I don’t know if that’s how you say “with aphids” in French, but it feels like it should be (except for the accent over the a, but it was all my keyboard offered). My kale was looking bushy but small, growing again after a summer lapse, and I thought it was insufficient water stunting it. I cut it all this morning down to an inch, and as I gathered it into the basket I realized it was completely infested with aphids. So I put it through four soaks and rinses, and cooked it down tonight. I got most of the aphids off, but I’m sure I ate a little extra protein for dinner.

The onions are coming in, smaller than I’d anticipated but every set I planted grew at least a little. The yellow onions are smallest, red next in size, and some of the white onions look almost as good as store-bought–and I know they’re clean. I sautéed the last grocery store onion half, and one small yellow from the garden, a homegrown shallot and garlic, with some dried herbs I’d harvested, and then threw in a little curry powder.

I almost forgot the ends of the sandwich tomatoes from the farm store, splashed in some red wine I chose to indulge in while cooking, and then added and tasted til I had it just right: salt, lemon, a dollop of maple syrup to counter the excess salt, a little more lemon juice, more curry powder, but it was still bland. So, a pinch of garam masala, a swipe of cumin, and because I have it and hadn’t tried it, a generous pinch of galangal, which I think perfected the dish, though it was hotter than I expected. As I played with my food, I kept muttering salt, fat, acid, heat, salt, fat, acid, heat. Samin would have appreciated my open-handed light-hearted approach.

I’m so grateful for the cool, smoke-free evening that enabled me to eat outside as it cooled down with a clear breeze. I opened the house up before taking supper out, and when I came in after sunset it’s a very comfortable 80℉ and cooling. I could not have cooked this evening if it hadn’t been clear outside. The Elk fire got a little rain which tamed some of the blazes, and the wind is coming from the opposite direction, and our forecast for the next couple of weeks is cooler with a chance of precipitation, so I’m hopeful for a breather.

It’s the first morning in awhile that I’ve been able to enjoy coffee at the pond, and appreciate Wren’s concentration meditation. I don’t know how long she stared at the frog hidden in the rushes. I could breathe freely for the first time in over a month, between the clean air and an inhaler I’ve been using for a week. I could smell the moisture in the air as I sat by the pond, enjoying breathing deeply. I’m grateful for this especially easy day, wrapped up before dinner with our Grateful Gathering, seven of us from around the country, talking vulnerably and honestly about aging, discussing the wonderful resources provided by grateful.org, including this provocative video on staying young at heart.