July 31: Food Yum

I buy nearly all of my food through a local coop that allows me to shop with local farmers. I get my flour, butter, my breads, meats, cheeses, eggs, fruits, veggies and occasional odd item (kimchi) through my coop.

I eat an extraordinary amount of local food. I am blessed to live in an area rich in local producers.

Tonight, we had a grass-fed roast, whiskey glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and rolls all locally produced. I have a pint of locally made ice cream calling my name for dessert (Oreo Speedwagon from WW Homestead Dairy). I'm a spoiled foodie. 

Oh, and one of my carrots was a T-Rex:

Confession time? I don't listen to much current music you'd hear on the radio (as you have probably noticed) but I adore this one: Don't judge.

Maroon 5 - Maps

July 23: Neruda

There are names that can cause a visceral reaction. Neruda is one such name for me. A shiver of anticipation. Words that will reach into your chest and touch your heart. Longing. Pain. Joy. Love.

I pulled a book off the shelf tonight of Neruda's poems. This is a favorite.

Pablo Neruda- Sonnet XVII
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Ane Brun - True Colors

July 20: Stories

I was talking with a friend about stories we tell ourselves. Her sister tells stories of not being loved despite having a loving family who has done what they can to be supportive. 

The funny thing about the need to tell these stories is that we can find them everywhere. We can sit in the midst of love, basking in it, and claim desolation. 

A wise woman once asked me what stories I was telling myself that no longer served me. It's been one of the best things I've done for myself to let them go.

 Colbie Caillet - Brighter Than the Sun

July 15: Top Gun - Buzzing the Tower

So, I had a huge Top Gun love affair when I was around 13 years old. I had two wonderful girlfriends, a battered VHS tape, and a dash of estrogen rising like mercury in my feverish youthful blood. It was a recipe for glory.

Sarah was Mav. I was Ice. Kelly was Goose.

Goose had a popcorn Jelly Belly fetish. 

It's Kelly's birthday. She's almost 30 now <ahem> . I figured I'd offer her a fly-by salute to greet her birthday with love and joy.

Initiating Project: Buzz the Tower

You girls, just be being girls with me, made my childhood special.

Ice Man - out.

The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

July 14: Waning

Do you believe people get more emotional during the full moon? We hear urban legends all the time. Nurses dreading the full moon. People getting crazy. Emotions soaring out of control.

If we are, in fact, made up of 50-65% water, how could that waxing moon not tug on us? 

Our hearts are 75% water. If the moon can influence the ocean's tides, certainly it can also beckon to our hearts, make them skip a beat now and again?

Tonight, the moon is waning. I've been having expansive, swallow you up irrationally emotions that wash over my like a breaking tide. The kind that take your breath away painfully. 

I have to hope that the waning moon pull less at my heart. It's doing some major emotional work and needs still waters. Needs some peace.

Beck - Blue Moon

July 13: Soccer Traditions

We got to hang out at the Des Moines Social Club today, witnessing the World Cup final with other soccer friends from our soccer club.

Some sporting events are simply better when shared. And best when shared with treats. Or as discovered today, perfect margaritas and tacos.

Today's song is in honor of Germany. Yes, this is potentially the only song I know with German lyrics other than some operas.

Congrats to Germany!!

Nena - 99 Luftballons

July 12: Des Moines Music Scene

It may surprise you to learn that Des Moines has a fantastic music scene. And I do mean fantastic.

Summertime brings 80/35, Nightfall on the River, the Des Moines Art Festival (10,000 Maniacs played it this year; last year I caught Los Lobos) and last night, I stopped in to check out Music Under the Canopy for the first time. This isn't even touching on music in the bars, via the public piano project, or at the coffee houses. 

It can be a challenge to select which live music to take in on a given night. 

Last night did not disappoint. Music Under the Canopy was held diagonally from Wells Fargo Arena, where Motley Crew and Alice Cooper happened to be playing. Did I regret skipping the Crew to take in Iowa talent? Nope. No, I did not.

BeJae Fleming kicked off the evening. She has stories to tell that make you think a cold beer and a long spell at a bar sitting next to her would be perfect fodder for happiness.

Susan Werner played with our own James Biehn. Her songs were hilarity with a razor's edge of truth, heartfelt, timely, pure. If I had an internal tuning fork that hummed at perfect pitch whenever I met an artist that I "get", I bone deep get, that'd be Susan. Loved learning her music. Loved watching James shine on guitar next to her. Bonita Crowe joined them for a trio of Did Trouble Me that was perfect. Just perfect.

Greg Brown wrapped up the evening with Bo Ramsey to his right. These men are so smooth that river rocks look jagged in comparison. They woo me with techniques honed by years of dedication and artistry that you cannot learn through years of anything but bone deep, heartfelt experience.

Musical love. I am in musical love.

Susan Werner - City Kids (The Revenge of Kevin Oberbroeckling)

July 7: Fireworks

We headed to St. Louis for the 4th. It was magical to get away!

As we crossed from Iowa into Missouri, we were assaulted by a bevy of large signs promising the world's best fireworks. 

The roadways looked something like this:

When I was a kid, my dad lived in the country outside McGregor. I would visit for a week or so in the summer. One year, we were there for the 4th of July. 

My dad had made the journey to Missouri for fireworks. We shot them off the back deck. Roman candles. Whirlie birds. Snaps and snakes. Little bursts of color in a dark sky. Not much bigger than fireflies, really.

Now I've been in Washington DC for the 4th and witness the fireworks on the Mall. I've been in Chicago on Navy Pier. I've now been to St. Louis which has one of the top budgets in the nation for its 4th of July celebration. I have gotten around for my 4th firework gazing.

Nothing will ever top that little deck and those tiny fireworks. Nothing.

I don't think it's so much about the size of the display so much as who you get to view them with. That my dad was putting on a fireworks show for me made those little sparkles more special than I can describe.

This album (a double, as you may recall) was spun again and again that summer. 

Summer Nights

July 1: Quiet

I had something sweep my feet from under me last Thursday.

There are times where I feel incredibly proud of how I have evolved and the breadth of my learnings. There are other times I wish I had to buoyancy of youth. Or perhaps just one less sucker punch.

Joni Mitchell - Down to You