Jan

08

I Wish You Discomfort

There is no image with this blog post. I hope you don’t mind. It’s just that, on New Year’s Eve, when this story takes place, I had a personal press blackout. And also, my camera froze up a little bit.

We’d traveled with some other families to a cabin in northern Minnesota for that weird space between Christmas and New Year’s. We do it every year, travel during that time. We don’t go far. But it seems like after the hosting hubbub of Christmas, we’re all ready for a break from the house.

We did some skiing, some snow tubing, even some dogsledding. It’s nice up north in winter. Nobody else is up there, except a few other rosy-cheeked souls. I like the empty sound of boots crunching cold snow. I like the snap of a fire at night. We stayed somewhere we could get one of our favorite things: Free breakfast in a lodge.

But the kids were up really early every day, and we played hard in that snow. By 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, most of us were tuckered out. I almost went to bed myself. Except the lake out there beyond the cabin wouldn’t let me.

The ice cracks on a frozen lake. It shifts and groans and when cars drive out to their ice houses, it can cause big fissures on the surface. The cracking makes an echo, and it’s a really haunting and lonely sound. It’s seductive, in a strange way.

Jim, my friend Kyle, and I, were the last ones standing on New Year’s Eve. I felt compelled to go out on the ice for the stroke of midnight, even though it was like 15 below. So I bundled up and I did, just to see what was out there, causing all this odd urgency in my brain.

As I walked, the stars really popped, and the plain of snow covering the lake was almost blue in the moonlight. It crunched under my boots. The ice shifted sometimes as I moved. If I didn’t know it was frozen for a few feet down, it would’ve been scary. And maybe my heart did jump a little, especially when the thundering was so loud.

I stood out there, and the year changed from a very wonderful 2012 into the unknown of 2013, and the cold was so sharp it made my nose and fingers hurt. A shooting star slid across the dark sky.

Maybe we’re at our best, we humans, when we put ourselves into uncomfortable situations. When we go beyond the place that comes easy, into an unknown. We’re more alert. Edgy even. Pores wide open to the bright stars above, and the cold depths below. We feel more.

I ended up calling Kyle and Jim, and they joined me out on the ice. We hugged and welcomed another year of our lives. As we stood there, admiring the quiet, a pickup drove out onto the lake.

It was a solo driver. He rolled out into the middle of the water, got out, shot off a single bottle rocket, then got back into the truck and returned to wherever he came from. Maybe a warm cabin. Maybe his own comfortable house, where a wife and kids snoozed peacefully.

Was this his own tradition? Or a one-off dare? I’ll never know. But I like to think that the lake called him out there, against his better judgement, to witness something entirely different. A new thing. The space between the usual wheel ruts. Maybe it calls everybody that way sometimes.

Happy New Year. I wish you connection, joyful travels, and a bit of self-imposed discomfort, to help you find the magic in all of it.

 

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deep thoughts / Family / family travel / Rick Steves / travel writing
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Aug

25

Peace and Peppers: A Recipe from Photographer John Noltner

Yes, he is like this.

Years ago, I was sent on assignment with a photographer named John Noltner to drive an RV through the length of Kansas with my whole family (including my mother).

Though this scenario could have been the premise for a deep and unrelenting nightmare, Noltner’s hardworking goof-balliness made it one of my best travel memories. We sat through a hootenanny. He shared parenting advice as one-year-old Sam toddled along a lakeshore—something like: “We all make mistakes, but as long as they know you love ‘em, they’ll be just fine.” We talked about making creative things in the Midwest, and how it was both awesome and a little lonely.

John continues inspiring with the vibrant, insightful photos he takes of people and places. You can check out his latest endeavor here, the gorgeous book, A Peace of My Mind, with a forward by Ela Gandhi.

Noltner contributes this much-loved family recipe from his Italian grandpa: charred tomatoes and peppers that should be mopped up with hunks from a fresh loaf of bakery bread. It rarely lasts a full day in the Noltner household. Adjust seasonings to your liking.

I’ve been noticing a lot of peppers around the markets lately, so maybe you can try it, and let me know if it lasts around your house, as you think about friends who have inspired your work by doing theirs well, and with a joyful goof-balliness that makes it all worth the ride.

PEPPERS AND TOMATOES by John Noltner

4 green peppers

2 tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

Rosario Fragala, my grandfather, put the skillet on the stove and blackened the peppers and tomatoes without oil, turning each time a section was burnt. Keep turning until entire pepper and tomato is black and blistered.Once this is done, clean and dice as stated at the end of this recipe.

Be forewarned: When he would make these, the smell and smoke would burn your eyes and the kitchen would smell for about three days!

OPTION TWO

Lay peppers and tomatoes in a pan and place in the broiler about 2-3 inches from flame—keep turning until they are blistered and black. Again, plan on a smelly kitchen!

OPTION THREE

Preheat the grill. Place peppers and tomatoes on hot grill and keep turning until blackened and blistered. This option keeps the smell outside.

CLEAN AND DICE

Once peppers and tomatoes are blackened, place in cold water until cool. Scrape the char off peppers with a knife. My grandpa used his pocket knife; I personally think it made them taste better. The blackening will kind of peel off in sheets. Next, remove seeds, rinse and dice. Do the same with the tomatoes and combine with peppers and other ingredients.

 

 

Posted by
antique recipes / backyard gardens / deep thoughts / Family / family travel / travel writing / Uncategorized
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May

22

Rick Steves is boss.

Last time I acted this giddy I was at a Prince concert.

When I talk to people about writing, a usual piece of advice is to read the crap out of writers whose work you admire. Study what they do. Emulate it, and add their chops to your own repertoire.

In addition to using his guides for my own travels, I admire Rick Steves for his work ethic. I heard him speak a few months ago, and he talked about being on the road constantly, updating his guidebooks and recommendations. He checks out everything he lists in his guides, keenly reviewing lodging, restaurants and attractions, and reporting on ways to travel better, cheaper, and more efficiently.

Not many travel journalists do this anymore (except for the food part … everybody’s a foodie now!). There are a number of reasons for this. The main one would be that magazines usually don’t pay trip expenses, newspapers never did, and freelance travel writers can’t go into the hole just to do their job, so many stories are just written from internet research.

Thus, travel journalism gets a bad rap, much of it deserved, but Rick Steves is one of the few and the proud carrying the torch. He does it, simply, because he believes the more we travel, the better the world will be. (In addition to relentless travel reporting, Steves has also built a shelter for homeless women and children with his retirement money, advocates for pot legalization, and is an active and outspoken member for the Lutheran ELCA church.)

When I got an email saying Steves wanted to interview me about Running Away to Home for his radio show, I was so excited I couldn’t breathe right. That excitement continued until the first few seconds in the radio booth. But soon I relaxed into his intelligent and thoughtful questions. He’s such a pro.

Then I marveled at Rick Steves for a new thing: His mad interviewing skills.

Here’s the link to the interview. Enjoy! I know I did.

CLICK HERE ** RICK STEVES IS AWESOME ** CLICK HERE.

Posted by
Rick Steves / Running Away to Home / travel writing / writing
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