Medieval History
Displaced image, I know, what with this being a scene of Whitsunday (after Easter), but the feasting and the sharing of tales of adventure to Arthur does call to mind the spirit of this season, as we get ready to embark on a 5-day 3-city tour of people and cities we love (Cleveland and D.C., here we come!), and as Mac and Iris get ready to leave with students for Paris and Berlin. There is no time to lend an ear to tales of exploits now (though I do need to get the details of my "Crusades: Fact, Fiction and Film" Winter Term course down, despite my heart being already deep into rethinking "Monsters and Marvels" and putting more Of Giants and Orientalism readings in instead of just presenting the theories (I want to read them with students this time) and really giving Columbus his due - I am this close to going to the New World in this class) - BUT, so as not to forget in the fleeting of everything:
- Being There
As I write, Iris and Mac are in the midst of a lunch with David and José in Paris and Eleanor and I are sitting here telling Darwin the cat all about the house on the island and Brittany in general and David's macaroni and cheese in particular. Oh,...
- Hope And Hop
And so here is a last picture of Iris stateside, well equipped my darling, for this next chapter: pink beret that actually says "Paris" on it along with the Eiffel Tower: check; swank satchel packed with Mr. Popper's Penguins: check; new watch that...
- Rational Discourse
Somewhere in W. VirginiaWe have just returned from our 5-day 3-city (4-city in the end) tour of loved ones during which we spent, I now realize, a significant amount of time in science museums. (We also spent a significant amount of time eating food -...
- The True Meaning Of Macmas
Today is Macmas! Or, as some call it, Macanalia. It is a day of celebration for a man whose kindness and wit and patience and light makes this planet pretty terrific to dwell in. Brunch for friends in the morning, great big snowstorm in the...
- Dutch Courage
Oh my. Is this how we solve our problems? Turns out that this was a synopsis exercise from one of the stories at school, and that the last word is supposed to be "gift" - as in to cheer Rick up. Still, I have this terrible image of this...
Medieval History
Preparations
 |
| MS. Douce 199, fol. 252r, Bodleian Library at Oxford |
Curried Eggplant Soup
Lamb Shanks with Pomegranate, Pistachio, and Pears
Israeli Couscous
Brussels Sprouts
Early Grey-infused Apricot Tart in a Hazelnut shortbread
And there was Macmas, too, that time of year when all good friends gather and there is brunch and we unite, as with all these holidays and surely since the Middle Ages (ok, since Saturnalia), to hold off the cold and be together. Mac was truly valiant this year in gift assembly, as two out of three dreams come true required extensive tinkering: a doll house (Eleanor) and a microscope (Iris). Oliver's wish of a cat has come true in the form of two kittens who will enter our lives after the first of the year - a wee girl and a boy who have been named by the kids (somewhat inexplicably but it works) Miss Frizzle and Darwin. Cats and dogs entered medieval households with much less fanfare - though every time I say that, I think of all those Books of Hours and those noblewomen with pampered lap dogs and know there's a a study to be done of the medieval pet (maybe already has?). Perhaps as that tiny terrier helps Mary of Burgundy think on her Book of Hours, Miss Frizzle and Darwin can help me say something meaningful about siege engines and medieval colonialism. Or I can think on the most excellent Pangur Ban, the Irish cat who helps his monastic companion hunt and wrestle with ideas because he does the same with mice. We are not alone in our struggles.
- Being There
As I write, Iris and Mac are in the midst of a lunch with David and José in Paris and Eleanor and I are sitting here telling Darwin the cat all about the house on the island and Brittany in general and David's macaroni and cheese in particular. Oh,...
- Hope And Hop
And so here is a last picture of Iris stateside, well equipped my darling, for this next chapter: pink beret that actually says "Paris" on it along with the Eiffel Tower: check; swank satchel packed with Mr. Popper's Penguins: check; new watch that...
- Rational Discourse
Somewhere in W. VirginiaWe have just returned from our 5-day 3-city (4-city in the end) tour of loved ones during which we spent, I now realize, a significant amount of time in science museums. (We also spent a significant amount of time eating food -...
- The True Meaning Of Macmas
Today is Macmas! Or, as some call it, Macanalia. It is a day of celebration for a man whose kindness and wit and patience and light makes this planet pretty terrific to dwell in. Brunch for friends in the morning, great big snowstorm in the...
- Dutch Courage
Oh my. Is this how we solve our problems? Turns out that this was a synopsis exercise from one of the stories at school, and that the last word is supposed to be "gift" - as in to cheer Rick up. Still, I have this terrible image of this...