Pendulum

High then low,
up and down,
black or white.
Day and night,
happy and sad
heaven or hell

In breath, out
top of the world,
then crashing
tip of the iceberg,
all the way in.

Cry or shout.
Just when you think
you can't sleep any longer
the sun will come out -

So you wanna be a bike racer?

I'm not sure if it's because I just don't have enough danger in my life or because I enjoy pain, but I have decided to start a new chapter of my life. The chapter is called Kate, bike racer. Am I good? No. Am I fast? Not really. Am I having fun? Hell yeah!

So, you go out to the Portland International Raceway on Monday nights, slip into something a little more comfortable, i.e. spandex with diaper-thick padding, hop on your bike and go round and round the track as fast as you can, inches away from the wheels in front of and behind you and then when you think you can't go any faster, or any further for that matter, you get to the final straight stretch, stand up out of your saddle, and sprint whatever you have left in your legs across the finish line, slobber streaming across your face.

You probably don't win and even though you're more tired than you've ever been, you wish you could just race for one more lap so you could have a do-over or that the next race wasn't a whole week away, because if you could have just jockeyed for position a second faster you probably could have taken that bitch.

But whatever.

And then the whole ride home you think about how tired you are and how much training you need to do to get better. Anyone want to join me?

Solutions

Let's cut to the chase. I have a Facebook account. Yes, I know. My partner makes fun of me daily. What's more, I have a Facebook app on my iPhone. I'm hooked. I read updates from people I haven't spoken to for ten years and stalk others whose lives are far more or far less interesting than mine. And until now, it hasn't really proved useful with the exception of preventing any of us from having real conversations via phone, or even email. It's the lazy man's conversation tool. A way to stay connected, in the least involved way possible. Hey, at least it's not Twitter.

But that was all up until this; A couple weeks ago, I updated my status to say how sad I was to find little green worms eating my plants in the garden. I very quickly received a status comment from an old friend (again, one I probably would not have connected with had it not been for Facebook) who suggested either Cedar or Neem oil as a worm/bug deterrent. I replied and asked how to apply and she wrote back and told me to follow the directions on the bottle to cut it with water, then either mix in a spray bottle or invest in a pressurized garden pump and coat both sides of the leaves of my plants.

So Chris and I walked down to Pistils Nursery, bought some Neem Oil ($15/8 oz) along with some tomato, cucumber, and pepper starts and came back to the house. The bottle has extensive directions, so we were set from there. We bought a garden pump and mixed the oil with water, waited until evening when the air is cooler and the plants are out of direct sun and applied the mixture to both sides of all our leafy plants. Finito! No more worms! What is Neem Oil, you are probably wondering? According to the bottle, "Neem oil is pressed from the seeds of the Indian Neem tree. Neem oil has been used for centuries by people in India. Neem oil is an excellent foliar plant spray." Cedar oil may have been cheaper but they didn't carry it at the nursery. Plus, you only need to apply Neem oil once every 2-4 weeks, so it will last a long time.

That same weekend, we harvested our first vegetable from our first garden. Radishes! Gloriously colored, crisp, spicy radishes. From seed to table in only 24 days. We pulled them up, washed them and sliced them for our salad.















The next day, we pulled up more, washed, and sliced them and added them to a quinoa salad with carrots, cabbage and zucchini for a healthy summer salad.















Cami came over and brought Vodka. I went to the store and brought home fresh fruit, sparkling water, and vermouth for making cocktails. We blended some ice and shook everything up. We cut a melon, set up a table on the porch and played scrabble. It was the perfect Memorial Day.

Garden Update

Our beautiful garden is growing with just a little water each morning and sun every day for the last two weeks! I have found little green worms on some of the leaves of lettuce, broccoli and chard. My goal is to get rid of them without using chemicals. I will keep you posted on how I accomplish this.

Vacation

The word vacation comes from the Latin word vacare which means to be empty and stems from an Indo-European root eu which means to leave or abandon. Not only are we leaving or abandoning the office, but we are mentally moving out of that head space.

I had no idea I needed a vacation so badly, but now (after being refreshed) I can look back and see all of the reasons why a break was so necessary. The economy is shit, everyone is broke, work is stressful, it has been raining since October and two days off per week just doesn't cut it.

So, I went home "sick" on Thursday afternoon and was ever so "sick" on Friday as we flew to San Francisco. We walked all over the city, seeing Museums, strolling through parks, and basking in the sun. That's right, it was sunny and warm the entire weekend.

We drove up to Napa on Saturday and it was even more glorious there. Warmer and less breezy. We took a picnic and after our first tasting, bought a bottle and drank it on the perfectly manicured lawn, paired with a variety of cheeses and fruits. The dog cooled his belly on the shaded grass. We then toured the beautiful valley, admired the rolling, vine-covered hills, and made a final stop at Mumm, famous for their sparkling wines. A little bubbly to finish off the warm day filled my angsty soul with calm. And the best part? It was only Saturday.

Sunday morning greeted us with yet another sunny, breezy day. We could smell the ocean everywhere we went. We had a nice breakfast in a coffee shop in the Mission before calling our mothers on their day, not daring to tell them we were going to eat ice cream, piled two huge scoops high on top of sugar cones, for lunch and then headed out to explore the Sutro bath ruins and hike along the trails overlooking the bay.

This week, despite how busy I have been, I am completely refreshed, genuinely happier, and ready to take the world on. We should most definitely be given more vacation days throughout the year. We would all be easier to get along with!

Some photos:



Renzo Piano's California Academy of Science



Herzog & de Meuron's de Young Museum



James Turrell's "Three Gems" skyspace installation



Napa Valley



Merryvale Winery



Mumm's Winery



Mitchell's for lunch!



Sutro Bath Ruins



Tunnel at Sutro Baths



No comment necessary

Have stress, will travel

sun, fun, wine, good company.....can't wait!

Garden Sequence

And that, my friends, is how you put dinner on the table!