"In America we make movies. Leave the films to the French." - Lee, True West

Elsa watched her first double feature last night. Her first SUBTITLED double feature, that is! The Red Balloon was a book I grew up with, based on the 1956 French short film. So I knew the balloon would get popped at the end of the film, and I prepped her for it. The "bad kids" with their slingshots finally catch up to Pascal and his balloon and let fly. What I didn't remember is that the "pop" is not a "pop" at all but rather a slow leak. So Elsie and I are sitting there watching this brilliant red balloon slowly deflate and drop to the earth, then get stomped on by a kid. It was the longest minute of my life.

But White Mane was worse. A little French boy named Folco befriends a horse (think The Black Stallion) and in the end has to flee with the horse from some crazy French cowboys from Camargue. The cowboys inadvertently force them to jump into a river and they are swept out to sea where, "...horse and man can ride together...FOR ALL TIME!" The film ends with the cowboys pleading with the boy to turn back, but he can't. You see the boy and horse's head bobbing over the whitecaps, fading into the distance until the credits roll. Since I had translated the whole movie for Elsa I quickly told her that the boy was simply swimming out "into the bay" so he could "fish some more with White Mane". I hope she was ignoring the wailing, regretful cries of the French cowboys.

The Mindbending Sounds of...

...the "Village Green Preservation Society"! Well, not exactly, when we switched over to The Sound of Music Elsa was much happier. She can spin that vinyl like a pro. We hang out at our local record store and go through the stacks until we find something we like. While she's listening she asks me questions at the top of her lungs, ""WHO'S MARIA? WHAT PROBLEM DO THEY HAVE TO SOLVE WITH HER?"

Pea Soup

My friend Jeff Grove used to really dig my mother's split pea soup. He would come over every time she made it and we would sit at the kitchen counter, slurping it up. Jeff could really slurp it. Mom and I talked about this soup recently, and I took her recipe and made a few modifications.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

Chop and saute an onion, add a couple tablespoons of fresh grated ginger and 2 teaspoons of dried marjoram. Add a bag of green split peas (16 oz) and a couple of minutes later, a half cup of white wine. Then add a smoked ham hock, a bay leaf, and 2 quarts of stock. Don't let the soup get too thick- watch that the peas don't break down too much. Same with the carrots, cut them in tiny bits, blanch them in boiling water, shock them in cold, and then put them in the soup right before serving. Add ham pieces at the end, and a bit of parsley or cilantro.

Invite Jeff Grove over.

Defensive Specialist

"OK, so Hen, you have to realize that you have only about five yards to really rough up your opponent, OK? Get in his face, call him names, jam him, and then you have to turn and run. Watch his eyes, and when you see that HE sees the ball coming get those arms up to break it up. OK? OK Henry?"

Gigi and Boo-Boo

Gigi and Boo-Boo have been here for over a week. Boo-Boo revitalized my compost and put up the birdfeeder (which made me think of all those hungry winter birds I neglected), and Gigi prepped our roses and ironed my shirts and more. Pretty nice, eh?

Robbie arrived late Friday night and spent the weekend. We hunkered down, hit the farmer's market, grilled some chicken last night. Big Bears got a case of Nigerian beer called Tusker, and Robbie and I had some of that while we threw the Nerf around as we stood at the grill.

Ruth and I are wondering who will clean the kitchen and placate Henry when they leave in a couple of days.

The Four of Us

Elsie is the first one to greet Henry in the morning, and she's been doing a good job with the transition to sisterhood. She is constantly kissing and hugging him, and jumping in to play a role in the caretaking. It's tricky though, she's doing that in part to get attention, and when Henry gets more she sort of doubles her efforts. Ruth took Henry to Wegman's last night and she had a hard time with that- Ruth and Henry on their own. She was stuck eating fish sticks with me. She's been a bit fragile at times, this morning was a hard goodbye at daycare.

Coffee

I love coffee and have started filling up an extra thermos every morning to take to school. Here I am Saturday morning at 8AM (I love sleeping in on the weekends), three inches away from my cup of coffee, yet unable to drink it.