Ten Years Out

A few thoughts on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. 

I distinctly remember 9/10/01 in the morning.  I went to the Albertson's below the 10 Freeway that Monday morning, and I had a short chat with the checker who told me that it was a great day to be alive because we live in a wonderful country.  The weather was beautiful that day in Claremont.  The next morning I woke up to NPR and the news that something awful had happened in NY.

My daughter's friend's mother had a real connection to the World Trade Center on that day - she was supposed to be giving a talk in a room at the top of one of the buildings, but had decided to stay in California because her daughter was playing her first volleyball game of the season.  You can read her story in the Palo Alto Online here.

The Interfaith Walk and Rally for Hope and Peace (which has taken place on the Sunday closest to 9 / 11)  happened exactly on the 10-year mark today and ended in Memorial Park. 

Zip Code Day

In 1963, Claremont received it's five-digit zip code - 91711.  Next Saturday our fair city will celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event - Zip Code Day.  September (9) Seventeen (17) in the year 2011 (11) - 9.17.11.  Since the next time we will have this date will be in the year 2111, I believe this will be my only time to mark this historic occasion.

Organizers have put together a day of events with something for everybody.  You can see the page at celebrate91711.com.  If I get my act together, I may just send out some mail to get that special postmark.

Also...one may want to hear the Village Pipers from 11-12 in front of City Hall (free) with a special piece commemorating the day. ...

Word for the Day?

Back before the board game Balderdash came out, my family played Dictionary.  It required a dictionary (of course) and paper and pencils. Oh yeah, a good imagination was helpful. One person looked through the dictionary to find an interesting word that no one knew.  Everyone wrote down their definition of that word, and the person who found the word wrote down the dictionary definition. After listening to all the definitions, everyone votes for what they think is the correct definition. Points are tallied and the next person searches the dictionary for another word.

Years ago, I am sure that we found the word fluffle. It is one of the words that I have remembered (another is squiffy*....). Fluffle is the cloud that cream makes when poured into coffee.  With the hot weather this week, I've been drinking iced coffee which allows me to see the fluffle because of the clear glass.

So, I thought I would find a great link for this blog post and after 15 minutes of internet-searching, I could not find MY definition of fluffle.  Well, never mind.  I will continue to use this great word.

* slightly inebriated

It's the Cheese

For book club last night, I wanted to try something different for treats.  We usually have some sweet goodies (homemade gingerbread, Some Crust cookies or pastries, homemade pumpkin pie, etc.)  Since the Cheese Cave opened in Claremont I have walked by, and yesterday I finally went in and decided to order a platter of cheeses for book club.

Cheese is not the only commodity in the shop.  You can try sandwiches and olives.

 Also, there are ciders and other speciality alcoholic beverages.

 Along with honeys and jams and pickles, etc.

Here is a party platter for 8-12.  We had 7 and did not even make a dent in the selections, so I could have easily gone with the smallest platter for 4-6 people and still had leftovers.  Usually the owners (two sisters and their mom - very friendly and helpful) like 24 hours notice, but they were kind to me and had it ready in 6 hours.  When you order a platter, they give you samples of every cheese on the plate, and since I had no idea what to order, they just gave me samples, but I am pretty sure that I would have liked just about everything they gave me.  The cheeses were all quite delicious, and I will be back!

It comes all prepared on this great wooden board which I can return when I am finished - no hurry they said.

Outliers

A while ago I read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and enjoyed it.  Now I just finished Outliers and found it equally interesting.  Gladwell writes clearly about big ideas, and Outliers focuses on what makes highly successful people so successful.  The thesis is fairly simple - people who are in a position to take advantage of opportunities and do so are more likely to be successful in life.  One of those opportunities is being smart enough to recognize such chances, but also to work at it.

Of course, that it a quite dry and boring summary of an entertaining book filled with real-life stories from various times and places.

Now I am going to read his other books, too.

Reviving an Old Tradition

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, a group of us from church would gather with our children at Harvey Mudd College on Friday nights in the summer for bring-your-own picnic and play.  The adults and older kids would play softball, and the younger kids would play in the sandbox, otherwise known as the volleyball court.

Last night we gathered with our picnic dinners at Cahuilla Park and some played bocce ball while the rest of us enjoyed some chatting time.  This time there were probably about 25 people, no little kids.  I had found this old photo from 1989 and brought it along, and we had fun trying to figure out who some of the half-hidden people were, and remembering the one family in this photo who has moved away.

Sports Saturday

Yesterday was a bonus day for sports fans.  On tv we had the opportunity to watch the US Open, the Dodgers and the Oregon Ducks Football.  In order to more fully enjoy the day, C and B came over and made us some delicious grilled pizza while we watched the Dodgers win and the Ducks (unfortunately) lose.  We think that next year the Ducks might want to chose an easier first team to start their season.

26

Today my oldest turns 26!  This is what she looks like at 26, and below is what her mom looked like at 26.

On the Same Page

The Friends of the Claremont Library chose Luis Alberto Urrea's Into the Beautiful North as their selection for this fall's On the Same Page where we are all encouraged to read the same book across the City.  Along with reading this book, we discuss it in book groups and attend various events sponsored by the Friends.  This year the author will be in Claremont at an informal brown bag lunch as well as at the CMC Atheneum.

Next week my women's book club will discuss this book, and a few weeks later our co-ed club will also talk about the novel.

I enjoyed the not-quite-believable story of these young people who cross the border into the US in search of men to bring back to their small town, since most of the men had fled into the north.  The characters are fun, the language, not-quite magical realism, flows in a lovely storytelling ease.

Here is a youtube video of the author talking about this book.

Quinoa Salad

While searching "too hot to cook", I came up with this quinoa salad recipe. I modified the directions a bit (I did not steam the veggies, but used them raw and used lime juice rather than lemon), and we ate it at room temperature. It has potential, but I would add some more kind of flavor to the dressing. Perhaps it will taste more flavorful tomorrow after it has set all night in the refrigerator.  Or maybe I will try the recipe for quinoa and black beans that is suggested near the bottom of the page.