Raspberry Heaven

Oh my. Really. Oh my.

Yesterday I drove down to my mother's house to check on the house, the garden, and the cats AND to pick raspberries. Her raspberries are taking over one of the abandoned chicken coops so I could stand with raspberries dangling right in front of me through the chicken wire and just pick and eat myself into raspberry delirium. The buzzing of the bees was so loud, at first I worried that there might be a hive nearby but no, the bees were just buzzing their striped, fuzzy selves into raspberry delirium as well. I also picked lettuce, rhubarb, onions, and an armload of roses.

Tonight, I sent both Ken and I into serious raspberry heaven: raspberry sorbet with a shot of lime, and a garnish of spearmint. We ate sorbet for dinner. For dessert we ate more. You are about to learn why I rarely write recipes and never cook from them, but this will get you really close!

Make sure the bowl from your sorbet maker is frozen (can be anywhere from 6 to 22 hours in the freezer).
Approx. 1 1/2 quarts raspberries
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup agave

Combine all ingredients in a blender until a consistent puree. Pour into sorbet maker. Hit "go".
Garnish with spearmint leaves.

Past, Present, Future

Wednesday.
5:30 am
"Do you want coffee?"
"Yes, Please"

This is how every morning starts at my house sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 am. Since my household lives and breathes aviation, morning starts early and starts with news. Ken makes coffee and it is a sprint through breakfast, packing lunches, frantically comparing schedules, grabbing bags and dashing out the door. The day begins. This is my present.

10:00 am
My amazing groupmates and I present our grant proposal. The final presentation I will ever do for grad school. Laine sets a relaxed tone, Claudia throws detail after detail on the screen. I close with a photo of the kitchen seniors from the Pike Market Senior Center. Unexpectedly I feel a pang of emotion. The Senior Center taught me much - but it is becoming part of my past.

1:00 pm
I am sitting on P's bed watching the ceiling fan and holding her hand. Her other hand holds an icepack where her right breast and a boatload of lymph nodes used to be. She is telling me a story that cracks me up. But then I ask, "Do you get angry?"

"No. Someone asked me what do I think about first thing in the morning and it isn't anger, or why me. It is how awed I am to be alive. I have a past, and a present. I want a future."

The answer and the fact the person giving the answer has honored me with her friendship for almost 30 years, leaves me speechless.

7:00 pm
Standing in the back of the Bastyr chapel I am watching my future. Every year the graduating nutrition students cater a dinner for the interns and their preceptors. There are candles, truly amazing food, and flowers from my mother's garden covering almost every surface. The interns are thanking their preceptors and the director is thanking them. Next year, I am an intern. This is my future.

11:00pm
The swim technique video finishes. Cathy's house (my tri coach and personal trainer) is cooling off after the 90 degree day.
We sit there in the almost dark and talk: about how to fix my swim stroke, how to fix my terror of riding a bike downhill fast, surfing, chocolate, paperwork, her own past fight with cancer.

"Do you have a time goal this year for a sprint tri?"
"For the first time ever, I do have a time goal, and a plan for what the splits have to look like."
"OK - you'll be doing the level 3 workouts this summer." "Misha, you'll be fine."

The last comment is in response to my whining. She never - ever raises her voice but the message gets sent. She knows what she's doing and more importantly she knows what I should be doing - don't whine, just do it. She is a great coach and tonight especially she gets in my head and soothes my fretting. Close to midnight, I head home.

5:30am
"Do you want coffee?"
"Yes please".
"What are you thinking?"

I give P's answer from yesterday. "I am in awe of being alive. I am lucky to have my present. I want my future."