Author: chaskemp

Stay the course
I planted 2 peach trees (Ranger and Redskin) and a blackberry bush a couple of days ago. The moment I decided to plant them I was saying to myself, this is a really good idea – why didn’t I have it before! This retirement scene just keeps on unfolding, from thinking more expansively to the realization that in terms of gardening, I’m back.

The garden was one of those things that fell by the wayside as I tired and cut back on all but the essentials so I could keep the essential balls in the air. Photo: back garden early summer

Over the past 1 or 2 months I’ve spent quite a bit of time (1-3 hours/day 3-5 days/week) going after one-by-one the kudzu vines that filled in the gaps of my absence with an amazing network of underground runners and roots. The front (cottage) garden is close to done & the back is in okay shape – recognizing that I’ll have to do it all over again at least once and the thing is, I’m fine with that – as opposed to the past few years when everything seemed like a burden.

Interesting (to me, anyway) change in direction: when I started gardening, inspired by Wendell Berry, it was all vegetables. Then I began to grow more and more flowers (especially perennials) and then roses. Now I’m shifting back to vegetables and for the first time, fruit along with mostly old garden roses – speaking of which, right now, November 19, several roses in the front yard are blooming very nicely. Perle d’ Or, Maggie, and Archduke Charles are blooming heavily and Marie Pavié has a few flowers. My Cottage Garden site

My plan for 2009 is to fill in most of the non-rose/perennial areas of the front and back gardens with tomatoes, peppers, green beans and other vegetables. I’m hoping that my friend & colleague, Aaron will pass on some heirloom plants and seeds for some of those. I already have all the perennial herbs I need (rosemary, oregano, mint, etc.). What a glorious display we’ll have in 2009!!!

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Someone posted a 2009 goals question on the backpacker forum I hang out on (http://forums.backpacker.com/). Backpacking goals? No, I’m thinking in terms of plans – I don’t really have that much in the way of goals, other than living well given whatever circumstances I’m given. When I was teaching I was always having to come up with goals and objectives for myself, so I’d just write something up – it wasn’t enough that I was committed to doing the best job possible as a teacher, clinician and scholar. Photo: paan in Rangoon, ready to add the additives – look at the choices – some extra Euro Star for me, please, and not much 45

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Leslie just put together a bag of herbs and spices for David. We went through them made a list – and the smells – what a flashback! It’s a Burmese market all over again, huge sacks of spices, women selling paan (well, we’re not sending any of that to DK!), and on and on. The bag going to DK has crushed chili flakes, cayenne, coriander, cream of tartar, cinnamon, yellow curry powder, nutmeg, rosemary, oregano, thyme, tarragon, ground mustard, lemon pepper, bay leaves, sage, ground cumin, lemon grass & oregano. We had a wonderful time going through them, except that someone was too bossy, going so far as to say, “It’s MY game!”

High up on that mountain
Someone on a backpacker forum put up a “2008 slide show” and I thought, sure, good idea. So here is my slide show for 2008 – with more to be told as before the year’s end we’ll be in Berkeley, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Hanoi, Sapa, Hue, Saigon and Phnom Penh.

Actually, this year kind of started in November 2007 when I went on a Sierra Club backpacking trip to Big Bend. Since then I’ve been back backpacking in Big Bend twice and to Bandelier National Monument, Rawah Wilderness, Maroon Bells and the Wind Rivers. This is a big year for me – retiring, backpacking, David in Berkeley, Leslie & I headed for Southeast Asia in less than 2 weeks.

Aya!
Just got a Backcountry Permit from Grand Canyon NP. So far it looks like David, Katy, Patrick and I are the group. We got 5 nights and it looks like this:

Day/night 1. South Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel Campground.
2. BA to Clear Creek Trail and go for ~9 miles. It’s a “use area,” so we can camp wherever as long as not too close to the trail or water
3. Clear Creek (probably same campsite) to day hike, probably to the river via Clear Creek through Zoroaster Canyon or to Cheyava Falls
4. Clear Creek to Bright Angel Campground
5. BA to Indian Garden or just on out
6. Indian Garden on out

The first time I thought of doing this was talking with Bruce, a man I met on my 1st Sierra Club trip to Big Bend. He was a right guy and he told me Grand Canyon was the best backpacking trip he’d taken. I started reading a little and so yeah, here we go. It’s a strange concept to hike down then up, instead of the usual up the mountains, then down – although I wonder if there is about the same up and down total in the mountains. I’ll have to work hard at getting into better shape – it’s a sustained hike down, then up and down inside the canyon and, of course, back up and out.

Nameste
The last time we were in Burma, this (copied from travel journal) happened.

So we got on the bus and after it filled up the assistant (every bus has one) set out little blue stools (like the ones you can get at the dollar store) down the aisle. The baggage, boxes, etc. was piled into the area by the front door of the bus. Away we go – WooHoo! Photo: the “bus station” and the bus to Bago

Music pretty good, and we could hear it all because we were right in front of the speakers – I was about half deef to start – now eh, what did you say? We pass the back of Shwedagon and woman next to me offers prayer. Me too. I’m offering prayers for Burma, for the Burmese people. Pray to God for Burma and these people who suffer so much. The music on the bus is really pretty. It’s hot on the bus – well, it’s hot everywhere. The sun is on our side of the bus. My heart is aching for this land, these people, this beauty. We pass the British Cemetery – it’s big, I offer prayer for the souls of these men who died and were buried so far from home.

I fall into conversation with the woman sitting on the little blue stool next to me. She tells me she is retired, a physician. She and her husband (also a doctor) have a small practice in a village near Bago. I ask her what is the biggest problem they see and she says, “Poverty.” Diagnoses-wise, they see the basic primary care things, except more parasites. I ask her how people pay for the care and she smiles softly, “They cannot pay very much.” I say, “So you are choosing to do this.” And she looks at me directly and says, “Yes.”
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And I’m sure we could have visited their clinic there in Bago, surely helped a little. But I was weary as hell, as Bob Dylan sang, and it’s been sick and suffering people for a long time and I decided to not say anything – just let it ride. In part, I wish we’d arranged a visit, but even now, as my strength slowly returns, I know I just didn’t have it.

One
Robert Hunter wrote the words to Ripple and Jerry Garcia sang them. The Grateful Dead played and I guess Jerry is the only public figure whose presence I really do miss. I mean, you know, JFK & MLK & RFK did me in and whether people know it or not their killings did in part of the soul of this nation … soul sickness. I started writing about a song & transcendental beauty and look where I got to. Songs like Ripple, Brokedown Palace, Morning Dew and others were the songs of a new dawn for me and I’m grateful to the Dead and others like the Incredible String Band (“We were trying to do something genuinely wonderful …”) and the Beatles for being responsible to so many people.

There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night.
And if you go, no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone. (from Ripple)

Anyway, along the road (no simple highway), I’ve been in Places of Transcendental Beauty

• Sitting by the Mekong running deep and strong through the hills of Luang Prabang
• In a mind that sees others, truly, truly
• In my Grandmother’s garden in the golden light of a dreaming vision
• My beautiful wife, ____
• Looking up at the desert sky in the deep night – a million stars shining like the First Night
• Baby David, asleep, safe
• In the kitchen with Jeff on Oram street, the walls yellow, off center, the warmest place in the world, it seemed
• Waking up in a redwood forest looking up at the ancient trees and a bluebird flashing across the vision
• My generation, from Vietnam to dancing free in forests and meadows
• Visions: God; we really are all One
• Leaving Vietnam in 1967 and returning in 2005
• Walking with David behind deserted temples in Angkor
• Seeing the strength of Cambodian refugees back in the bad old days of 1981-86
• Countless 1000s of babies; old people writing new love and strength stories; I mean I get off sitting in North Park and watching it all flow past
• Shwedagon; Burma (the people)
• The Wind River Mountains

Aya!
David asked for a pad Thai recipe – like what they serve for 20 baht at a little stand near the Tha Phae Gate in Chiang Mai (photo below). To-go orders are wrapped in banana leaf and newspaper. Here is a recipe for a classic lunch dish in Thailand.

For about two servings of pad Thai
· Fresh rice noodles or ¼” rice noodles soaked warm water 15 minutes
· 2-4 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped some
· ½ cup firm tofu cut in little strips
· 2 beaten eggs
· 2 or more T peanut oil (more oil improves taste)
· 1-2 handful bean sprouts, maybe also some finely shredded cabbage
· ½ cup water
· Green onions (3-4) cut into 1” pieces
· T fish sauce
· 2 T sugar (palm trad)
· 2 T tamarind juice or rice vinegar (tamarind better, I think)
· Some soy sauce – ideally ½ & ½ regular and sweet Indonesian
· In Thailand they often add a little or a lot little dried shrimp – I prefer fresh shrimp (6-8 ounces or more). You can also cook with pork or chicken.
· On the side: lime wedges,* sliced cucumber and shallot in cold water and vinegar with some sugar, chili powder,* crushed roasted peanut* (don’t be afraid to use more than restaurants), black pepper and lime Cambodian style, mint, basil, little “rat shit” chilis sliced in fish sauce with lime juice & maybe a little sugar,* & anything else you can think of.
* = essential

Set up all the ingredients in bowls in the order they’ll be added.

Heat oil – hot, but not smoking. Wok is best (more hot surface), but anything okay.
· Add tofu, shrimp (shrimp is done when it turns pink)
· Add noodles, then water
· Cook until noodles soft (just a minute or so)
· Add nam pla, tamarind or vinegar, sugar, soy & cook stirring for a minute or so
· Push everything to the side of the wok, add a little more oil and soft-scramble the egg & onion together and flop the other stuff on top of the egg & onion, mix it around some and serve with peanuts over (and on the side) and bean sprouts (just a few sprouts for me, thanks) and cabbage if you have it.

As you can see, it’s a little complicated if you cook it once or twice, but much less so if you make it more frequently.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Every weekend we drive to Garland for Vietnamese food. We usually eat at Bistro B and also frequently at Pho Bang. We went today to Bistro B, but it was closed because of a fire eight days ago or there was a fire and the damage will be repaired in 8 days – language issues. The young women working the cash registers were there, giving away baguettes and café sua da to anyone who wandered in. They’re part of the Bistro B experience, easy on the eye, snatching your money (but still glad to see you), multitasking with speed and intensity. So I had my 2nd café sua da of the day and we fired on up the road to Pho Bang for com tam thit nuong (broken rice plate with charcoaled pork chop) with fried egg on top of the rice and some brilliant nuoc cham – and it comes with a little bowl of pho broth. We started out sharing a table (tables in the center of the room seat 8) with a family of five and when they left a woman with three children came to the table. We talked a little and the woman said, “When you want pho, you come here.” It’s true.

Pho Bang is exactly like a basic restaurant in Saigon. The only differences are that Pho Bang has aircon with fans instead of just fans and padded chairs instead of blue or pink plastic. Everything else is the same – the food is great, there are many employees keeping everything moving, everyone there for the food, everyone chock-a-block – it’s a scene.

A nice email to get

From: Carrie
Subject: The Gate In Your Garden (A Cottage Garden)

Good morning!

My husband and I recently bought a house that we are renovating. Part of the project is to grow a fantastic garden. First, however, we are replacing the fence. Months ago I came across a photograph of the gate to your fence (pictured below). I instantly fell in love with the tree (carved?) on the gate and knew I must have something just like it 🙂 It would mean a lot to me and be much appreciated if you could please pass along any information you have regarding that gorgeous gate! Thanks so much!

Sincerely, Carrie
(Pennsylvania)

Hi Carrie,

Thank you. I made the gate from cedar boards, framed vertically into a kind of picture frame box, except the back pieces to hold it steady & join the boards (I used 3 vertical pieces 1½ “ wide to join the vertical boards that make up most of the gate surface), I left off until the last. There is a top, horizontal board (on which is written & carved, “Memories” in my son’s hand). Then I drew a picture on 8.5×11 paper, then drew the same thing, but larger on the gate. Drilled holes where leaves, etc. were to gain access with my hand scroll saw. Cut out leaves and branches. Put in the vertical joining pieces. Used a rasp, then sandpaper to soften the edges of the cuts. Didn’t use preservative – I expect to give out before the gate does.

I know you can grow some great things over there in PA. It’s cold at times, but no searing summer months on end like here. If you decide to grow roses (specifically, old garden roses), I recommend you read about them – that’s what winters are for, reading and dreaming, catalog reading, list-making … find a good nursery that has a good selection of OGRs – most get a new shipment in early spring (well, not that early for you). There are three such places in Dallas – all are independent – you may have to look a little.

Enjoy your home and garden.

Charles

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On one side of my helmet was written, “Morituri te Salutamus” – which I understood to be said by Roman gladiators before the fight and to mean, “We who are about to die salute you.” They started with “Hail Caesar!” – but I wasn’t hailing no mf Caesars. On the other side was a wonderfully rendered Grim Reaper (and my blood type). I understand that lots of people now are running around with tattoos that say similarly grim or grimmer things. In some cases they’re reality statements, like my helmet.

An entry on pain in Erika Lopez’ “clog” (http://clog.erikalopez.com/) put me in mind of that place of mind. I’m adding her site to my links as well as Jo’s wonderful photos taken in Burma and dorf’s backpacking site.

It’s about 6 weeks until we leave to visit David for Thanksgiving in Berkeley, then to Hong Kong for 4 days, Bangkok for a few days, then fly to Hanoi and around (Ninh Binh?) for I don’t know how long and then train on down Vietnam via Hue and I’m unsure where else and on into Saigon and then bus to Phnom Penh where we’ll meet David and spend the week with Samnang’s family. David and Leslie and I will go from there to Chiang Mai area or maybe Penang and back to Bangkok, where we’ll split up and David will head to Houston and Leslie and I will hang in BK for a few days and then fly to Hong Kong for 3.5 days, then home. Photo: Star Ferry stairs

It’s a little strange to be doing this in these economically perilous times, but it’s all been done for a month and Samnang is pretty sick. I’ve been thinking, like many others, about things laid up where moth and rust corrupt. We may need for me to unretire. We’ll see how it goes.

One year, maybe about 1983, Leslie and I were talking about having a garage built, you know, thinking about size, construction, color, cost and what not and then the idea of going to Asia came up and we realized not only would it cost less to go to Asia, but going would be a memory treasure uncorruptable by anything except death or dementia and she looked at me and I looked at her and we laughed – talk about a no-brainer! Annnd, we ended up getting RT Thai Intl. tickets 2 for the price of one!

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These Are the Days (Van Morrison)

These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there’s only future
There’s only here, there’s only now

Oh your smiling face, your gracious presence
The fires of spring are kindling bright
Oh the radiant heart and the song of glory
Crying freedom in the night

These are days of the endless dancing and the
Long walks on the summer night
These are the days of the true romancing
When I’m holding you oh, so tight

These are the days now that we must savor
And we must enjoy as we can
These are the days that will last forever
You’ve got to hold them in your heart.

These are the days by the sparkling river …
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Those were the days and these are the days – the only days we’re given. May we embrace them as the treasures they are.

Thinking back on the 1960s, the time of this song, the time I came up, the time of war, then of healing and boundless possibilities – days when we really did think in terms of “Oh the radiant heart and the song of glory crying freedom in the night,” and thinking now, what now? Those days are past, and what are these days? A time of slowing, slowing and remembering with sweet nostalgia how it was? Or a time of turning from the long middle of life, now toward now (enriched by what went before) and what lies ahead like a sparkling lake in the high snowy mountains, into lakes, lakes into streams, into lakes, into sparkling rivers and
These are the days
All the days we’re given
All that we have
Holding together
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I added a new site to the “other links” section on the right side of the page. I met Jo on the internet – his passion for Burma shines on through his photographs and words. I hope you’ll visit Pictures from Myanmar.