Saturday, April 28, 2007

with a grain of salt



my mother's most recent email skitters with question marks.
"have you finally learned to appreciate seafood?" she asks. (we will be visiting her in canada, in just two weeks, and she has started planning our meals already.)
"no, ma," i respond. "not yet. but b. loves it."
"and i suppose mushrooms are still out of the question?" she sighs.
"yes, ma," i answer. "totally out of the question.but b. loves them."
she has always nurtured hopes that my tastes in food - i am not a picky eater, really i'm not! - will, as she expresses it, mature.
she also hopes, fervently, that i have outgrown my appalling fondness for kraft
macaroni & cheese dinner.
hmmm. not.
but i shall feast while she and b. dine on cockles and cantharels.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

heave ho







the dutch expression "blij met een dode mus" does not lend itself willingly to translation, alas, since "happy with a dead wren" sounds ever-so-slightly dire.
what it means to say, though, is simply something along the lines of: "promises, promises"...
with a nice little "tsk" at the end.
*
here are a few boats.
until i am seaworthy again.