Battening down the hatches

We're waiting for our first windstorm of the season--expecting winds 20-30 mph with gusts up to 40. That's half of what we got last year during the December 14th "Hanukkah Eve" storm. Nevertheless, 20-30 mph winds can make inanimate objects come to life! During a bit of a let up in the rain I ran out and put in the garage anything that would be likely to fly away--patio furniture, empty pots, etc. I found the dahlia tubers drowning in one of the empty containers. I also picked the remaining peppers--another 3 dozen! The first batch I picked did ripen to red sitting on the kitchen counter. Hopefully this batch will too!

I took this picture under our newly installed track lighting! Now we can read at the kitchen table--and see what we're eating too. We've been thinking about installing some kind of light over the table ever since we moved in. However, track lighting involving hardwiring sounded too overwhelming. But this weekend Wing Nut decided this was one project she wanted to cross off her list. WiNu rocks!

Around 2 the rain stopped completely and the sun came out. Yippy! A sun break! I dropped everything and headed out with Diva Dog for our walk. The sun only stayed with us for a couple of blocks. The leaves were whirling and whooshing and whizzing by! But we managed to catch a few pretty ones. We made it back just in time to see the neighbor's patio furniture start to fly away, oh my! And while listening to the radio just in the past 20 minutes we've gone from 4,000 homes without power to 10,000.

Foggy morning

We haven't seen fog this thick since our first year here. Very spooky to look down the hill and not be able to see downtown or the mountains beyond.

Step into my parlor said the spider to the fly.

Volunteer Park Conservatory

A few weeks back we finally made it to the Volunteer Park Conservatory. It was a gray afternoon and rain was threatening. But the conservatory provided warmth and shelter from the rain. We spent a couple of hours exploring the 5 houses--palms, cacti, bromeliads, ferns and orchids.

Peppers

It's a pretty good pepper harvest! Over 3 dozen picked and about 1 dozen still on the plants.


HOW TO STUFF A PEPPER
by Nancy Williard

Now, said the cook, I will teach you
how to stuff a pepper with rice.

Take your pepper green, and gently,
for peppers are shy. No matter which side you approach, it's always the backside.
Perched on green buttocks, the pepper sleeps.
In its silk tights, it dreams
of somersaults and parsley,
of the days when the sexes were one.

Slash open the sleeve
as if you were cutting a paper lantern,
and enter a moon, spilled like a melon,
a fever of pearls,
a conversation of glaciers.
It is a temple built to the worship
of morning light.

I have sat under the great globe
of seeds on the roof of that chamber,
too dazzled to gather the taste I came for.
I have taken the pepper in hand,
smooth and blind, a runt in the rich
evolution of roses and ferns.
You say I have not yet taught you
to stuff a pepper?
Cooking takes time.

Next time we'll consider the rice.