Picture a Pig Roast Here

We are almost officially going to be the tenants of a place in Hampden.

From 3424 Keswick

I shouldn't be too surprised

With the recent increase in enormous white Crate & Barrel boxes on our porch recently, I shouldn't have been too surprised. I called C&B to check on a few items that were part of a larger order but which still hadn't arrived, a month after the first items, and it turns out they were probably stolen off our porch.

Now, C&B has insurance or FedEx has insurance (interestingly, the UPS boxes all arrived, while the FedEx ones listed no signature and were all missing), so in fact no one is out any money (and some person has some sweet free pitchers and a quiche dish!). But now all deliveries to our house are compromised, even for my roommates, who didn't do anything to deserve this.

Fortunately our kind officiant, who lives not too far away, in a house whose porches are nicely hidden by enormous hedges, offered to take delivery of the rest of our things. This deserves a mega-thank-you, but I'm also happy to have an excuse to go see him and his wife more often.

Dalmatian Performance Art/Slow Food

You know when I post these things of Kima it leads me to all these other Youtube videos. Here's an excellent performance art installation.

Kima in Booties Part Deux et Trois

Kima, if you don't know her, is one of those dogs that will suffer any number of indignities (including zero, zero indignities) with a sad face, but her chin up. "Why, why do you make it so hard?" she seems to ask. "Why do you make it so hard for me to loooooove you? All I want is to cuddle. And hunt small furry animals."

I picked up some booties for her at REI after trying out a friends' pair (see previous posting), but I don't really like them as much as the BarkNBoots (which have a ridiculous amount of Vibram sole-action). But I couldn't return them without taking advantage of the unconditional guarantee at REI, and making Kima wear them while I filmed her.

And so, without further ado, sad awkward doggie.





In other news, enjoy the shots of the house in this video - we are moving out in June! Yes, just before the wedding. Yes, with professional help. We are at the 'approved but not yet signed' stage of the process. We will keep you posted.

Two Minutes of Wisdom from Tanzania

The COMMIT project made these spots with local partner MFDI.

Dog Boot Hilarity

Poor little Kima. This video was taken by Brigid a few weeks ago during a very very rainy camping trip. It took Kima a few minutes to get used to the booties.

karpas

Karpas is the green vegetable dipped in salt water early in the Passover seder--parsley in my family, symbolizing Spring rebirth and renewal and the tears of slavery. I've always liked the notion that Passover asks for us to recall the deprivations of the past even as we recline in the luxury of present freedom. We tell it as a progression from the salt tears of bondage to the hope and greens of liberty, but I think Passover is also the story of how to think about two things at once. It's about how to hold on to hope in the face of hardship and delays and 40 years in the desert, and how to celebrate the first eggs and green vegetables of Spring.

On my last jog out to Bartram's, I arrived just as the gardener finished prepping the beds by the house. Nice wide beds of dark, crumbly earth, raked flat around a few carefully preserved weeds. What are those, I asked? And she said watercress, and that I should try a leaf. I've always liked mustardy greens, and these were that. What's better than the first greens of spring? Ones that lasted all through Philadelphia's snowiest recorded winter, and put you in mind of winters past and the spring still to come. And tasty too!