The Glorious Gap Between Spring and Summer

I work outside. I can't read the iPad screen to write in the bright sunlight.

Lilacs and lily-of-the-valley scents waft up higher than the humid air and sweat bees. The air is quite still behind the earthen wall next to me. Here the bridge noise is muffled and hidden from view.

Flat boats putter up the river current. I like it when they move slowly by. Bass boats make their laps around the reservoir banks. Men toss their lined rods, loosing lures in tree branches.

When I write in longhand, I don't have to worry about typing. Oh, sure, typing is good too. Alas, the days of pen and paper. But I digress:

Little fox squirrel chases bigger grey squirrel. He's always feisty, always defending his territory.

The goldfinch; yellow, black, so cheerfully colored, he and his mate flit among the new light green growth of the Douglas Fir. Insects or tree bits - I don't know what he and she find there, other than these snacks and a grand view of the river.

Last night's brush burning, I mean wiener roast, was surreptitious, contraband. Secret. No open burning allowed. Still, here between the creek and the street is no-man's land: no street crews come by to pick up the piles of brush here. So burn it we did, the fire drawing neighborhood children like moths to flames. They howled and tossed branch after branch of downed wood onto the pile.

Grown-ups cracked jokes about fines, threatening calls to the fire marshall. Big tough guys in little spandex tights and helmets joined the rubber-neckers out for their evening bike rides. Heavenly father, please let your Grace descend upon us for burning if it bothers people with allergies. Amen.

Korean restaurant is a change of pace

I realized it's been four years since I wrote about Seoul Garden, and maybe that long since I had eaten there. I had found the Korean food very good before, even if the ambiance of the restaurant seems neglected and could use some attention. It is very low rent; yet, it has some reviews and clippings posted and so has a special Asian character.

Pictured above is the wonderful Dolsot bibimbap, which is beef, rice, egg, and vegetables cooked and served in a stoneware pot. There are lots of nice greens under the egg, including sprouts and cabbage. This is just simply delicious. Asian, clean healthy comfort food is even greater here with the crispy, crusty cooked rice bottom on the stoneware bowl. It's up to you to mix it all up yourself.

The dishes here are served with about five traditional side dishes. I'm not a big fan of kimchi or Korean thick noodle dishes; I preferred their soy green beans and crab Rangoon. I also like the fried seaweed, but I don't know if the way it's prepared is fattening.

It was lunchtime, and the entree I had cost $10-12. Try the daily specials for a cheaper price and to experiment with a new taste if you're brave.

Soup comes with the meal: I had the hot & sour, which was spicy and lip-smacking good, so they say. The proprietress has limited English, so try pictures or use your smartphone if you have specific questions. I'm glad to see this little ethnic place going strong with consistent food. Seoul Garden is still at 1820 Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

Bittersweet, Michigan for a 'close to the Fort' ski day trip

Bittersweet, as a term, describes mixed feelings sometimes. The bitter mixed with the sweet. That's how I feel when I drive the two-and-one-half hours north of Fort Wayne to Otswgo, MI to ski at the small snow ski resort named Bittersweet.

With 350 feet of vertical height, the mini-mountain makes the most of a small space. Skiers and snowboarders can choose between regular runs or a terrain park. One can ride to the top of the hill on the aptly named Sweet Express quad chair. There are also seven standard chairlifts, two tow ropes and two wonder carpets. The last are conveyor belts skiers can stand on (good for beginners) to ride up the hill.

With the advent of snowboarding, Bittersweet has kept up with the times and added a terrain park in recent years. It includes a kids' park, with some smaller jumps. There are three learner jumps 5-10 feet high each. There are also some features including one called the mailbox, the propane tank, etc. - you get the idea.

In the main terrain park, there's more fun stuff - toys called the elbow rail, the skinny rail, the quarter-pipe, and more. The main park starts with a 30-foot-high jump that leads directly onto a second 40-foot-square jump. Even if the terrain park is not your style, Bittersweet is so compact a person can easily watch people doing tricks in the terrain park as the observer rides the chair lift up to the other part of the hill.

Skiers may be disappointed if they are expecting Sault Saint Marie or Boyne, Michigan size and quality snow and facilities. But for that, a party has to drive several hours further north. If you want a quicker day trip and a shorter warm-up or tune-up of your ski chops, you can try Bittersweet on for size. There is a decent cafeteria, picnic area, bar and pro shop. Rentals are $25 for skis or a board, and $10 for a helmet. If you ski at all, consider investing in your own equipment.

Lift tickets are $32 Monday - Friday and $41 Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Take I-69 north and head towards Battlecreek and Kalamazoo. Michigan towns have such wonderful names.

Thankfully, it is Spring Now. But, Before the Ice Left:

The river has cleaned up in the last twenty years. Nature works and thrives.

The bald eagle fishes at the edge of the ice. He appears to eat the dead fish that were perhaps killed by the hard freeze and long winter.

The diving ducks are there - buffleheads, goldeneyes, mergansers, and more. A miscellaneous duck group. A social network.

They bob as yachts together, moving out and around to fish as a fleet, feeding, resting. Floating, bobbing they are.

I imagine the underwater ice edge, the cliff I cannot see.

Fish with cover, peeking out (do fish peek?) into open river water - long had the river been frozen.

I feel lucky to see the lovely ducks. So happy to be, king of the world they are.

Tax time - for them no accountants, no tax man.

Working man is jealous of free ducks. Another reason to shoot them. They are such lovely boats, paddling.

Then - oh, my heart - they dive: first leaping briefly up, diving down under, then swimming and preying underwater. They can stay down a long time, and when they come up, one often sees a fish in a duck's beak for a moment while the bird takes a breath first perhaps, and then swallows the fish whole.

Cirque D'Or stays grounded at the Embassy Theatre

Ah, poor Fort Wayne, Indiana. It's pretty sad when the media advertisements for a traveling show contain the wrong pronunciation of a French word. For the recent Cirque D'Or show at the Embassy Theatre, the announcer calls it Cirque (Day-or or De-or). He's using two syllables for D'Or, when anyone with a semester of French could tell him it's "door". One syllable. Oh well, no wonder the French get so impatient with Americans.

I did my research, and found that Cirque D'Or is actually a Chinese acrobatic group, one also known as the Golden Dragons. Since D'Or means "of gold" in French, one sees the connection. With the dramatic, well-deserved success of the Canadian Cirque du Soleil troup, Cirque D'Or as a name may draw a wider audience than would Golden Dragons.

Cirque D'Or did a fine job. I do think audience members were disappointed if they were expecting a different show. For example, press photos used to promote the show featured aerialists suspended from fabrics swinging high in the air. Video commercials also had performers swinging and suspended. The Fort Wayne performance featured no aerial or trapeze acts such as this. Maybe at other stops on their tour they do have aerial performances. Maybe there is something about the Embassy venue which doesn't allow for that stage set-up. But I heard patrons say they were disappointed, they were expecting what was promoted, and ticket prices for the show ranged $23 - 63.

I liked the show, however, and was glad I went. The young children with us really liked it as well. It's a good family show. Their are acrobats who make human pyramids, who can balance others on their heads (head to head), athletes who can run, jump and fly through high hoops. It was very entertaining.

Perhaps my favorite act was a parasol juggling routine. Two young women lay on benches tossing and spinning multiple big, awkward parasols with their feet. They stacked them, they balanced them, and the painted, twirling parasols were beautiful to see.

What I learned after reading more on the Internet is the troup is based in Hebei, China - an area where performers are trained since childhood in these traditional arts. The young man on stage who stacked six chairs at their full height and then did a handstand on the top may have been an 18-year-old. An article from 2008 discussing the Golden Dragons' appearance in Ann Arbor I found online gave me the history I wanted. According to Roger LeLeivre writing for MLine, acrobats in Cirque D'Or come from farm families who practiced this art 2500 years ago.

While ancient farmers in this area of China were waiting for their fields to dry before spring planting, they played around tossing, catching, twirling and juggling plates, cups, saucers, tables and chairs. At spring festivals that were held before a season of hard summer farming began, families and individuals would perform for each other, showing off tricks they had diligently practiced. This art has been carried on over the generations and continues today.

It's fun to see the capabilities of a disciplined gymnast, flipping, doing hand springs, balancing beautifully with a partner. Lovely, graceful hands, stunning costumes, attractive people. If I had a complaint, it would be that there was almost no set design - no lovely backdrops, no artwork or scenery, only the props used as tricks, whether that was juggling large pottery or loose yo-yos and cords, tables, chairs, bowling pins, etc.

It was not Cirque du Soleil with its fabulous choreography, technical support and visionary artistry. But Golden Dragons or Cirque D'Or is great in its own way, and just needs a little more interpretation and translation to the American audience. I was impressed the performers went out to the lobby at the end of the show to meet the audience members. A meet-and-greet is a nice touch when there is a cultural divide or a language problem, especially for the young folks. It's always fun to just be at the beautiful, old Embassy. I'll be going back there again soon.

A leprechaun in the grocery store

I saw a leprechaun in the Amish grocery store today. I walked up and there he stood, hiding in plain sight. He wasn't dressed up in leprechaun finery; he wore a grey stocking cap and a plain blue suit, but a real leprechaun he was, a little old one.

He looked back at me square in the eye, and his blue eyes twinkled. It seems even leprechauns have to shop for groceries.

He didn't buy much, but he did pause and look, lingering near the breads and cakes. There I was in my green polo shirt, fingerless knitted gloves, crocheted hat, and green shamrock pin, buying a load of groceries. I had planned to buy green sugar cookies, but decided instead to spoil my family and make homemade red velvet cake. I thought the contrast would be so beautiful and fitting with all the Irish green everywhere one looked.

I couldn't catch my leprechaun in the store. I wanted to fall in behind him in the check-out lane, even if just to spy on him more, but he slipped around me past the frozen foods and disappeared. I headed my cart to the check-out station, pulled out my reusable bags and stacked my items on the conveyor belt.

Grapes, bananas, yogurt, eighty dollars worth of stuff. At this point I'm in front of the cart. When I was almost done, the leprechaun popped up behind me, bent down to the lower cart rack I couldn't reach and placed my last item, a bottle of laundry detergent, on the belt for me.

I would have reached out and caught him then, but the grocery cart came between the two of us. He looked at me without fear - he knew I couldn't catch him. I also think he liked red velvet cake, and somehow magically knew I was going to make it. He didn't seem to care I knew he was a leprechaun.

The room faded away when I looked at him. His beard was grey, not red, and he seemed a little too old to spin about. He could tell I was the only human in the room who knew who and what he was. I tried to concentrate. The sounds of children playing outside brought me back to reality as their voices and cries faded in and out. Cheerfully, the old leprechaun used his power over me and my awe of him to make me hold my tongue. Then he whisked his way around me out to the parking lot, through the cars and around the horses, and simply disappeared.

Baker Street is Top Notch in the Fort

Obviously the photo above is NOT of Baker Street, the excellent restaurant in Fort Wayne on North Clinton, near the Northcrest shopping area. But I can't look at any more photos of snow, and it was one bitter, windy day when I went to Baker Street last week. So here's a photo of some lovely sheep and lambs in Oregon, and you can make whatever connection here you wish.

There have been several different restaurants in this location, which is in a convenient spot on the north end of town. I do believe Baker Street is the best of the businesses that have been here. Staff make a lot of effort, the service is good and servers are well trained. They like to talk about the wines, the food and how it is prepared. One feels as though he or she is valued and is given a lot of attention.

And the food is really good. In addition to the regular menu, special features change regularly or with a seasonal variety. At this time there was a tuna steak served with tempura green beans. They also had Prince Edward Island Mussels (I had forgotten and had to look it up - the island is along the Canadian Atlantic seaboard). This dish includes big dark mussels and is served with garlic toast points.

We often order the sashimi tuna from the appetizer menu. It's sesame crusted and is served medium rare, with wasabi, ginger, and a cucumber salad for $14. Although the soup specials are often really good, I tried the $6 French onion soup and found it to be too salty and heavy. Why does every chef do that? I do like the Chop Chop salad ($8); it really is chopped like crazy, and features different lettuces, tomatoes, red onions, eggs, bacon, white cheddar, and a toasted garlic crostini. This one is a meal in itself.

The simple wedge salad ($7) is a pretty chunk of crunchy iceberg and some other stuff, topped off with croutons and a buttermilk blue cheese dressing. My friends like Baker Street's Greek and spinach salads as well.

For an entree, you can't go wrong with their Asian glazed salmon for $23 - I prefer it over the blackened ahi tuna. Baker Street is known for their steaks - they have a great variety of cuts but this is a fancy place, not cheap, so be ready for most steaks to be $29 - $39. A few items go over those prices: I would like to try the lobster-crowned filet with asparagus and wild mushrooms. $44 for that might be a lot in Fort Wayne, but try eating in Chicago or New York sometime and it won't seem quite as bad. Still, I haven't splurged - maybe sometime. And yes, they do offer lamb chops.

What's fun about the Baker Street menu is its "Dress it Up" and "Dress it Down" categories. Don't want fancy? Order a Cuban sandwich on a pressed ciabatta for $12. A fork & knife Reuben with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and house-made Thousand Island dressing is $14. I liked the buffalo chicken sandwich: for $10 you get a hand-breaded breast with bacon, Swiss cheese, and buffalo sauce on a bun. It's carefully prepared and not as fatty as it sounds. The flavor is as you would expect - mouth-watering and spicy.

I haven't begun to describe the wines or other drink offerings, but there are great choices here. And desserts: I recommend the Kiss Goodnight - a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. One of these days I'll have to get the Flamin Donuts: table-side flambé with rum and cognac, and mocha ice cream on the side. Baker Street is quite good. The chef and management really try hard. I may not want to stand and take a photo of the place in the blowing snow and wind, but I'll head inside any time and enjoy a cosy, elegant meal.