AfricanKelli

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Golden; book published; Cody + Jessika; People of the Book; 50 ml lens; Cezanne; Mad Men 4; dinner party; Tempe Town Puddle; Meg, Scott + Roscoe; bamboo bags; Matty’s great return; Sheila, Charlie + family.

A beautiful month, well lived and loved.

~K

The rare rainy and cool Saturday summer morning in Phoenix brought out the best in everyone at the downtown farmer’s market this morning. The seasonal rains cut the tension of the heat exhausted; there’s nearly an audible city-wide sigh of relief when the storms begin each year. Today, it seemed even the flowers were rejoicing the temporary break.

It makes me happy to see how the market has grown in the last few years; there are so many more vendors and a wild variety of food and handmade items offered. The Public Market is also a fantastic new community resource for Phoenicians.

The perfect Saturday morning would be the oatmeal at Matt’s Big Breakfast, a tour of the farmer’s market with a lazy walk through Burton Barr for some new books and then off to Gallo Blanco for lunch.

Phoenix is huge. It is stucco and beige. It has backward politics and suburbs across 100 miles of the desert floor. It is hot half of the year. It is Goldilocks-perfect half of the year. And yet, if you look a bit closer, you can see the beauty in the growing community of folks who want to make this city something a bit better too. The volunteers and farmers at the market. The local restaurateurs gathering at each other’s openings and special events in collaboration and support. The world class art at the museums along Central Avenue. The music of the Pangean Orchestra. Independent movies at Camelview. Arizona wines poured at FNB. Maya’s Farm produce put to great use at Sweet Republic. Thousands of miles of hiking trails. A growing number of bike lanes. And a city that will once again rise from the latest nonsense that has tarnished the reality of so many more ethnicities, faiths and ways of life living and thriving together.

May the rains stay a bit longer, and may they wash away the hatred hanging over our state and help the current crazy state leadership set sail for other lands.

~K

I run around Tempe Town Lake a couple times a week with an early morning gaggle of friends. We muddle through a 4.2 mile loop that includes bridges, dirt paths, canals, horses, the occasional rooster and even the odd coyote. (And once a man I thought was a moose. Long story.) It is in the center of Tempe — my little city of a million or so.

Last week, one of the rubber sections of the dam broke, sending much of the water into a dry lake bed beyond and leaving me unexpectedly emotional. I’ve swam in the lake for sport — including the 1/2 Ironman — and fallen in love with the charm of this monumentally-out-of-place body of water. Surrounded by desert, the lake and its well-worn running paths, have become friends. More than once, when I wanted no one else to see me upset, I laced up my sneaks for a teary jog. The magic of the exercise and the time with urban nature always worked its serendipitous ways.

When the dam popped, it was big news city-wide. Our group happened to be running the next morning, which we did with a handful of reporters gathered at the parking lot where we meet. We’ve watched the water recede considerably in the last few days and ogled the odd pieces of furniture and metal jutting from from the drying soil. The fish were captured by game and fish and donated to the local herpetological society for alligator food. The entire thing has been, well, a bust.

But it did give me good reason to grab Matty and head to the lake for a long walk after work with my camera. I think we safely captured both the charm of the park and the sadness of its temporary dry spell.

Remind me never to wish to come back to the next life as a city fish.

~K

P.S. Update to this story — apparently it’s spurred contests over which type of swimmer tastes better. Oy.

A late birthday gift for my friend Jenny.

I picked up a new lens this weekend — a 50 mm 1.4 something or another. It is a fixed lens, meaning you can’t turn it to zoom in and out. I know so little about photography other than what I like. It’s the je ne sais quoi of art. I can’t explain why I like what I do, I just do. And so, forgive the blurry photos I’m certain to post in the months to come. They are my own odd form of art.

~K

My friends Juliann and Kent hosted a small Mad Men Season 4 party tonight. We came together for a light meal, heavy drinks and a great episode of television. I had a bit of fun dressing up for the event and channeling my best Betty Draper. (As a 5’10″ brunette, there isn’t much we share. A twitter friend said rather than January Jones, perhaps I’m July Jones. Indeed!)

The prep also included making Nigella Lawson’s gin and tonic jello mold. While the mold came together beautifully, transporting it to the party in 100-plus degree heat was fatal. Next time, I’ll make this for New Year’s. The few spoonfulls we ate before having to throw the runny mess away were delightful.

Here is to hoping the relationships in this show get better. Betty is becoming my least favorite character on TV. Don is still as gorgeous and charming, but lacks the bravado of season’s past. It seems Peggy is the only one who time has been kind to; she’s developed quite the backbone and her sass is admirable.

Without a doubt, I wish I’d lived in this era. No doubt I’d have been bored, but to experience it for a day would have been delightful.

-k