If Only The Farm Would Grow Okra...
A note about where I'm from
“I'd like for you to write your own version of the poem Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon,” my writing mentor said. It was the first week of our Poetry Critique Group. I was expecting to be challenged, but I was not expecting the first assignment to make me dig so deep and feel so emotional. My writing has been focusing on themes of family and home for months now, but something about this assignment felt different. This time someone was asking me for my story. I wasn’t writing it out of my own desire to write. It felt exciting to have a prompt line up with things I already want to write about. And also terrifying. But I suppose the best assignments always do.
For days I scribbled notes in my journal. Memories from my childhood home, food that felt significant (and is incredibly hard to find here in New England), and family heritage (the good and the bad). As I compiled all of my notes I realized just how much those memories, foods, and family have made me who I am today. And I am so very grateful.
Two weeks later my friend Kelli was over for dinner. She was telling me about her latest assignment in a class she’s taking for her social work degree. “It’s something I think you’d like,” she said. “We read this poem about childhood memories and had to write our own. It was hard, but it was really fun.” I stopped chopping the carrots for our soup that evening and said “Was it Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon?” “Yes,” she replied, “how did you know?!”
I’m now convinced this is an exercise everyone should do. It is hard. But it is also fun. There is something quite rewarding about writing down the things that feel significant in our lives. The stuff that helps make us who we are.
This month, take some time to scribble your own memories and see what you come up with. And if you feel comfortable, hit reply and share it with me. I’d love to know where you’re from!
On My Nightstand
Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams was a fascinating book about women spies in Russia during WWII. I’m a sucker for good historical fiction, and Williams does a great job with this one.
I finished Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand and I’m sad to say I was sorely disappointed. I can usually count on Hilderbrand for a good summer beach story, but this one didn’t hold my attention. I also figured out the ending about halfway through the book, so that annoyed me too. I appreciate the review copy by Netgalley, but this may be the last of Hilderbrand’s books I spend time reading.
We just finished Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead as a family read aloud and it was the cutest little book about friendship. We laughed out loud and I even shed a tear or two. It had all the makings of a great book.
Back in March, David and I decided to embark on a new nightly read aloud together. We chose A Prayer for Owen Meany and we finally finished it this month. It took us forever because 1) it is a long book and 2) I kept falling asleep when he was reading. Not because it’s boring (although there are some slow parts), but because I’m old and can’t stay awake much past 9pm. It’s a wonderful book, and one I will definitely read or listen to again. I adore the characters and John Irving brilliantly tells the story in such a way that I wanted to start it over immediately after we finished reading it.
In My Kitchen
Three years ago I found okra at a local farmer’s market and quickly snatched up five pounds of it. Thrilled that a New England farmer had finally caught on to the magic of okra, I wanted to support them in a big way. I got it home only to discover it was the hardest, driest, most fibrous okra I ever tried to cook. We composted every single bit of it and I headed to the grocery store to find days-old okra shipped in from who-knows-where. If there’s anything I miss the most about Southern food, it is fried okra. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place where you can get it fresh, buy some and eat it in my honor this summer. We used our fried okra recipe to make fried crookneck squash this week and while it was no substitution for okra, it did taste just the tiniest bit like where I’m from.
Speaking of crookneck squash, I made this Summer Squash Olive Oil Cake for dessert the same night we had fried squash. Instead of frosting it, I put a lemon glaze on it. The leftovers made a great accompaniment to afternoon tea the next day.
My children cheered when brought home the first of the season’s eggplant last week. In the absence of okra, eggplant is our new favorite taste of summer. This Sauteed Eggplant with Honey is Autumn’s favorite summer meal. And these Eggplant Burgers are my favorite way to store eggplant for winter.
Around the Web
In doing some research on kale recipes, I came across this fascinating article about the history of the kale salad and this one about Seeing Kale with New Eyes. Kale is one of my favorite greens because of its versatility, so I enjoyed this inside peek of how it became popular.
I adore this photography project about Becoming a Mother. I often look back at pictures of myself and my sisters before we became mothers and am always amazed at how different we look now (and no, it’s not just age!)
I cried my way through the beginning of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It nailed all of the emotions over the last year in a beautiful way.
It takes a lot of strength and humility to do what Simone Biles did at the Olympics this week and I couldn’t be more proud. My heart breaks for her and for all she is going through.
This essay on finishing a poem is by my writing mentor and is about so much more than just finishing a poem. She makes me want to just be present in the moment, wherever I am. And this one about falling in love with poetry through memorization makes me even more dedicated to poetry recitation as part of our homeschool routine.
In Case You Missed It
You didn’t miss it!
July was a silent month for me on the publishing front. It was a busy month for us, with a vacation, a visit from family, a birthday (complete with a Harry Potter pinata), a dance recital, and lots of fun with friends that we didn’t get to spend time with last year. What little writing time I did find, I spent writing poetry - most of which is still in various draft forms.
I’m taking August off, so that I can rest my writing muscles and focus on getting next year’s curriculum ready. It’s hard to believe our new school year will begin in just a few short weeks. There won’t be a newsletter next month, but I’ll be back in action come September.
Would you do me a favor this month and share the things you love with your friends? Maybe this Pandemic Love Story, why I got my Covid Vaccine, a glimpse into my book club, or this Ode to the Fisherman’s Wife. If you’re feeling adventurous, why not take a trip through the archives?
Note: CSA Adventures will continue and I’ll still send out weekly emails and posts with seasonal meal ideas. You can find more about that right here.
May God bless you with lots of time for rest in the next few weeks to come.
Until September,
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