Wyatt Volunteers. Be Like Wyatt.

A couple of months ago, Wyatt and I worked one of the Presidio Planting Days. it was incredibly satisfying to plant native species we had helped grow, and it was also fun doing work in a construction zone with other people! During our shift, a well-meaning dad (based on our observations, it’s possible he insisted that his somewhat reluctant family join him at planting day) asked Wyatt if this was his first time volunteering. Wyatt looked him squarely in the eye and said firmly, “No. I’ve been volunteering half my life.” The dad looked at me, unsure what to think, so I gave him more words. Something along the lines of, “Yeah, you know, we volunteer at the Presidio Nursery, and we started when he was 5 and now he’s 10, so ….”

I can’t even believe it has been half his life. Or 5 years.

Yesterday, the absolutely wonderful Presidio Nursery Staff (two of whom are pictured here) awarded Wyatt his 5-year anniversary pin for volunteering. They considered forming the R in “Spring,” but then settled on this modified podium pose.

And Wyatt is also featured in this month’s Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy newsletter.

Feeling inspired to get out there and support the parks? You can find a lot of local opportunities here.

We Served, Despite the Shutdown

There’s a lot of work to do everywhere in this country, and it felt so good to get some of it done today .

Marc, Wyatt and I were three of the 40 lucky people who got to volunteer today on this National Day of Service in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We were signed-up to work in the Presidio, which receives its funding from sources other than the federal government, so our project could go forward. The 660-ish people who had registered to work in other parts of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area were told their day of service was canceled, courtesy of the government shutdown.

We worked in an area of Fort Scott with 23 other volunteers. Together, we moved a dump truck full of soil into wheelbarrows, down the hill, and into raised beds. We sheet mulched areas around the greenhouse. We pulled bags and buckets of weeds, and we moved the compost pile (which, as it turns out, was also a multi-story dwelling for some voles) into wheelbarrows and then into another dump truck so it could be transported to the compost yard. Wyatt did some mowing.

Our group, which included several wonderfully industrious children, did an astonishing amount of work this morning. While we worked, we met new friends, including a family who had recently moved to San Francisco from Kansas. Wyatt and I also caught up with some of our fellow regular volunteers.

Imagine all the projects those 660 other volunteers (and the thousands of others nationwide) would have accomplished today had the presidential temper tantrum not interfered. Lost volunteer work is a very small consequence compared to what federal workers are dealing with, including the inability to pay rent or buy food because they haven’t been paid for a month, but it’s a consequence nevertheless.

When we finished our work, we all gathered together and reported on our progress. As part of our closing circle, the kids read suggestions about what change they wanted to see in the future. Ideas included: Make things fair for everyone, no fighting, use less plastic, especially plastic water bottles, and make everything out of chocolate. (Dream big.) Lunch was pupusas, rice, beans, salad, and plantains from Express Liquor & Pupuseria. I know I’ve mentioned before how good their food is, so consider this a reminder to go there and taste it for yourself.

Regardless of how you spent your MLK Day, I hope in 2019, we all find ways to be do-ers. Let’s be people who are making the changes we want to see in the world. Thinking and talking are fine, but they’re not enough. We can think and talk while we’re working to make things fair for everyone (or perfecting a recipe for architectural chocolate).

Star of the Week

Look who’s turn it was to be Star of the Week in his classroom!

Each kid gets a turn, and they need to make a poster of photos and talk to the class about their heritage or a family tradition. Fortunately, it’s also ok just to share about something that they like or is important to them. After all, the point of this exercise is to give everyone practice giving a presentation in front of a group,

Wyatt decided that he wanted to talk about his work in the Presidio Native Plant Nursery and the secret garden.

I don’t know if this happens to you, too, but when I’m caught up in the day to day of parenting and life, I don’t take time to reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and what progress we’ve made. Honestly, I usually only review photos after a trip, and only then if I’m making a book of them. Reviewing photos from the last two years of volunteer work was pretty astonishing. Cutting the set down to a reasonable number for the poster was really challenging, too.

Wyatt and I have learned and done a lot since our first session where we scrubbed pots the whole time. We’ve helped to build a greenhouse, we’ve prepared soil, prepared for raised beds, rodent-proofed, pest-proofed, pruned, collected seeds, helped to banish phytopthora from key areas, weeded, mowed using our own power, watered, planted, replanted, labeled, cared for native plants, learned about endangered plants, swept, washed, dug out ditches, moved mulch, and so many other things. More than that, we’ve learned about and done all these things within a big caring community of employees, interns, and volunteers.

Here are some photos from nearly two years of volunteering with the Presidio Nursery—every photo we included in the poster and then some. We are so lucky to be part of a volunteer family doing so much meaningful work.

If you haven’t found your volunteer family yet, keep looking. You’ll be glad when you do.

To make the poster itself . . .

We made this gluten-free paste to glue the photos we printed to the posterboard. (We did half the recipe, and even that was way too much.)

We used wire cutters to trim the sticks Wyatt gathered.

We used Elmer’s glue to stick the sticks and the leaves, but the paste might have worked well, too.

Seven

"OH MY GOSH, Wyatt! Why are you following me around?"

"Because I love you."

"I love you, too," I said.

I was rushing around that morning, realizing that somehow, nothing was ready, and finding that even with direct instruction, the kid was not getting it done. His response was the best reality check ever. It won't be much longer before I'm trailing Wyatt just because I love him and not to make sure he has selected the proper footwear.

"Hey, I'm sorry I asked why you were following me. It was a really dumb question to ask. I was feeling stressed out, and I think that's why I said it. Did you feel bad after I said it?"

"Well, yeah, kind of. I mean, I don't KNOW why I was following you. I just was. Because I love you."

"Of course," I said, "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay..." he trailed off as he focused on finishing the surprisingly difficult task of making his sandwich for lunch. Then he said, "You said you'd read me the story about the bunny before school. Do we have time?"

We didn't really have time, but I read it to him anyway. As we headed off to school, he responded to my "Put on your sneakers...you have games today!" by putting on his hiking boots. When I asked him about it, he was totally bewildered. On the way to school, we hit traffic, and he was late. And you know what? It was just fine.

I can't even believe this kid is seven now. We celebrated his birthday during a mini-vacation in Hawaii. We mostly spent time at the beach, but on Earth Day, we volunteered at Waimea Valley. I know--nothing says loving Mother Earth like flying 3,000ish miles. Anyway. We started the day learning about the cultural significance of Waimea Valley and then pulled weeds along the trail with other families. Later, while waiting out a rain shower (and seeing who won the raffle prizes) I learned about JustServe from a local woman sitting next to me. Apparently, it started in California and is a terrific resource for finding nearby volunteer opportunities. She said that when her kids are starting to act too selfishly, she logs on and finds a service project for the family to do. My kind of mom.

During the afternoon, we explored the valley. Wyatt cajoled me into going swimming in the raging waterfall at the end of one of the trails. The experience was worth it, and Wyatt would have spent the entire day in there. He was so furious when I made him get out so we could hike back that we have no photos of us right out of the falls. But I got some on the hike  back.

We also visited Green World Coffee Farm. We had so many questions for their master roaster, and he had all the answers. Can you believe he roasts 400 pounds of coffee on a normal day, and closer to 800 during the Christmas season? It smelled heavenly in there.

We ate our first chicos at Kahuku Farms.

And on the last day, we saw a monk seal that decided to take a nap on the beach. The volunteer who was dispatched to look after the seal gave us all kinds of fun facts about him and all his local relatives. She even had a vial of monk seal poop with her. (I know you're wondering: it looked like lumps of chalk.)

On Wyatt's actual birthday, we had shave ice, we snorkeled, and he paddled endlessly  around on a boogie board. One of the best parts for everyone about being 7 is playing by yourself in the water (most of the time) while your parents lounge on the beach.

Cultivating Our Yes Brain

"So are we not going to volunteer today because of that government money thing?"

"Yes. It's Congress' job to pass—agree on—a budget, and they haven't done that. Now, lots of people who work for the federal government can't go to work and earn money to pay for things they need, like food, or where they live. And we can't volunteer if the workers won't be there to tell us what they need us to do. I'm not sure if anyone will be at the garden today."

People talk about the benefits of volunteering. Even the United States Government talks about it on this page. You can't read it today, though, because of the government shutdown. A cached description of the page says, "Perhaps the first and biggest benefit people get from volunteering is the satisfaction of incorporating service into their lives and making a difference in their community and country. The intangible benefits alone—such as pride, satisfaction, and accomplishment—are worthwhile reasons to serve. In addition, when we share ..." I'm dying to know what happens when we share whatever it is. Meanwhile, we can add to the list of benefits, "The opportunity to discuss with your children important issues surrounding a government shutdown."

Fortunately, the shutdown did not impact the national day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And no, that link doesn't work today, either. We spent last Monday working in a different corner of the Presidio than usual. It was a truly wonderful day. The team at the Presidio knows better than anyone how to welcome, inspire, and educate volunteers. Their opening and closing circles included a short discussion of the history of the day, the importance of service, and how we were part of a larger, nationwide volunteer effort. The educational tables near the volunteer check-in included games where you match bird calls and eggs with the birds that make them, and a bulletin board to add your suggestions about how to improve your community.

Wyatt, a few friends, and I were in the family-friendly working group of about 25 people of varying ages and abilities. We were the Banana Slugs, and the kids made sure we earned our team name by finding as many banana slugs as they could. We directed our questions about what to weed, prune, and gather for compost to the gardeners who work in the Presidio every day. The kids peppered delighted educators with countless questions about critters and plants. And we all worked together to fill the dump truck with debris more than twice.

The organizers provided bagels, coffee and juice for breakfast, as well as lunch. I remarked to one of the gardeners how thoughtful it was of them to provide lunch at the end of the program. He explained they had decided that if people spent the whole morning working for free, and the program ended at lunch time, it was only right to provide lunch. After all, there aren't a lot of lunch options up in the Presidio, and a lot of people can't afford them anyway. Organizers brought in vegetarian and meaty pupusas and tamales along with plenty of curtido from Liquor Express & Deli on Geary Boulevard, a family-owned Salvadoran eatery. Our family is destined become regulars at that restaurant because the food was so good. I also like the idea of saying we got dinner from a place with the unlikely name, Liquor Express.

Regardless of what the (unavailable) government website suggests, "pride and satisfaction" are not the reasons we've continued volunteering this past year. We keep coming back to see the people and spaces we care about and to tackle new challenges. The work we do helps me show Wyatt how to live an open, creative and resilient life. And I had no idea this is what I was doing until I finished reading the new book, The Yes Brain, by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. The Yes Brain is nominally a parenting book, and it focuses on teaching parents and caregivers how to help children develop a Yes Brain. A Yes Brain has four key characteristics: balance, resilience, insight, and empathy. The book also teaches readers how to cultivate those four characteristics in themselves (it's not just for parents and caregivers). It's a quick, well-organized and engaging read. Because it's written by skilled authors with parents in mind, it's streamlined. They don't waste words, and they're gentle but direct. I ended up using a lot of the time I thought I'd be reading to reflect on what I was learning.

Read the book. It's totally worth your time. If nothing else, it may help to provide some context for why certain activities might be even more worthwhile than you had initially thought. For example, our volunteer work contributes to all four brain characteristics:

• Balance: Feeling like things are going right and you can handle yourself well. Volunteering gets us outside, and it helps us feel calm and useful.
• Resilience: Appreciating that situations in life can be difficult, challenge is okay, and the difficulties can make us stronger. While we're working, sometimes we mess up (or see others mess up), but we learn from the mistakes and we witness how group leaders meet the mistakes with kindness and gentle corrections. All of this goes a long way to helping everyone build resilience by feeling safe, seen, soothed, and secure.
• Insight: Recognizing your own emotional state before it overtakes you. Sometimes things get frustrating when you're working, and the low-pressure of volunteering allows the space to notice when you're feeling like a red volcano that's ready to blow.
• Empathy: Looking at someone with your heart, and noticing how that person is feeling. Fellow volunteers have different abilities and preferences, and you can observe a lot if you look with your heart. For example we can see and appreciate how someone with physical challenges prefers to weed in one spot while Wyatt would rather move around more, shoveling and moving rocks.

So good, right?

And for the days when any or all of these characteristics are lacking, but I stubbornly refuse to totally give up, I figure we can just eat more vegetables. Vegetables in the form of this Bok Choy Salad with Apple and Persimmon, for example. We've eaten this salad so many times already this winter, but somehow, I have no photos of it. I'll try to add a photo to this post later this week. If fuyu persimmons are elusive, we've used pomegranate seeds. I'm pretty sure it would also be good just with extra apple, too. (Edited on 1/25 to add the photo below!)

And in case you were wondering, we made it to the San Francisco Women's March on Saturday.

Giving and Getting

This is the face of a happy volunteer.

I thought I wasn't the kind of person who needed the attention that comes from appreciation parties. True givers do the work for the sake of the work, not to be celebrated for it. Right?

We've been volunteering in the Presidio for the better part of this year, and last Thursday was the annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner where the staff throws a terrific party. The staff cook several turkeys, and everyone who attends brings a dish to share. I debated whether Wyatt and I should go. We'd be out late on a school night, and we didn't really need to be appreciated. We'd show up to work next time with or without a party. But parties are fun, and we like to dress up. So we went, and we are so glad we did.

As we drove up to the party, Wyatt noticed another car arriving at the same time and he said, "Hey! I know those people! That's Abby's car. The convertible BMW. It's got to be her." And sure enough, it was her. She was driving, and had given a ride to several other women we know from the garden and nursery. Once we had said hello, Abby asked if we could carry in some of the things she brought to share. Of course we could.

We checked-in, made our name tags, wrote a label for our shared dish (vegan! gluten-free! with nuts!), and then went in to mingle.

The staff had transformed the office into the most festive dining hall, and they were all still hard at work. Rebecca was tending bar, and she made Wyatt's night by mixing him a Unicorn ("Ginger ale, cranberry juice, and as much sparkling water as your mother would like.") Jean made sure we knew to look for the dressing with the gluten-free sign--she made sure they made some special. And Desmond brought us back to what looked like a gift shop and told us we could choose anything we wanted off the table.

Wyatt chose the orange blanket and I opted for a fleece vest that says "Golden Gate National Parks."

Dinner was truly spectacular. Best potluck ever. While we ate and chatted, they played a slide show of photos from previous years' appreciation parties. Wyatt kept spotting people we know, laughing at goofy photos, and trying to figure out where the photos were being projected from. On the drive home, we debated which side we liked the best (it was the dressing, but so many of the salads were close seconds!), discussed why halvah tastes weird (we tried every gluten-free offering on the dessert table), and exclaimed how glad we were that we went.

It was such a good night, and while we didn't need to be fed an amazing dinner, the truth is we kind of did. It felt good. And it reminded me of a Brené Brown quote: “Until we can receive with an open heart, we're never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help."

The dish we made to share was the Brussels Sprouts, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad from Smitten Kitchen. It's fancy (thanks to the pomegranate seeds), fast to prepare, and delicious. I couldn't find any brussels sprouts at the store, so I went with a savoy cabbage instead. It was terrific.

Spring, Summer, and Strawberry Cocoa Jam

Spring is almost over, and summer is almost here.

I know this fact is true not only because Wyatt's last day of school is this Friday, but also because the fava beans are done fava-ing. This week, we learned that it's time to plant pumpkins, so we helped chop up the fava stalks, turned over the soil, and planted some pumpkin seedlings.

Volunteering is good to do, right? So we started volunteering this winter. Volunteering in the Presidio Nursery was something tangibly good and family-friendly that we could do regularly in service of our community. The work immediately became something we looked forward to every week. And to be perfectly honest, if it hadn't been fun, we would have stopped going. I have learned that even the most easygoing six-year olds don't suffer drudgery or duty without whining and pouting, and I already have enough drudgery, duty, and six-year old whining and pouting in my life. In the last few months, we've gotten a t-shirt, washed, emptied, and filled pots, weeded, transplanted, pruned, watered, swept, repaired irrigation systems, shelled fava beans, found creatures, and collected seeds from native plants. It would be nice if every weed we pulled, every native plant we saved, and every new friendship we nurtured sent a grain or two of sand flying into the gears of the current federal administration. But resistance comes in many forms, and I'm content to know the work we have done has been good for us and our community.

As our schedule shifts into summer camps and less predictability for the next couple of months, we'll be in the nursery less. But we will fit in some Saturdays, and we plan to get back to more work in the fall.

But between now and fall, there's summer, which is berry season! Yesterday, we picked some raspberries, and we're eyeing our blueberries, waiting for them to ripen. Berry season is the best. Buy or pick organic ones. I'm partial to blueberries and raspberries, but if you find yourself either out of jam or with too many strawberries (either by design or by accident), definitely make some Strawberry Cocoa Jam from Marisa McClellan's book, Naturally Sweet Food In Jars. The jam is unlike any I have ever tasted. It's rich, dark, and frankly incredible.

Spring Color

In honor of (the first of two weeks of) Spring Break, and in recognition of the fact that I have less than a week left to finish what feels like endless clearing out, this is a short post about three things.

First, we have reached another level in volunteering. That's right, there's at least one level beyond getting a t-shirt. Wyatt and I were invited to join the small crew of people who work in the Secret Garden. I think I'm permitted to tell you that we went, we weeded, and we found ourselves thoroughly charmed. But the rest? It's a secret.

Second, we have found a new vegetable to love: ramps (also known as wild leeks). In the past, I mostly avoided them because the annual hype surrounding them made me suspicious. What a mistake. I have really been missing out. We made David Lebovitz's Bear's Garlic (or Ramps) Pesto this weekend, and it was incredible. We had it on pasta, with a simple green salad, and Wyatt and I had bratwurst with ours. Why bratwurst? The butcher swore it was "the perfect sausage to go with ramps pesto." He was right. Also? I love that he offered such a strong, specific (and correct) opinion on this particular food combination. Next stop is pickled ramps. (Any ramp pickle recipe suggestions? Please leave them in the comments.)

Third, it's time to dye some eggs again! This year, we have a two-part plan. We will be using this kit. Believe it or not, I not only have but have also located the replacement kit the company sent me last year after I groused nicely in an email about how some of the color didn't work as well as in years past. We will also be following this tutorial, written by two of my favorite experts, Samin Nosrat and Kristine Vejar. If these two women say that we can get delicious and beautiful eggs by simultaneously cooking and naturally dyeing them, we must try. Better yet, we must do. Want to play, too? I'll post photos of our process on Instagram. 

Shirts, Citrus & Salt

Mom. I was NOT expecting that they would give us t-shirts! But now we match the other volunteers. I LOVE MY SHIRT. Can you please fix mine tonight or tomorrow so that I can wear it next week?

Last Wednesday, we leveled-up in the volunteer world: Wyatt and I were invited to choose "Golden Gate National Parks Native Plant Nurseries" t-shirts. We both went with the smallest ones they had: Adult Small.

Today, I leveled-up in sewing alterations. The volunteer shirt was the third in the stack of shirts I had promised to alter for Wyatt over the last six months. This tutorial was a really helpful starting point. I saved the volunteer shirt for last because it was the biggest, and I needed to work up to it. I won't lie; things got a little stressful, and I had to improvise beyond the tutorial. Part of the way through the volunteer shirt alterations, Wyatt said, tearfully, "I AM IN A PIN TRAP. Mom, you need to go read your tutorial again because this shirt feels DUMB." But we stuck with it (ha!) and now it looks, as Marc said, like I popped the shirts in the oven and shrank them perfectly. One detail that went a long way towards making the alterations look less like a hack-job was my double line of stitching along the new hems. Fancy!

I have decided that getting three shirts off the mending pile and into rotation is as good as clearing out drawers and closets today (and for the last three days). It isn't, really. But I cannot help bargaining (with myself) and attempting to refine "the rules" so that I still feel like I'm on task. I guess I'm a puritanical six-year old at heart.

We cooked up a storm this weekend! Friends were in town! We started with the citrus sorbets (Grapefruit-Champagne and Tangerine) that would end our dinner.

Dinner itself was whole Tai Snapper baked in pounds (and pounds) of salt (an astonishingly fun, impressive, and easy process--read about it here), herbed steamed rice (which I actually forgot to serve anyone), white mushrooms with garlic and parsley, as made in Logroño (out of Tapas, a taste of Spain in America, but very similar to this recipe), and a salad of dandelion greens with almond vinaigrette and dried ricotta. I recommend making as much of this dinner as you possibly can, and remember, if you forget the rice, too, it reheats really well.

We Are Pot Scrubbers

Volunteering is so glamorous, isn't it? But as Wyatt remarked once we had finished our shift at the Presidio Nursery on Saturday afternoon, "That was WAY more fun than I thought it would be. I can't wait to go back!"

And we will go back. This was our first family foray into "Volunteering for the Environment." "The Environment" is an (admittedly broad) area we have identified as a way our little family can work together to better our community. And as everyone knows, when we help in our communities all that good work adds up, and it helps our our state, and then our country (assuming California doesn't secede), and also the planet. Yes, we have lofty goals! And we are working towards them.

We arrived at the Presidio Nursery a little bit late for the 1pm start on Saturday, but our leader, Desmond, set us up with our own pot scrubbing station in no time. The three of us (and a bunch of other people) had dish scrubbers that we used to dry scrub the dirt off seedling pots. There were other people who washed the pots with soap, others rinsed them, and still others assembled the pots into racks. The assemblers got to use a mallet, so that was obviously the best job. In addition to the pot scrubbers, there were groups that were washing seeds and maybe also sorting seeds. Honestly, I don't remember for sure, though, because once we heard those jobs were very detail oriented and required patience, we were relieved to have been pegged as "Pot Scrubbers" from the beginning.

Around 2:30, we had a snack break in the Habitarium. The Nursery provided the snacks, because they are classy like that.

After snack? Back to work. This time with the boom box in our palace of pots where many of us did our best pot-scrub-dance-lip-sync routines. It wasn't long before one of the teenagers who was working in the assembly station asked Wyatt if he wanted to use the mallet on the pots once he had them set and ready to go. Wyatt literally jumped at the chance.

We even got volunteer pins when we were finished. Like I said, classy.

If you're in the Bay Area and interested in volunteer opportunities with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, here's a great summary of what opportunities are available when, and how to sign-up in advance to bring a group larger than four people.

And if after a busy day, you, like Wyatt, need more potatoes and olive oil in your life, try this incredible recipe by Penelope Casas for Tortilla Española. I've tried several recipes for this dish, and this is by far the best one. And I'll admit that it may sound fiddly to separate each slice of potato before cooking, but just do it. It's so worth it.

When I make this recipe, I use a 10" skillet (we'd be lost without the leftovers), so I need more of everything. I usually use about 5 medium-large Yukon Gold potatoes, a giant yellow onion, and 8 large eggs. I also use not too fancy olive oil. The rest of the recipe remains the same. That is, it remains the same except when it doesn't. This weekend, I couldn't be bothered to flip the omelet. Instead, after the edges of the omelet had begun to set, I put the cast-iron pan into a preheated 350 degree oven and baked it until it was just firm (about 20 minutes). Slightly less beautifully golden on both sides, but equally delicious.

Less Talk, More Action

"Mom. So you know how Martin Luther King Jr. was killed? That's bad. But that's only half of it. The other half it's so bad is because he was such a good person and doing such important work."

I just re-read Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. His call to action and reminder that tension is necessary for progress towards justice and equality are just as relevant and important than ever. Wyatt, for his part, has been studying the pictures and illustrations in I am Martin Luther King, Jr. since Saturday, when it arrived from his grandparents.  We have read the book to him many times already, but there is still more to learn from studying the illustrations and the photos. He remains astounded by the images of the throngs of people who gathered to hear Dr. King speak ("Look! Those are people! I thought it was a field of flowers!") as well as the images of the people marching.

Today was our beach clean-up day. Wyatt, his flamingo hat, and I went with some friends from school, and it was absolutely terrific. To start, our friends had us over to their house for a delicious (second) breakfast before we got started. And then, even though all five of us volunteers would all have been perfectly happy to just pick up trash with our own gloves and call it a Great Day, we got so much more. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is such a class act. They provided buckets, gloves, kids activity books, pencils, and the opportunity for the youngest volunteers to be sworn in as a Junior Ranger at the end of the project. They were more than ready for all 267 of us registered volunteers.

I think we were all expecting there to be a lot of easy, obvious trash to pick up, but there wasn't. In fact, at first glance, the beach looked pretty clean. But once we started focusing more closely, hunting for trash like you would seashells, we found lots of shards of sharp glass, plastic straws, bits of colored plastic, dental floss, paper, Lego pieces, plastic toys, bits of plastic bags, and a syringe. Fortunately there was no needle attached to the syringe, because one of the kids proudly presented it in her fist as a "Great piece of trash that does not belong on the beach!" As her mother and I suddenly realized, the Ranger's warning not to pick up dog poop or dead birds meant something (and probably wasn't even necessary--that stuff's gross). But "Don't pick up hypodermic syringes or needles!" might as well have been "Don't pick up fitzwooshles or tizzywhats!" If you have no idea what they are, and you're five, you might incorrectly conclude there's no way you could find any.

By the end of the project, the children had answered the necessary questions in their activity books, and Ranger Maria was ready to check their work, administer the Junior Ranger Pledge, and give them their badge.

"I promise to help take care of the beaches I visit including the Golden Gate National Parks. I also promise to continue to explore, learn about, and protect the natural world wherever I go,"

Thanks to the pledge, charming Petey the Golden Plover who stars in the activity book, and all the bits of plastic and straws we found, Wyatt has renewed interest in minimizing plastic waste. If we ever needed proof that action makes a difference, we have it now.

But wait, there's more! I have been all talk lately about how I want us to make dinner together on the weekend. I have been grumbling, whining, and announcing this wish for months; but until this weekend, I had no plan to put my wish into action. The key, as it turned out, was to make a simple plan for a meal where everyone could do something and I didn't have to orchestrate much. We made Mark Bittman's super easy and great Salmon Roasted in Butter, the most delicious recipe for Baby Bok Choy I've ever found, and Wyatt made his specialty: fried potatoes. He uses a crinkle cutter to get them the right size and shape and then shallow-fries them in avocado oil. Once ready, he rains a sprinkle of Kosher salt down on them, and we gobble them up.

All Over the Place

"I love you so much. You are my best friend! Mom. Do you know why I love this SO much? It cooks THE BEST FOOD. Don't you wish it were also a robot? A Robot Instant Pot. Then it could do ALL THE COOKING BY ITSELF."

YES to the Robot Instant Pot. A thousand times, YES.

I'm still getting the hang of this multi-purpose-miracle appliance. There is a learning curve.

The first thing I cooked was risotto from an Instant Pot Cookbook. It was great, although, maybe a tiny bit overdone. Second was a whole chicken. Major failure. Do not make the mistake I did of reading a (free online) recipe and thinking, "Huh. That's weird. No water in this pressure cooker recipe?" and then making the recipe anyway. Just as I had thought, the pressure cooker never sealed, and then I had to trouble-shoot cooking the vaguely steamed bird from there. In short, UGH. Third, I cooked chicken broth, and that went terrifically well, but no one in my family cares about broth other than me. Fourth up was Rancho Gordo Mayocoba Beans, and the beans did not turn out well at all--15 minutes under pressure left them 1/3 cooked, and an additional 5 minutes turned them to mush. Good thing there is no better refried bean than a Mayocoba. I am currently welcoming all helpful tips on pressure cooking or slow cooking beans. Please leave your suggestions in the comments.

The recipe that had Wyatt swooning was Lemongrass + Coconut Chicken (with Cauliflower Rice). It's terrific. And it reheats like a dream in the oven. We ate it for dinner several nights in a row last week, by candlelight. So after you make the recipe I gave you last week, if you have a pressure cooker, try this one.

A meaty dinner by candlelight--no other lights, so yes, it's pretty dark dining in the winter--is the best way to cheer a grumpy, sad Wyatt when Marc isn't able to make it home in time for dinner. It makes dinner look a little different, and when you're finished eating, you can make shadow animals on the walls and talk about how "dad does them the best of all."

And Marc? He got lots of refried beans in the kitchen for dinner last week. I'm all over the place as I (and we) integrate new work routines and get back to usual life ones. And let me say that there's nothing like starting a teeny-tiny weekday morning meditation practice, where instead of feeling serenity and calm, you find you're as together as a handful of confetti someone just tossed into the wind. For example, this morning, as I sat for a minute after lighting our beeswax dinner candle (teeny-tiny practice, I tell you), I realized that last night, I never baked the bread that had been rising all day. So I baked it (slightly deflated) this morning before we left for school, but of course I managed to bake it at the wrong temperature the whole time. Poor little loaf of bread. It never had a prayer. And neither did the rest of the stuff I've already completely blown today.

In other news, I finally filmed, edited, and published two knitting tutorial videos for my Tiny Bubbles Beanie pattern. If you've been thinking you want to knit that hat, but are feeling a little tentative, hoping for some support or instruction, you can now watch my hands knit it whenever you want.

Finally, and most importantly, next Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Have you chosen a service project yet? Either way, read Jelani Cobb's terrific and important piece about the holiday. It will put you in the right frame of mind to work in support of Dr. King's ideals this year, and in the coming years. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can sign-up here for an MLK Day Project with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

Glitter Glue for Refugees

People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

So goes the first verse of the Christmas carol, "People, Look East," by Eleanor Farjeon. According to my research, Ms. Farjeon wrote this piece in 1928. Even though I have a lot of Christmases under my belt (many of them church Christmases, even), I don't remember hearing this particular carol before. This year, though, it's Wyatt's theme song, and he sings it under his breath, or at full volume, off and on most of the day. Occasionally, he also belts-out some bastardization of "Jingle Bells," or imitates that classically grating Christmas song by Alvin and the Chipmunks about one of them wanting a hula hoop.

Usually, this time of year, our friend Suzanne emails us and others of her friends and customers to say when she and her business partner, Peter, will be collecting clothing, blankets, and other goods for homeless people around San Francisco. We always bring over what we can, and we relish our visit at their custom shoe making shop. Last year, we saw Peter's diorama of Bethlehem, made from leather scraps, found objects, glue, and glow-in-the-dark paint. We also met Joe, a photographer in the neighborhood. Joe, after learning I'm a knitter, gave me a glass head he wasn't using anymore. The head is the perfect size for hats, looks great on a bookshelf, and it allows me to scrutinize my designs from all angles. We see Joe frequently around town, often walking his beautiful dog. We also got to visit him during Open Studios this year, and now we own two of his wonderful prints.

Suzanne's holiday giving email arrived the other day. This year, because of the looming Trump administration, she has shifted her focus slightly. She has volunteered through the International Rescue Committee to sponsor a refugee family who will arrive in the Bay Area later this month. The family will likely be from Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria. She invited all of us to participate in supporting the family; we are awfully excited to help.

Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

"Wyatt. Remember the last couple of years when we dropped off blankets and toothbrushes for homeless people at Suzanne and Peter's? This year, we're dropping off gift cards and probably some toys or maybe art supplies for children. There's a family that's moving here from very far away. And they have almost nothing with them!"

"Are they homeless? Why don't they have anything with them?"

"I suppose they are homeless. They had to leave their home, and they've been traveling a lot, waiting to find out where they will live next and have a home for good. They're going to come to the United States and they'll fly here in a couple of weeks. They'll need to buy everything—clothes, pots, pans, silverware, plates, toilet paper—everything. So we're going to go to Target next week to get them a gift card so they can buy things they need, and we'll also get some presents for the kids. We can look for presents for the kids after you visit Santa today."

"But how old are the kids? How do we know what they like? Maybe we can get them a gift card, too, so they can choose toys."

"We could, but I was thinking that if we found good stuff, we should just get it for them. When grown-ups go shopping and need all sorts of really practical things for the family, like toilet paper, towels, clothes, and a rice cooker, there might not be enough money left over for toys."

"Mmmm. You're right. Should we get them art supplies? I think they definitely need glitter glue."

 Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

This Saturday, it was pouring rain, and Santa was scheduled to be at Just For Fun on 24th Street for a couple of hours. Wyatt has met Santa there every year for the past three years, and unlike at other stores, Santa looks exactly the same year after year. Right beard, right suit AND same face.

Because we are loathe to mess with tradition or perfection, Marc, Wyatt and I put on our full rain gear and slip-slopped in puddles and rain up to the shop. Along the way, we cleared storm drains that were clogged with leaves and litter, and Wyatt identified all the olive and ginkgo trees without any help from me.

Thanks to the rain, there was no line for Santa. Wyatt stepped right up, made his request, and then we set about our remaining task: choosing gifts for the children who are moving from so very far away. Fortunately, Just For Fun had glitter glue, scotch tape, and more. Even better, everything we bought fits into a tidy box with a snap-on lid. As Wyatt remarked, "They need a box, too. You can't just leave your art supplies lying around, you know."