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On the way back to Charleston from Virginia I stopped off at the home of one of my Mom's sisters, a family I've mentioned before. They're farmers, and I always leave with a bag or two of whatever they are harvesting at the time, and this trip I left with the largest head of green cabbage that I have ever seen. I had mentioned this giant cabbage to another of my Mom's sisters, and so she emailed me the recipe below for what is appropriately called 'Carolina coleslaw'. I don't know where she got the recipe - but I like it (there seem to be two distinct groups of coleslaw lovers: those who like mayo and those who do not. I have been slowly migrating over to the 'less mayo the better' side, for some unknown reason).
This is simple and good - so I thought I'd share.
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~sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua L.~
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It was cool this morning, with the outdoor temperature right around the freezing mark - and the temperature inside the Airstream at 48.9F. I still don't turn any source of heat on at night - and honestly, it's not too bad. I like it being cold at night as long as there are lots of blankets (reminds me of my graduate school days in Michigan when I lived in a large, 10-room farmhouse) and of course a Pointer 'blanket' doesn't hurt either. Plus, the place heats up quickly - it's warming up as I type this (it's now 60.6F). If anything, it's just a reminder of the season - and recently I read something about how as a society, we often try to 'mask' the seasons, and to buffer ourselves from the changes.
(Now we all know that I'm just trying to convince myself here that it is a GOOD thing that it is under 50 degrees in the Airstream when I wake up in the morning, so please humor me).
But truly - think about this quote from the poet Donald Hall, from Winter: A Spiritual Biography of the Season:
"Some of us…are darkness lovers. We tuck ourselves up in the long sleep and comfort of cold’s opposite, warming ourselves by the thought of the cold, lighting ourselves by darkness’s idea."
(Okay, I live in coastal South Carolina. It's absurd of me to shout 'embrace winter!' from this geographic location...my apologies).
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Returning to the Airstream after my holiday in Virginia was a bit challenging...my bedroom in my Father's Earlysville home is almost twice the size as the Airstream's 216 sq. ft. It hadn't bothered me before, but during my return this time, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the place. I'm better already - I think the key is to get everything put away, and quickly!
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Did you know that the Sweet Gum 'gumballs' contain shikimic acid, a compound used as the main antiviral agent in a drug used to combat bird (and other) flu viruses? I didn't. Interesting, don't you think? Actually, it's used in something you're most likely familiar with these days: Tamiflu®.
I like sweet gums. Most folks don't like them - the gumballs annoy them when they drop on the ground - but I think the trees always look as if they're decorated for the holidays this time of year. Plus, their fall color is nice. What is there not to like?
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My Father and his live-in healthcare person had asked me for a Christmas 'wishlist', and one thing I include was a book, any book, by Henry Mitchell. So on Christmas morning I received from my Dad a copy of One Man's Garden by Henry Mitchell. Little did I know until this morning that he spent some time at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (and based on the years, I was in Charlottesville at the same time - perhaps we once ran into each other at the grocery store, or gas station? Isn't that a nice thought!). Last night I started reading One Man's Garden - and all I can say is that one paragraph into the book and I was a fan. A huge fan. He is hilarious, smart - delightful.
Why did it take me so long to read him? I've no idea, but what a treat to read him now.
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Of course, all of the above is procrastination: I've got manuscripts to review, drafts of manuscripts to edit, two grants due soon, a job application due before the New Year, much, much to do! I'd better get started. (Plus, it's now 65.1F in the Airstream, and I can take my heavy sweater off).
~ one of Virginia's oldest and largest white oaks (Quercus alba)~
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Today as I left my father's home I couldn't resist pulling off, and capturing this wonderful oak in the snow - I've photographed this tree before as I was leaving Earlysville and my parent's home. I didn't leave early - and I stopped in southern Virginia and had lunch with one of my mom's sisters. She and her family have farmed for years and years, and I left their home with the largest head of cabbage that I have ever seen, a bag filled with collards (and they promised me that it was just 'one' collard) and two heads of brocolli. There son is taking over the farm now - and I spent some time with him, discussing new 'crops' and ways they could diversify. They feed my hidden (or not so hidden) desire to be a farmer.
(I-95 was simply delightful today - as delightful as I-95 can be on the Sunday after Christmas.)
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Recently I saw over at The Queen of Seaford a great video on Virginia trees - and tonight seems an appropriate time to say thank you to Janet for bringing this video to my attention - and to share it with you. It was the result of a Virginia Tech effort, 'The Remarkable Trees of Virginia Project' - I bet the book is quite beautiful. Enjoy!
~sunset, on another Christmas in Virginia~
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I head back to South Carolina tomorrow - a drive that will give me the much needed time to transition from the challenges of my Virginia world to those that I left behind a few days ago in Charleston. I've always liked road trips - don't mind the miles and rarely mind the traffic - although this I-95 jaunt has gotten a bit old. On my way down I'll stop off for lunch with one of my Mom's sisters who lives south of Petersburg. I know it might sound strange, but I wish I could take some of this snow with me - I love the light.
Tonight we feed 30 plus folks - all related to my Dad. The house was packed, there was plenty of food, and I got to take a rare group photo. My Dad said grace before dinner and he did it beautifully. The mind is a mysterious place, isn't it?
525 miles to go tomorrow.
The face of depression-linked dementia (the only diagnosis we've received thus far) on Christmas Day: when you come down the steps in the morning, he already is in his chair watching a Law and Order rerun, and after about an hour or so, when we decide to open gifts, he doesn't want to turn the TV off - reluctantly he does, but only to turn it back on as quickly as possible. Criminal Minds, CSI, Law and Order -- all day, hour after hour. When asked how his mother and father met, he replies that it was when his mother was babysitting he and his brothers - he was sure of it. He has trouble with the remote and decides to try and see if the phone will help him change the television channel. We quietly go through the day, with our Father having brief moments of clarity which we jump on - then moments when we can only look down, embarrassed for this man that we have always looked up to. It has been raining all day - a misty rain on top of the snow - and the birds are happy that the feeder has been filled. Food is prepared for tomorrow's gathering of our Father's side of the family - knowing that perhaps it is the last time that such a gathering will occur in this house.
The buddhist is me comes out during these moments, knowing that in this day is the experiences of so many - so many others sitting with their parent trying to decipher a conversation or understand an action or, simply - worrying.
Merry Christmas.
~Handsome Stanley~
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This morning when I went outside with Stanley, he had a bit of difficulty with the snow - although he was quite determined. It had warmed up yesterday to about 40F, and then last night everything froze again - and so there was a strong top crust of snow - just strong enough to hold him up for a while before his paws broke through the crust and sunk down into the snow. It was an arrhythmic two-step: a soft step followed by a distinctly crunchy one.
It's been a nice little adventure for this southern dog.
(And might I add THANK GOD that the Pointer Sisters did NOT come along?)
~Fray's Mountain Road front fence wreath~
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I arrived in Earlysville, Virginia last night at sometime after 8 pm. As I crossed the border between NC and VA, I slowly started seeing patches of snow - and then finally when I got off an exit outside of Richmond (to meet my Mom's sister for dinner) there was suddenly quite a bit of snow. But it wasn't until I got off Interstate 64 and headed over Pantops Mountain to the other side of the town (and county) that I realized how much snow they really had in this part of the world.
I went to graduate school in Michigan, so I've 'done' snow. I love it. Although I had to drive slowly through Earlysville until I got to Fray's Mountain Road - it was a real treat to be driving on snow-covered roads. There weren't many people on the roads - I like how snow quiets everything down.
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~Stan in the snow, in grayscale~
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Handsome Stanley has never seen snow like this - last night he was perplexed (he wasn't sure how to get out of the driveway, since the plowed snow had made a wall around the drive. He wasn't sure how to get to my Dad's compost pile to see if there was anything worth eating, or how to get to the small red barn in order to see what might be living underneath it - I could tell that he was wondering how he might manage to chase deer in all of that snow). Today he was a bit braver, diving right in, almost literally.
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~the back woods, in sepia~
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Having this much snow for the holiday is a real treat. I did bring my cross country skis along, and might go try them out in a bit. They were my off-trail skis from my Michigan days, and they've been languishing in a closet ever since.
I haven't been around this much snow in a long, long while.
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Yesterday I made a pound cake, so that today I could make my annual holiday drive to Johns Island to give it to my favorite camellia grower. (You can read a bit about my friend here.) I'm glad that I found him home and well - and happy to receive his yearly cake!
Aren't these wreaths beautiful? They were a new item, at least new to me, at Sea Island Savory Herbs. How fragrant they would be hanging inside over the holidays!
Tomorrow I head to Virginia - where I am assured of having a white Christmas. My father got at least 20 inches of snow. I am thinking about taking my cross country skis along - it'll be crunchy snow, and rain and ice are expected for Christmas day - but even a bit of skiing would be a treat. Snow! I love it. The Pointer Sisters unfortunately are once again being boarded, and Handsome Stanley and the Three-Legged Haiku are coming along for the trip. I'm leaving behind much work to be done - but look forward to Virginia and snow and a planned holiday gathering for folks on my Dad's side of the family on Saturday.
More soon.
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