Some good things, and some reality

• A postcard from Europe! Thanks to Bitty, I now have a picture of a large statue of a rabbit with disturbing eyes.
  
• The happiness of an orker when I gave her a pint of gingered watermelon pickles.
  
• Finding a 10-cent Euro coin (Is this the correct phrase?) just outside my house. I wonder how it got there.
  
• The windows at Shreve, Crump, and Low jewelers are always interesting. I had to laugh this morning when I saw the new ones, little wooden men packing rings into boxes, dragging necklaces along, little moving trucks, showing the way to the new location (first floor of the building I work in; I hope the neat windows will still be along my morning walk).
  
• Hugs.
  
• Indulging my tomato lust.
  
• Early closing Friday (aka knowing I have time to cook and clean for Shabbat).
  
• Trying maple yogurt by Brown Cow. Not as thick as Liberte (which is truly more dessert), but yummy, and only three ingredients other than live cultures. Plus they only use milk from non-growth-hormone cows, etc. (Plus I get to type "How now, brown cow?", which in my family transmogrified to "How now, brown frau?")
  
• Lunches with friends.

And then I read more about Katrina. About how the federal government cut spending for the levees and such to pay for Iraq, for homeland defense, despite the increased hurricane activity. About how the evacuation plans basically left poor (read: black, or African American, or whatever the correct term is these days) people to sink or swim, since they don't have their own transportation, nor enough money to pay others for transportation. About how the air smells of gas, and the water already will make you sick. About the oil refineries there, along with other industries, and how much it will hurt the nation as a whole (All those who think gas costs too much already, get ready for more sticker shock.). About what our esteemed (*cough*) president has done for this disaster, so much larger in physical impact than September 11.

And all I feel I can do to help is pull out the checkbook (even if it's online), tiny sponge that it might be ("a drop in the bucket" really not being the right metaphor). Which is just about nothing. But not quite nothing.

Farm share, week 12

I got to the pickup a bit later than usual, so there might've been some options no longer available. I'm happy with the vegetable bounty, though, which includes

• three pounds of tomatoes (some heirloom, some not, all very red)
  
• a pound an a half of onions (there were bins with white, yellow, and red ones)
  
• a bunch of chard (I took red, though there were yellow ones as well)
  
• a bunch of beets with greens
  
• a pepper (There were orange and red bell peppers, and the longer, red, 'frying' peppers. I took an orange bell.)
  
• a bunch of leeks
  
• a head of green leaf lettuce
  
• a bunch of arugula or dill (Arugula, all the way.)
  
• an orange-skinned spaghetti squash (the variety called, apparently, "hasta la pasta".)
  
• a pound of carrots

I had been hoping for another watermelon. They'll likely be a the farmer's market Friday, anyway.

( Boston Organics delivery )

And now I get to plan ( what to cook. )