Reverse Transformational

Transformational

Easter Sunday, 2010

Everybody knows that the perceived length of days is unpredictable, but yesterday, Easter, seemed like a very long day.

I’m grateful for that because it was a very fine day also. I felt fully involved in everything I did and blessed with the very best companionship, including:

1. Caroline and Jane.

2. Andy and Edie.

3. Two people I like at the gym who made the early morning wake up and filled me in on “the news”.

4. Tom Clark and readers/correspondents at Beyond The Pale. I read fine poetry, prose and commentary and learned things about grammar and rhetoric. Through analysis and intuition I divined the path to “paratasis” and found that I hadn’t gotten lost.

5. The members and attenders present at the Cornwall Monthly Meeting Easter Meeting for Worship. It had been too long since we had participated there and Cornwall’s “living silence” spoke volumes to us.

6. The people we chatted with at Easter lunch overlooking Tuxedo Lake, which was as beautiful as I’ve ever seen it. Seeing how thoughtfully Jane treated the younger children present made me very proud.

7. My companions in the wildly entertaining dreams I had while Caroline drove back to Berwyn.

8. Jane (singling her out again) for reading aloud from The Code of the Woosters and loving the book and for finishing her math problem packet. It will break my heart (which can be a hard one on subjects like this; I must improve; that’s part of what Easter is all about) to wake her in 32 minutes so that she can begin the school week on time by performing a task that has turned a little sour for her. I’m grateful I understand why this is so now and also for the fact that we’re finally on the same page about it. And Jane for doing her axels and spins with such aplomb.

9. The person who cooked my miso soup with “asari” (clams) and enoki mushrooms last night. It tasted like the best thing in the world.

10. Eduardo, Bentley, the McFadden’s black and white cat, Pitch (where are you?) in Tuxedo, and the full complement of our animal family in Berwyn, i.e., Rose, Eddie, Eddie, Jr., Bunny, Felix, Claude, Princess Daisy, TigerLily, Honey, Tige, KingKing, Skip, Flip, Rainbow, Ruby and always, Pansy, U and Santa. (I’ve already mentioned Andy and Edie.)

Idealized Self-Portrait

8-29-06, Edinburgh, Wonderful Day

A lambkin in peace, but a lion in war,
The pride of her kindred, the heroine grew:
Her grandsire, old Odin, triumphantly swore, -
"Whoe'er shall provoke thee, th' encounter shall rue!"

Robert Burns – “Caledonia”

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

Robert Burns – “A Red, Red Rose”

First time I've seen anything quite like this. Good idea or pretentious waste of time? The salad which follows is excellent, however.

"Combining Robert Morris' Box With the Sound of Its Own Making with Baudrillard's writing on the art auction this sculpture exists in eternal transactional flux. It is a physical sculpture that is perpetually attempting to auction itself on eBay.

Every ten minutes the black box pings a server on the internet via the ethernet connection to check if it is for sale on the eBay. If its auction has ended or it has sold, it automatically creates a new auction of itself."

BEET SALAD WITH BLOOD ORANGES
Serves 6

Blood oranges, often called Moro, are a winter treasure and they look spectacular thinly sliced and served with ruby red or even golden beets. You can make this salad with rosy Cara Cara or navel oranges, but look for medium-sized to mimic the size of blood oranges and beets.

6 medium-small beets, about 11/4 lb. (625 g)
2 blood (Moro) oranges
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) shredded fresh mint or 2 tsp. (10 ml) dried, crumbled

Dressing

1/4 tsp. (1 ml) grated lemon rind
2 Tbsp. (30 ml) lemon juice
1 Tbsp. (15 ml) minced shallot or green onion.
Pinch granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. (45 ml) olive oil

Roast or boil beets (see Beet Prep). Let cool enough to peel. Cut each into scant 1/4-inch (5 mm) slices.

Dressing: In medium bowl whisk together lemon rind, juice, shallot, sugar and oil; remove 1 Tbsp. (15 ml) of dressing for oranges.

Add beets to remaining dressing and toss gently to coat slices. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to eight hours.)

Cut peel off top and bottom of oranges, then with orange stable on cutting board, cut off peel and outer membrane. Cut oranges crosswise into scant 1/4-inch (5 mm) thick slices.

Arrange circles of beets and oranges on six salad plates. Drizzle reserved dressing over orange slices. Garnish with mint.

BEET PREP

Trim off stems 1-inch (2.5 cm) above beet. Save leaves and stems to stir fry or steam like spinach.

Leave root end intact. Scrub gently - aim is to keep juices inside skin during cooking.

To Roast: Place in ovenproof baking dish, add 1/4 cup (50 ml) water; cover and bake at 325 F. (160 C) until tender enough for skin to slip off, about 45 minutes to one hour, depending on size. Test with the tip of a pointy knife, keeping piercing to a minimum to avoid loss of juice. You can bake at a higher temperature if baking with another dish.

OR: Wrap beets and water in double layer of foil; place on rimmed baking sheet; bake as above.

(Beet Salad recipe copied from a Canadian newspaper; unable to credit source, unfortunately.)

ACravan, Prop.
Strange Phase Productions