what i ate tonight

I came home from the market today with a few interesting items. I found a bit of petite basil, purple, not quite spicy yet, and new garlic with the leaves still attached. With not much in the house, I was inspired to keep dinner simple.

I threw a pound of rotini in a pot of boiling water, and set to roughly chopping the garlic. You can use the whole bulb and up the stalk a few inches, just like scallions. I also salvaged some sun dried tomatoes that had been soaking in oil in the back of the refrigerator. While the pasta cooked, I heated the garlic and sundried tomatoes in some oil in a pan. Once the pasta was ready, I drained it and threw it in the pan, stirred everything together, and then threw in the basil at the end. Inspired at the end, I tossed in a couple of chopped strips of fakin' bacon, already cooked and a dash of balsamic.

I'd say it turned out pretty well, though next time I'll probably use less pasta or more goodies. A different pasta might have worked worked better, too. Shells or linguine come to mind.

I also picked up another quart of strawberries and a bunch of rhubarb. You know what that means...dessert-making night!

Time to finish my wine and watch some Jeopardy!

Happy Thursday.

letter to a friend in the stanislaus

i wrote this letter to a dear friend who has returned to the stan for another year of trail work. the hard part about letters is that you can pour your heart out, but then you have to send it off. i'd like to remember these thoughts that i'm sending to the professor, the philosopher, my dear friend and trails brother. it goes like this:

two years ago this weekend, i took my first trip to relief reservoir with you, ice, justin, renae, amanda, gage and kip. i think you and i both woke up early to meditate--remember that camp we found because it got too dark to keep hiking? well, i'm hoping you're having a grand time in our mountains.

i miss them every day.

sometimes i try to recreate

backcountry like eating oatmeal

just after dawn or using

my daypack, just because

i can, or walking a really

long way, because after

backcountry, everything's

just a short walk. i went

to a beautiful park called

Stony Brook in New York,

and it had waterfalls and

huge gorges. It's

just amazing. But

nothing can compare to

the first day we saw

Upper Relief Valley, or

those waterfalls at the

old BC camp. Or the

sun set over Emigrant

Lake. I still have my

dream catcher made

from the willows of

our meadow. I don't

think it catches dreams,

it just keeps my

backcountry dreams

safe. to think about

on a rainy day.

i miss you, o,

and the mountains and

rivers and trails and

the resounding "Yes!"

that we said to life.

Take care of the Stan.

Love,

Emily