Waterfire

Since moving here we have been discovering the pleasures of Providence, Rhode Island. Small, complex, old, it's a fascinating city that we've really come to appreciate. And we'd really never heard of it before moving to the area.

One example of the city's charming quirkiness is the event called Waterfire. It's an annual tradition that runs every Saturday night throughout the summer. The webpage calls it a "work of art" (I'm not sure about that), but the concept is simple: 100 metal hearths have been installed in the middle of the river that flows through the downtown, forming a daisy chain down the river. At dusk, small barges carrying a pile of firewood and a group of people dressed completely in black slowly cruise up the river. The hearths are loaded with firewood and lit, turning the river into a giant bonfire:

At first, I didn't quite get it—ok, so the fires burn, so what? But then, as Providence came to sit along the shore to chat and eat and hang out and watch the fires, I got it: it's about turning the downtown core into a giant campfire, at once large-scale and intimate. The city literally comes out and cozies up next to the fire.

Along with the fire, there is piped-in musical accompaniment (it could have been awful, but thankfully somebody at Waterfire has good taste, so it works). Also, there are food stands set up and a variety of performance pieces on the shore. You walk along the shore, eating, talking, enjoying the night and the crowds, and taking in the culture—all alongside the glowing, crackling, smoking river-hearth.

Amazing!

Thanks to Jessie for the pictures!

Ohhhh tanenbaum!

Last night we were picking the boys up from school, and among the usual treasures of abstract impressionism that they were bringing home there were two Christmas-tree-shaped gingerbread cookies. They looked good, and smelled like deep, dark apple cinnamon. A piece had broken off and so, making sure that no one was watching, I popped it into my mouth.

Frankly, it wasn't very good. The cinnamon was there, but the texture was off, and it wasn't sweetened enough. I forced it down and swore I would never again eat anything baked by toddlers.

Well, this cookie was really not settling well, and I began to have suspicions. I asked "Gab, are those cinnamon things in the back seat cookies, by any chance?"

"You didn't eat them, did you? They're Christmas ornaments! Sam will be so upset!"

For the record, here's the recipe:

• 1 part ground cinnamon
• 1 part applesauce
• 1 part Elmer's white glue

Mix, flatten, punch out cookie shapes. Bake at 350° until done.^*

^* Note: do not eat.

Giving Thanks, down here

My first American Thanksgiving has been a really interesting lesson in American culture. Let me say, along with the differences in dates, American Thanksgiving is quite different from its Canadian counterpart.

First of all, Thanksgiving is big—much more important in the U.S. than Canada. It is a holiday tradition for families across the country to reunite via plane. Satire aside, it really is a common question to ask: "So are you flying anywhere this Thanksgiving?" As far I can tell, this isn't just gratuitous consumption, it comes from a real desire to reunite families no matter what. Crazy!

Anyway, Thanksgiving down here is really kind of nice: it's like Christmas without the commercial trappings, all about family, friendship, and giving thanks. We went to a Thanksgiving dinner and people really did give thanks at the table. And meant it, no less.

Another thing: being the U.S., there are strong nationalistic overtones to the holiday. Thanksgiving actually means something, since it forms the cornerstone of the national mythology. Thanksgiving is the symbolic meeting of the new and old worlds—pilgrim and aboriginal dining together. Okay, it glosses over genocide and all, but the symbolism is there. Sam came home with a colouring-book page with a picture of an iconic pilgrim on it. We don't have this layer of symbolism laid over Thanksgiving in Canada (and let's face it: Canada is just terrible at doing national mythologies, anyway. The Plains of Abraham? Oh, puh-leez. What kind of a symbolic founding of a nation is that? How can you turn that into a colouring book?).

So, I think it's time for a little cultural conspiracy theorizing, courtesy of Gab. Here's a question: in Canada, why don't we ever hear about how much cooler American Thanksgiving is? We hear about everything regarding American culture, but we don't hear about American Thanksgiving as a genuine non-commercial expression of family, giving thanks, and community.

The conspiracy: could it be that we don't get this through the media because it doesn't exactly fit with the Canadian national conception of Americans?

Hmmmm ...

... and what the heck is "kashi cereal"?

Since when has "pop tarts" become a food category?