M.F.K. Fisher: Eggs in Hell

E is for Eggs in Hell.

Yes, I skipped D (Date Delight). I'm working on scaling down the recipe since my husband told me he does not like dates.

Anyway: Eggs in Hell.

I am terrible at cooking eggs. Growing up, my mother only ever scrambled eggs and I don't recall my father ever doing anything with eggs, besides eating the scrambled eggs. In college, a guy I didn't date--it's important to distinguish because he thought we were dating and broke up with me, for the record, we went to the movies once and I hated the movie--rudely made fun of me for not knowing how to make an omelette. I've since learned how--carefully and loaded with good things like avocado.

Even given my inexperience with eggs, I actually thought eggs in hell would be easy. In How to Cook a Wolf, Fisher describes it as an egg broken and cooked into a mixture of onions, garlic, herbs, and tomato sauce ("Italian kind is best, but even catsup will do if you cut down on spices"), then served on a slice of thin French bread, maybe dusted with Parmesan.

Fisher had daughters, so she might understand that I was not into cooking eggs in hell tonight while sleep training my 6 month old. Even though my husband graciously took over the bedtime duty, hearing the cries ... distracted me and the eggs were overcooked. Boiled. They were probably supposed to be runny. Oh, and I served them over thin sandwich bread since that's what we had in the house.

Sigh. He's asleep now and I was tempted to pour Irish Cream over chocolate ice cream for dessert but settled for a peanut butter Popsicle and a banana Popsicle instead, to eat down the food in the freezer by the end of the year.

Next up: Date Delight for one, and Basic Foo Yeung (maybe after Christmas).

How to Feed My Cats

Step 1: is to detach the feeder from the ground. The photo above shows the timer thing and it's zip fastner thing covered in Duct tape. This needs to be undone.
Step 2: find the screwdriver hidden under the sink, next to the food. Lift the top flap, push down on the bottom flap. You might have to pull a bit on the little square (under my thumb in the picture above) while pushing on the little flap.

This usually takes me a couple of tries and usually involves some small curses before it releases.

Step 3: Fill the food compartments with a scoop and a half of food. Then set the timer with the arrow pointing to the correct time in the red "today" area. Each notch is an hour so I try to set it close to the actual time, but sometimes it's off an hour.


Step 4: Reattach everything, be sure to line up the curved part of the cover over the "Battery" arrow, or it won't fit. Slide the zip thing back together, pull tight. Press the tape back onto the feeder.


Step 5: Turn the feeder so the curved timer part is facing the corner under the cabinets. I feel the bottom of the feeder for the Velcro a and match the left edges. In other words, I put my fingers from my left hand on the left edge of the Velcro on the floor and fingers on my right hand on the left edge of the Velcro piece on the feeder and try to match them. Like hanging a picture on a wall.

Then make sure it is truly stuck to the ground.



It should look like this (only the open compartment should be on the other side and have a 0 in it).

Since you will be handling food, they will want to eat. I just throw food on the ground. There are some treats under the sink, but I've learned they don't know the difference between cat treats and cat food.

M.F.K. Fisher: Cinnamon Milk

C is for Cinnamon Milk.

When I was pregnant, every few days I would secretly wash down my prenatal vitamins with milk and sugar. After making Fisher's cinnamon milk, I know now I should have added cinnamon. The recipe calls for a pint of milk and a teaspoon of cinnamon heated together in a double boiler. Simple and easy. She suggested serving it as cream or over baked apples. I liked it as milk and might mix milk and cinnamon together in the future to make coffee creamer, but I won't bother heating it. As for topping the baked apples: not worth it. The liquid for the apples separated with the milk and looked bad, I couldn't finish my apple.

Thanksgiving is this week which makes me think of my family's holiday traditions and foods. We don't have many traditional foods. Maybe ham and turkey, but no Aunt Such and Such's stuffing. We DO have Red Apples from my Great Grandma Purdy.

Red Apples

6 Large, peeled and quartered Red Delicious Apples
3 cups or so water
1 to 1 1/3 cups sugar
1 package Cinnamon red imperial Candy
3 to 4 drops red food coloring

Mix all but food coloring in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to melt candies, let boil a minute then cover and turn to low. Check with a fork after about 15 minutes to see if they are tender, if not, cook another 15 minutes. Stir gently and push apples down into juice. Add red food coloring, stir to mix. Let sit one hour then chill in fridge until ready to serve.


I know Red Delicious are not the best apples for cooking, but Red Delicious are the only variety soft enough to allow the center of the apple slices to become bright red. It never happens with other varietals--trust me, I've tried several times.

Another way to mix cinnamon and apples is to make apple cider in a crock-pot using ingredients similar to the Red Apples. Mix a bag of Red Cinnamon Imperial Candy with apple juice, heat on low. Done. Easy. Good.

M.F.K. Fisher: Baked Apples

B is for Baked Apples. I love apples and I love trying all the different varieties of apples. Golden Delicious are my current favorites with Pink Lady coming in second. Honeycrisps are also high on the list. I'm not a big fan of Granny Smith apples but have a few for my Thanksgiving salad, although now I know, from Serious Eats, that those probably are not the best for baking.

Given my love of apples, I decided the second recipe from The Art of Eating would be the baked apples on page 314.

Baked Apples

apples ... almost any kind, although Deliciouses are delicious
brown sugar (1 tablespoon for each apple)
cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, dates, left-over jam
butter (optional)
water

Core the apples and put in a baking dish. Fill each hole with the fruit or jam, and put a dab of butter on top if you want to. Mix the sugar with enough water to fill the dish almost to the top, and bake slowly until the apples are tender.

Seemed easy enough. I used two Granny Smith stuffed with cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins and two Gala stuffed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried chopped dates. I was making my favorite quick bread and stuck the apples in also at 350 degrees for almost an hour. I had checked after half and hour and they seemed to need more time.

Well, they got too much time. As with many of my baking experiments, this did not go as planned. One Gala busted on me giving me applesauce of sorts.


I like recipes because they give me assurance that I can follow what they say and have something edible and potentially delicious when completed. I prefer recipes with temperatures and times and feel insecure without them. I also realize cooking methods, produce, and ovens have evolved in the 67 years since Fisher wrote this recipe. What I am saying is that I probably set myself up for failure.

Taste verdict: Not terribly sweet and not overwhelmingly wonderful. Topped with ice cream it was a nice, pleasant ending to a meal. However, I would rather have crisp, cobbler, or apple pie. The recipe is from How to Cook a Wolf which Fisher in essence wrote to describe ways to eat well on a budget and there is not necessarily a need for pie crust, just my own desire.

Rachel Ray has a baked apple recipe I've been tempted to try although it uses Grape Nuts (yuk). It does not use water--Fisher's is the only recipe I've seen that uses water--and includes times and temperatures, so I would be assured of success if made that dish.

I like the idea of baked apples, simple and rustic, not bad for you and not bad tasting. But what I really want to do is core an apple, stuff it with cinnamon, butter, and a few token raisins, and bake it in pie crust. That would be heaven.

M.F.K. Fisher: Ambrosia

M.F.K. Fisher's The Art of Eating is a joy to read. It's a compilation of her most famous gastronomical works however, it's not about food or eating. It's about the role food plays in comfort, people coming together and discovering life, different cultures, and their inner desires.

Her An Alphabet for Gourmets inspired this blog so it's fitting that I do the ABCs of recipes in The Art of Eating. Starting with A for Ambrosia. My memories of ambrosia are of canned fruit cocktail topped with marshmallows. To be honest, I'm not sure where that memory comes from--is it a lunchroom memory or a church memory? Something my mother served? Who knows. I just know that one day, when I was in my 20s, as I ate rocky road ice cream I had a revelation: I hated marshmallows. I don't know how this distaste developed or when. It also pertains only to cold marshmallows as I will top hot chocolate with them and finish off the marshmallow layer of sweet potato casserole (which is rare in my family--for some reason we don't eat sweet potatoes at holiday meals and this saddens me since I love them).

So Fisher's recipe for ambrosia appealed to me because it did not contain marshmallows.

Her recipe is basically layered oranges, coconut, and sugar with sherry* poured on top, chilled. Easy enough. I took my 4 month old to the liquor store to get sherry in the dessert wine aisle. Next to the sherry bottles was a bottle of dessert wine that I already had in my tiny wine collection and I decided to use that bottle instead of purchasing a bottle of sherry that would be used once and never again. When I got home, I realized I had already drunk that bottle of dessert wine (when? when did I do that?) and I did not want to sacrifice my bottle of Sauternes.

Google lead me to some ambrosia recipes which used rum. I don't have rum either. What I do have is a bottle of Southern Comfort from when I made a Southern Comfort apple pie 5 years ago. So I used that. Not the same, I know, but I like to think it fits with the southern heritage of the dish. According to Fisher, "In this country Ambrosia is a dessert as traditionally and irrefutably Southern as pecan pie." Interestingly, Serious Eats just ran a recipe of Ambrosia from The Lee Bro. Simple, Fresh, Southern, which is alcohol-free. Fisher's recipe seems to be a California version of Ambrosia.


The verdict: Nice. More of a topping. If I were to do it again, I would use sherry and more sugar, which I used a lighter hand with than the recipe called for, and bigger, better oranges. So my ambrosia was not exactly the food of the gods. Worth making again as a topping. And that's how we're planning on eating it tonight: over ice cream (not rocky road).


* When I spent a summer in France, the French people I met would often question my name (who names their child "Dear"?). I ended up telling them that I was named after the aperitif. I've only had my namesake drink a few times, last time over gelato.

Crafts: Windows

W is for Windows. In 2001 or 2002 I received the Ballard Designs catalog which featured a window with four panes and a botanical drawing of a rose in each frame. I was inspired and wanted to do something similar with my travel photos. My mother and I found windows at an antique store in Lumberton, Texas, and I took them back to Austin in my little Ford Focus hatchback.

My windows change with me. When I return from a wonderful, eyeopening vacation, I want to remember it. So I end up taking a photo from that adventure and putting it in the window, removing an old photo.

Left to right, top row: Giverny, France; Aix-en-Provence, France; Tallin, Estonia; Tivoli, Denmark; Barcelona, Spain; Singapore.


Moscow, Russia; Quebec, Canada; Tulum, Mexico; Berlin, Germany; Cliffs of Moher, Ireland; and Peterhof Palace, Russia.

Although it is premature and incomplete, I am done with crafts since my good ones are Christmas related and I do not want to get down a couple of huge boxes from the top of my closet right now. Maybe in December.

Crafts: Quilts

Quilts and cookbooks are similar to each other in that they tell stories about people, periods of time, and highlight creativity. I love to hear the stories behind quilts, what patterns were popular at certain times, and things like whose old shirt was cut up to make squares to keep a baby warm.

I've never made a quilt--maybe someday--but I come from a family of quiltmakers. My mother made/finished a quilt for my son, and she's the last person I would expect to be a quilter due to her job and travel schedule. Above is a quilt my great grandmother made, it's one of her better ones--she did have some odd color combinations, which is part of the charm in her quilts.

Crafts: Pocket Organizer

Skipping letter O. Moving on to P: Pocket Organizer. Another thing I made while pregnant, unemployed, and nesting using my grandmother's fabric. My mother and I think it is old flour sack material. This was complicated because of the stains and rips in the fabric. There are a few things I would do differently now, such as sewing on the blue bias tape first, then putting the whole thing together. All in all, it was fun and has not fallen apart yet.


Above, completed, not holding anything.




A few months after my son was born. The elephant is a stuffed elephant head from Thailand--It doesn't really match but I needed a new place for it.

The pattern is from Sew Vintage.

Crafts: Name

I am skipping M right now because we've ordered a new camera, but it isn't here yet.

Expectant mothers like to nest and have their child's room ready. They peruse magazines and online stores for nursery ideas. One thing most stores sell are letters for the baby's name as a room decoration.

We didn't have a name for my son until 23.5 hours after he was born, so I didn't have a name on his wall when he came home. However, one of the first places I insisted on going after getting home was Michael's, so I could get some wall letters and blue spray paint from Lowe's. Sure, I could have purchased letters from Pottery Barn Kids, but these were cheaper and in my neighborhood.


I got the dark blue paint to match the art from my Mother-In-Law--the wall decor she got at her shower before my husband was born. I used putty to put them on the wall. Later, when my son was about two months, I was at Michael's again and picked up some $0.25 each sports balls and added them to the letters.

Crafts: Little Mermaid

Yesterday, after writing my "I" post, the camera broke. My husband attempted to fix it, but it remains in limbo. Actually, it's in pieces on the coffee table covered by a sheet of paper that reads "DO NOT TOUCH." (I've noticed engineers and former engineers only write in all caps.)

So, no J and no K because I won't have a photo for either post.

L is for the Little Mermaid. Not the Disney version, but the true Hans Christian Andersen story and the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen Harbor.

For years I wanted to see The Little Mermaid statue. I was always fascinated by the story--in the Andersen version not everyone lives happily ever after--and interested in how and why political protesters have lopped off the statue's head multiple times. In 2001 I got to be my cousin's companion on a cruise with my parents (long story) and we started and ended in Copenhagen. Right away, before we sailed away, I made us go see the statue. Today, in reading the Wiki page, we could have saved ourselves a trip and just gone to Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas. That would have been cheaper.

Now I should explain that my cousin really liked the Disney version of The Little Mermaid when she was little. So somehow, my grandfather, who paid for the trip, was convinced that she was the one dragging everyone off to see a statue. Several times after the trip he joked that she finally got to see The Little Mermaid statue. She couldn't have cared less about a statue and, if I am honest, seeing a statue is not really exciting (they don't move, or talk, or dance, or sing). It would have been more exciting if a protester had cut off her head while we were there, but I digress. Anyway, it's now a family joke that my cousin finally got to see this statue and now her life is complete.


While walking around Copenhagen, my mother and I found a craft store and got a few cross stitch kits. She convinced me to get this kit because of the sail boats and the ship in the background (as opposed to this one by the same designer--she was right, leaves would have been boring to stitch). To be honest, I can't say I enjoyed stitching it because I started it around September 11, 2001, and finished it while watching news coverage in the days following the tragedy. However, I still like it and I still like having seen the statue and I even like the family joke. And I'm determined to see every MerSomething statue in existence.


If there had been a cross stitch of Singapore's Merlion, I would have purchased it. Yes, I'm that brand of crazy.

Crafts: IN SYNC

IN SYNC refers to a Kats by Kelly cross stitch. Kats by Kelly are easy cross stitch charts because they mostly only use black floss. Originally, I made it for my mother's black and white bathroom, but then she and Dad moved to a lovey house without a black and white bathroom, though the bathrooms are nicely decorated. So now I've got it in my own bathroom.

I finished it before I got married, so my initials are SLP. Then I started working on a companion for it, called Kitty Oasis. Then I got married. Then I finished the chart. Thus, SLW. (Can you see me?) The entire Kats by Kelly line can be found at Calico Crossroads.

Crafts: Hummel Boy

I am skipping G because I didn't have time today to take pictures and must write about something I already have a photo of.


Hummel Boy. The official title is Looks Like Rain, it's a "Weekender" but since it was one of the first cross stitch charts I made, it took me more than a weekend to complete. I made it for my grandmother who collected Hummels and found it when we cleaned out her house for an estate sale.

After hearing about my husband's early affinity for lederhosen (something he unknowingly shares with my brother), I decided to hang it in my son's room. The color scheme matches too. And it's a little boy. And I have a boy. So it works.

Why are toddlers in lederhosen so cute?

Crafts: Flowers

More cross stitch patterns from Canada today. I picked up this pattern on the 2002 Holland America Canada and New England cruise--the one where we visited Prince Edward Island, among many other places (Boston, Quebec, Montreal, Novia Scotia, Maine). I believe they are Lupin flowers and were blooming all over P.E.I. and thus became part of my memories of visiting Green Gables. I didn't get around to stitching this pattern until the next year, when I saw similar flowers in Colorado.

As usual with my cross stitching, I wanted to do something with the finished piece besides frame it. As usual, I had to get my mother to make a pillow. Thank you again, Mom--and thank you for the help getting my own sewing machine!

Crafts: Elephants

Like many pregnant women, I nested. Unlike some pregnant women, I was unemployed while nesting. So, I went a bit stir crazy and ended up sewing elephants. Why elephants? Simply because I had a pattern in the Sew Everything Workshop book and some fabric scraps from my grandmother.

No baby needs a couple of elephants in their nursery and they are in the way, taking up space. However, I had fun making them so they are here to stay. I should mention that I left off the button eyes because I couldn't figure out where to put them and for safety reasons.

I also use Mama Elephant as a stand for my tiara.

She kinda reminds me of Dumbo.

Crafts: Dollhouse

When I was 10, my parents gave me a dollhouse kit. Little did they know how much time, effort, and money would go into it.

Dollhouses are time consuming.

After my parents put together the basic shell, I collected furniture. The house remained unpainted and undone until my senior year of high school. Suddenly, I was consumed with the need to complete it before graduation. It took paint, wall paper, my brother (door handles), my grandmothers (wall paper, curtains), and my parents, but I got it done.

At college, I discovered Austin's Kerby Lane Miniatures (now an eBay Store). At the end of each semester I would sell my books and take the remaining money to that store and get a few objects for my Dollhouse--such an mini Pride and Prejudice novels or a tiny cat puzzle. Things that did not cost much--used books don't bring in much money.

I worked very hard to make the house represent me. So it's got things I like, objects that I have in real life, hobbies and games I play, and things that remind me of loved ones. The beer stein reminds me of my parents, I had the Disney Sleeping Beauty book, I played soccer, I like Monet's paintings, I visited Paris, I like to make gingerbread houses, and I was always the kid who got stuck sitting on top of the manual ice cream maker while someone else cranked. Thus, all those things are in the house.

Even though it has gone through two moves, the house remains the same and is unharmed, happy at my parent's home (it's third) in Tulsa.
Above, the entire house. Nine rooms and a porch.

I've always thought the entry was the most elegant room.

"My" room. Me in high school: French horn, books, masks, a journal. I don't know why I insisted on there being a crib in this room too. I guess I just liked the crib.

The living room. Hmmm. Suddenly I want to rearrange it.

Crafts: Christmas Stockings

My mother made all the Christmas stockings in my family. My grandmother made all the Christmas stockings. So, when I was pregnant, I decided to make the Christmas stockings.

That was December 2008, and now, in October 2009, I have almost completed them.

See, they don't have names yet. That would require me to embroider and I've not done anything more than back stitching in years. I'm thinking the names should be done with a split stitch and I want to practice first. Otherwise, I'm only halfway pleased with these stockings. There was a lot of trial and error, I know where the back and front don't line up and I may add a giant jingle bells to them to hide a mistake I made on two of them. I used ribbons because I don't know how to sew very well and messed up my husband's stocking. The green ribbon on his is glued on, and not very well I might add.

In the end, I am proud to be (nearly) done with them.

Crafts: Blackwork on Anne Boleyn Quote

Blackwork: is embroidery stitched in a counted pattern using black thread. It was popular in the time of Henry VIII (thank you, Wikipedia). I'd never heard of it when I first started cross stitching but I had heard of Anne Boleyn and I liked free things. Thus, when I found a free cross stitch chart with a quote from Anne Boleyn's prayer book, I printed it out, got some black floss, and got stitching. Best I can tell, blackwork is fancy backstitching.


This was an easy cross stitch, in fact, I think the hardest part was when I wanted to make a pillow out of it and gave it to my mom, who broke her sewing machine (or something) and had to get more help. (Thank you for following through, mom.) I like the little Tudor flowers in the quote. I enjoyed this project enough to do more free blackwork charts and one of strawberries in red, the red makes it Scarletwork. Sadly, I think the company that put out the free chart above went under, since I can't find it no matter what I Google.

Crafts: Anne of Green Gables

It seems I like to start my Alphabets with Anne of Green Gables. Anne starts with A. I like to read, I like to travel to places that I read about. I like to cross stitch. And I like to cross stitch things and places I like. This topic is about crafts.

I never thought of myself as a big craft person, in fact, I think I like to dream about doing crafts more than I actually like to do them. I could spend hours thinking about what I might do, looking projects up online, and getting a button click away from purchasing project clicks. What stops me? Kowing how many uncompleted projects I already have hidden in the Christmas/craft/baby closet. My favorite crafts are related to Christmas and I feel silly doing those all year long.

I should also explain that I really only cross stitch during football season. In college I realized the multiple commercials drove me crazy and that I needed something to do while watching football games. So I took up cross stitching wanting to stitch a Buckingham Palace chart I'd picked up in London.

Somewhere I have an Anne of Green Gables bookmark, but I can't find it and don't want to dig in the baby's closet while he is napping (in his crib--a miracle!).


One way to really get to know an object or place is to cross stitch it (other ways are to read a book, embroider, needlepoint, paint, sculpt, or complete a jigsaw puzzle). So here is Green Gables, purchased at the actual Green Gables in Prince Edward Island in the summer of 2002.

Simple, easy stitching, reflective of the time period of the Anne of Green Gables books. I did run out of one green color and had to substitute with another. One of my favorite cross stitches. I've learned I have to stitch things that interest me, not others, or I give up. This means my stitching is selfish and rarely given away.

Bringing Baby Home: Zephyr

Z is for Zephyr. A zephyr is a breeze from the west or a gentle breeze. Why is it on this list? My son likes to feel the wind on his face. We discovered this when he was a few days old and took him outside. Feeling the wind seemed to calm him down.

I now use this to my advantage and take him on walks. I aim for breezy days, but just getting outside is nice. When he feels the wind, he closes his eyes and turns his face toward the breeze. It's fun to watch. I make it a point to take him outside once a day--even just to get the mail. It's good for him to get fresh air and hear the dogs on the block. It's an added bonus that wind calms him. (Passing wind calms him too, but that is another story.)

Bringing Baby Home: You Time

Y is for You Time. Even though the first few days of a new baby's life are demanding, it is important for a mother to take some time for herself. This could be a shower, time with friends, or reading a few chapters in a novel. You time can be taking a walk and helping with recovery.

One book I read called it the EASY method: Eat Activity Sleep You. I tried to follow this method, but sometimes the Eating lead to the Sleeping and my You time meant doing laundry. The Y part usually does mean chores or checking email. Sometimes it also means uploading photos and writing short blog posts. You time means time away from the precious bundle of joy. Or like now, the bundle of calmed-down contentment.

When a woman becomes a mother, it's easy for her to lose her pre-baby identity, taking You time helps remind her of who she was before and who she is now, helping to meld the two identities.

Bringing Baby Home: Extras

X is for eXtras. Extras of everything. Extra blankets, extra diapers. Extra changes of clothes. Extra changes of clothes for mother. Yesterday we finally had dinner at a restaurant--of sorts, it was Rudy's "Country Store" Bar-B-Que. Usually at Rudy's it's "Sause" on my shirt. This time, it was a double dose of spit up. I needed extra clothes.

We also need extra storage space, an extra pair of hands, and extra pacifiers. Extra patience. Extra crib sheets. Extra sheets for our bed.

And we have extra love for our son. And extra special love from him.

Bringing Baby Home: Wipes

W is for wipes, lots and lots of wipes. In the first weeks, the average baby goes through 8 to 10 diapers a day and it stands to reason that they also go through 8 to 10 wipes a day. More if you are like me and accidentally grab two wipes while trying to hold down a squirming infant.

Since we use cloth diapers I thought it would be good to make our own wipes too. I cut up an old baby blanket and put them in an old plastic container (it used to hold lunch meat). In the beginning, I mixed a cup of water with a teaspoon of baby wash and a teaspoon of aloe vera extract/oil. Now I just kinda squeeze the wash and what's left of the extract/oil onto the cut up blanket and run some water on top. I only end up using these about half the time, mainly because the infant is larger and has bigger squirms.

I also have a stash of make-up remover towelettes in my diaper bag. Before I had children, I used them for the port-a-potties at soccer games, Austin City Limits Festival, camping, and for cycling trips. They appear to have most of the same ingredients as baby wipes and I figure they will work just as well. My son has not had diaper rash and does not seem to have sensitive skin. I'm lucky, I know.

Bringing Baby Home: Vacation

V is for Vacation. We took a Baby Moon about six months before my son was born. It was wonderful visiting Barcelona and Madrid, getting over morning sickness, and spending time with my husband. We ate all kinds of food, walked around for hours, and visited museums. The whole time, I knew our vacations would never be the same. As soon as there were three of us, my husband and I could no longer be selfish. Even if the two of us went somewhere, we would still talk about our son. Heck, that vacation was before we knew it was a he and we were still talking about him.

Now, three months after my son was born, I need a vacation more than ever. Handing over my son to visitors is a mini vacay. While others coo at him, I run off to throw laundry in the washer, empty the dishwasher, and clean the toilet. That's not really a vacation or even a break.

Another mini vacation was when I slept in the guest room one night. I'd pumped so there was enough milk for the night and my husband answered all our son's calls. I slept all night, something I rarely did during pregnancy. It was almost ruined though when I woke up engorged and ready to burst. I sprinted to the bedroom ready to force the child to nurse. There was no need to force though, he was awake and my husband was out of milk.

We're taking a weekend vacation soon. It's really a trip to visit family. But it will give me a chance to see what future family vacations are like when it's no longer two of us: How much stuff to take, training my husband to take bathroom breaks on road trips, and coping with the unexpected. It's another adventure. Good times.

Bringing Baby Home: Understanding

U is for Understanding. Understanding that things have changed and that this littler creature has needs only parents can meet. Understanding also means patience: when he won't stop crying, when he poops his diaper seconds after it is changed, and patience for weeks of not getting enough sleep.

Understanding that these days are short and I'll want them back someday.

Understanding that your spouse is just as tired as you. Understanding that there are only so many hours in a day. And understanding that nothing will ever be perfect. Understanding and accepting these facts.

Bringing Baby Home: Target Gift Cards

T is for Target gift cards. People are generous to new parents; we received several Target gift cards. Although I thought I had the room prepared, the changing table well-stocked, and everything washed and ready, we ended up at Target multiple times during the first few weeks.

First it was for diapers, then we wanted Gripe Water. We've gone back for baby wash cloths (yes, I could use adult ones, but these are smaller) and toys for him to ignore. Target is a refuge for new mothers, it is a place where it is OK to take a child, wonder around, look at shoes and jewelry and pick up a few things for the baby--justifying the trip.

One thing Target only has online is cradle sheets. It turns out, bassinets and cradles are different sizes. A local resale shop had the cradle sheets in stock, slightly marked up. Had I known my child was going to be early, I would have ordered them from Target and used a gift card, of course.

Bringing Baby Home: Sleep

S is for sleep. S is also for sheets. Usually, sleep is done on sheets. With a newborn in the house, parents should sleep anywhere they can sleep anytime they can sleep. Sofa, chairs, the floor, the car, anywhere.

Sleep is difficult--the first few nights at home I wouldn't sleep because I kept listening for noises. Then, I was so tired I slept through all my son's noises. Now that he is in his own room, I sometimes sleep through some noises on the monitor, then again, other nights, I have listened for every little sound. I feel like I can't win and every expert says not to try to develop sleep habits until a baby is four months old. One more month. I can do it. If there is enough coffee.

My baby needs his sleep too, it's important for infants to get enough sleep so their brain can develop and rejuvenate. Napping is important. I am happy to say that at 3 months we are starting to develop napping habits. A step in the right direction--toward sleeping parents.

One thing about sheets--in the first few days, nursing mothers should have extra sheets for their bed. They should be washed and ready to put on the bed at a moments notice. Spraying is not fun.

Bringing Baby Home: Room

R is for Room. No, not the baby's room since that is not necessary. R is for room for all the baby's stuff. Diapers. Bouncing chairs. Clothes. Toys. Bath supplies. Medical supplies. Bassinet. Crib. Boppy.

Yes, you can change a baby on the floor, but considering the number of blowouts my son has had while changing his diaper, no way am I changing him on the floor without an acre of padding around him.

No, a bassinet is not necessary and neither is a crib. Some parents chose to co-sleep. Others get the crib and end up co-sleeping, meaning the crib is an expensive storage unit. Nevertheless, even if co-sleeping, baby needs space (room) to sleep.

Yes, a person can bathe a baby in the kitchen sink. Mine is never that clean. And bath supplies are not necessary. I find them nice to have--towels, cloths, soap--and they take up a small amount of space.

Clothes. I guess we could have 1/3 of the clothes we have and be OK. And I am amazed at how quickly he grows out of them--it seems something is too small every day. Even if I had less clothes, they would still be piling up in my laundry room.

Chairs, etc. Not necessary, until he is screaming at 9 at night and I am drained of energy and desperate for him to stop.

Toys, not necessary, but people give them to you, so you need a place to put them.

My Boppy goes everywhere. It took over my cat's favorite place to sleep on the couch. Now my cat needs more room.

Bringing Baby Home: Questions

Q is for Questions. Lots and lots of questions. Is it OK to let him sleep if he rolls to his side? Should I wake him to feed him? Why is he crying? Why isn't he crying? What color is his poop? Why are you making me track the color of his poop?

For new parents, bringing a baby home means there are suddenly thousands of questions popping up every hour. And usually, the answers are time, he/she is hungry/sleepy/dirty diaper, and every baby is different.

There are about five baby books in my house which I consulted daily for the first month and now, at 12 weeks, average about once every three days. One reason I look at the books less is because I look online more. Last night we were looking up growth spurts, again. Is 3 months another growth spurt? Why, why is he cluster feeding again? The answer? Sometimes, every baby is different. Grrrr.

The pediatrician can answer health questions, but it seems silly to bother her with certain things. Plus, her job is to take care of my baby's health, not his discipline or to help me get sleep. One more question: If there are lactation consultants, why aren't there sleep consultants?

Bringing Baby Home: Pacifier

P is for Pacifier. There is a reason the pacifier was invented. I imagine women have been sticking things into the mouths of newborns for centuries, just to calm them. Infants are soothed by sucking, whether they suck their thumb or fingers, your thumb or finger, a breast or bottle, or a pacifier.

Before my son came, I was not going to use a pacifier. I'd read too many articles about nipple confusion and about trying to break the pacifier habit as the baby gets older. On the second day home from the hospital, tired, sore, and staring at my screaming child, I shoved the hospital Soothie into his mouth. He calmed down and slept. I thanked God for the invention of the pacifier. We used it sparingly over the next few days, got the OK from the pediatrician (another P thing everyone needs) and have been using it since. And they are stashed everywhere. The Soothie in the crib, one in the diaper bag, one attached to a ribbon attached to his clothes, and one to spare. We might become too dependent upon it, but I will cross that road later. Right now, it stands as one object I needed when bringing baby home. One of the many objects I was determined not to need.

Bringing Baby Home: Onesies

O is for Onesie, aka bodysuit. Onesies and blankets and no-brainer gifts for new mothers. We had a pile of onesies for our son, some new, some used, all useful. Some people would argue that babies don't need clothing, especially babies like my son, born in one of the hottest Austin summers on record. However, those people who argue that letting a baby run around in a diaper is OK have not met my son who hates to be naked. It's not that he's cold, he just likes to scream when he is being dressed, undressed, or given a bath or have his diaper changed. Since it was hot outside and inside, onesies were the perfect clothing, not too much, not to little. The baby bear size of clothes for an Austin summer.

Bringing Baby Home: Name

N is for Name. Before leaving the hospital, parents are required to give their child a name. For some people, this is very easy. For us, it was difficult. One reason it was difficult was because we didn't discuss it until the night before my son was born. My husband once said he liked Bible names, and I played around with that thought as I composed a list of about 30 names. I had about 8 on my list at the hospital.

My/our biggest problem was that we wanted to meet him before naming him. Every cat that I've pre-named (before getting) has died and I didn't want that to happen to my son.

So after my c-section, the nurses were helping me think of names. The dry erase board on the wall in our hospital room said "Name: TBD." Sometime that night, my husband said we should give ourselves 24 hours. We selected the first name and he went home to pick up a few things, brought back the baby name book. The middle name was difficult (don't even talk to me about multiple middle names!) because everything I liked before repeated the sounds of the first name and last name. So my son's middle name is strategic, as in, few of the letters are in the first and last name. Both names happen to be from the Bible. We're happy with the name, especially since later in life he can choose what he wants to be called. I don't want to give away the name (privacy) but it's like Thomas, Tommy, Tom. Lots of options.

All this is to say: discuss the name beforehand, but it's OK if you don't have one.

Bringing Baby Home: Music

M is for Music. Two days after bringing him home, we discovered music relaxed my son. We put him in the bouncy chair, switched on the music, and watched him drift off. It worked so well, that we started playing the music on his mobile. He doesn't cry when the music is playing but the second it stops, he starts.

My son hates having his diaper changed. Hates it. So I looked up ways to make diaper changing easier and the answer seemed to be to sing to him. Um, no. Not with my voice--a former band geek I know too much about pitch and being in tune to subject him to my voice. As an alternative, I played music from a Baby Einstein toy my aunt gave me because my cousin's daughter loves the Takealong Tunes. It worked! Sometimes. Not all the time. He's started to turn his head and watch it while I change the diaper. He still kicks.

He was 7 weeks when I got the gift of eating lunch and dinner back thanks to the Lights and Melodies Discovery Center. He loves the lights, the classical music, and to bat at the hanging star and ball. At Target, the Press and Play Pals: Duck prevented a meltdown, so we bought it.

Lest this post turn out to be an ad for Baby Einstein, I've also had success with toys that play music and music boxes. And yesterday we went to a musical storytime at the library. Once he woke up, he loved it. I loved it and would be willing to spend the money for Heartsong Music Together, who led the storytime. And I've looked into getting a CD of Austin artist Sara Hickman's music.

I've relented a little bit and sing to him, mainly oldies since he likes to "stand" and tends to wobble a bit. Somehow that cute little wobble makes me think of Surfing USA and Twist and Shout.

Bringing Baby Home: Laundry Detergent

L is for Lots of Laundry Detergent.

Yes, everyone says babies create laundry and this is true, as evidenced by the piles of used burp cloths piled up around the house. Yes, we are using cloth diapers, so that adds to the pile of laundry, but I suspect we would be overwhelmed even if we didn't use those.

We already had Tide Free for our workout clothes and soccer uniforms but got All Free and Clear because it was a good deal. We can use both for the diapers but somehow, the All works better. We already used regular Cheer or Tide for our clothes and now have Dreft for our son's things.

I suspect we will eventually just get down to regular Cheer or Tide and All, but for right now, we have plenty of cleaning options.

Bringing Baby Home: Kit, First Aid Kit

K is for First Aid Kit. Every house should have one but babies have special needs. We got a stocked first aid kit from my father--ironic since he's never had an up-to-date first aid kit--before my son was born. Of course I still stress over whether or not I have all I will need, should the need arise.

Baby 411 says:
Band Aids - we have lots considering I cut myself loading the dishwaher
non-stick dressing and tape - in kit
butterfly bandages - hmmmm
Ace Wrap - soccer players, we have several
roll of gauze dressing - yes, have
rectal thermometer - almost any thermometer can be rectal, except the new forehead ones
petroleum jelly - lots from my running days
acetaminophen - of course we have it
ibuprofen - again, of course
antibiotic ointment - that's vague
Benadryl - I didn't feel like typing out the non-brand name
saline nose drops - nope, don't have, Baby 411 says I can make these
decongestant nose spray - nope and I guess my allergy medicine won't cut it
1% hydrocortisone cream - somewhere
emergency phone numbers - hmmm, I just know 911
baking soda - in the pantry, for baking
tweezers - for my eyebrows and useless ones in Swiss Army Knives
measuring spoon, cup or dropper - yes, have

Today's Moms says I need one for the diaper bag with:
an instant read thermometer - nope, don't have
baby nail clippers - we've been using a nail file since I cry trying to clip his nails
aspirator - oh, for the nose! I had to Google this
Milicon - not in the diaper bag
non-aspirin fever reducer - usually in my purse

So we're ready for home emergencies (unless I need to call Poison control) but not on-the-go emergencies. Well, good thing I made this list.

Bringing Baby Home: Jammies

J is for Jammies. Yes, they are called sleepers, but sometimes coming up with an "J" thing can be difficult. And no, we don't necessarily need baby PJs when a onesie will work just fine. However, in my mind, few things are as adorable as a baby or toddler in those cute little footed PJs. They look so snugly, cuddly, sweet and sleepy. I can't resist them.

A sleepsack would also work and would probably work well for my son since he hate being swaddled. We avoided swaddle blankets too. So, it's adorable sleepers (jammies, for the sake of this post) for us.

Bringing Baby Home: Infant Positioner

As I said in a previous post, reading the information on SIDS in Baby 411 scared me. I don't want my child to die because I didn't do something as simple as turn on a fan. So of course I knew to put him on his back to sleep.

What I didn't count on was the fact that he rolls from side to side. My child is a thrasher. Add to that his aerodynamic breech baby head preventing him from laying on the back of his head, well, putting him down to sleep brought my fears to the surface.

Before he was born, I had read that infant positioners were a waste of money. After getting home from the hospital and trying to get him to sleep on his back, I caved and got a cheap, $8 sleep positioner. I felt much better, though he hated it. I figure it's one of many things that I will make him use or do that he hates.

We don't use it anymore--his head is perfect now--but I am grateful I purchased it and wish I had thought of it before he was born.

Bringing Baby Home: Help books

H is for Help Books, helpful books about babies. These are not to be confused with instruction manuals, which would explain what to do and how. Baby help books are guides, they give suggestions on what to do and how. I would rather have an instruction book but we will continue to muddle along with our guides and trial and error.

I am a reader and a book person. Before baby, I would hit the library once a week and it was rare for me to leave with less than five books. When I found out I was pregnant, I checked out several books on pregnancy and babies. Below are some of the books and websites I've looked at over and over again. I'm ignoring the pregnancy books though, since they are not guidebooks to infants.

The Mother of All Baby Books - very good lists about development but the sickness/disease section is difficult to read through. It needs more book titles or spaces between paragraphs since it all runs together. Good section on breastfeeding and birth recovery.

Baby 411 - very good. Everything is broken down, though I think the breastfeeding section could be longer. Lots of resources. Discussions on discipline and breaks down the various methods used to get babies to sleep. This book is most responsible for scaring me about SIDS.

Baby Bargains - very helpful in making purchase decisions. It explains everything (like the different types of car seats) and is full of safety information and recall info.

Nursing Mother's Companion - very thorough. Has information on everything related to breastfeeding, though I wish it were broken down better - the order does not make much sense to me. For example, the section on breast pumps is in the 2 month plus chapter. Very good information on medications breastfeeding mothers can take and cannot take.

Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - I've not read this, but it is the La Leche League book. It seemed like it would be very helpful at first.

BabyCenter.com - I love the weekly emails about development, first in pregnancy and now that my boy is growing. The book is also helpful and has lots of charts and statistics on development.

TheNest.com - best for the pregnancy checklist and for the What Size is Baby Fruit Chart. I've not looked at it since our baby was born.

Happiest Baby on the Block - I watched a video and wrote down the suggestions on how to sooth a newborn. The Mother of All Baby Books and Baby 411 cover info in this book and source it.

There are many, many other books out there, but these are my tops for baby guidebooks.

Bringing Baby Home: Gear

G is for Gear. Shortly after finding out I was pregnant, I looked at the Babies R Us website and asked "What in the heck is baby gear?" Dictionary.com describes gear as " implements, tools, or apparatus, esp. as used for a particular occupation or activity; paraphernalia."

OK, but possessing a baby is not the same as an activity or occupation, like fishing or fisherperson. Still, there is gear required. Baby gear seems to be car seats, strollers, diaper bags, carriers, play yards, swings, bouncers and shopping car seats. I would also add all feeding implements, first aid implements, nursery decor and furniture, blankets, toys, and bath items. In fact, everything related to babies is considered gear. Only items are split into sections for feeding, bathtime, nursery decor, sleeping, and then gear. Gear, then, seems to be the stuff you carry around with the baby.

I'm rambling and he is crying.

Bringing Baby Home: Friends, Family, Food

F is for Friends. F is for Family. F is for Food. F is for Functioning Again. The first three Fs lead to the fourth one.

New babies bring an outpouring of love from others. People bring food, clothes, laundry detergent, and toys. People mail gifts. People show up and cook. My father cleaned out the litterbox. Love expressed as help and gifts from friends and family gave us time to bond with our son, get used to the lack of sleep, and enjoy the new life. They helped get us what we needed and didn't know we needed--extra changing pads, lasagna, sheets--and allowed us to get going again.

I could not have gotten through the emotional and physical changes of bringing my son into this world without the help of my friends and family. And their food, as I keep telling my son, if I don't eat, neither does he. Thank you, everyone.

Bringing Baby Home: Email

E is for Email. What I really mean my email is technology. People really can't have babies today without spreading the word via text message, email, Facebook, and Twitter. I was able to send photos of my son with my cell phone, even with my sad little phone. Photos were posted on Facebook before we left the hospital. And now I can share photos with Snapfish or Picasa and keep on online Kidmondo journal.

Email is just the tip of the iceberg on ways to spread news about the new little one. Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering what life was like before the internet and cellphones.

Bringing Baby Home: Diapers

D is for diapers. Our baby was three weeks early so we didn't have a huge stash of diapers. Luckily a friend had given us some diapers and the hospital let us take a stack of them. And we knew some cloth diapers were on the way. For more on that, read my husband's blog post.

However, diapers to catch uh, poo and pee are not the only kinds we needed upon coming home from the hospital. My aunt gave me some cloth diapers for burp cloths. And I am very thankful and use them All The Time. The old flatfold diapers are absorbent and catch all the spit-up and projectile vomiting my son can eject--and that is a lot. Having those diapers has saved me from being covered in spit-up more times than I can count. Yes, any old rag would do, but these can also absorb foremilk spewing from my body, which is another story for another day.

One of my friend's makes pretty cloth diapers by sewing on a panel of flannel cloth in the center. I wish I had the time to do the same thing--I envision cute little soccer balls. I also wonder where she got the green and blue diapers she passed onto me. While I love the cloth diapers/burp cloths, I would like them to be better looking, especially as they get stained.

Bringing Baby Home: Caffeine

C is for Caffeine. Some books and lactation consultants will say that breastfeeding women should not drink caffeine because it could affect the baby, keeping him/her up. They also say it could cause the baby distress--as in gas.

It's not true (for me at least). Nothing I eat or drink or don't eat or drink changes the fact that my son has gas. Early on, I avoided caffeine. After a few days of getting up three times a night, I sucked down coffee like it was air. I also had my Diet Dr. Pepper. When my son seemed to be staying up all night and sleeping all day, I dropped my coffee again. He still kept that schedule. Coffee and black tea keep me going. While trying to conceive, I gave up coffee and switched to black tea. Now that my son is two months old, I've gone back to black tea, I've missed it.

I've tried all combinations of tea, coffee, neither tea nor coffee to see if he reacts differently. Nothing changes, so I will contiue to drink my morning tea. Caffeine was essential to me functioning during those first few weeks. And it still is essential.

Bringing Baby Home: Bras

B is for Bras. Bras, and what they hold, caused crying. The baby cried because it wanted food hidden in my bra. I cried because of the pain. Then I cried because of the bra size.

A few weeks before I had my son, someone randomly suggested I pick up a couple of nursing bras for the hospital. Nobody else had mentioned that I might need one, but I trusted this person and went to visit a local store, Special Addition. The saleswoman asked me a series of questions about my pre-pregnancy bra size, my pregnancy bra size, and whether or not I was planning on breastfeeding.

After trying on about 8 bras, I got two sleep bras, because predicting the size I would be post-pregnancy would be difficult. Then I stupidly only packed one bra in my hospital bag. I wore the other one around the house. Dumb move. I needed both at the hospital especially since I was there longer after a c-section. I wore that bra out, stretching it when my milk came in. At home, engorgement hit me at 1 a.m. when the air conditioner kicked in and I felt my nipples tingle. I burst out into tears, put the heating pad on low, and tried not to cry. My mother described me as having cantaloupes. Thanks mom.

Since I'd had a c-section, I could not drive for two weeks. Not only did I have a new baby, but I was constantly washing my two raveling bras. I begged my mother to take me to get new bras. Back at Special Addition, I went through another series of questions and tried on a dozen bras, politely ignoring the $80 ones I was afraid I would love too much. Finally settling on two more bras, I cried when I realized the cup size. In my head, I knew bras were that large, but I didn't ever think I would be wearing one that size.

Now, two months later, I have purchased four more bras and several shirts. None of my old shirts fit. I am grateful to my friend who suggested getting bras and only wish I had packed two of them for the hospital and gotten a couple extras for home.

Bringing Baby Home: Acetaminophen

My baby was born three weeks early and three days after my baby shower. The shower was Saturday, I spent Sunday and Monday prepping the baby's room, and Tuesday, we had a baby. So, I thought I was prepared, and for the most part I was ready, but there were a few things I didn't know I would become dependent upon when we brought him home. Here are some, in alphabetical order.

A is for Acetaminophen. Who knew I would be in so much pain? OK, anyone who ever had a Cesarean would have known. However, I didn't plan on a c-section.

After a baby, painkillers are a necessity (for me). I inhaled them every few hours, took them in the middle of the night, and they were the first thing on my mind as I woke up. Next time, I will have a larger stash.

Novel Travels: A Year in Provence

Did you know there are very few books that start with "Y"? Many start with You and Your and many also start with Year or Years. None of them fall into the category of a novel or travel literature, more like self-help.

Yes, I wrote about Peter Mayle so using A Year in Provence for my "Y" entry is redundant. My blog, my thoughts. Here is a reading guide for A Year in Provence. Reading guides always make homework easier because they make you think through what you read. Everyone should do their homework before leaving on a trip. Not just the homework on transportation (how), accommodations, food, and sites, but the people, weather, and history. Which is why I like to read novels, it makes the homework easier and more enjoyable.

My first trip to Europe was with my high school history teacher, Mrs. Sue Rathburn. She was crazy with crazy curly hair and bright red lipstick. Mrs. Rathburn was also enthusiastic and excited to show us (a group of about 15 students) everything. Right before we left, she gave us a packet of questions to answer before we left. None of us did it; we were teenagers and it was summer. Now I wish I had so I would have understood more about the history and people in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna, and Munich. Too late now. Guess I'll just have to return to those places. Darn.

Novel Travels: Wuthering Heights

Visiting the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth gives a sense of deja vu. It's hard to visit and not see Heathcliff and Catherine walking around the moor. I loved visiting the Parsonage and I loved Wuthering Heights, which is why it is the "W" on this list.

The Bronte Parsonage Museum is in Haworth. In 1998, getting there from London meant taking a train to Leeds and a bus from the train station to Haworth. I also discovered walks--rambles--in the area and stomped around for a few hours before heading back to London. If possible, I try to walk everywhere I visit. If I am with my husband, walking and using public transportation is guaranteed. He says public transportation is always reliable, unlike cabs where the driver can go where he/she wants, public transport has to go one way and has to be on time. The only problem I have when traveling with my husband is that selecting a restaurant to eat at is impossible. We walk and walk and walk, look at menus, look online. And walk and walk and usually end up right where we started. That's why the walks in Yorkshire are good, you want to end up where you started, back at the Parsonage Museum (which has a blog).

Novel Travels: Six Wives

I'm having to get creative with the last few letters of the alphabet.

Ever since Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl came out and the Tudors hit Showtime, Henry VIII is everywhere with his wives. Suddenly, bookstore shelves are buckling under the weight of the Tudor Era novels, many re-imagining and re-tellings (not a word, really) of stories about Henry VIII's wives. Many of the books (I've not read many) give a good sense of a woman's powerlessness at that time in history. And those books are probably good airplane reading.

Long before The Other Boleyn Girl I studied in London for a summer. My goal, besides learning about politics and media, was to visit the graves of each of Henry VIII's six wives. Antonia Fraser's The Wives of Henry VIII made this possible by the photographs and captions of all the grave sites.

Catherine of Aragon is in Peterborough Cathedral.
Anne Boleyn lies in the Tower of London, in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.
Jane Seymore is buried with Henry VIII in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Ann of Cleves is in Westminster Abbey.
Katherine Howard is also in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula.
Catherine Parr lies in the Chapel at Sudley Castle.

Reminder: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.

I also recommend Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII. I'm looking forward to reading David Starkey's The Queens of Henry VIII.

Novel Travels: Dr. Zhivago

A few weeks before I left for a cruise which stopped in Russia I tried to read Dr. Zhivago. I failed. Then I tried to watch the movie. I fell asleep. Twice. So when I return to Russia, I plan on reading this book. (And probably consulting the Sparknotes.)

The reason I'm including Dr. Zhivago, even though I've not read it, is because the Russians have adopted the music for tourist areas. Lara's Theme played on the bus and at restaurants. Musicians played the song. That's interesting to me because my copy of the book says it (the book) was banned in Russia when it was published. That's true, according to the Wiki page.

Honestly, when I return to Russia, I'll read Anna Karenina first, then Dr. Zhivago. I'd like to say I'll read War and Peace before leaving, but I have a life, no time, and there are several movie versions. Plus, I need a plane ticket.

Novel Travels: Ulysses

I'm skipping T right now.

Full confession: I didn't read James Joyce's infamous Ulysses before going to Dublin. Instead, I listed to it on CD and watched the Bloom, relying on Sparknotes to interpret both. I am glad I did because I could not get past the first chapter and it was much easier to be passive than active about this book.

What is interesting to me is how Leopold Bloom's ordinary day, June 16, 1904, has spawned Bloomsday in Dublin. On Bloomsday, Joyce enthusiasts follow Bloom's footsteps for that day--they travel around the city visiting the places he visits and going where he goes. It's a good tour of the city itself AND how it has changed. Which is why I recommend listening to (or reading) Ulysses.

Ulysses walk. Ulysses walk with transportation notes. Downloads. There was even a Twitter performance.

One thing people should know about Ireland is that pubs are closed on Good Friday. No alcohol sales anywhere. At all. Just FYI.

Novel Travels: The Shadow of the Wind

Barcelona again. I guess that city just inspires artists and writers. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a thriller for book lovers. Young Daniel takes a book by Julián Carax from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and becomes obsessed with finding other books by the author, but finds they are being burned by an unknown person. His determination to get to the bottom of the mystery will threaten his life.

Characters in the novel travel up, down, and around Barcelona, making it a pretty good book to read before visiting the city. La Rambla, Montjuic, Santa Maria del Mar ... it's all here.

Two things I should mentions. 1) The Shadow of the Wind portrays Barcelona as a dark and shadowy place. A place where people follow you without reason. The city I visited was bright and colorful. Although we did get pick pocketed. 2) In the novel, it seems to constantly rain or snow. I visited Barcelona in January and the weather was wonderful.


List of places in the book. Another list, but with a map.

Novel Travels: Various books, Various resources

It's hard to explain how I find books to read about certain destinations. Sometimes, I just look things up on Amazon and hope someone has made a list. I also visit Literary Traveler for clues. My favorite, albeit opinionated, travel writer Rick Steves will sometimes list books for each country. Lonely Planet does the same thing, if you dig around on their website. Knowing that there is a slim chance of finding something, but if a book is good it will be listed, I go to the Recommended Reading link at Pemberley and look at the World Literature category. Finally, secretly, I visit the Special Settings list at Laurie Likes Books.

I also like the Travelers' Tales Guides--the one on Provence had a story about the Roman aqueduct right next to our hotel. I've also found this Wall Street Journal article on Major Cultural Routes (starting with Mozart's footsteps) useful in leading me to other paths.

In no particular order, here are some other books I recommend:

For England, any of Susan Allen Toth's England books.
For Ireland: Trinity by Leon Uris (OK, I've attempted it twice, but it's been recommended to me several times.)
For Paris: Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. (That's a given.)
For Rome: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (Given.)
For Italy: Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forester and Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (Again, given).
For Russia: A Traveller's History of Russia by Peter Neville.
For Thailand: Bangkok 8 by John Burdette. And The Beach by Alex Garland.
Eugenia Price's Savannah series gets an honorable mention for best series about a charming, Southern city.