5.03.2012

We're singing

We're singing old camp songs and thinning arugula and I've got Sally all set up on a big yellow sheet my grandmother passed down to me with a whole truckload of toys. I'm bent over the rows; there's happy squealing; I'm thinking we're doing pretty well. Then things get quiet for a moment. I look over again, and Sally's giddily licking her fingers, which she's ceremoniously dipped in the dirt. She is not happy when I come over, rearrange the blanket, wipe the black off the chubby stubs.



We pick ourselves up and get back to thinning and studying the tag on our stuffed lion's bottom. I'm feeling like a bad mother—pay attention! constant attention—when I remember this sentence I read somewhere about how pigs suckled without access to dirt are anemic. Maybe Sally needs the iron in the soil? That's the theory we are operating under for now.

At any rate, fresh baby arugula for dinner with strong olive oil and lemon juice and feta. The first of spring's homegrown.

7 comments :

dulciana said...

Elspeth, you've been spoiling us. A post without a pic of Miss Sally is a post without sunshine (hint, hint)!

We've been feasting on fiddleheads for the past few weeks, a brief Spring treat, poached with shallots, Organic Valley butter, and a splash of white wine.

Christine Adams said...

My grandma always said "you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die"...I could never figure out if it was a requirement for life, or a warning against too much dirt eating. In any case, she lived to be 94. A little bit of dirt is probably good for Sally which, by the way, was also my grandmother's name.

Elspeth said...

dulciana, i'm glad you said that, because i can never decide if you all are sick of sally, or if you want more. personally, i like the photos, but i understand that i am biased. don't worry, more soon!

and stangerthanfiction, i like that. i guess it doesn't really matter which way it goes, just that it's likely true. i guess sally is just getting a head start!

xo
e

Bruce said...

Elspeth,
This is the happiest thing I've read all week. You have an amazing ability to paint vivid pictures with your words. You need to be writing for real. Thank you for the smiles.
Bruce.

Elspeth said...

thanks, bruce.

there's also this to think about: http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=493934. girls raised in the mud are healthier, according to the research.

yes!

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