Last Days of Summer

Photo by K. Iuppa




Looking at the calendar this morning. One more week of summer. So much needs to be done.
But that chair looks so inviting. . .

This weekend we went to see the Red Wings! Finally made it to the ballpark without getting doused in rain. It was an exciting game. Wings won 8-5 against Lehigh Valley.
Brian Dinkelman's batting stance reminds me of my son George's stance up to bat. Funny too, George agreed with me; he saw himself while watching Dinkelman. He and his family were at the same game, but we didn't see them. This proves you can get lost in a crowd.


This weekend marks the Civil War Re-enactments at Hamlin State Park. On Friday, before going to the game, I took a long bike ride in the park.

This year, the people set up their camps close together. So many canvas tents, with cots and all the furnishings circa 1860. All the people were dressed in the clothing of the period (woolen underwear, too--even in this heat!). True to the actual war, there were women who followed the troops. Some were wives; some prostitutes (Although, I don't think the prostitutes' roles were part of the re-enactment), but women were along making meals, washing, sewing-- all the maintenance work. In my weaving through the camp, I overheard this conversation:

Scene: In camp, raising of tents, unpacking, settling in.

Man: I'm so sorry (voice bellowing, plaintive)

Woman ( loud and assertive): This is why Mary and I are in charge of settling this up.

This made me chuckle. I wondered if it was a conversation that could have been said in 1860?

My guess is absolutely.

Yesterday, I could hear the cannon fire. The war itself was so brutal (as every war is). They packed everything into those cannons(chains, ammunition, and so on). So when they fired, everything sprayed out at an enormous force and could cut a marching line of men in half. Equally, amazing, the men followed the orders to march toward the line of cannons, which is a guaranteed death sentence. This is probably why Gettysburg had such a high count.

The people who come to these re-enactments have a grim seriousness of purpose. Their facial expressions are all about war, getting the history exactly right; nothing deters them, not even rain. It rained last night into the early morning. Should clear in a few hours. But I wondered what it was like waking this morning to smoldering fires and rain dripping off tree branches.


I may go over there today to watch . . .

Sunday Summer Notes

After a week that was so full of work (mornings at SummerWrite workshop at Writers & Books and afternoon meetings), this weekend seems to swing into another fluidity. The pace of a rower, I think. I swing from one task to another; sometimes stopping to gaze out over the orchard, or watch the nonstop chicken rodeo going on in my yard. The chickens have cleaned up ever mulberry in our wide yard. We have three mulberry trees, and I think the birds prefer the dark berries to the white. Both are very sweet.


Peter and I had planned on going to a Red Wings ball game last night, but as we headed East, we
were swallowed up in a wild thunderstorm. The rain was thick as milk. Plan B: the movies.
Since it was so wild outside, we decided to see Cowboys and Aliens, which is a so-so film. It could have been great, if they had punched up the humor and carried the working metaphors a bit further. Had a great cast. I was jump up scared three times, because I didn't see it coming. Thank goodness I wasn't holding pop corn or the over-sized medium Sprite. Peter would have been doused. I should look this up, but is this movie a comic book series? Sure are a lot of comic book movies this summer. In the trailers for this show, there's new movie starring Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Phillip Seymour Hoffman et al (another great cast) , called MoneyBall, and that looked interesting to me. Hope I get to see it when it comes out. Maybe it will be released during the baseball playoffs.

When it's really steamy outside and you don't want to heat up the kitchen:

Recipe:

Tomatoes (pick the variety) if cherry or grape you'll need a bunch; romas or any variety of slicing tomato, you'll need 6-8.
Wash tomatoes, then hand slice, then coarse dice and put in clean bowl, juice and al.
coarse chop 2-3 closes of fresh garlic.
coarse chop basil, (a decent bunch of leaves)
coarse chop half an onion (Vidalia or sweet other onion)
thin slice , one small zucchini, and quater each slice.
Put all these ingredients in your bowl with tomatoes.
Olive oil, pour threes turns around bowl, light stream of oil. May be about 3 Tablespoons.
Shake season salt, or just salt and pepper and red pepper flakes(go easy with this).

Stir everything gently in your bowl and let it steep.

Prepare pasta as directed on box. It can be any kind of pasta, I like penne rigate and bowties
with this. Once cooked, drain pasta then put back in your kettle with two tbls. of butter to coat the pasta; then shake some grated romano cheese and toss gently so everything is mixed.

Put pasta on plate, top with raw sauce, then sprinkle more romano cheese, or shredded asiago,
mozzarella, or whatever your desire.

You can keep this vegetarian or serve with side of grilled meat (sausage, your choice).

I have also added chopped mushrooms, carrots, yellow squash to the raw sauces. Secret is to keep the veggies sliced thin and coarse chop.

Summer is the best time for this because of the garden's abundance. Enjoy!

Morning Report

In the World of Words:

Charles Cote interviews John Roche, regarding his newest poetry collection: Ghost Roads.
It's a thoughtful interview, well worth the read:
http://charlescote.blogspot.com/2011/08/whitman-on-acid-interview-with-poet.html


Heard from Split Oak Press that I was one of the finalists for my prose collection Between Worlds. They received a large number of submissions for this year's contest, and I'm honored that my manuscript was recognized by the panel of readers and the judge. Hopefully, this chapbook collection, which is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, will find its way into print.


Congratulations to Karen Weyant's , her latest poetry chapbook Wearing Heels in the Rustbelt will be published by Main Street Rag. She was the winner of their annual chapbook contest! Looking forward to reading this collection.

*******

Red Rooster Farm News:

Nothing better than fresh produce. So temporary, this Eden's offerings. Thus far, we have exceptional broccoli-- looks picture perfect. Zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, blue lake green beans, deep purple eggplant-- I've been staying ahead of this and picking early, rather than a day late. you all know what a day makes in zucchini life-- baseball bat size seems to materialize in an eye-blink.

We're going to have a lot of pumpkins this year. So excited about this. Soon we'll be processing these veggies for winter. Nothing better than fresh tomato sauce when the snow is flying.

I've made a lot of boutique jams this year. My sister Karen, who is very critical of practically everything, gave me a thumbs up on these offerings. Her seal of approval is crucial because her praise will continue for years and that's the good news. But, when you have a food failure, that commentary stays constant too, and that's not so good. She's an exceptional cook and our family historian. I really like talking about recipes with her. She's taught me a lot.

Hope all of you are enjoying these last days of summer. Soon, September.

Storm Brewing

Photo: by K.Iuppa, Recent storm on Lake Ontario

I too am a storm brewing. Have been working on a poetry project that has made me think seriously about content. What makes a subject significant? If the poem is engaged in observation, how can you be sure that the content is more than a mere report? What gives the observation consequence? Can the consequence be subtle, rather than shaped by certain edginess? Who's paying attention to what's "worth it"? I think having a project makes me think deeply about my writer's craft. I enjoy the routine of a project. I look forward to each day's new work. Stunned by my constant fussing over the "small world" poems I've written, whereas the longer lyric-narratives and other forms (cinquain, triolet, pantoum and so on) have been holding up. I've been enjoying the process. It's a conversation that is allowed to travel through the past,present, future zones. I think the conversation is wrestling with memory-- it's vulnerable; it wants a cure. We'll see . . .

Jam, Jam, Jam

It's been a month since our last rain. Past two days, thunderstorms have rolled in and out , too quickly~ Still rain is rain.

Our raspberry patch has been chock full of berries- plump and o so sweet, you don't even need a pinch of sugar . Thus far, I've picked over 10 pints and have made the following jams: raspberry, raspberry-red cherry and raspberry-apricot-pineapple. I love looking at the jars(12 oz and 8 oz) -- lined up in neat rows, they make me feel rich. Love hearing the intermittent pop of their lids sealing. This is one of the joys of summer.

These recipes are no pectin, less sugar. So delicious. But, of course, I had to get up early to get this underway. We're in the middle of a heat wave. Today, the temperature will rise to 90's. Tomorrow will hit 100. So making jam when it's that hot outside is a bit outrageous. Our farmhouse doesn't have central air.

Gardens are doing well. Spent two days weeding the carrots. We planted these directly, so it's pain-staking work-- taking only the weeds and leaving the delicate carrots. Today, I'm going to work on the baby beet area. All of my green cabbage came up, but not one red. I'm so sad about this. I love red cabbage.


Yesterday, I went to my sister's house on the lake with my daughter Meghan. We spent an hour or so, body surfing the waves. The water was warm. We sat on the edge of the water and talked after our swim. I rubbed sand and bits of shell on my feet, over and over. I think it did a great job on my heels. A natural pedicure!

Project tally: 16 poems.

This Summer Life

Have been working every day in the garden. Some of the honey bunch tomatoes are ripe!
Things are growing nicely, actually catching up after our late start.

Summer school finished, in what felt like an eye blink. I taught a Film and Society course and would recommend these films for summer viewing-- all available in the library system:

A Face in the Crowd: a 1957 film starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau, directed by Elia Kazan.^[1][2] The screenplay was written by Budd Schulberg, based on his short story "Your Arkansas Traveler." Powerful film. Makes you think about the word: made.

Network: a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System (UBS), and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. It stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall and features Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, and Beatrice Straight.

Both of these films work in comparison/contrast.


Tootsie: a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, and producer/director Sydney Pollack. Tootsie was adapted by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson (uncredited), Elaine May (uncredited) and Murray Schisgal from the story by Gelbart.


The Betrayal-Nerakhoon: The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has spent the last 23 years chronicling the family's extraordinary journey in this deeply personal, poetic, and emotional film. (documentary). I'm still thinking about this film.

Gran Torino: Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.

Most of my class didn't know who Clint Eastwood was. How is that possible? In any event this tied with the documentary.

** All film blurbs gleaned from Wiki descriptions.

We viewed 13 films. This isn't the complete list.

Project: Currently working on a collaboration with a fellow Rochester poet. We've entered week four. To date, I have 12 new poems . I have been enjoying this challenge. Some of the poems have trigger some ideas for essays.

Going to a Red Wings baseball game tonight!

Othello at Highland Bowl

The Shakespeare Players, a program of the Rochester Community Players, is presenting Shakespeare's tragedy Othello this summer as our 15th annual Free Shakespeare at the Highland Bowl. The production is being directed by Stephanie Roosa and produced by Patrick White. This production is co-sponsored by the Monroe County Parks Department.

Twelve performances of Othello are scheduled, from July 1 to July 16. All performances are free (donations are requested) and start at 8:00 PM. The performance will take place at the Highland Park Bowl, 1200 South Avenue, Rochester NY (corner of South Avenue and Robinson Blvd.) The performance schedule:

Friday July 1
Saturday July 2

Sunday July 3
Tuesday July 5
Wednesday July 6
Friday July 8
Saturday July 9
Sunday July 10
Tuesday July 12
Wednesday July 13
Friday July 15
Saturday July 16

______

Pack a picnic, bring a blanket and settle in . . .

Yesterday, Peter and I ventured to Highland Bowl to see this year's Shakespeare Players, a program of Rochester Community Players production of William Shakespeare's Othello.

I thought it was a strong cast, especially actors: Jonathan Ntheketha as Othello, Jeffrey Jones as Iago, Philip Ortolani as Cassio and Jeff Siuda as Roderigo.

I'm always intrigued by Iago's motives. He is a true villain. His jealousy and retaliation is greater than what originally insulted him. The slight he suffers for being passed over festers and festers. His mind is consumed with his desire for revenge. And, it's at any cost.

They had a few trouble spots with audio/ microphones. And a threat of rain, just a few drops just before the intermission. Some people left, but we stayed. The show ended near 11 p.m. Or that's the time I noticed when we got into our car.

This group of players will be presenting Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Oct 27-Nov 19, 2011, at MuCCC. Something to look forward to in the Fall.