I’ve been staying busy the last few months. I suppose that’s no surprise with baby B in the picture and my tendency towards lots of different interests. Here’s a snapshot of some of what I’ve been up to lately.
Riding the tram
Last month, I took a family member up the Sandia Peak Tram. I’ve been up it a few times, and yet I still forget just how cool it is! The tram is a very cool feat of engineering in addition to just being a fun ride with spectacular views. One of these days, maybe I’ll get a whole post written on it. For now, I’ll settle for sharing another picture and mentioning that if you’re ever in the Albuquerque area you should check it out. In my opinion, it is one of the coolest things Albuquerque has to offer.
Programming
I’ve been spending a lot of my free time working on learning Android programming. By ‘free time’, I mean an hour or two in the evenings after baby B goes to bed and before I’m too exhausted to do any more. After a couple of months of working on it, I’m really starting to see some progress! I wrote a whole post about that you can check out if you haven’t already.
Visiting Family
Baby B and I went to go visit my parents for a few days. S got a break. The grandparents were thrilled to have time with B. B was mostly happy with a change of scenery… And the trip left me totally exhausted!
OK, I exaggerate a little. I liked seeing everybody too.
Reading Michael Pollan
I’ve been reading a couple of Michael Pollan books recently. He has several books, but the two I’ve started with are In Defense of Food and Cooked.
I’ve been listening to Cooked as an audiobook. It’s a fascinating book about his journey to learn how to cook. He spends time learning from some of the best cooks but also dives into the cultural implications of cooking. The book is divided into four sections – fire, water, earth and air or barbecue, cooking in pots, fermentation, and bread. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far it’s been interesting and thought-provoking.
In Defense of Food discusses the rise of the food industry and ‘edible food-like substances’ and why we should go back to eating real food. Many of the concepts are not new to me, but Pollan puts it in a way that just really seems to hit home. It’s inspired me to think about cooking a bit more.
Baking Bread
Speaking of cooking, I’ve baked bread a few times recently. Despite my above mention of Michael Pollan books, I was actually inspired by S’s mom to get back to baking my own bread.
I first learned to bake bread around the time I was about 15 or 16 from a book my mom got me called The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown. The detailed instructions were enough to make my first try a success. I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking to bake bread- even (or especially) if they have absolutely no experience.
Something about the whole process just feels so special. There’s the time spent kneading the dough. The feel of the flour and the sense of being really connected to the endeavor. There is also the time spent waiting for the dough to rise. The anticipation as the fresh baked-bread aroma starts to permeate through the house.
It’s something that I thoroughly enjoy and it’s nice to really know all of the ingredients that go into my food.
Baby B
And last, but surely not least, I’ve been spending a lot of time with B. He is now 7 months old! He can roll all over the house. He can sit unsupported, at least for a little while. He eats lots of real foods- mushed banana and pear, applesauce, blended cooked carrots, mashed sweet potato and more.
He has become grabby- reaching for things off the table when he sits on my lap, and one day grabbing a bag of Doritos while I was holding him in line at Subway. Gone are the days when I could go shopping without him wanting things! He is curious- always watching and playing with everything.
He is mostly happy and very good natured. Every day he’s closer to being a little boy and farther from being a baby. But for now, he’s still my little baby.
