 Ripeness lasts the length of a shiver with strawberries. A light jostle, and they bleed. Someone who knew a few things about their business tossed these with a whisper of sugar. I stumbled into a strawberry social at a small church — a homely wooden building with half a dozen pews. On a grassy slope behind the rectory was a scattering of white plastic tables under craft fair tents. Everyone was cast in a blue watercolour wash, sitting under their shade. The person in charge of crème Chantilly had a big spoon and generous heart. We know the same hunger. The chiffon cake was ethereal — light, buttery, and hardly sweet. I went looking for the baker to extend congratulations. I was told many people in the parish bake according to their own recipes. I'm thinking of all the cakes arriving through the morning. Sitting on melamine counters alongside flats of berries. The scent of a few weeks in the season. Parishioners bringing them through the kitchen door. The local chatter competing with the whirr of an electric mixer. I am no big church person but good things can happen in their basements. I've met wise and loving humans in a few of them. They helped get me here. This photo is filed under well-being in my dictionary. An earthly blessing. *** One of the best parts of writing is research. It can also be frustrating — a time suck and you have to establish limits because the distractions are real. But the Stacks at the Toronto Reference Library is a place that makes me believe in magic. I try to imagine where the books are stored. How much space does it require? What determines the life cycle? The business of a library is fascinating. This week, I went looking for three books. The first had a sixty-page chapter that addressed a specific interest. It was a bit academic and just what I needed. The second book was written by a statistician. There was lots of information, but it was super dull, and I returned it quickly. After finishing the first chapter of the third I found a copy used online. I love a good historical story — especially one starring women — and I'll gallop through it in a day or two. Things come up while I read. I scribble ideas longhand in a journal beside me. Pulling on those threads might lead to more discovery. *** I'm late to this wonderful Design Matters interview Debbie Millman did with Gloria Steinem last year. It's moving listening to her talk about her mother and the unlived lives many women of that generation faced. Not too long ago my mom told me she had to quit her job with the Bank of Canada in Shelburne, Nova Scotia when she got married. What the... https://www.designmattersmedia.com/podcast/2023/gloria-steinem *** I heard this song last weekend. Not for the first time. It fits my mood right now. 1996Comments are closed.
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