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  • I Can See Myself In That Chicken (Inside A Small Box)


    For me, “The Writer” is a simple case of transference: I can see myself in that chicken. There I am, at the writer’s desk, poised at the typewriter, surrounded by a wallpaper of swirling words. “Cluck-cluck!” I hear myself say, “I am that chicken.” And so dear reader, despite the proverbial “chicken” that I am to share my musings, I continue to peck away. (Small box: Once Upon A Storytime).

     

    I am besotted by a chicken.  Not a tasty Tajine, nor a crispy splayed Spatchcock, as food is what usually captures my attention. In this iteration I am enchanted by “The Writer”, a “Once Upon A Storybox” tableau originally created by my forever bestie, Carey. 

    Charming and unique this particular 5”x 4”x 2” Bienventura Semilla Cubana cigar box redux is cobbled together by cardboard, tape, nails, and sealing wax. Revealed through a sheet of plexiglass is the prize within a small plasticky chicken sitting atop a mini- typewriter which sits alongside a lamp, and a pencil with an eraser, (rewrite, rewrite). All of which rest upon a mini popsicle stick table.

    Not all “Once Upon A Storybox” tableaux feature miniatures; regulars are sized at 7”x 9”. But the principals are usually the same: fowl– posed to pick oranges in the orange Ojai sun; astride ironing boards contemplating a basket of laundry; hovering over a kitchen stove.  Carey has been known to plant a sheep, lamb, or bovine in her scenarios. N’er a mare nor a stallion. Now and then a pug and a pussy. As a wee lass Carey played for hours with dollhouses, inventing and reinventing real rooms. For her, creating story boxes is a new riff on the same theme. And still small.

    How clever is my friend! How clever is her process! First, she selects a scene like a vineyard or French flower shop. Often times she will use images from her husband’s photography archive which she then miniaturizes in Photoshop. Then she glues that background onto cardboard or thin wood. Carey can wire a lamp electrically or with a battery. With a little spit ‘n glue the props get in place and the box comes to life.

    Through “The Writer” plexiglass window Remington and Burrough’s typewriters float upon miniature wallpaper.  I am reminded of the newsrooms of yore where you might find any ol’ bird with a story to tell.

    I check out the chicken who stares back at me as if to say: “What do you think I’m doing? I am writing!” 

    “Cluck,” I say, “and so am I.”

     

    Exciting News: While “pecking” away–  I have been, on my recently published  “I’ve Been Thinking.” Stay tuned….

     

  • Napa Wash

    Most often I am inspired by nature, whether it be visually as an artist, or verbally as a writer.

    Last summer, with simple watercolors and ink, before the treacherous fire episodes scourged the Napa Valley and its surrounds, with feeble brushes and watered down cakes of paint I painted abstractions of the nearby Mayacamas Mountains and surrounding vineyards, and I attempted to still the sky and its shifting clouds.

    As early summer unfolded into a sweltering July this humble act of observation became a daily practice. Without too much self-judgement I eagerly studied and recorded my observations in my studiolo. In fact, the backdrop of my Instagram – @mymusegrams – launch letter is one such recording. What was painted as a horizontal rendering of the hills outside my house turned vertical now looks like the California coastline.

    I painted several postcard sized landscapes before the devastating Glass Fire episodes drove us out of the valley. Luckily our house and vineyards were saved. I also thought it fortunate that of all the summers this was the one where I painted those verdant hills as much as I had before so much of it burned.

    Nature holds a powerful pull for me, like a spell I fall into its rhythmic fold. In my attempt to record or even mirror the experience of nature, I try to permanently hold onto it within myself. So much for the struggle of the millennium and all humankind! The challenge to meet nature’s poignancy is rarely satisfied however reliably engaging it may be.

    Nature is the best starter fluid for my writing practice.

    Publisher “Vine Leaves Press” recently posted in its column aptly titled, “50 Give or Take,” three of my Flash Fiction pieces. You could call them poems if you like.  Funny coincidence, though, the reference to a vineyard! Or is it? Anyway, the column calls to express as much as one can with a limited number of words. I love trying my hand at it and making the most of my experiences in the vineyard, in the garden, with the dog… and so much that nature wrought.

    Please, take a read…

  • Sexy Knife


    The Miyabi Kaizen 5000 DP, 34183-163 is my new favorite dinner date. Even these obsequious i.d. numbers are sexy to me now. While this 6” chef’s knife’s sliding, gliding micro carbonate steel blade and sleek handle has been sitting quietly in its encased bed for months waiting for the chef de la maison to withdraw it from its foamy sheath, I thought it verboten for me, merely the sous, to take advantage of its thrills.

    You probably  know the benefits of Japanese knives, or possibly their Samurai weapon qualities, and therefore you can appreciate their spectacular reputation. You probably know the delicacy with which you must manage them, and certainly, clean them. Until now, I did not, mostly because I was not interested in the knife as a medium, or a tool, and thus something to enhance the artform that cooking can be.

    In our household, I am not the great chef, nor even a good cook, but I am a patient slicer, dicer and an even julienner; the vegetable is my game. The veggie provides the luminous color and a healthy, and on most any day delicious roughage filler in our diet. That is why I am touting the Miyabi 34183. Oh sure, there’s a whole line of them out there, Miyabi’s, and Shuns, but lest I repeat myself, the crying onion, the clever shallot, the Hermes orange carrot, the tumescent cucumber and even the crowning ruby cabbage has never responded to a knife like this, at least not in my humble kitchen.

    Naturally, during this time of Covid, quarantine and curfews, when we can’t go out to satisfy our discriminating hungers, those of us who appreciate good and fresh food must step up to the chopping block. For this reason, and because the chef de la maison has taken an interest in more plebian affairs, like the future of world order, I have been indirectly nudged to recognize the Miyabi 34183 pressing against the slotted knife holder (still in its box!) deep inside the kitchen drawer. Perhaps it was because I re-watched Julie and Julia on Thanksgiving, and secretly wondered if I could stuff a duck. In truth, I can’t recall.  Oh well, the point is, I have been lured to the blank canvas that is the cutting board, seduced by the subtle curve of the well-fitted composite handle, a stealth of a blade, and the familiar ease that feels like an old friend.

    During these challenging times you might want to drive this Japanese knife into the heart of your mattress, or dig out the grit from under your fingernails, but do not. Instead, why not try,  a new “old” recipe, like the one I’ve listed below which comes from an old cookbook that belonged to my late in-laws who were deft cooks.  You’ll only need the one knife, the only one and true. (Feel free to replace the chicken fat with butter!).

     

    (From Luchow’s German Cookbook)

    Red Cabbage With Apples

    Rot Kraut Mit Appeln

    1 medium-size head red cabbage

    2 apples

    2 tablespoons chicken fat

    1 medium-size onion, sliced

    1 quart of water

    1/2 cup light red vinegar (or a bit of red wine)

    1/2 cup of sugar (I use brown sugar)

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/4 teaspoon pepper

    2 cloves

    1 bay leaf

    Juice 1/2 lemon

    Wash cabbage, drain; cut as for Cole Slaw

    Wash and core apples;peel and cut in small pieces.

    Heat chicken fat in large saucepan and saute onion and apples 3 0r 4 minutes. Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, cloves, bay leaf, and lemon juice. Stir;bring to boil. Add cabbage. Cover and let simmer 45 minutes or until tender. Just before serving, (you can) sprinkle flour on top to absorb liquid. Serves 4

     

     

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