happy lunar new year
in the year of the rabbit
to all who celebrate
—
“leonardo fibonacci, the great 13th century italian mathematician (1175-1250)
created the ‘fibonacci sequence’ to explain behavior in nature mathematically.
history has it that the first question he posed
was how many rabbits would be created in one year starting with one pair.”
-rick santelli
young girl in her finery
waits her turn to perform
at the grand traverse band of
ottawa and chippewa indians pow wow.
a beautiful display of
dance and drumming
from days gone by.
—
“we will be known forever by the tracks we leave.”
– Dakota Tribe
—
traverse city, michigan, usa – summer 2022
A common story traces the tradition of the twelve lucky grapes, or uvas de la suerte, to grape farmers in Alicante, Spain, who suggested the idea when they had a surplus harvest to unload in the early 1900s. But according to food writer Jeff Koehler, newspaper articles about the tradition from the 1880 suggest it developed from Madrid’s bourgeoisie copying the French custom of drinking champagne and eating grapes on New Year’s Eve.
Either way, Spanish tradition eventually became a superstition that spread to Central and South America. Eating one grape at each of midnight’s 12 clock chimes guarantees you a lucky year—if and only if, you simultaneously ruminate on their significance. (Each grape represents an upcoming month.) If you fail to conscientiously finish your grapes by the time the clock stops chiming, you’ll face misfortune in the new year.
Superstitions tend to be specific, and uvas de la suerte is no different. Most Spaniards eat white Aledo grapes, which farmers in Alicante, Spain, protect from the sun, birds, and other pests by tying paper bags around as they grow. This process, which slows the grapes’ development and allows them to grow a finer skin, produces a grape that’s soft, ripe, and ready to be sold in twelve-packs in December. Now isn’t that lucky?
it’s a new year’s eve tradition
the famous wheel of cheese is back
much to everyone’s delight
let the celebration begin
happy new year
—
‘if I tell you there’s cheese on the moon, bring the crackers.’
-tyronn lue
the master-chef sisters of hungarian strudel
“You need an egg, two spoonfuls of lard, and a pinch of salt, followed by flour, a dash of vinegar, and just enough warm water to create a dough with a dumpling-like consistency.” This is part of the traditional Hungarian strudel recipe that Ilona and Erzsébet, elderly sisters and lifelong baking partners, learned from their late mother. In their small village of Tura, an hour outside of Budapest, the sisters regularly bake the delicate pastry for up to 500 people for weddings and community events.
In the short documentary Strudel Sisters, directed by Peter Hegedus and Jaina Kalifa, Ilona and Erzsébet share how a family tradition evolved into a livelihood. Their quirky rapport may as well be part of the recipe—no strudel-making session is complete without bouts of bickering and singing.
“I loved the sisters from the first time I met them,” Kalifa told me, “and I knew straight away that we had to make a film about them. They are really special people with big hearts and a great sense of humor and just have this warm, grandmotherly feel, which instantly resonated with me.”
Authentic strudel-making is a dying art. It requires a certain moxie: the dough must be worked vigorously in order to activate the gluten, after which it acquires a threshold of elasticity, allowing the baker to stretch it until it’s tissue-thin and nearly translucent. Then, the filling—most commonly grated apple, brown sugar, lemon, and cinnamon—is added intermittently between the pastry layers.
While making the film, Kalifa and Hegedus were lucky enough to taste five different types of the sisters’ strudel. “My personal favorite was the cheese strudel,” said Kalifa. “Strudel is part of their DNA. They’ve been making strudel all their lives, and you can tell.”
—
“first bake the strudel, then sit down and ponder.”
-austrian proverb
A showcase of cinematic short documentary films, curated by The Atlantic.
Karen Schaefer took her turn at painting the Rock in Ann Arbor’s George Washington Park, announcing her conclusion about the boulder that was put on the spot in the 1930s. Schaefer wrote her master’s degree thesis on the Rock, (Objects that communicate).
all kinds of people with all kinds of agendas paint the rock in this decades-old tradition in ann arbor. the chat below was found on my community website and i especially loved how s.a. was at the ready with his how-to directions and a bit of historical support.
G.A. Does anyone know how much paint is required to paint a message on “The Rock” at Hill and Washtenaw?
P. L. Funny, my husband and I were just talking about this when we drove by it the other day.
S. A. Old gallon of house paint for the base, one old mop or broom, go to Denny’s down the road, come back and it’s dry for the message.
T. S. Can’t believe that no one has commented that is is illegal and vandalism…
S. A. Even Al Gallup, the living son of the Gallup who placed it there in honor of Washington, is okay with it.
‘passion is one great force that unleashes creativity,
because if you’re passionate about something,
then you’re more willing to take risks.’
—yo-yo ma
today our kinders
learned a beautiful lesson
about a lovely tradition
honoring those who we have loved and lost
and now continue to remember
on this very special holiday each year
and onward.
—
“the core belief of the Day of the Dead is so poetic and simple: as long as we remember those who have passed away, as long as we tell their stories, sing their songs, tell their jokes, cook their favorite meals, then they are with us, around us, and in our hearts.
-jorge r. guiterrez
The Art of the Book of Life, Introduction
(Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead)
—
this post is dedicated to little hazen
forever 5
who left us on this day
much loved
lost much too soon
and always remembered.
“mardi gras is the love of life.
it is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity,
our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living.
all at once.”
― chris rose
—
art credit: frenchy
now you might reasonably say to me: “why put yourself through all this? why go up to the loft when you know the decorations won’t be there? why untangle the lights when you know they haven’t a chance of working?” and my answer to you is that this is part of the ritual. christmas wouldn’t be christmas without it.’ bill bryson – ‘notes from a big country’
I didn't have my glasses on.... 