The Garden

Gardening proved to be an unexpected delight this summer - I wanted a hobby and found one that brought joy and awe and food all at the same time! Here are some pictures of my babies:





Nasturtiums taste like pepper, incidentally. Yes, those are jalapenos too - there are going to be a lot of them in about a week. Anyone want to come over for nachos?

P.S. School starts on Tuesday. Yipe!

The Polish in Me

I recently learned that my family is part Polish - it was one of those facts that everyone assumed I knew so they never actually mentioned it. Until this summer. When someone told a rude Polish joke to my cousin and she responded, "Um, I'm Polish," and stalked away pretending to be angry in order to leave the unfortunate jokster in a state of shame. My mom related this story to me and was shocked when I asked her if I was Polish too.

I've decided that it would improve my life greatly to practice partying like the Polish. Last Saturday, my dear cousin married a Polish girl. The wedding festivities were wild. There was a Traditional Polish-Catholic wedding mass, complete with a reading from the apocrypha (in Polish... I'm not sure what Tobit is about, and I keep forgetting to reread it) and a presentation of roses to Mary (the Virgin, that is). After the ceremony commenced much merrymaking in the form of a plethora of vodka. Lots of vodka. The bride and groom were presented with a loaf of bread (symbolizing God) and salt (symbolizing prosperity), which they had to eat. They washed it down with a shot of clear liquid - another tradition: whoever gets the one with vodka wears the pants in the family. The other is filled with water. Then lots of dancing and speeches in both languages. More dancing. Shouting at the couple to kiss. Singing the traditional toast. It was awesome.

So, large quantities of vodka aside, my new goal is to dance more and shout joyfully for people to kiss. I'll let you know how it goes.