Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I Missed You, Too

Sometimes a place can steal your words. Not even from your lips - like a breathtaking sunset - but from your heart: that warm little room whose walls and ceilings you thought you could define with well-arranged, concise sentences. But then suddenly a cathedral or an island or a mountaintop slips in and detonates the whole thing, exploding all that subject-verb chinking you've so meticulously laid into place, as the understanding of place makes new room for itself.

Ireland silenced me for awhile. I hope to be able to share glimpses of that saturated green-and-grey place with you as the words come back.

Then changes set into my life at a pace rivaling puberty - from the moment I stepped off the plane in New York with a four-foot-tall backpack and no home to come home to, or even enough American money to use a pay phone and arrange a hospitable couch.

In those first three weeks we slept on several couches (bless you, dear friends, if you're reading) and the floor of a temporary sublet, inspected nearly forty apartments, found a home that suited us, and J started work - all while still living out of the same backpacks that had sustained us through two months of traipsing through Europe! (It's a good thing his office is generous about their dress code.) Though we promptly moved our possessions out of storage, these consisted mainly of books, clothes, and an appalling assortment of kitchen appliances - we had sold what little furniture we had along with our old three hundred-square-foot apartment in the Village. We spent a week sleeping on a heap of coats while we went about acquiring furnishings and arranging various means of transporting them. (This was no small feat.)

Finally, weeks later, in a place I can call "home" for the first time in awhile, I began to grow things in my garden. Between cultivating my home, my neglected friendships, my connection with a new neighborhood, and my impressive diversity of herbs and flowers - there hasn't been much time to grow my culinary acumen or myself.

And yet (my sitemeter tells me) you've been waiting for me. You continue to visit Pie in the Sky, to leave imploring treatises in the comments. Thank you for caring. Sorry I've been MIA for good long while. I think I'm back now.

Life is pretty good - I'm happy, I love Brooklyn ( more on that later), I'm cooking a lot, and I'm enjoying this stint at homemaking and gardening. But I'm trying not to stagnate. Maybe you folks can help. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I suspect Pie in the Sky will be undergoing some serious renovations in the coming weeks - my paltry offering in exchange for your patience and loyalty. I'm teaching myself web design! We'll see where that goes.

I've also invented the #1 Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe EVER. So don't touch that dial, folks...

20 comments:

Heather said...

Welcome back! And, welcome to Brooklyn. Which neighborhood? I'm in Carroll Gardens/Red Hook... depending on where you draw the line.
And I SO want to hear more about those cookies!

Kate Croft said...

Thank you, and thank you! I'm in Stuyvesant Heights, Just north of Fulton and a little East of Nostrand. Do you know where Bread Stuy is? Or Solomon's Porch?

Family said...

This made me smile and cry at the same time...

Remember the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe we acquired? We made it for everyone and included the recipe with the gift.

You know how I feel about your writing...I'm glad you are sharing it once again.

Mom

Anonymous said...

Ah! What a tease. I can't wait for the recipe!

juju said...

YOUR BACK!! Yes, Ireland will take the words from your lips. I bet those chocolate chip cookies will too.

Anonymous said...

She's alive! And blogging! I love it. My favorite writer. Keep it up. Forty one thousand hits can't be wrong. Love, TLC

What's Cookin'? said...

Well, I just discovered you because I was looking for a picture of a frozen lemonade pie. I made one and forgot to take a picture and some have asked me for the recipe. I like a picture you have of a book on Lemon Zest so I thought that will have to do. Anyway, I like your writing and adventures. And, it looks like you have some delicious recipes. Thanks, Ann Ps I have a daughter named Kate too!!!

Tea said...

You're back! And you brought cookies!
Yep, that almost makes up for the absence.

So pleased to hear that you're happily settled (and I love that shot with the plants and the boots!). Ireland has been known to shake a few things loose in the soul, in good ways I think. That shot of the coastline makes me want to be there now. I'm looking forward to hearing your stories.

Welcome back, you were missed.

Anonymous said...

You're back! I'm so delighted! (And enormously proud of my best friend's literary and culinary skills.) I love you!

Caley said...

My co-food-blogger Hillary (who greatly enjoys your blog) told me that you have just returned to NYC from Ireland. I am actually moving to Ireland in a couple months from NYC. Dublin to be exact, and to Trinity College for my master's. I've been before and it is indeed indescribably beautiful. Can't wait to hear about the meals and overall experience you enjoyed in Ireland. I'm so excited to go!

Anonymous said...

Kate, I am SO EXCITED for more information and recipes! Love you!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

You understand so much of the human soul - I hope you can continue to share it with us so we can grow too. I guess I would say that cookies and communication go a long way toward making a better world.
miss you,
Umami

Jen said...

Yey! You're back!! Sorry it took me nearly a fortnight to find you again! May I speak for the blogosphere when I say we have missed you, and welcome back!

Glad to hear that it was good things (new home, garden etc.) that kept you away and not bad things. Looking forward to more posts as soon as you feel ready.

xx

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful journey you've had! France and Ireland - I think it would be like going to heaven. So glad that you are back. Looking forward to your recipes and your tales of Ireland and France.

family harvey-groft said...

nice place. we may be hitting up brooklyn-way this fall. can't make any guarantees, but we have a couple of other friends in brooklyn as well and the needling is getting almost irresistible. it depends, though, on if josh can get time off and we can put aside money from the wedding fund to make the journey.

in the meantime, if you're ever down baltimore way, we have a new and huge apartment just waiting for guests. housewarming on august 10th!

Anonymous said...

Oh Kate, you're such a tease....you post an entry, promising a recipe and more blogs and then, almost a month later......nothing. Sad.

Kate Croft said...

Ouch! Sorry! Lots of salmon to make up for it. =)

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