You know the story of the Titanic, right? I'm going to suggest that most of us know only part of the story. An article in the paper about the ship's sinking caught Ed's eye a couple of days back and one thing led to another and suddenly we got a glimpse into the family life of someone who owns and runs a Chinese Restaurant in Janesville. In case you don't know this either, Janesville is a Wisconsin city some forty miles south of us.
Here's how it all comes together: it's another hot day in south central Wisconsin. We finally succumbed and had someone come out and spray some garlic stuff where mosquitoes reside, but of course, since we don't want to disturb the life of pollinators, the stuff we agree to is only mildly effective. You can now walk without slapping your arms and your forehead every few steps, but it's not as if all mosquitoes have disappeared. They're just regrouping and deciding where to go next.
The morning walk was mildly pleasant. The cats got freaked out by the presence of a stranger with weird smells on the property. Some hid in the barn, others dived into the dense growth. The cheepers were locked up. Everyone was hiding. It was very quiet.
(See the puff ball? Did you know that you can cook it up and eat it? Unless it starts turning brown... then it's poison!)
(In my garden, the very last lilies are the Steeple Jackies. These!)
(The bees keep at it, all day long...)
And it was hot. A steamy breakfast on the porch.
And eventually Ed took off for Janesville. A couple of years ago he had eye surgery done at a clinic there and he was past due for a recheck. And this is how the Chinese restaurant came up. A documentary film came out this year about the lives of six Chinese passengers on the Titanic (called "The Six" -- read about it here). Apparently they survived, but were essentially ignored by the press, by everyone. Ignored or worse: some wrote disparaging stories about them. It was a tough time for a Chinese person here. In fact, once rescued, these Titanic survivors were not permitted entry into the US. But eventually, one of them -- a young Chinese sailor who was pulled out of the icy waters at the last minute -- made it to America. He settled in Janesville and yes, opened one of the first Chinese restaurants in the U.S. And then the son took over and continued preparing Chinese fare for Janesvillians. (Read his story here.)
We debated whether the story warrants Ed bringing back Chinese food from this place (the Cozy Inn) in Janesville for dinner tonight. In the end, the answer seemed obvious. We'll try some of their food. Who wouldn't want to support an eatery with such a story behind it!
But all this came later in the day. While Ed was in Janesville, I played with Snowdrop at the farmhouse.
These are the last days of summer. Days when I start to feel pangs of sadness at having to say goodbye to this year's cherries, this year's blueberries, this year's peaches and very soon -- this year's corn. Perhaps this is what I do miss most as the summer rolls out its last warm days for us: the seasonal produce. Oh, we get good fruits and veggies year round, but it's not the same.
(Snowdrop notices the precipitous drop in peach quality as we go back to the fruits at the grocery store. Still, she gets it: medium good is significantly better than nothing.)
Just as I'm about to take Snowdrop home, Ed pulls into the driveway. Empty handed. Wouldn't you know it! The Cozy Inn is closed this week! Covid? Vacation? We don't know! That's okay. I drop off Snowdrop, come in to say hi to the boys...
... and I drive over to a Chinese eatery nearby where I pick up our favorite Chinese food in our own corner of Wisconsin (at Taigu).
And now it's evening. They say the storms will continue today, maybe tomorrow, surely the next day. This is slightly unfortunate as we had hiking plans for exactly those days. We will see how it all plays out. Summertime adventures with Ed are never boring.
