Blue Moon On The Rise

Every so often you get a second chance. Once in a while, oh so rarely, there’s a moment of grace, life pauses, then begins again, two spectacular moons in a single month. Another full moon, another chance at a full life. A new life rises and shines.

Tonight, knowing that there would be a blue moon, I sat outside and waited to see whether it would speak to me. Since I’ve been alone I grab gratefully at any chance at renewal, look for signs, seek moments of redemption. Perhaps this would be one.

Looking right, looking left, like a careful child crossing an unknown road, I waited to see what it would bring me. Christmas morning, or the apocalypse now, it was hard to say. I live on the water, but I lost my anchor when Shel died. When he left me I was full of questions. Might I float away, unmoored, untethered? Might I sink under the considerable weight of my sorrow and solitude? Would the world notice that he was gone, and that I was still here? The moon and sun are indifferent to me, would I succumb to the vast uncaringness of the universe?

Or might I let myself rise like new dough, freshly punched down, but still wanting to grow? Peeking over the rim of the bowl, exhaling, that fresh smell of yeast growing, of night flowers blooming, of the sea swallowing up the hottest day and gulping in the freshness of evening.

Who knows when that light will fall on the water in a way that illuminates your soul? You have to be out there, waiting to capture it, or you’ll miss it altogether. Tonight I sat under the sky, alone, waiting. The moon rose, and so did my spirits. I am going to be alright. I am going to be more than alright. I am going to rise again.

Marshmallow Magic

Do we ever outgrow s’mores? I can’t eat them, but even I can’t imagine camping without them. So for this year’s camping trip, I decided to really up the ante in the s’mores department. I bought Annie’s Organic graham crackers, Lindt chocolates in milk, dark, and chili. And then I made the marshmallows.

Now I’ve made marshmallows before and wasn’t very impressed with them. Mostly it was just the wow factor that saved them, and not any real flavor difference from Jet-Puff. But then I made this epiphany of a recipe, and the confection turned marshmallow-rejecters into dévotés, and the s’more-indifferent into ravening, s’more-scrounging beasts.

This marshmallow toasts, it melts, it smooshes, like a marshmallow should. The real big deal is that it also tastes wonderful, addictively so, judging by the fact that after the camping trip Eric and Jessica insisted that I show them how to make marshmallows, and were likewise adamant about the fact that we should have more s’mores around the chiminea as we watched our neighbors’4th of July fireworks.

And the secret? In the most improbable way, they’re made with Lillet. Quite a bit of Lillet, whose haunting flavor I love. The recipe for Lillet Marshmallows is here, and I didn’t change a single thing about it. The recipe works perfectly if you follow the instructions exactly. The marshmallows hold their shape, cut nicely, and of course, make the best s’mores anyone’s ever tasted. There’s lots of summer left, don’t miss your chance to bedazzle your friends and family with this treat.