poetry

Back in Wheaton, a few more days of work packed in, and a new library card!

The Glen Ellyn library doesn't have any fees for renting DVDs, and you get to keep them a whole week instead of 5 days. Plus it is on the way to and from work. The fact that I know all of this information and now hold two library cards in this area makes me feel like . . . I . . . am . . . settling. Not for long, and not completely, but I have lived as an adult here for a few years now, and haven't done so back in California, so
I suppose it makes sense that I am beginning to feel more connected to this square of sidewalk.

I began to think about it, and realized that the list of things that make up my life here is quite concrete: I graduated college here, have planted flowers and vegetables in Illinois soil and am watching them grow, possess two library cards, know the train schedules by heart, can drive to two airports without looking (mostly) at maps, know which grocery stores carry what produce, made and lost friends here, fell in love, have worked full-time for over a month, paid rent here, and have now lived every season at least once through. My church is here, my bicycles are here, I am familiar with the thrift stores. More importantly I am finally starting to invite family over for dinner, and get up early enough to enjoy my kitchen and call people I know are in the area to spend good time with friends. I do remember not so long ago (pictured above) my cozy single room on Evans Four and the uncertainty of what would come with this summer.

And as my vibrant younger sister heads off for a month of backpacking in Europe, and I make my bed every morning in the Midwest, I can't help thinking how funny it is that I am living in the suburbs, gardening behind a (dilapidated) picket fence and making pies for my neighbors at twenty-one, planning wild adventures for just a little bit later. It's a funky brand of independence, but I quite like it here.

And to prove I still do a few things creatively, here is another mix-and-match scones recipe, made this morning for roommate breakfast:
Torunn's Lime-Ginger Scones
2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 egg
3/4 c coconut milk
1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp grated lime zest
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp fresh grated ginger