cabeça dura

good food & great friends @ Eat Real

2009-09-15T16:17:00.003-05:00

We started talking when the gates opened and barely noticed 3 o'clock rolled around. That's how you know they're friends for Real.

Jen, Pepper and I always seem to come together around good food. We met as garden volunteers and have been trading invites to picnics, potlucks and festivals ever since. This time it was the Eat Real Festival in Oakland. 3 days of street food and micro-beers made with local, organic ingredients - I can't even begin to recount the variety! There was ice cream and Korean BBQ and crunch salsa in a cone. We all managed to grab something different, and left full and happy.

Two bits I had to share : Liberty and Lina Bo Bardi (or at least her influence).

napa

2009-08-28T16:06:00.011-05:00

Saturday was the loveliest kind of whirlwind! Picnic on the Bay with Jen & Jessica - organic wine-tasting at the Frog's Leap winery - dinner across from Napa vineyards - and Ben Vereen.

I feel grown-up, Californian and broke. It was worth it.

getting dirty

2009-08-18T13:12:00.002-05:00

We've already had a few afternoons in the garden - lots of dirt flinging, wet shoes and new sprouts - http://clarksinthegarden.blogspot.com.

Redwood Park!

2009-08-18T12:45:00.005-05:00

I've been meaning to visit this park, and it was one of those days where each moment helps you to appreciate the next even more.

The trail starts off uphill in a mixture of dust, gold grasses and low trees. Suz decided this would be a great time to disappear! It's happened a few times, so my heart doesn't go straight to dizzy-speed, but hearing her crash and crunch back up to the trail made me exceedingly grateful.

There were a number of side trails and we headed for the Eucalyptus Trail because it went down into the river valley. Everything about the path seemed 'fresh' - it was shady and there was a mish-mash of sharp, minty eucalyptus.

Even that couldn't have prepared me for the redwood grove we wandered into. The pictures don't even begin to do justice - the gently filtered light and undeniably ancient green froze me for a bit. You get the sense that the soil is richer, that (in spite of the park signs) you are walking through a slice of floral history.

Still happy in CA!!

2009-08-11T14:20:00.012-05:00

"Slowing down" is one of those lovely states you dream about when you're working nasty hours and eating noodles on the fly. So, now that I'm jobless and cooking, why can't I turn my brain off?!! Something about feeling productive has been tattooed onto our DNA and, while my left-brain is sub-consciously married to job-searching, my right-brain is surreptitiously re-routing all that energy to things that I actually enjoy doing. Or things I've always wanted to do but haven't had the time/materials/cojones for.

More-or-less in chronological order...

Hiking in the East Bay foothills. Most of the parks share space with cattle ranchers, and when Suz came face-to-face with a cow for the very first time she nearly burst out of her harness. (Seriously, she flipped herself over and managed to twist it inside out.) Now when we go back she rushes the bulls with about 10 feet of good grace. Aye!

Hiking the Coastal Trail in Marin County. Until then, I didn't have a proper sense of the fog. It isn't really weather, it's much more physical and present than that - like one of those heavy velvet curtains at the theater. I love it.

Making pizza! Ok, the dough is $1.29 at Trader Joe's. Next time I'm in it for the whole pie, flour to cheese.

The Renegade Craft Fair! I didn't end up taking too many pictures (had to post the first one!), but I did buy a recycled metalcraft belt buckle from Buncombe Buckles (Asheville, NC) and some incredible merino yarn from Spincycle Yarns (Bellingham, WA). Such a great day with a long, hilly walk through a chain of tree-lined West SF neighborhoods to get to Fort Mason!

Homemade TOFU! This one deserves a second attempt (where's my tidy little cube?), but I grabbed a mish-mash of recipes from the web and made it while watching Kung-Fu Panda - not an intentional combination, but so much fun!!

Weaving bike tubes? I'm not sure where this is going, but so far the experiments have involved weaving, sewing, ironing, felted wool and grommets.

Collecting more graffiti in SF. Mr. Seahorse is wise indeed.

Mulching in the Visitacion Valley Greenway. I've been volunteering with Hands-On Bay Area in a group centered around urban gardening - some of our host organizations focus on increasing access to healthy food, others on ecosystem restoration and environmental justice, while others like VVG focus on neighborhood restoration. I signed up to get a hands-dirty perspective on the City and local non-profits and have found a great group of friends. (More pictures and our group blog HERE.)

Gardening with my niece and nephew!!! We don't officially get started until tomorrow, but this is a taste of our line-up : strawberries, 6 kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers and a handful of herbs. I don't quite have the audience for a shout-out, but the folks I bought these from are amazing : they grow all their own plants organically, offer classes in medicinal herbs and don't have a single stone statuette for sale. How many landscape shops can say that? Yay, Sunset Color!!

Homemade bread!! I was completely inspired by reading a friend's post on facebook, so I quick looked up a recipe and gathered the ingredients before I lost the nerve. Sooo glad I tried it!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our best family project yet! I'm gathering all our supplies - little trowels and stakes and compost - and cannot wait to see Ryan and Allison up to their elbows in vegetables. Check for updates at our new blog : Clarks in the Garden!.

forward

2009-07-06T12:54:00.015-05:00

My dog and I headed North out of Austin on 183 and hunkered down in the back of the wagon after a beautiful sunset in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Then we got up with the sunrise and drove straight on in to Colorado.

Steve's wedding was such a fabulous hurricane of family and friends that I didn't even pick up my camera until we started hiking. This one is in an aspen grove just up from Ceran St. Vrain Creek.

A few more hikes and one visit to the badass National Mining Hall of Fame later, my friend Patty suggested we try Ice Lakes Trail outside of Silverton, CO - it's the sort of place that reminds you no imagination is more creative or courageous than Mother Nature's.

Suz loved every minute of it!

We wound our way through the mountains outside of Durango, CO - stopping to pick up a few bottles of honey wine! - and met up with Patty, her husband Ryan & dog Jack just north of the Arizona line. We had an INCREDIBLE time with them in Tsaile (and a little slice of Utah!), and finally got to meet their wonderful friends, Julie and Dave! We even ran a 'Just Move It' 5k! (The photo above is from our trip to Monument Valley - usually folks say storms are to be dreaded, but once you see rain fall from the desert sky...)

Yea for new friends!

There was a searingly hot stretch between Arizona and California that (though possessed of indescribably sheer white light) I'm glad is in the past...

...particularly because it has led me to San Francisco.

To exploring the Pacific Coast with my friend Coby.

To my family.

And perhaps to my own future garden!

After finally getting the not-so-good word from NOLA, I am thrilled by the opportunities that SF opens up and have already started digging through the want ads. More on that once my brain get's itself sorted! In the meantime, there are an obscene amount of photos HERE.

so maybe I got things a bit out of order...

2009-05-20T14:53:00.002-05:00

...the folks from New Orleans called and asked me to interview next week! My brain's busy rearranging itself, but I think it's safe to say I'm pretty excited. Yea - really, really excited.

ready. set. go.

2009-04-28T16:37:00.017-05:00

My landlord rented my apartment today.

I still don't know where I'll be in a few months, but I'm good with that. Even my family has started to get comfortable with this wanderlusty pathmaking.

Once I hand in the keys, me and Suz are headed for some downtime in Austin, then a whirlwind of family, friends and hiking from Colorado to Arizona.

With any luck, the next few posts will go something like this...

jenny & tim got married!!

2009-04-28T15:37:00.006-05:00

My lovely friends Jenny & Tim got married last weekend at a vineyard outside of Fredericksburg, TX. It could not have felt more like them - effortlessly beautiful and a hell of a lot of fun.

There are a few more here.

ann's house

2009-03-15T15:14:00.008-05:00

Heading to Austin most certainly means time with great friends, and Ann's house is always there to welcome me. For a visitor, its cool and quiet rooms are the perfect place to regenerate - the afternoon light is nothing short of magical and I swear I happen on a new collection each time.

More here.

Gavin again!

2009-03-10T08:59:00.003-05:00

IMG_1763, originally uploaded by lfrap.

Is he not the most beautiful thing!

All bald-headed and chubbs. Brian told me he weighs 17 pounds (at 4 months!) and that he couldn't be a happier baby.

Aye, to live closer....

Baby G * Gavster * Bear * Sweet Peetey

2009-01-07T15:49:00.013-06:00

IMG_2637, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

This is the newest, happiest (and chubbiest) addition to our family - his real name is Gavin, but the nicknames keep piling up. It's amazing what new life inspires you to say.

He is a magnificent snuggler, and holding him is pretty blissful. Needless to say, I put in a lot of burping time just so we could hang out.

More fotos!!

Christmastime with R & A

2009-01-07T15:35:00.009-06:00

IMG_2685, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

This first foto is from Christmas after Ryan and Allison were allowed to raid their little brother's stocking - shocking as it is, these guys STILL have not opened all of their own presents - it seems they love what they've got and can't imagine more. (Don't be fooled - they're great kids, but this is a bit random even for them.)

There are more here, plus a few that capture them at such great little moments...

the night the tide changed

2009-01-07T10:43:00.010-06:00

I can't believe I'm posting on this so late - with exactly two weeks until inauguration! - but we were in Dallas' Bishop Arts district on November 4th and wanted to share...

Fabulous homemade t-shirts.

A crazy crowd - being in the midst of such a diverse, yet energetically unified mass dissolved a lot of my frustrations with Dallas.

What's *hi* in the middle and round on both sides? That's right. It may be blurry, but this photo is proof that my home state came through.

Willie Nelson live at Billy Bob's!

2009-01-07T10:30:00.004-06:00

IMG_2440, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Sometimes overlapping plans make for the best experiences....

My friend Shawn and I were on the phone one night and he says, "I got us tickets to see Willie Nelson in Fort Worth!!" Brilliant!!! I am a huge fan, but my parents were coming to town that same weekend and I wasn't sure if they'd share in my excitement...turns out they are game for anything!

We had a lovely dinner with my mom's friend on Eagle Mountain Lake, then all four of us hustled a spot at the railing to see Willie. He's certainly getting older, but if you close your eyes you'd swear his cadence and guitar hands were coming to you straight from 1975. Absolutely amazing!

Asheville!!

2008-11-11T16:02:00.017-06:00

View from Black Balsalm Trail in the Pisgah National Forest.

Suzie and I traveled to visit my Lindsey in Asheville - it was an incredible trip with feed-your-soul hikes, fabulous vegetarian food (even vegan gravy!) and wonderful new friends (a big shout out to Amanda & Judd - I promise to get to Savannah soon!).

Below are a few other photos I really wanted to share, but you can see the rest here.

Just past Nashville, I was looking for a park to eat lunch and was told to head up the road - the woman gave the impression we'd just find a picnic table or two, so I had no idea we'd find this beautiful spot at J. Percy Priest Reservoir. (The other pic is Suzie's smiling face - roadtrips seem to cure her, too.)

Folks told me that during the 1996 Olympics, Atlanta officials bussed homeless men & women to the four corners, many of them landing in Asheville. Asheville and other cities (Denver) have retrofitted their parking meters to collect change for homeless shelters, food banks and other struggling organizations. The white-out marker suggests things are a little more complicated than straight-up donations, but I was impressed none-the-less.

Think of this as our calmest moment. "4 people, 6 dogs and one heluva ruckus!".

wonderful news!!

2008-09-22T17:22:00.006-05:00

The AIA Dallas Design Awards honored the students who designed and built the Holding House - check it out : http://bcw-congo.blogspot.com.

graffiti alley

2008-08-12T12:59:00.005-05:00

IMG_1385, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

I'm not sure how often it happens, but just a few months ago an alley behind 4 or 5 blocks of Queen Street in Toronto hosted a graffiti carnival.

The first time it was like being passed by a really bright bus - I was a bit lost and took a sidestreet that formed a sort of graffiti cross-section. The next afternoon I stopped to check out a tiny-happy-healthy community garden and was so incredibly excited to find that the back gate led into a whole other arm of the same alley - it almost felt like I tumbled out into a sea of paint.

Even crazier was to run into several of the artists who cut through the alley whenever they get a chance just to see all that amazing work in one place.

This was one of my favorites ::

roots on the Gardner Expressway

2008-08-12T12:46:00.002-05:00

IMG_1386, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Farm Start

2008-08-12T12:33:00.003-05:00

IMG_1339, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

(Toronto adventures continued!)

Farm Start is a short drive from downtown Toronto, though the acres of farmland make it seem a much greater distance. These guys are a bit different from the other groups visited in that they don't serve as a community garden, but rather as an incubator of sorts for new Canadian farmers - so, folks who are new to farming, new to Canada, or even new to both, and who would like to begin their own small-scale market farm.

Farmers must submit an application and business plan, and because they know not everyone is born with both a green thumb and business savvy, they require that everyone participate in a small business workshop where they can focus on just the right bits for their business plan.

I'm awed by how much they've been able to accomplish in such a short period of time (this location has only been up and running for a few months) and by the poignant juxtaposition of the farm to its rapidly multiplying subdivision neighbors. The farmland was placed into a land conservancy, from which Farm Start rents about 15 acres, and the combination of trails and farm plots serves as an incredible example of the many, many ways open space offers benefit.

Congo Street

2008-08-11T00:01:00.013-05:00

Our students are really amazing!! I know I've told some of you a bit about what their doing, but it would be wonderful for more folks to visit their blog : http://r3works.blogspot.com/.

And though pictures tell so much, here's a bit of background...

Through my organization I help to teach a design/build architecture class at UT Arlington - my boss handles the technical bits and I meet with them to work through their thoughts about the soul of the project (they're building a house, but the relationships they grow in the neighborhood are so, so very important) - it's been really incredible!

They started as 8 students (now 7) finishing up designs through a series of community meetings and long hours locked together in a house that serves as their design studio, and are now building a house that will serve as temporary residence for families on Congo Street in the Jubilee Park Neighborhood of South Dallas. (This blog goes straight to the heart of Congo's relationship to the rest of the city).

Three families own the 6 houses on the street's North side, and together with students and some immeasurably generous folks we hope to renovate or rebuild all 6 without any of the homeowners having to move from their street or their families - one household at a time will move into what they've named the "holding house" until the whole North side is restored.

Still no word from the landlord who owns rental units on South side of the street, but maybe one day?

garden harvest!

2008-08-10T23:51:00.003-05:00

IMG_1497, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

They're not many, but I'm so excited about these lovely vegetables!

Until now I've mostly had chard, basil, and the occasional pepper, but right here you see my very first eggplant and my second batch of tomatoes! (Tomato #1 was far too exciting to wait until I even left the garden - temptation is so so tasty!! I must also admit that tomato #2 met the same end.)

IMG_1515, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Not quite the Food Channel, but I wanted to capture this too! I mixed the garden bits with some cannellini beans, garlic, onions and olive paste and ate it on my new couch - foi maravilhosa!!

honey harvesting!!

2008-08-10T23:31:00.014-05:00

Bit of a break between Toronto photos (more of those to come)!

My friend Johnice and I are both pretty new gardeners, and in an effort to try to understand just how a city the size of Dallas could have so few options for fresh, healthy, affordable produce (particularly South Dallas), we are trying to "meet" as many gardeners, food activists and food security organizations as we can to see where Dallas' own solutions might lie. There are an insane number of healthy, thriving organizations throughout the States and Canada (check out FoodShare) to learn from!

Gardeners In Community Development is one of Dallas' most valuable resources - many volunteers strong, with two at its heart who make a shoe-string budget go a million miles - with 6 healthy community gardens in both East and South Dallas. The plots at their Church of Our Saviour garden are overflowing, and tucked in back they have 2 bee hives that they harvest twice a year...

IMG_1460, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Honey frames straight from the hive.

IMG_1463, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Honey frame with the wax covering - feel lucky I'm not trying to describe all this, I learned so much about bees that afternoon that I foolishly imagine I could host my own Discovery Channel segment.

IMG_1472, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Johnice scraping the wax away.

IMG_1486, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Josh, Johnice's son, turning the centrifuge.

IMG_1484, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

Honey!! (The wax gets filtered out, but otherwise it goes straight to the bottles).

need i say more?

2008-08-10T23:14:00.004-05:00

IMG_1258, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

The city even has it's own "cycling" webpage. Aye.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

2008-08-10T23:13:00.002-05:00

IMG_1263, originally uploaded by cabeca dura.

I am drawn to churches - for the architecture and awe of the faith that drives people to create such magical, even mystical, spaces. It being early on a Sunday, I was blessed to sit in the church just before the service and listen to the choir soloist practice.