly flown. I don't have high hopes that I will be here next summer to have drinks with Greg on the back porch. But I'll bet that some of the kids and grandkids will, because it's a great back porch to sit on, and a great hammock swing. But I'll always see Wally there, martini resting on his tummy.
This week Justin and Amanda invited us for dinner and Justin grilled salmon. It was great! We love it with jasmine rice and mango salsa alongside. Here's the salsa recipe: Serves four generously.
2 mangoes, a little underripe, in small cubes
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, small chopped or sliced
fresh cilantro, chopped, we like a lot, about a third cup loose
Dump all this chopped stuff in a bowl and then make the dressing:
juice of two limes
about 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
about two tablespoons honey - more or less to taste depending on the ripeness of the mango
salt
chipotle pepper, ground - optional, but we really like the smoky heat with the toasted sesame
Mix this all together, let it sit for a half hour before serving if you have it.
Note that I don't measure so I'm just guessing about measurements here.
This stuff is good! And it's so colorful, with yellow, red, and green.
It's great alongside anything grilled, or spicy, especially pork or chicken.
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And it's really best with jasmine rice. I like to mix it with the rice and add another dash of chipotle, but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI'll always remember Wally best in that chair, too. When my siblings gave me the rest of his ashes to spread on our property, it was a Saturday, so I put the ashes in the chair for the night. I was kind of a joke, but also kind of symbolic. Bunny thinks that Im nuts, and maybe I am.
Watching Wally in that nursing home was one of the hardest things that I ever did in my life. About a year ago we thought that he was going to die because he had an infection that they couldn't cure with antibiotics. It turned out that it was just his teeth rotting causing all of the problems, so they pulled them all. Modern medicine. He was so out of it, so unable to communicate that he couldn't tell anyone of the excruciating pain that he must have been in at the time. This is how we worship life in this country, by keeping everyone alive as long as we can, regardless of their condition. I still don't know why he deserved such torture; he was a kind and caring man who was loved and respected by many people.
Greg