Driveway Beeper

For some months, we had a warning alert

When a car turned into our driveway.

This was helpful for deliveries—

We could meet the FedEx guy. 

It had been a week or so since my last book delivery,

And I was antsy for something new,

And I was ready to drive to town when 

Abraham pointed out that there were four boxes

Sitting behind the car. 

I would have driven over them.

Not sure what the physics of that would have looked like.

In any case, it didn’t happen.

But I’m bummed that my 

Driveway beeper is on the blink.

Happiness

Jumping with Caleb in the summer evening,

With the fireflies just starting to come out.

World Cup Tie

Two teams in the Group Stage,

Japan and Senegal,

Identical in wins, ties, losses,

Identical in every game 

In points scored

And points scored against.

Japan advances because the fair play rule:

Senegal had six yellow cards,

And Japan only had three. 

That feels unkind, except, had they been equal,

The next step would have been 

A random draw—

Even more unkind.

Bed for Three

Caleb likes to sleep in my bed 

Because it’s made for three.

When I asked if he really thought

It was made for three, he said,

Of course! If I didn’t come,

Who would fit in that little space

Between you and dad?

Lingering

I was focused on an email,

When a little boy came in and

Lingered.

He wasn’t whining, but he was

Present and 

Moving and 

Chatting. 

I don’t think he meant to be distracting,

But he was.

It takes me a bit to resurface after focusing,

But when I realized he was simply

Bored and a bit

Lonely,

We went to read a book

Together.

Blessing My Future Self

Late at night, I really didn’t want to make bread.

Mix, rise, bake: it would be hours before it was done. 

But I thought of my comparative awareness 

At night versus morning,

And dealt with my reluctance. A very good thing,

Considering how I felt in the morning.

World Cup

Two friends follow World Cup.

One now lives in Australia, 

The other has a different life rhythm.

But once every four years,

I can send score updates and excitement

And we all have connection again.

A Box

Phil’s friend, fascinated with archaeology,

Planned an 80-minute lecture for the teens.

For months, he sought a box, 

But heard, “We recycle immediately, can’t help.”

The night before, a box arrived, disassembled.

Phil agreed to reconstruct it,

And improved the original idea with 

Casters and hinges.

Then Charles, a stocky man past middle age,

Laid down in this box, safari hat on his head.

To Indiana Jones music, on Phil’s casters, 

Several volunteers rolled him into the room,

Lights off, music blaring, he suddenly

Burst open the box. 

Spontaneous dancing broke out,

Good to shake off the afternoon sleepiness.

My boys told me, in animated language,

All about this dramatic entrance. 

I would never have thought of such an idea, 

Assuming such stuff too childish for today’s teens,

But the response shows that even today’s teens appreciate 

The zany, the unexpected, the incongruous.

Phil’s Triumph

Caleb, hungry for breakfast, 

Ate his five bites of chicken and zucchini,

Then happily switched to bread and butter.

Abraham steadfastly refused,

As I had expected.

I told him I expected to be finished

By maybe 2pm, but not much before—

There’s only so much a girl’s stomach can hold.

By ten, he came in and laid face-down on my bed.

“Are you ready to eat?”

“I guess so,” he said.

I’m pleased to see that the edge of his stubbornness

Is a limit not too far.

Zoodles

I made a dish I love:

Chicken, zucchini noodles, green beans,

With a cashew milk sauce

And interesting seasoning.

This is not my boys’ favorite meal. 

Phil, tired after a long night being kicked by Caleb

Issued an ultimatum: 

No other food until either

1) You eat your bowl full or

2) The dish is gone.

Joe swallowed his stubbornness

And ate all.

Abraham and Caleb did not.

Looks like I will have to see how fast

I can eat six cups of leftover zoodles and sauce.

Toxic

In a world where we’re told

First one thing

Then another:

Use glass cookware . . .

Except don’t, because it has lead;

Eating more vegetables helps you avoid cancer . . .

But if you’re going to cook them 

In non-stick pans, don’t bother;

In a world where I am somehow supposed to balance

The safety of plastic, 

Bottles not breaking in the shower,

With the danger of plastic off-gassing . . .

I think this is too much, and I will say:

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,

The world and all who dwell therein,

And do the best I can, realizing that 

The brokenness of the world 

Lives side-by-side with

The restoration that is now come

And is coming.

Eighteenth Anniversary

Last year I was out of town.

This year we read Philemon as we 

Drove to Sunday school and church,

Then a family had us over

To a gorgeously decorated lunch,

With beautiful napkins and 

Lovely place settings,

Amazing salad and fruit

And venison and potatoes.

And we talked and laughed

All afternoon,

Before heading back up to church

Where I was on the welcome team

For an hour, clapping and cheering

The shell-shocked teens and parents,

Then listened to a two hour keynote speech

By a well-known speaker

On the current state of the culture,

Before driving home to a quick

Dinner of nachos, and tortilla soup,

Before bread-making and bread-baking,

Doing the dishes, 

Opening the mail,

Talking to my parents.

SUCH a great anniversary!

Catalogs

Looking at book catalogs

Is both fun and exhausting.

Each page offering a new enticement:

Pick me!

Five hours of choosing for

And against

Took me from 8:45 in the morning 

Until 6 at night

Because I kept finding things to do 

Around the house 

To give myself a break

From decision-making.

(Well, and because my house

Actually needed cleaning.)

Amazing

Ten dishes, all beautifully presented.

Hand-pressed pasta,

Home-cured bacon,

From the trendy fried cauliflower

To the fine dining rabbit loin,

Fresh herbs,

Unusual oils,

Startling flavor combinations,

Differing textures,

At the high-rated restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

Beef Cheeks

The texture threw me at first:

Like pig feet, gelatinous.

I was expecting something meaty, 

Like a steak. 

Combined with a mild hummus,

And after three courses already

With more bacon and oil than 

I normally eat in a month,

I wasn’t sure I could go on.

But I re-centered, and tried a second bite,

And it was delicious, with a crisp exterior,

A meltingly soft interior,

A dish I would never have thought to make

And was privileged to try.

Dessert

On my first bite of blueberries with lemon curd,

I spontaneously laughed aloud,

Because it was the most delicious thing I ever put in my mouth.

I wonder how to make lemon curd a part of my daily diet.

The Shack

June 22, 2018

Phil and Amy Lykosh 

Anniversary Dinner Choices

Snacks

Fried Cauliflower - sorghum hot sauce - curried aioli

Smoked Coppa Ham - mushroom conserva - garlic scapes

Starters

Raw Summer Vegetable Salad - herbs - mustard vinaigrette - okra seed oil

Pasta

Fusilli - smoked pork jowl bacon - collard greens - pecans - pecan oil - parmigiano reggiano

Duck Confit & Ricotta Ravioli - charred garlic scape vinaigrette

Pea Gnocchi - crispy sweetbreads - bacon - sweet peas

Mains

Roasted Beef Cheeks - butterbean hummus - creamed peas & spring onions - smoked peanuts - oyster mushrooms

Rabbit Loin - fennel & kale salad - fried turkey egg - spicy fermented radish & apples

Desserts

Blueberries - lemon spruce curd - rhubarb granita - lemon balm

Bourbon Cherry Tart - salted almonds - thyme

Eat Anything

I have not purposefully eaten wheat

In fifteen years. 

But as we headed out to a fancy,

Once-in-a-lifetime dinner,

I determined to eat whatever

Was on the menu,

No stress, no second guessing.

After all, I have Nux!

Prix Fixe

The fun thing about a prix fixe meal

Is that you know up front how many courses.

The menu gave the option of three or four.

We settled for four each, plus a “Snack,”

Bringing the total to five. 

Five courses in two and a half hours

May have been a bit ambitious.

Volleyball

The boys went up to youth volleyball night

And seemed to enjoy it,

Though, untrained, their skills were minimal.

I thought about getting a ball for them to bop around,

But ended up springing for net, court, ball.

They played on-and-off all day,

On the slightly sloping land: tree on one side, 

Gravel pile on the other, land sloping off into 

Stinging nettles, Johnson grass, chicken run,

Muddy ditches. I would go crazy.

But although a boy occasionally ran past my window,

All day long they’d go back out and play

In the wet, tall weeds, smiling away.

Date Night

One of my goals for the year was to go on a quarterly date.

Phil took me out for sushi—surprise!—for my birthday.

We went to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.

January and June: we’re on track, goal intact.

Bedtime Accident

Phil had just said, “It’s about time for bed,”

When Caleb started wailing.

Knocked over, he had hit his ear on the piano bench.

It was bleeding a bit. Then more.

Bathroom occupied, he was wiping blood on the counter,

Shaking and sobbing. 

I saw that not just the rim of the ear, but the ear itself

Appeared to be bleeding and dented. 

Had he actually split his entire ear?

But . . . 

I had just reviewed all my remedies! 

Including lacerations, an unusual wound in this house.

Aconite for trauma

Hypericum for pain in nerve-rich places

Arnica for bruising and hitting the head

Calendula internally to help abrasions heal

Calendula mixed with water on a wet washcloth externally

After the Calendula, I could see 

That he split the outer ear rim, and had just a slight cut.

It was not a bad wound; the bleeding was slowing. 

Ointment on gauze, then a brand new, wrap around

Head bandage. 

We read a funny book that made him laugh through tears,

And he fell asleep in my bed,

Hugging his own stuffed animal and Joe’s.

Perseverance

As we talked to the boys about III John, 

We spoke of the need to succor 

Those spreading the Gospel of Christ.

Prayers for encouragement, protection, 

Perseverance.

Phil asked Abraham: if you’re doing your math,

And it’s not going very well,

Is your inclination to do more math,

Or to give up and walk away?

That night Isaiah prayed a lovely prayer at dinner, 

Asking for God’s spirit to be at work.

He had clearly paid attention and remembered.

The next night, Abraham prayed,

Asking God to give perseverance to our missionaries. 

He had clearly paid attention and remembered.

Ignatia

Preparing notes for a class,

I read again about my favorite remedy.

I had stopped taking it twice a day

After the morning I was in the bathroom 

And said aloud (not even kidding)

“Tra-la-la.” 

That struck me as so unlike myself

As to be over-the-top other.

And since homeopathy is supposed

To make you the best version of yourself,

Not transform you into someone else,

I quit.

But Ignatia has skin outbreaks from stress,

And so much emotional support,

And my sister, said, “Your high school self, 

Your blooming self,

Was a tra-la-la person.”

I started again.

Vacation

A friend was going to play a concert.

Rain was a possibility,

But we all headed to town anyway,

The boys to judo and volleyball.

They would drop me off.

But volleyball was cancelled,

Due to sodden grass.

Then the concert was cancelled.

The youngest, the oldest, and me

Went to a coffee shop.

I sipped six swallows of a caffeinated drink

(Which kept me up until almost 2am),

Saw one friend, then another,

Read a short book of the Bible aloud

Each direction. A small vacation.

III John

The elder commends Gaius

For hospitality 

To those spreading the Gospel,

And commends all to do the same.

Which makes us wonder: 

How can we help support

The missionaries who we encounter

At church, and more personally?

II John

There are two big messages in II John:

Love one another

Do not give any aid to antichrist

(Definition: anyone who says that

Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh)

Basically: guard your help

Across Five Aprils

Not an easy book, this story of the War Between the States.

But one son begs for it,

And the other predicts which incompetent Union general

Will take the fall next. 

He’s been right, again and again:

McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Fighting Joe Hooker, George Meade.

If this is the most challenging book we’ve read,

The boys have risen to the challenge.

Yogurt

Instant Pot yogurt takes a while

But is surprisingly easy.

1) Poor boiling water into the pot to sterilize. 

Empty.

2) Poor half gallon milk into the pot. Put lid on.

Press “Yogurt,” then “Adjust” to “boil.”

3) Wait an hour or two.

Supposedly the pot will beep when done, 

But this never happened. (I was impatient.)

3b) Use “saute” to heat the milk to 180.

4) Pull out pot, put on trivet, and wait until you can touch.

5) Add three tablespoons yogurt and stir well.

6) Back in the pot, press “Yogurt,” then “Adjust” to “8:00.”

7) When finished, remove your half gallon of yogurt.

I should have done this long ago.

Haircut

Caleb could see his blond locks.

He looked a little chubby,

With the poof of his hair 

Emphasizing the roundness of his cheeks.

He protested the haircut, didn’t sit still,

Wailed enough that hair got in his mouth.

He ended, covered with snippets, 

Spitting.

But it had to be done and he looks

Happily more proportionate.

And I think he’ll be far cooler.

Fireflies

Field of blinking lights

Brilliant plenty in rich green

Such a summer treat

Volleyball

Out in the late dusk 

In this longest week of the year,

Jadon had set up a volleyball net.

The boys have never really played,

So we practiced 

Proper hand holds, proper hitting.

There are times I wish our property

Was a little more flat.

Birthday Present

Years ago I took to the boys to an art event

With young people from the church. 

My friend told me, “Sit! Write!”

It was his birthday a few weeks ago

And I finally dropped off his present,

My biography-in-verse, sprung from that moment.

WAIT WHAT

CONGRATULATIONS

so excited

I have a hard time keeping secrets,

But I must say: 

A surprise can be fun.

Talking to the Boys

My tongue has just been loosed. 

For years now I have run errands

And said nothing,

Thwarted in book-listening 

By an old phone

Thwarted in conversation

By lack of creativity. 

Today I played an ABC Bible verse album

With Caleb, talking through one.

We made it A to E, and he remembered 

The letters, and answered questions correctly.

I played the Apostle’s Creed for the boys,

And we talked through each line,

Got started on I Corinthians 13.

Bring on the loosed tongue! 

I’m running out of time.