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R. got the following gifts today: two daylilies (named Jungle Jack Joiner and Savannah Cabana); America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, a civics "textbook" by Jon Stewart and his staff; CDs by Zumpano, Destroyer, The Unicorns, and the Fiery Furnaces; a bottle of Belgian ale; a gift certificate to one of the better local independent CD stores from B.; and My Special Thing: Crayons' Art, a collection of drawings with commentary, by and from D. We had chocolate cake with chocolate almond frosting and some pink hearts drawn on top (the latter at D's request). Then for dinner we had a great feast, courtesy of Red Agave, our favorite restaurant in Eugene, and ate while watching Shrek 2 again.
R's appetizer: "Albondigas en Chipotle Quemado: Meat balls (pork, beef, egg, marjoram and thyme) in a spicy chipotle/tomato sauce with grilled pineapple and tortilla"
R's entree (since they couldn't put the seafood in spicy broth in a to-go box): "Grilled Oregon Wild Salmon: served with a fresh chanterelle and roasted poblano cream sauce, sauteed spinach and cornbread with habanero/honey butter"
L's appetizer: "Bay Shrimp Salad: Tender Oregon shrimp marinated in a lemon/lime and basil vinaigrette - served with avocado, orange, and cucumber" on a bed of mesclun (that is, tiny organic lettuce, spinach, and other greens)
L's entree: "Grilled Pacific Halibut: 'Sitting Pretty" on a tomatillo sauce and poblano mashed potatoes, topped with avocado/jalapeño salsa"
R&L's beverage: the St. Feuillien Brune ale (just one or two frothy ounces for me, though).
The official birthday portrait:
Today I set aside Tinker Creek for a while and read all of Winter Creek, which was autobiographical nature writing by John Daniel. I hadn't heard of him before reading the information about the ASLE conference, but he's a local poet, essayist, and memoir writer. That is, he lives about 20 miles west of here at an Elmira address, according to the phone book, in the foothills of the Coast Range, not far from the road called "Poodle Creek Cutoff" that my dad used to take when driving us from our home in Florence to visit my mom's parents in Lebanon, about 40 miles north of Eugene. It let him bypass the "city" traffic. Anyway, Daniel's book was an interesting revelation to me, because it was an autobiography focusing solely on one aspect of his life. I'd never really known that was a valid thing to do. I'm tempted to add such a project to my own list. I also liked the biographical afterward by Scott Slovic, the ASLE founder.
R's appetizer: "Albondigas en Chipotle Quemado: Meat balls (pork, beef, egg, marjoram and thyme) in a spicy chipotle/tomato sauce with grilled pineapple and tortilla"
R's entree (since they couldn't put the seafood in spicy broth in a to-go box): "Grilled Oregon Wild Salmon: served with a fresh chanterelle and roasted poblano cream sauce, sauteed spinach and cornbread with habanero/honey butter"
L's appetizer: "Bay Shrimp Salad: Tender Oregon shrimp marinated in a lemon/lime and basil vinaigrette - served with avocado, orange, and cucumber" on a bed of mesclun (that is, tiny organic lettuce, spinach, and other greens)
L's entree: "Grilled Pacific Halibut: 'Sitting Pretty" on a tomatillo sauce and poblano mashed potatoes, topped with avocado/jalapeño salsa"
R&L's beverage: the St. Feuillien Brune ale (just one or two frothy ounces for me, though).
The official birthday portrait:
Today I set aside Tinker Creek for a while and read all of Winter Creek, which was autobiographical nature writing by John Daniel. I hadn't heard of him before reading the information about the ASLE conference, but he's a local poet, essayist, and memoir writer. That is, he lives about 20 miles west of here at an Elmira address, according to the phone book, in the foothills of the Coast Range, not far from the road called "Poodle Creek Cutoff" that my dad used to take when driving us from our home in Florence to visit my mom's parents in Lebanon, about 40 miles north of Eugene. It let him bypass the "city" traffic. Anyway, Daniel's book was an interesting revelation to me, because it was an autobiography focusing solely on one aspect of his life. I'd never really known that was a valid thing to do. I'm tempted to add such a project to my own list. I also liked the biographical afterward by Scott Slovic, the ASLE founder.