BABY DONKEY SAVES THE DAY

There's a very good reason for the long silence here at Made in Mississippi. All I'm going to say about that, though, is that it took a picture of a baby donkey to inspire a new post after my two weeks away.  

My friend Katherine emailed this precious photograph to me a few weeks ago, not long after my trip to Portland. I happened to visit Katherine--and her donkeys and sheep and chickens and goat--while I was in Oregon and, as you might imagine, we had a lovely visit. It did rain and the barn was muddy, but there was also laughter and pie. In fact, Katherine has told the whole story on her blog. I was going to do the same, but she beat me to the punch. I'll let her telling of my visit suffice. The only thing I'll add is that I am even more obsessed with the idea of having a donkey--okay, a couple of donkeys--of my own after spending an afternoon on her farm with Pino, Paco and sweet, sweet Lucia.

This little guy here was born, as I said, just after my visit, to Katherine's donkey-raising friend down the road. I wish they could pack him up and send him on down to Mississippi. There's really nothing cuter than a baby donkey.

Thanks, little fella, for bringing me back.

MANDALA INTERLUDE

Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery have been here in Oxford on the campus of the University of Mississippi all week. They're here to perform their Mystical Arts of Tibet production, which is tonight, but they've spent the week doing much more. Since Monday, some of the monks have been constructing a mandala sand painting in the Student Union. And according to Kurt, who was in line behind some of the monks at lunch today, they're getting their fill of burgers and Chick-fil-A, too.

Just yesterday, while on a little road trip to Tuscumbia, Alabama, I caught up on some podcasts and happened to catch this one. It's a good listen. And a timely one, too.


I might also add that, oh, about fourteen years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing the Dalai Lama speak in Houston. He made an appearance at the Menil Collection with his buddy Richard Gere, who had a collection of the photogrpahs he'd taken in Tibet on view in one of the galleries. It was a chance-of-a-lifetime event. I left the talk spiritually satisfied and politically motivated--and with Richard Gere's autograph.

ROAD TRIP REWIND: A PRINTMAKER'S HEAVEN

On our walk through the Pearl District on our way to lunch, we stumbled upon the most wonderful little store. Oblation is equal parts print shop, ephemera wonderland, party of paper and place of learning. If you don't already know, I was a printmaker in a former life--I have a degree in printmaking, actually--so this place made me feel right at home. It also made me miss my days spent behind a press, mixing inks, and smelling solvents.

















And it made me want to scoop up every little thing in the store and bring it back to Mississippi: the tags, the cards, the tools, the books, the gadgets, the toys and, oh, the paper. Such beautiful paper! If I lived in Portland, I would be done for. My studio would be filled with stuff collected on regular trips to this place and my bank account empty from my lack of restraint. I'd also be signing up for many a workshop, you can be sure.


Can't you just smell the inks? I wish this photograph were scratch and sniff.

CRAFTY INTERLUDE

I thought I'd interrupt the Portland vacation recap with a little bit of craft. It has, after all, been a while since any of my own personal creative expressions were highlighted here. (Note to self: get back in the studio!)

Kurt and I spent the weekend doing some nesting: I did some spring cleaning and house rearranging, while Kurt worked in the yard. One of the little organizational projects that showed itself to me was figuring out how to organize my growing collection of awesome earrings. It didn't take long for me to come up with an idea. I took an old wooden frame out of my studio, found a scrap piece of brass screen in Kurt's man cave, and put the two together to make this handy earring showpiece. The best part: it only took about five minutes to put together. And now I have all of my wonderful earrings on display, instead of in a knotted mound. Putting the finishing touches on the day's outfit has never been so easy.

Actually, there is a little bit of Portland in this post. If you look closely at the frame of earrings, notice the ones on the second row, second pair from the left. I got those at the Museum of Contemporary Craft's gift shop. More on that wonderful place to come.

ROAD TRIP REWIND: THE SILK ROAD

If you visit this blog often, you're well aware that I have an obsession with not only pie, but Vietnamese and Thai food, too. So Portland, which was home to the second largest Asian community at the turn of the nineteenth century and is home to a considerably large one still, is now officially my personal Heaven on Earth--as far as my belly is concerned, anyway.

On our first full day in the city, after our tour of the Chinese Gardens, we hoofed it on over to the Pearl District. We'd heard tell that there was a great Vietnamese restaurant in this part of town, so I set my spring roll radar to high, and we soon found our destination.

Silk is a pretty swanky joint, far from the hole-in-the-wall, family-owned little places that I usually frequent. Even so, they definitely know how to make a spring roll and a great bowl of Phở .

Portland is a funky, interesting, livable city. I tell you, though, there's a Vietnamese, Thai, or sushi restaurant on every block, reason alone for me to consider calling Stumptown home.

No worries. I'm not hitting the silk road to Portland any time soon. I'm content to stay rooted in my little dirt road here in Mississippi. Phở can be found just an hour away in Memphis--far enough to keep my cravings strong but close enough that I don't suffer withdrawal. Thank goodness.

ROAD TRIP REWIND: THE TAO OF TEA

Mom and I left our hotel early Friday morning to begin discovering Portland on foot. The first thing that we discovered was that, being such eager beavers, we were out and about before anything was open. So we made our way to Chinatown, thinking we could at least start doing some lunch scouting. We eventually stumbled upon Portland's Classical Chinese Garden. And it was open.

Touring the garden was a fabulous introduction to the city. The place takes up an entire square block, and once you're through the gate, you feel like you've stepped into another world. The morning was quiet and the sky heavy with rain clouds, so the peaceful beauty of this place was made all the more magical.
After meandering down each and every path, we made our way to the tea house (the two-story building in the photograph above), which is also known as the Tower of Cosmic Reflections. Inside, it was dark and cozy, and musicians were playing traditional music. We settled in and ordered some tea. Mom got rose petal, and I ordered a tea flight: a selection of three white teas delivered with every tea accessory you could imagine.

And, of course, we had a little something sweet: a taro root mooncake.

INTERLUDE: PORTLAND'S CHINATOWN & CLASSICAL CHINESE GARDEN

ROAD TRIP REWIND: FROM THE BEGINNING

Please know that this photo in no way represents the time I spent with my mom in Portland. It just happens that this is the very first photo I took. It's going to take me a while to sift through the 200+ images from our trip, so I thought I'd start off simple--from the beginning.

I saw this sign on our walk from the hotel to the Chinese Classical Garden early Friday morning. I took the photo for my friend Mary, creative gal and mother of one. She got a kick out of it, as you might imagine.

By the way, the Chinese Classical Garden was incredible. And yes, there are plenty of pictures. Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment: The Tao of Tea.

PORTLAND BOUND

Hard to believe I'm about to be on the road again. Even so, I'm excited about catching a plane to Stumptown.

My mom and are taking a little girls' trip. Last year, we went to Santa Fe (and Truchas and Chimayo and Bandelier). This year, we thought we'd go somewhere we've never been. Oddly enough, it seems Portland is all the rage these days, so we're pretty happy with our destination of choice. We're also looking forward to some yummy food, pretty scenery, and a visit with friends. I'll spill the beans on the details of our itinerary upon my return--with pictures, of course.

Still, I'm bummed about all the great goings-on that I'll be missing while I'm away: my friend Leyla's play, Secret Histories: Oxford; another friend's wedding; the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale; the Crosstie Arts Festival in Cleveland; and probably a slew of other fun springtime-in-Mississippi happenings that I don't even need to hear about. If you're reading this, and you're in Mississippi, please take advantage of all the cool stuff going on this weekend.

For the rest of you, I'll see you back here next Wednesday.

LIFE IS GOOD...

...When you own a canoe.

Saturday, Kurt and I took a little road trip to Memphis to pick up our new toy (and some Thai food). We'd been wanting a canoe ever since our friend, Nick, brought his over to our house for a little yard party that we had last year. Needless to say, it was a big hit--with our guests and with us. Now that we have what amounts to two ponds, it seemed obvious that we were in need of a canoe of our own.

We christened our new Old Town with the help of our friends April and Chris and their son, Jonah, Saturday night. I'm telling you, there's nothing like a campfire and dinner by the pond, prefaced by a little paddling in the canoe.

And so you know, Jerry Lee has taken to riding in the canoe. He's a good little passenger, too. Jackson, on the other hand, is content to sit in the yard and watch.