June 23: Book Club, Kate Moses, Fruit Salad



Don't bother me!  I'm preparing for book club!



My book club is meeting tonight at my house.  I think my streak of the last couple of months will be finally broken:  I will actually have the book completely finished.  This month's selection was a memoir titled Cakewalk by Kate Moses.  It's about her dysfunctional childhood and adolescence and her development as a writer.  At the end of almost every chapter is a recipe for one of her favorite baked foods.  The chapter I just read ended with a recipe for spiced pecan birthday cake.  Although I'm not usually a fan of pecans, unless they're disguised with lots of Karo syrup in a pie, this cake sounds absolutely mouth-watering.  I'm going to spend most of the afternoon finishing this book, if things go as planned.



The fruit's on me!

I spent an hour or so last night cutting up fruit for the fruit salad I'm going to serve tonight for the book club meeting.  I sliced up watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and pineapple.  When I get home tonight, I have to slice up some bananas and Pacific Rose apples (gorgeous and sweet).  It's going to be a huge salad that I'm probably going to be eating for days.  My friend Wondertwin made one of the recipes from the book--lemon cupcakes.  She's been describing them to me all day, and I can't wait to taste them.  My sister and mother are bringing meat pies.  It's going to be good eating at Saint Marty's house tonight.

My daughter called my wife this morning.  My wife said my daughter sounded like she'd been crying.  She told my wife, "I miss you, Mommy."  (For the past couple of weeks, she's been staying at my sister's camper with some cousins who are visiting the area.)  And then my daughter said she was having a "sad day."  Usually that means that something hasn't gone her way.  She didn't get to do something she wanted to do.  Or the weather has started to effect her.  We are now going on almost four days of fog and rain.  That would make Pollyanna suicidal.  I haven't heard any more reports about my daughter since this morning.  I'm trying to take that as a good sign.  Hopefully, things are looking up.  I remember dealing with bouts of inexplicable sadness when I was a kid.  I used to call them my "blue days."  I hope she didn't inherit that character trait from me.

My daughter on a better day

I feel guilty that I don't have a new poem for you today.  I promise to post a new poem tomorrow.  During the month of July, I have several poetry readings and panel discussions at different venues around the area, so I have to get in the "poetry" mood, if you know what I mean.  Right now, however, I need to get back to my reading my book.

Saint Marty, 89 pages and counting.