Хрюкаем Вместе

A few nights ago, Nick was lying on his back trying to correctly pronounce the word хрю. (Хрю is the sound pigs make in Russian.) He was having a hard time combining a rolling "r" with a soft "yu" sound. To help him, I was trying to think of more words that include syllable "рю" in them.

Nick: hroo, roo, hruuuu, hroo
Helen: хрю, хххххррррррю, хрю
Nick: hroo, khrooo, kkkhhhhhrrrrru, roo, ru, r'u, r'yu...
Helen: Do you know what the word хрумкать means?
Nick: No. What? hru, hrrrru, hroooo, hrrr, rrrrrrr
Helen: To chew something such that you make a lot of noise doing it.
Nick: So to eat like a pig.
Helen: I guess.
Nick: hroo, roo, roo, rrrrrrrru, yu, yu
Helen: хрю, рю, рю
Nick: hrrrrrrrrrrrrroouu
Helen: Do you know what the work рюмка means?
Nick: Roomka? A little room? hroo, hru, hr'u
Helen: Good one, but no. It means a shot glass.
Nick: hru, hr'u, r'uuu, hryu

Last Weekend With Eric

Last weekend we visited Eric. Together we ventured out into Manhattan, where our main objective was to "experience" the "Big Bambú" installation on the Roof Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am proud to say that we have achieved our goal and climbed along the walkways inside the bamboo. There is no proof of the all the effort we put into this in the 95+F degree heat, because we had to stow all of our loose belongings in lockers before we were allowed up into the bamboo.

After our walk down the High Line, Eric and Nick goofed off in response to my picture taking.

Below, you can see Eric and Nick admiring a seal at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, where we spent our Sunday morning, and where the most advertised exhibit involved a family of meerkats...

Fourth of July in Walla Walla, Washington

The last time I was in Walla Walla in the summer was six years ago, when Nick and I got married. Going back to Walla Walla for the Fourth of July this year was a long trip, but it was well worth the effort.

Instead of driving directly to Walla Walla, Laurie, Nick and I went on a little adventure first. Over the Snoqualmie Pass, through Vantage, and over the Columbia River we went towards a little town, called Othello, on our way to the Drumheller Channels.

Named after Nick’s great-great-great-uncle who owned the land, the Drumheller Channels are scab lands, cut by floods from the glacial lake, Lake Missoula, during the last ice age. “Potholes” of water still remain, deep and clear, between the rising ridges. This beautiful area, home to over 200 bird species, is a “natural national landmark” and is collocated with the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.
Laurie knew exactly where to look for a Great Horned Owl, and we saw one! We also walked around a few “potholes” in hopes of seeing beavers, but none graced us with their presence.

We reached Walla Walla in the late afternoon and discovered the house porch already overflowing with fireworks. (It is a 4th of July family tradition to set off fireworks in the front yard.) As more people arrived later in the evening and the next morning, the number of fireworks only grew. The young and the young at heart grew restless, and the fireworks display started a day early, on Saturday night, to the great distress of Reggie the basset hound.

Kate, Nick and I kicked off the Independence Day festivities by going for a drive into the fields.

Nick and I love driving out to Nick’s grandparents farm via the Scenic Loop and stopping at the top.
From here you can see the town below on one side, and the foothills of the Blue Mountains on the other. You can touch the wheat. It is beautiful.

In the evening, we had a huge feast at the house. The abundance of burgers, hot dogs, condiments, salads and chips could only be surpassed by the abundance of cake and ice cream.

As darkness fell and eating slowed, people sat around watching the fireworks display on the lawn.
Before I knew it, the holiday was over, and I had to start my return journey, leaving Nick back in Walla Walla. Marit and Lexi graciously gave me a ride back to Seattle. (Thank you!) After stowing my luggage in a ZipCar (how convenient!), I spent several hours nostalgically wandering around downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill, before heading off to the airport for my red-eye flight back to Boston.

Christy Drumheller's Potato Salad

Being generally averse to buying pre-fabricated food, I insisted on making the potato salad from scratch for our 4th of July feast in Walla Walla. Thankfully Nick's aunt Christy, who unfortunately could not join us for the weekend, emailed us the recipe, and Nick's unckle Tom bought the ingredients. (Thanks, Tom!)

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp chopped Walla Walla Sweet Onions
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 4 hard boiled eggs chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
• 6 boiled, cooled & cubed potatoes
• 1 Tbsp mustard

Directions: mix well, sprinkle the top with paprika, and chill before serving.

I followed the directions faithfully (even measuring out chopped onion and celery--something I would never do at home), and the salad was a big hit. I did I completely forgot about paprika, but that did not seem to make all that much difference.

For me, the 3 table spoons of chopped onions worked out to be about a 1/4 of a Walla Walla sweet onion, and the 1/3 cup of chopped celery was one large celery stock.

When I came home, I decided to look up the recipe to the potato salad that was written down for me by Nick's grandmother. I remember having made it before, and good as it was, it has never come out this good. Interestingly enough, my recipe cards (for some reason I have two for the same recipe) omit mustard, and call for 6 cups of cubed potatos, as opposed to 6 potatos. I would guess that in most cases a cup of boiled cubed potatos is less then a single cubed potato, but I have not actually measured it out. My recipe cards also suggest using some parsley to sprinkle over or mix into the salad. I love parsley, so I might just add it in next time I make the salad.

The Romance of June

It is July 1st, and I am flying. Ok, I am not really flying, but I am typing while sitting on the plane on my way to Seattle. In reality, the flight is only one leg of my journey to spend the 4th of July in Walla Walla. Doesn’t that just roll off your tongue—“Walla Walla”.

As the title of this post insinuates, Nick and I had a rather romantic June. We attended two weddings, and celebrated our own anniversary—6 years since that memorable evening in Walla Walla when we were married, and 10 years since another memorable evening in Seattle when we started dating.
To celebrate our anniversary Nick took me to Chesterwood, a country home and studio of Daniel Chester French, a sculptor best known for the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.
Daniel Chester French (lovingly referred to as DCF at the Chesterwood Visitor’s Center exhibits) bought a farm in the Berkshires in 1896, where his friend and prominent architect, Henry Bacon, designed him a cozy house to live in with his family and a bright, airy studio to work in. French personally created the landscaping around the house, transforming the farm into formal gardens.
The Visitor’s Center on the property contains a small, but well done exhibit on various projects French undertook. He first studied art with no other than Loisa May Alcott’s sister, May Alcott. Though at first it was the Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s statue of Lincoln that was considered for the Lincoln Memorial, the commission eventually went to Daniel Chester French, and he spent over 6 years working on the project.

Nick and I spent some time looking around the studio, where many plaster sketches and smaller models of French’s work were on display. One side of the studio had enormous doors and railroad tracks leading outside through the doors. A volunteer explained to us that French used the tracks to wheel his work outdoors to see what the sculpture would look like in the natural light and to check for extortions.

We also went into the house where Daniel Chester French lived, but only the first floor was open to the public.

Heading to Walla Walla now, only two weeks after our anniversary, I feel that we are simply continuing to celebrate. The romance continues…