We went, I danced, we got the t-shirt

Thing 1 had her first concert and first club experience last night. She and I took public transit into the city -- which was a complete blast, so much nicer than trying to drive -- and met up with Eric, who drove in. Public transit, which is wonderful at 6:00 pm, is less fun really tired and still sick at 11:00! I actually fell asleep in the car, which almost never happens.

We went to see one of our favorite bands, Gaelic Storm. Lovely, happy, fast Irish speed music. I prefer a punkier edge to my Irish, which is why the grownups are heading right back out on Monday for Flogging Molly. But for my thirteen year old daughter's first time out, they were just right. The Fillmore is a lovely venue, although she admitted that a lot of the music history was lost on her, and the crowd was just about perfect.

I tried not to do a lot of thinking about the symbolism of the outing, and it really felt more like just another lovely activity that she can now participate in, like playing cribbage. Maybe because she was there with her parents, and we were glad for her company. She was so lovely there, leaning on the stage. Sometimes I think the pressures of growing up make her feel as though the upsides are thin on the ground. But this helped her see some of the privileges of aging, also. I'm sure I'll be less sanguine should she develop a hard-core taste in clubbing, but who knows? I didn't, her namesake aunt did, and we are all still around.

It was a long night, though.

I think the fact that she slept in her concert shirt is a good sign. As is this smile.

Meanwhile, to distract you from the utter lack of knitting content, pictures! The garden is actually growing. I look out at what looked like bare dirt not long ago and notice that the green haze is now obviously plants.

"Freckles" romaine. I love colored, ruffly, spotted lettuces and have seeds for about 15 varieties. My salads, while utter overkill, are pretty. Thinking about the painstaking transplanting I've been doing, I think about what kind of confidence and belief it would take to drive a tractor and plant seeds by the fieldful and just believe they'll make it.

Equally difficult to believe that teensy little ruffled leaves of kale will grow enough to feed us soon. But they will.


Here's last spring's kale still coming on strong. I think it's going to seed soon, so I'll try to eat a bit more this week.