So much to be Thankful for

Thanksgiving turned out more than I had hoped for.

Weather in Los Altos was crisply cold and beautifully sunny.

Family and friends joined us. The conversation was pleasant. And Mr. Urban set out his beloved chess set, which was hours of fun for Mr. Urban & Co. (they are FOUR brothers), and an amazing new toy for the UrbanToddler.

Mr. Urban explaining the rules of the game

A very simple meal (entirely local and organic as much as possible) thankfully came out of the oven looking as it should, and was much enjoyed. And an assortment of deserts hit the spot: peach and almond tart, razzleberry pie, and pumpkin flan.

I felt the presence and the absence of Mr. Urban's late father all day, and especially missed him at the dinner table. But its something to see people rising above their emotions (sadness, longing, etc...) to celebrate life as it presents itself today. To be thankful. Despite it all. And because of it all.

And so the next morning, bright and early, Mr. Urban, our girl and I set out for a low key and relaxing weekend in Carmel by the Sea, at a friend's cottage.

I had planned to read, watch movies, catch up on a project for a friend's website, enjoy delicious meals and the ocean views. Mr. Urban had planned all that plus a few six mile runs. And our girl had planned a whole weekend of walking by the ocean. She had planned not to visit any restaurants or cafes, definitely not to sit down to a meal, listen to as much children's music as she can, take as few naps as possible and in case of rain to walk up and down Ocean avenue with the family umbrella.

Friday was sunny and gorgeous in Carmel. We grabbed a beautiful picnic lunch of rotisserie chicken and brie sandwiches on homemade bread and a salad of hearts of palm, fresh arugula, paper thin avocado slices and toasted pecans from Carmel Belle, to enjoy by the ocean.

The ocean air did its trick and the rest of the day continued in a mellow and up beat tone, doing nothing in particular and just enjoying breathing in the fresh air.

Saturday morning the clouds rolled in and the rain poured and poured. Our day started at 5:30 a.m. The UrbanToddler wanted to read Green Eggs and Ham over and again. By 8:00, I wanted some eggs and ham, so all bundled up we went to Katy's Place but the place was packed with people.

Since it was pouring rain and our girl wanted to walk outside with the umbrella, we decided to walk to Carmel Belle again. And what should we find on the menu but GREEN EGGS AND HAM??? And yes, it was delicious!

While sipping my coffee at breakfast I was secretly imagining myself back at the cottage, reading by the fire after breakfast. But just then Mr. Urban, who I've come to learn is a rather huge fan of aquatic animals, suggested excitedly that we all go and visit the penguins at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Now, every time we have driven by that place, the line to enter wraps around the building, twice. Parking can only be found blocks away. And it was pouring, pouring rain on this particular morning.

My jaw may have dropped slightly at this suggestion. He quickly flashed me a cute smile and said "of course I can go with the UrbanToddler alone so you can have time to read." But who can resist that smile. And even though I always want time to just sit and read, I always want to be with those two Urbans even more...

And so it was, that we weathered the rain and the lines and the crowd and had a very nice visit with the penguins.

And after, our girl fell into a deep sleep. Probably dreaming of the the beautiful hot pink flamingos we had just visited. And giving her parents the perfect amount of time to enjoy a romantic lunch at their favorite quaint French Patisserie in Carmel.

It was a beautiful weekend. No books or writing projects or six mile runs. But nevertheless lovely lovely... despite it all and because of it all...

Monterey Bay's Christmas Tree

FORTY THREE YEARS, SEVEN MONTHS AND FORTY DAYS

My life and the life of every Iranian I know, is bookended by the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It doesn't matter that I was barely old enough to remember this historic event or that I spent the decades that followed it, far far away from Iran, the Revolution of 1979 is a heavy, tacky, cruel bookend that defines who we used to be, who we are and the recurring nightmares and dreams we’ve had for 43 years. I can pinpoint with certainty the exact month after which a general feeling of displacement settled like sticky dust all over me, my family, my classroom, my teachers, our closest friends, our home, our city… In the years and decades that followed, I never experienced another event that brought such a magnitude of change to the nucleus of life. Not in Iran, and definitely not after a whole life lived outside of Iran. Perhaps only recently, the experience of the Trump years and the Covid-19 pandemic, the significant fear, change and frustration that both events brought to our col

On Donald Trump, Crunchy Bananas and our Children... A "How To" on keeping up Spirits and Sanity

The other morning at breakfast, my four year old looked, yet again somberly, at the breakfast before her. Despite having enthusiastically selected a hodgepodge of liberally salted hard boiled egg whites on the side of toasted hamburger buns, strawberries and vanilla yogurt and a cup of milk, she still could not bring herself to enjoy her breakfast. Her face was wrinkled, as was mine with exasperation from yet another failed attempt at assembling a palatable breakfast for my picky eater. This one, she is quite the philosopher. And before I could ask her why she wasn't eating, she said: "Two Things!" Holding up two tiny fingers. "The smells of these foods I picked, don't go with each other! And I wish Donald Trump would magically become Hillary Clinton, and the word (world) would be GREAT again". Despite our best efforts to protect our children from the anxiety of these times, they are alert and picking up on the mood (and the lingo) in the wor

Safa

I have always loved words. The way some people love shiny new objects. As soon as I heard a new word, a word that captured my imagination, my energy, my hundreds of unnamed inner thoughts and feelings, I would latch on to it with fearceness, joy and curiosity. I have also always been intrigued by how regular old words can be used in an unexpected context and evoke bursts of unexpected feelings in the listener, such as laughter, anticipation or tears. I would search for those words coming out of the mouths of everyone around me, and mentally catalog them like a dutiful librarian, and await the opportunity to say the words with my own mouth out loud to an audience, or better yet use it in an essay where the teacher could grade it, get a kick out of it, or read it to the whole class. As a child I always loved the Persian word Safa . For one thing the word sounds so simple, yet sophisticated and beautiful, and for another, each of my memories of hearing this word is stored in th

An Urban Girl

Search This Blog