Just a little tour showing progress so far. Nothing easier than rolling outside with my phone and shooting a little Qik video. I’ve got plants. Most of them I started from seed. Most of them grew. Hurray me! Soundtrack by local birds. Guest appearance by White Kitty.

Now, I don’t remember what date I shot it, or what I wanted to say. Duh.

My favorite thing about buying locally grown produce is that it forces me to be creative in order to use whatever happens to be fresh. I go shopping with a general plan, but instead of knowing I need potatoes, I might know I need “some starchy vegetable” and I get my choice of all kinds of great stuff, but I could end up with jicama or turnips instead of potatoes. That means I have to be flexible and let the food inspire me. In turn that makes me feel very alive, instead of like a cooking robot sticking grimly to the shopping list and the menu plan.

So, the other night at the market there was this cutie little mix of Heirloom tomatoes, cherry size, that came in four colors. When I was washing them at home, I noticed I’d squashed one in my grocery bag, so of course I ate it on the spot. Oh! My! Goodness! It was super delicious, almost like a summer tomato, only less acidic, with a mellow sweet tang. I knew some of these babies would have to be lunch the next day.

In the cabinet I had half a pound of orzo pasta and in the fridge some leftover feta cheese. I remembered a Food Network recipe for Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes and decided to make it. It called for pasta, feta cheese, grape tomatoes and fresh parsley. Had all that stuff. But I also had a couple roasted red peppers left over from when I wrapped them around goat cheese last week, and half a handful of leftover chopped scallions I’d used for a garnish on some Thai noodles. Meanwhile, I had bought fresh dill at the market, and I love, love, love tomatoes with dill. While the pasta boiled, I did the minimal prep work of halving the tomatoes, chopping fresh parsley and dill, and cutting the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

So the improvised recipe turned out to be:

• half a pound of orzo pasta
• a handful of feta cheese crumbles
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill
• half a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
• two roasted red peppers, chopped
• half a handful of chopped chives
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

After draining the pasta, I mixed in the butter and oil and feta, then dropped in everything else and tossed it a bit. It was so good I completely forgot about fresh ground pepper or salt.

This will serve 2-3 people as a meal, or four people as a side dish.

Since that time I’ve notice more and more vehicles come with fog lamps. I have to believe the auto dealerships are ordering them that way because the cars are a few hundred dollars more expensive with them installed. I mean, this is Phoenix we’re talking about. I’ve lived here my whole life, nearly forty years, and I can count the number of times I’ve seen fog in Phoenix on one hand. In fact, I can count the number of times I’ve seen fog here on one finger. That’s right. In forty years, there has been fog in Phoenix ONCE. For about two hours.

Yet just about every idiot on the road whose car is equipped with fog lamps turns them on every day. Apparently because they can. Either that or they’re all suffering from some kind of fantasy delusional fog inside their cotton-brained heads. It bothers me on a lot of levels, but mostly because they hurt my eyes. It’s not as bad as having your brights on, but it’s close.

Who’s more mental, them? Or me? Either way, it’s really satisfying to finally get that off my chest.

David Howell kept telling me (via Twitter) to shoo everyone out of the room when his video came on. Since the reality was that his video was the one getting people interested enough to have a seat and watch for awhile, I asked one of the visitors who told me she liked it to say so on camera – so that’s near the end of the clip.

It’s long, this video, I’m sorry – but I am way too exhausted to edit it further, and I’ve got PodCampAZ today – gotta spread the good word about showinabox.tv. Have a great day everybody!

NaVloPoMo!!!

Because it’s a very personal story I’ve licensed it for no derivative works by default, but you can always ask.

Mulberry Tree by Cheryl Colan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at hummingcrow.com.

But the world seems to be trying all the time to remind me that life is a circle.

During the same time Rosie was slowly leaving this world, these little hummingbirds were arriving. They have been a delight I am happy to share.

Right-click and download a 640×360 (AppleTV-sized) version of this video if you like.

I’m sorry about the shaky camera work, but it’s my little Xacti zoomed all the way in telephoto, because I didn’t want to frighten my friend. The video is too long, but it needs to be for you to have any inkling of what it was like today to sit with this little fellow for awhile. Enjoy the connection.

Anyway, we went briefly to the As-Is Yard, which is what Joe Willie calls the Goodwill Clearance Outlet at 17th and Villa Streets. I was cautioned not to pull out my camera inside, so you just see the outside, but you’ll see some of the stuff we found there later. We ate lunch at the Ranch Market, where I was mesmerized by the decorated ceiling fans. Then we went to Joe Willie Smith’s home and studio, where we did nothing but gawk, jaws dropped, at his overwhelming creativity. Oh, and he gave us all lucky marbles.

Music: Lil’ Rooster by Gringo Motel from podsafeaudio.com. You’ve heard it here before, but it really fit this video.