I couldn’t go to Levering Orchard to pick sour cherries yesterday because Malia graduated from high school. But my friend Rose went and brought back 10 pounds for me. So today I made pie filling, and usedthe pits to infuse in vinegar and rum and to start a shrub.
I’ve been in the Dean Dome for UNC basketball and a Barack Obama rally and Erin’s law school graduation. Now we’re back for Malia’s graduation from Carrboro High School. Since she’s studen gov’t veep, she’ll be on stage to give welcome remarks. So proud of her!
So bummed that I will miss the one day of sour cherry picking at Levering Orchard on Saturday. Means more 🍒 for anyone who can get to southeast Virginia - arrive early! But it will be a happy day with Malia graduating high school.
My dad sends a daily email, with one to five photos, to a long list of family and friends. (It’s old school & drives us kinda crazy.) But his photos chronicle his days. He recently upgraded his iPhone. I really like this image of an old stairwell in Frederiksted.
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
I recorded a short message of thanks to my Duke University colleague Stephen Toback for the amazing new podcast studio he and his team have created in the basement of the Bryan Center. I referenced Voices of Duke Health, too.
Graffito on the Libba Cotten Bikeway to UNC.
Reminiscent of my Peace Corps experience in the South Pacific, we’re at the table lit only with candle flames. A tree has fallen on the power line down the gravel lane, putting the 5 houses here in the dark.
A typical Saturday morning: first in the house to wake, feed the dog, make coffee, slip out to visit the Carrboro Farmers Market, return to a still-sleeping house, head out to the woods to gather firewood and stack branches. A beautiful day in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The first of the blossoms on the gardenia bush opened over night. Big, fragrant, beautiful white blossoms.
Another wildflower observation in the woods around our house. This is rattlesnakeweed (Hieracium venosum).
Another photo from my walk in the woods. This is heart-leaf ginger (Asarum virginicum) and there’s a lot of it along the slope to the creek.
A few hours ago I was casually walking through our woods looking at flowers and ferns. Now I’m sitting with my son in the ever busy Duke emergency department waiting for his lip to be stitched. Trampoline jumping in the dark — don’t do it!
Rattlesnake fern in the woods on the slope down to the creek.
Big rains the last few days. A cluster of these striped wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) have bloomed in our woods along the gravel driveway.
The magnolia tree out back has many big blossoms this year.
Championship Sunday! I’ve got Tottenham-Norwich on the big TV and ManCity-AVL on my laptop. May put Liverpool on my phone. ⚽️
In his newsletter, food writer Michael Ruhlman mentioned that Ann Hood (his wife) has a new memoir out and will be in North Carolina tomorrow. So, I popped over to the local bookstore and picked up Fly Girl: A Memoir. I plan to hear here at the Greensboro Bound Festival. 📚
Out back clearing fallen branches and using chain saw to cut firewood. Very hot but feels good to clean the forest floor in preparation for our new house. Grabbed a gnarled stump and stirred bees. Stung only once on my arm but an hour later it still hurts!
How am I just now hearing John Prine’s Dear Abby?!
Leaves of a tulip tree along the gravel driveway as I walk back from the mailbox.
