Are We Down to Four Degrees of Separation?

This is old news now (not sure why it didn't get posted in more timely fashion), but still with some amusement value.

My Marg has a redoubtable gang of women-friends acquired from a course of pre-school with our respective first-borns some 30 years ago.  They play hostess to each other most months of the year for a dinner, at least in our household known as MNO (Mom's Night Out).

It is a great group of women and moms.  Way-back-when, these MNO events meant I would likely be indulging in something like all-you-can-eat fish-and-chips at Skippers with Mara, a happy event.  These days it is a quiet night at home.

But then, once in a blue moon, the circus comes to town.  Marg was the hostess late this Spring.

I had suggested Salad Nicoise as the main course and found myself the salad assembler.  We do this pretty much according to Julia: high-quality tuna, hard-boiled eggs, al dente green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, olives (none of those insipid canned blacks), capers, and etc.  Oh my.  In my opinion, a triumph of beauty and savour.

I wandered off as the ladies took their pleasure but at one point heard mention of Mitch Daniels.  Having encountered his name and face on my alumni magazine cover a while back, I'd realized that despite my active pursuit of political insights, here was another major revelation in the form of a classmate who was a potential candidate for president.

I dutifully trotted out my freshman yearbook and assorted post-grad materials.

To my great consternation, it turns out that one of the MNO members was Daniel's senior prom date!  Good golly.

And, of course, his candidacy was an early debacle!  By comparison to some of the current leading "contenders" he seems like a bright light - were it not for a few skeletons.  But my hope is for more of that much-vaunted transparency when it comes to those elbowing and brown-nosing for the nomination.  We need all the help we can get, given how poorly the party seemingly in the majority has done.

Ripe Tomatoes in Seattle!

I had my doubts, I confess.  But giddy co-worker Todd prodded me yesterday to the effect that he had "a" ripe cherry tomato on my mother's birthday, 8/8, thus beating me despite my headstart on planting.

Somewhat reluctantly I went (on my knees) to my first plants last night and behold! Three fully red cherries!

It has not been what anyone would call a good year for warm-weather crops here in the PNW.  But then, given what we can stand to learn of conditions in the rest of the country (I'm only talking wx here!), complaining would seem pretty cheesy.  We have had decent snap and English pea harvests, lots of lettuce and other greens, and aggressively-planted beans could still come through.  Hard green sets are apparent on almost all of the too-many tomato plants.  Fava beans are productive.  Tomatillos ditto.

But those love-apples are the real test of a NW gardener's prowess.  I should probably not get so invested in such a low-payoff game, but it's hard to resist.

One more ripe today!