Waffle House
Cris, the Pearl and I left Pelham yesterday at about 4 pm and arrived at Kiawah at about 9 this morning. Driving through the night on I-95 is really the way to go. Very little traffic and it is really nice to be in the car at night with Cris. She slept on and off, Pearl was really chilled and I was jacked up with a combination of milky tea, Starbucks Frappucinos, and Sudafed. I have had this flu since the week before Christmas and am really tired of it. Just before 6 we stopped for gas and needed some breakfast. Waffle House can be a sketchy experience, but this one was decent. Lots of grease for the potatoes and eggs, and they must have thought we came from another planet, but all in all, fast and filling.
Lemon Tart
When I started this site, I vowed I would never take photos of food that I had cooked. Since I lived alone in Ithaca in the “80s, I have taken pictures of my dinners from time to time, but lately with the whole food on tv thing, it seems kind of self indulgent. But, as Emerson said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”. So, I will write about love and friendship while posting a picture of something I cooked. John Wilson sent me a cookbook by Raymond Blanc a while back, and around holiday time, I use it alot. My son Peter loves it when we have big meals planned, and so it is lots of fun to put energy into producing something really good. Last night was French onion soup. Tonight was coq au vin, potatoes Dauphinoise, and for dessert, a lemon tart, all from the Blanc book. This picture of the lemon tart features the crust, of which I am particularly proud. / Yesterday as 2010 was winding down, I spoke to three amazing people on the phone. Alex Ross and I speak 4 or 5 days a week, Peter Carroll and I about the same, and John Wilson in the UK and I skype regularly. After our chats I just felt so blessed to have them as friends. Later in the day Cris and I ran some errands and went to a movie, then she, Pete and I had a quiet New Year’s Eve. / I was at my sister Karen’s just after Thanksgiving and got to see her entire family. At Christmas, we went to Maine to see my brother Bob and his family and had a great time. And this past Wednesday, Brad Edmondson and Tania Werbizky spent the night while on their way to the White Mountains. / As we were eating dinner tonight, after a long day of cooking, I fantasized about a huge long farmhouse table with all the people who give me so much love and support sitting around me. What a meal that would be. / We take Peter back to Union tomorrow, and I always get a bit melancholy when he leaves. In his words, I am “waxing a bit poetic” here, but if you can’t say how much your friends and family mean to you, something isn’t quite right. / So, to all of you dear people in my life, best wishes for the new year.
Fenway
Every year around this time, Peter and I drive into Boston. Our first stop is Fenway. We park on Yawkey Way (there is always a spot) and walk around the perimeter of the park. It is always a bit odd to be there in the off season, especially with lots of snow on the ground from the storm earlier this week. We start by heading East on Yawkey and then around to Lansdowne. This year we spotted the entrance to the Bleacher Bar, which is actually inside the building, just under the center field bleachers. It is a really nice smallish pub that was mostly empty. A nice time for an early Guinness for me and a lime and soda for Peter. It was a great day to be together.
Guest check
My dad was a very interesting guy. He died in August of 2007, and my mom died in March of 2009. Cleaning out their apartment in Meadville was difficult in the obvious ways. It wasn’t until July of ’09 that we finally had everything out and divided up. It was very cool the way my sister, brother and I settled on who got what. No hassles at all. Since I was the last to leave Meadville, I had lots of odds and ends to bring home. The boxes ended up in my family room and have sat there since. My plan was to go through them and divide the remaining items between the three of us. It has been hanging over my head since that July, but I finally started opening boxes on Tuesday. Dad had saved some intersesting little items. / After he retired from Allegheny College, he read to school children at my old elementary school and volunteered to teach English as a second language through the Meadville Public Library. A family named Lee moved to town from China to work at the Chinese restaurant run by Mr Lee’s brother. They came speaking no English, and my dad became their teacher and mentor. He poured all his heart into that family, and they really loved him in return. The boys were Jamie and Danny, and Jan was their mom.
Our son Peter was born 5 weeks early in January of 1989. He weighed just over 3 pounds and had a very rough start, staying in the NICU at Floating Hospital in Boston for what seemed like forever. When I was going through the boxes from Meadville, I came across this envelope.
I realized right away that it was from the Lee’s. This note was inside.
Oh, man.
C.C.
Knowing how to refer to the children of my many nieces and one nephew has always been a problem for me. I think I have finally learned that these kids are my great nieces and nephews. I’ll try to remember from now on. This is C.C. who is the youngest daughter of niece Debbie her husband Burr. (Here’s another question; is Burr my nephew or nephew-in-law?) In this photo, she is with Steven, who is Burr’s brother.
Tulips
I made oatmeal for breakfast yesterday, and while we were eating I looked up and for the first time saw the tulips Cris had bought earlier in the week. I am mostly shocked by my inability to see the things that are right in front of me. I have figured out that one of the reasons that I am a photographer is that I don’t see objects unless I see them as photographs in my mind’s eye. It can take me forever to find the GrapeNuts in the cereal aisle or to find the corn starch container in the pantry. I usually have to call Cris for help, and she spots whatever I am looking for right away. It was frustrating when I was younger, and I actually saw it as a disability, but lately I have come to embrace it in an odd kind of way.
Avon Meat Land
I picked up Peter at Union yesterday. Schenectady is interesting. Initially it seemed a hopeless kind of place, but like all Northeastern post-industrial cities, there is much to be appreciated. He and I have driven past Avon Meat Land on a few occasions, and I knew sooner or later we would check it out. For the longest time we remembered it as Amos’ Meat Shack, and in fact this time we drove past thinking that this place and Amos’ just had similar names and were competitors. So not finding the Meat Shack, we did a u-turn and went here. Apparently it has been in business for 70 years. I bought about a pound of Italian sausages (made in Schenectady) and was amazed when the guy at the counter rang me up and said it would be $3.00. Cooked ’em up tonight with some peppers and onions. Very tasty.
Clingstone 2
I finished the Clingstone shoot for Old House Journal and delivered it at the end of the week. The article will hit the newsstands in early March and should be worth a look. The annual volunteer weekend is sometime around the Memorial Day weekend, and anyone who wants to help out is usually welcome.
Bray House
My neighbor Ken was on his way to Temple when he called and said that the light on the house at the bottom of our road was nice. I walked down and took this photo, mostly for him. It was a beautiful warm day, but as soon as the sun went down it got quite cold. When he gets home tonight, he will have this image in his email box. I really like the immediacy of photography.
Jellyfish
The only thing I thought I knew about jellyfish turns out to be wrong. They are not arthropods. (I guess I do know something else, and that is that there is no way I will ever intentionally touch one.) This guy was about the size of half a cantalope. It looks out of focus but isn’t. People eat a lot of weird stuff from the sea, but I have never heard of anyone eating jellyfish.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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