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the fruits (or berries) of our labor

Thursday, Laura and I went berry picking at Adams Farm near Fayetteville. On Tuesday, I got the latest Southern Living in the mail and there was a recipe for blackberry cobbler. I LOVE blackberries and I was so excited. Growing up, there were wild blackberry bushes in our yard and all through our neighborhood and I miss being able to just walk outside and pick some. Picking blackberries is a quintessential summer activity for me. Tuesday night, we went over to a friend's to chat and she had made a cobbler from berries they had picked last week. And so I immediately decided I had to go pick my own.

My initial thought was just for blackberries, but they had blueberries and strawberries as well. In an hour and a half, we picked a ton- maybe 3 gallons each of strawberries and blackberries! The strawberries are not very big, but they are the sweetest strawberries I have ever eaten in my life. Blackberries are a bit tart yet, but there have been those few with the huge individual drupelets (a new word I just learned on wikipedia) that are as sweet and juicy as you could ever want. I really had no idea what to do with all that fruit, so I cleaned out the fridge to make room for them all and tried to come up with reasons to make cobblers. So, yesterday, I made a strawberry shortcake and then invited folks over after our dinner at the Vortex. And today, I (finally) made a blackberry cobbler to take to a BBQ. There remain yet just as many blackberries in the fridge as went into the cobbler, so maybe I will take a venture into freezing them...

posted by CP @ 9:37 PM 0 thoughts

John Adams

My reading tastes tend towards fiction, but this summer I have picked up David McCullough's John Adams, widely recommended to me.

I'd never thought much about John Adams before our trip to Boston last summer and haven't thought that much about him since. But I am thoroughly enjoying the biography so far and had no idea how influential Adams was in the formation of the USA. Adams was the originator of the three separate branches of government idea, with all of its checks and balances, in his "Thoughts on Government."

But, what has endeared him to my heart are his thoughts on education:

Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially for the lower classes of people, are so extremely wise and useful that to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.

Labels: books, education

posted by CP @ 6:04 PM 3 thoughts

stone mountain, round trip

For well over a year, Angie has talked about riding our bikes along the path to Stone Mountain. It's about 30 miles round trip. We've set a couple different dates, but they've never panned out. Now with Kate leaving Atlanta in a little over a week, this was something really important to me to do before she left. So, yesterday afternoon after Angie got off work, we started on our trek. Never you mind that up to this point, none of us had ever ridden more than 23 miles and that was when Kate and I were in Acadia last summer, in much better shape than right now. We had a number of people on call in case we needed to be rescued.

Planned start time was 2pm, never mind that we got out of the house for the third time around 3:30. Then we pedaled up Euclid to Outback Bikes for Angie and I to get extra tubes for our tires, just in case. I'm pretty sure the man at the counter thought we were nuts and were going to die somewhere en route. I'd had similar thoughts, but I didn't appreciate his. He was trying to sell us gels and various hydration products and giving us all this advice since he had made the trip many times. And he sort of mocked my circa 1990 bike. (And so, I will continue frequenting Atlanta Pro Bike Shop on Highland between Ponce and North where they are always kind and helpful.)

Leaving the bike store, we made bets as to what time we would get back: Kate, 7:30; Angie, 7:45; Courtney: 8:30. I guess I don't have much confidence in us.

McClendon before you get to the path may have been the worst part- some killer hills and my legs were unstretched, fighting me every pedal rotation. Once the path picked up, things got much easier. I realized that riding to Decatur had become no big thing. About seven miles in, halfway to Stone Mountain, we stopped along the edge of the path to snack and rest.Crossing over 285 was kinda crazy- that I had ridden OTP. It was one thing when I lived in Chamblee and routinely ran OTP, but now I live 2 miles from downtown. About 3 miles away from Stone Mountain, we were able to catch a glimpse of it.We got to the park itself about 5:15 and took a much needed break, ate our powerbars and drank A LOT of water. We also walked over and stood on the mountain, at the very base of it, to make sure we had actually touched. The thought of climbing it pretty much my legs turn into jelly and want to collapse under me. OK, it really wasn't that bad, but I couldn't have climbed the mountain and ridden back home.We headed out about 5:45 and I was pretty sure than Angie was going to win the bet. By that point, the only way I would win was if someone blew a tire. The trip back was pretty uneventful. We didn't stop (except at about 8000 stoplights). Kate called out as her odometer ticked past 23 miles. The big decision came when the path ended- stay on Dekalb Ave or take McClendon? Dekalb Ave won out this time and it will every time hence forward. Yeah, they're a couple of hills, but nothing compared to McClendon, and even though there's more traffic, at least headed west, the lanes are really wide.

And as far as the bet goes, we pulled in to the driveway at exactly 7:30, according to Kate's watch. We all survived and I would even do it again. And still went running this morning. Now, that may have been a stupid decision. Angie and I are now cooking up our 2 day bike ride to Alabama on the Silver Comet Trail, about 120 miles round trip.

Labels: biking

posted by CP @ 11:38 AM 2 thoughts