Tales from the Microbial Laboratory

~hump day~

 

  ~Skyline Drive, between the Swift Run Gap entrance and Big Meadows~

~~~~~

 

Yesterday was my Father's 77th birthday, so in celebration of this (and because when I'm in Virginia, visiting/caring for him, I'm antsy as hell) I made a three layer chocolate cake with buttercream filling inbetween the layers and chocolate-sour cream frosting.

Here's the cake, just prior to frosting it.

It was good.  Dad liked it.

~~~~~

I've now been with my Dad for five nights and five days - today was the official 'hump day' for my visit - after tonight, I will only be here for four more full days.

I feel terrible that I've counted it down in this way.

But I can't help it.

He's happy - and is in a good place right now.  I try to focus on that - instead of the things he does wrong or confuses.

But I'm not terribly patient.  I get frustrated and antsy and go stir-crazy - it challenges everything about simply being...

~~~~~

This afternoon, Dad and I drove up to the Skyline Drive - getting on at the Swift Run Gap entrance on Rte 33.

We headed north, and slowly drove the 15 miles to Big Meadows.

Dad got a kick out of posing for a photograph with Harry Flood Byrd, Sr at the Big Meadows Visitor Center.

But shortly after this, he was ready to head back home.  We hadn't been at Big Meadows for more than 10 minutes.

This is how it goes.

~~~~~

It was a lovely late afternoon - strong winds on the parkway, golden rod in bloom, seed pods everywhere (evidence that summer had come and gone) - lots of deer and no signs of bear.

~~~~~

tomatillos

I harvested tomatillos this afternoon from Dad's garden - one of his healthcare providers had planted them, but no one was harvesting them, and the plants are starting to die back now.  I roasted them - along with a large white onion, two jalapenos, and about six cloves of garlic - and then pureed the mix and added some cumin.

Yum.

Tomorrow the roasted tomatillo salsa will top roasted chicken and black bean enchiladas - the black beans are soaking in water tonight.

There are also three layers of a chocolate cake ready - tomorrow morning I'll make the buttercream filling (which will be placed between the layers and then refrigerated until firm) and the chocolate-sour cream frosting.  I was going to make a six-layer yellow cake with chocolate frosting for my Dad's birthday, but I saw this cake, with the word 'great' in my Mom's hand-writing, surrounded by stars.  I don't remember this cake, but trust her judgement (even in her absence).

Tomorrow is Dad's birthday.  He wasn't very good today - looking in the refrigerator for the cereal, placing dirty laundry in the washing machine with already washed clothes, sitting in the car (although he hasn't driven in 10 months) and not sure why he was there - but his spirits are good, he is glad that I am here, and he is glad that there is a cake being prepared to celebrate his birthday.

And he's looking forward to the tomatillo salsa.

~back in Virginia~

Fray's Mountain Road

~~~~~

I'm back in Virginia, drove up on Thursday - and will be staying with my Father for about 10 days.  His healthcare provider needed two weekends off, so it seemed to make more sense to just come and stay for a bit.  The three dogs and cat are here too - the dogs once again are enjoying the Earlysville Raceway.

The weather is beautiful - cooler than Charleston, when I let the dogs outside this morning, it was in the low 50s.  There is a hint of fall color in the woods already, a bit early, and is most likely due to how dry it is - stress does that sometimes.  There is a chance of rain tonight, and my Father keeps looking outside at the clouds building up, hoping that the forecast proves true.  His garden has mostly faded - there a few small tomatoes still ripening, stray green beans - and last night for dessert we shared a tiny (but sweet) cantaloupe.  There are a few acord squashes waiting to be harvested, and they will accompany dinner sometime later in the week.

My Father turns 77 on Monday.

I'll bake a cake, his favorite:  a yellow six-layer cake with chocolate frosting.  It's my Mom's recipe, and my Dad definitely misses her cakes.

~~~~~

  

Alumapalooza 2010, photographs by Allison Turner

Love.

sweet Dan

 
~~~~~

THE DAN, obviously not laboring on Labor Day weekend.

~~~~~

Plants (and Actinobacteria) Rule