The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

Sounds like a good time to me

August 5, 2010

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. It's been a busy summer so far with the kids' activities and driving here and there and Mr. Sundberg's speaking engagements taking up a good deal of his time. He comes and goes and in between works on his chainsaw carvings and the stone wall he's building out back, and, once in a while, he takes a break and sits in a chair and lets out a big sigh and smiles. "How ya doin'?" he says, and drinks his iced tea, and I say, Fine, and you? And he nods and taps the table with his glass and smiles some more like his life is something else.

It's good to have things to do, and it's good to sit and do nothing sometimes, too. Though I have a hard time with that, as I always want to be doing something. Gives the hours meaning, you know, to fill them with something as opposed to nothing. Though nothing can be something if you're in need of fillin' up.

Like this weekend. I'm taking off for a retreat, a kind of women's thing where you gather at a farm in the middle of nowhere and sit in a circle and tell stories and write about your life and laugh and cry, and then you go off on your own and write some more and cry some more and fall asleep doing so, and when you wake up the sun is setting and you smell a campfire and hear voices and birds and think you might be in heaven but it's really as close as you're gonna get for a while. They might call it a "retreat" but I'm thinking my mother is right. It's recreation. Not waterskiing and rock climbing and boating and all that, but "re-creation" in its most literal sense. You go away awhile to re-create yourself and it's a thing worth its while. Some people carve bears out of wood. Others meditate nude in the center of a meadow. Me? I take a road-trip, find some people to share stories with, and fall asleep writing. No socks to wash, no dishes, no children hollering, "He licked me!" Sounds like a good time to me. Sure does.

Blueberry Cherry Pie
If you're a pie person like I am, you'll get a real rush out of this one. Blueberries AND cherries in one pastry crust. The kind of pie you just want to climb on into and spend the afternoon in. Good for a luncheon or a grill party.

Pastry for double crust pie
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 T tapioca (or cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups pitted red sour cherries, drained, add 1/2 cup of cherry juice back in

1 T lemon juice

Combine all filling ingredients into a bowl and let stand for 15 min. Pour into pastry-lined 9-inch pie plate. Dot with butter. Cover with remaining pastry. Make small slits in top crust to let steam escape. Bake 400º F for 45-50 min.

Enjoy!

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