May Day at Town & Gown

~ POSTING IN CELEBRATION OF MAY DAY ~
{On May 1st intead of April 28th}

~ A BISTRO WHERE ALL'S ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Barely a week ago
the seed packets were scattered on the tabletop,
in anticipation of planting at Town & Gown;
but today: what to my wondering eyes should appear?
Seedlings!

In keeping with my friend Matt O'Neill's request for more Gerard Manley Hopkins, what could be more appropriate for May Day than these lines:

From "The May Magnificat":

. . . What is Spring?—
Growth in every thing—

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and greenworld all together;
Star-eyed strawberry-breasted
Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within;
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing . . .

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple
Bloom lights the orchard-apple
And thicket and thorp are merry
With silver-surfèd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes
Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes
And magic cuckoocall
Caps, clears, and clinches all . . .

~ G. M. Hopkins ~

And from Matt himself:

"May, bursting with the resurrected glory of warmer weather, brings a full menu of events rich in ritual and celebration to our college campus location. The Inn has absorbed these memories over the years like a faithful old family box camera, stacking the snapshots in the shoe box of its spirit: Mother's day and graduation receptions, wine tastings on the porches and in tents on the lawn, catered champagne suppers under the covered bridge by Cataract Falls, garnishing classes under the gingko tree in the university quadrangle, poetry readings in the James Whitcomb Riley Library, and recitals in Thompson Hall, the college's performing arts center.

"Food undergoes a final transition in lightness that began at the end of March. Indulgence in calories gives way to indulgence in clothes before June arrives to make a rumpled mockery of the most delicate outfits, prompting delicacies like poached salmon of pastel pink. A ribbon of lemen - yellow chardonnay, caper, and chive sauce, and translucent little new potatoes carved in the shape of plover's eggs with asparagus in red pepper rings complement this dish.

"May is a rush to plant a hundred flower boxes with pansies, petunias, impatiens, and vining vinca and to mulch the hill of colorful perennials in the back of the Inn. These are our efforts to provide a suitable backdrop to the parade of caps and gowns that bustle with such excitement, such elegance, such promise, and such hope on their way to life's fulfillment." [emphasis added]

From Chef Matthew O'Neill's poetic cookbook,
The Seasons at Walden Inn
Signature Recipes from an Elegant Country Inn (1997)

"Salmon of Pastel Pink"

"A Transition in Lightness"

"Such elegance, such promise, and such hope"

Once & Future Town & Gown Posts

May Day
All Felled

Spring Planting
night & day

gather
open
lattes
spiced coffee
whiskey
scenic views
autumnal ~ flora
leftovers

Previous ~ OPEN ~ Signs

Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, May 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Banana Arbor
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST ~ Bookmobile
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com