The Sandwich Life

More Allerton Pictures

As my snow starts to melt, some more pictures from the other day at Allerton.

When the boys were little they would always say this statue looked like Ernie. Lord I love them.

Snow Rage and the Strokes...and BARK!

Man, don't come between me and my snow. I was furious at my family because nobody would go out in the snow with me Wednesday night. I asked Ernie...even pulling out the "Do you remember when I was 19 and I woke you up in the middle of the night because it was snowing so beautifully? And I convinced you to get up and go for a walk? And we stopped at Ye Olde Doughnuts when they opened at 3 or 4? And then we kept walking and went to the IGA and got stuff to make chili and went back to your house and I skipped all my classes?

Did no good.

Now, I know, I know, I am responsible for my own snow experiences. I should have gone by my own damn self. I'm an idiot. So I woke up still mad but I found that rage can make you get work done really fast. Then it started getting windy and I was afraid my snow was going to blow off the trees so I stomped downstairs and said I was going out. I yelled a bunch. Owen made the mistake of laughing at me. Ernie hurriedly set aside his breakfast and we went off to Allerton with me sniffing for emphasis all the way. 

I know. Poor Ernie. 

However, the snow rage melted out of me as we walked and drove through Allerton.

Ahhhh.

Last night Ernie, Leo and I headed to the City Center for Owen's Funeral at the Great Cover-Up. I, of course, am totally biased but I thought they did a great job. Their work totally payed off. 

Now, I am trying to get work done in front of the fireplace and BARK. is tonight. 

I think I'd call this a damned good day.

Hope to see you tonight. Come on out and rock Valentine's Day with BARK! Just message me if you need directions/info. We'd love to have you!

In 2014 Tim Lee and Susan Bauer Lee begat Bark, a product of the melding of two keenly honed, fiercely independent musical minds focused on carving out a 21^st century niche situated somewhere between garage rock, punk rock, power pop, The Cramps, The Feelies, The B52s, R. L. Burnside, and the Delta blues.

I love this quote too:

“… a lo-fi post-punk garage-rock combo inspired by American blues and roots revisionists like the Cramps, the Gun Club, and R.L. Burnside ….”

And here they are, from last night in Nashville, doing a David Olney song. ❤️

 

Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

Reportedly Owen's Funeral's debut was a success. They even got an encore. Leo went so there will be video coming! Here is Owen leaning against my knees on the stairs while he told Ernie and me about it. I wanted to kill him a couple of times this week but I do adore him. I'm proud of both my boys.

I woke up bleary as hell today. I guess the dreary day doesn't help. Although, generally speaking, I like dreary weather. As I told someone yesterday; you know how people have Seasonal Affective Disorder? Well, I think I have Seasonal Affective ORDER. Last week was extraordinarily busy though and it wiped me out. I also woke up feeling lousy but I think that's my own fault for not eating well over the weekend. I ate some of the maple mustard pork I made for the house concert even though it had garlic and onion in it so I am paying the price. You'd think I'd be smarter about these things, but no.

Yesterday I spent some time gathering all the photos from the house concert together and doing some odds and ends. We eventually went for a drive and listened to Leo on the radio again. Lord, he's so LEO. I love him so. Eventually we found ourselves south of town and stopped at the same little place we did last week in Tuscola. 

We meandered home, scrounged leftovers, and went to bed early.

Onward.

Pleasant Valley Sunday

You know that Tommy Womack song, A Nice Day? That's what we had yesterday. Just a nice day. I worked a good bit of the day, just because I was kind of on a roll. Oh, oh, oh, and the BEST part of the day was listening to Leo on the radio! He sounded SO GOOD! I know, all bias aside, right? His voice really did sound wonderful and I love how he managed to inject a bit of himself into the playlist. I almost cried when he read the weather!! He's taking a radio class at Parkland and he'll be on every Sunday from 2-4 pm until the end of the semester.

After finishing up my work and listening to him for a bit we were antsy. It was too late to do a full-on drive but I didn't feel like hanging out anywhere in town. Then Ernie mentioned that he'd read about a new place, called the Cast Iron Pub in Tuscola. So, off we went. The day was gorgeous, lot of farmers out in the fields trying to beat the rain. The place was delightful and they had a wine I love. And POPCORN! We were happy as clams sitting there, listening to other people talk, texting the boys occasionally. Finally, we sped home after stopping at the store and dragged Leo out in the front yard in front of a fire. We talked until our fire was dying down, headed in and cooked some lamb chops. I love rainy days so I woke up still happy this morning.

Onward.

Twirling Down

We woke up in our hotel room on Tuesday to dark skies and heavy rain. I did some work for a while and then we headed to a family restaurant next door for some breakfast. As much as I enjoyed the sunny skies the day before, I love, love, love rainy days. 

The sad, sad Majestic in Streator. It sounds like it was in great shape recently but has been the center of a dispute. 

I forget which little town this was in, but it was rainy and gray outside, and you could just the glow of the barber shop, with a customer in the chair. And its barber pole was still twirling!

By the time we got home the skies had cleared. This trip should keep me going for a little while.

Onward.

Twirling On

I woke up sick as a dog today. Something in my mild adventuring over the long weekend didn't agree with me. My little ecosystem is damned touchy. Oh well. As the morning wears on I'm feeling better so I'll continue reporting on our rovings among the cornfields. As we twirled away from Rochelle we headed toward Peru-LaSalle. Didn't find anything absolutely wonderful there but enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

We both have a soft spot for those googie inflected overhangs.

In one little town we saw a sign for a market and it had a beer sign in the window so we decided to stop and get a bottle of wine to have in the hotel later that night. We walked in and realized that it USED to be a market, but was now a bar so we said, "what the hell," and sat down. Friendly bartender and filled with upbeat folks on a Monday holiday...it was a nice respite. We wandered on some more and as it got close to evening we were ready for a break. We stopped in a bar (yes, that's two bars in one afternoon...who's counting?) that was close to our hotel. Lizzie's Lounge in Oglesby. We walked in and American Pie was playing. Now, if you'd asked me, I would have said I would be just as happy not to hear that song again, but damn if it didn't sound just perfect. The bartender was chatty and told us about the family that used to run it. They didn't allow pool tables or a jukebox and lived upstairs. The old bar back was beautiful with the nice dark finish that only times gives.

The back stairs up to the old living quarters.

Onward.

 

Sandwich Life Consulting News: Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

I'm really excited to be working with a new client, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. 

Non-profit journalism. Check.

Focus on the Midwest, but with the consideration of wider, even global, implications. Check.

Looking at farming, agribusiness, food supply, climate change, etc. Check and check and check. Oh, and check.

I really love what they are doing and am happy to be helping out.

Give them a look, follow them in all the various spots.

It's important stuff.

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

 

Summer Saturday

I've had a remarkably busy and social weekend thus far. It's been wonderful; I'm definitely in need of some quiet time and some work time today. I slept horribly Friday night, so woke up bleary yesterday. I had a quiet morning reading and doing a bit of work. Then I got antsy and said we needed to go on a drive. We headed off, wending our way through cornfields on county roads. The day was gorgeous, and it felt nice to be out in the green fields. I wish I'd brought my camera, but I made do with my phone.

A church near Parkville, I believe.

We passed a row of telephone poles with these black bands. Ernie mused that they might be in mourning.

Maybe an old general store? Complete with gas pump, in Bourbon, Illinois.

A few of the remains of what used to be Rockome Gardens. Sad to see these pieces overgrown and neglected. It's a wildlife park now, and these delightful little things are not the focus anymore.

As we headed home, we got a text from Teri, so met her and Brian for a drink at Quality.

We toddled home, planning to smoke a pork tenderloin. I think the weekend caught up with me though, so I suggested the guys have pizza. Of course, I ended up cooking for myself anyway, so we really should have gone with our initial plan. I sauteed a piece of mahi-mahi, well kind of over-sauteed but what the hell, and then threw spinach and what I thought was a banana pepper in the pan with it and sprinkled some flaxseed and slivered purple cabbage on top. Turns out it was a very HOT pepper, a bit too hot for what I was going for, but overall still pretty wonderful. Oh, and there's just a tiny piece or two of avocado because I seem to be going through an avocado drought of late. They're too hard when I get them and when they're softened they're half bad. Just when I'd convinced myself that the key to perfect avocados is just to buy and eat them regularly. Oh well.

The guys enjoyed the pizza, and as always, I stole one piece of sausage. We watched a little tv. I was too tired to even mess with the pictures I'd taken. Watched the beginning of SNL and realized I was WAY too tired. I left Ernie with the tv and drifted off to bed. Slept like a ROCK.

Onward.

Happy Birthday to the One I Love and Random Pictures

June 3. The birthday of Ian Hunter, Allen Ginsburg, Josephine Baker, Curtis Mayfield, Suzi Quatro, and my always beloved husband. I could not possibly love him more. A picture of us an unbelievably long time ago. I still love the way he smells. Nobody else smells like him. When he's been away and comes home and hugs me, it's the first thing that hits me. A tinge of vanilla, and just, Ernie.

Happy birthday, baby.

A few more from our outing the other day.

And, in honor of Ernie's birthday, the first spiderwort of the summer! All you spiderwort haters just be quiet. This is a wonderfully faithful and well-behaved spiderwort.

Back to Illinois Wanderings

To nobody's great surprise, my itching to go for a drive won out over the need for yard work. We wandered north, trying to find a few towns we hadn't been to before. We ended up with Piper City, Roberts, and Thawville. Delightful all. This morning I have spent a stupid amount of time trying to figure out what the name of this Thawville bar used to be. To no avail, I might add. Just look at those little lions holding the chains over the door.

And there's all the time I've spent perusing the menus of the Happy Days Diner, to see if there's anything I could eat. Not really, but look at their sign!! Note, the diner is for sale for $94,000 and serves about 85 meals a day. We stopped at the gas station next to it to get some gas and to go to the bathroom. I asked where the bathroom was and the woman said, "Take a left at the Slim Jims." "What wonderful directions," I said, and we both laughed. She was standing outside smoking a cigarette when Ernie headed in, and she yelled, "Take a left at the Slim Jims," and we laughed again and talked about the weather for a minute. Nice moments.

And then there's this one, in Roberts, that is for sale for back taxes for a whopping $813. I worry so about these towns.

Eventually, we headed back home, hung out a bit, watched a bit of tv, made some dinner, and sat outside with Leo watching the lightning. 

A good day.

Ernie went with a frozen pizza because that's what he felt like. I made a salad with strawberries and kohlrabi from the farmers' market. Baby spinach and kale, avocado, aforementioned strawberries and kohlrabi, walnuts, coconut, flax seed, olive oil, salt and pepper and a teeny bit of leftover grass-fed ground beef. Oh, and cucumber too!