As promised, we've returned -- just not here! Come explore our new home at 5isterstd.com!
Adios, pour Maintenant. . .
(Sorry for the delay! But we promise you're not getting rid of us that easily. In the mean time, say hello to us on Instagram!)
Well, Hello Blue Eyes
“People felt themselves watching [her] even before they knew that there was anything different about [her]. [Her] eyes made a person think that [s]he heard things that no one else had ever heard, that [s]he knew things no one had ever guessed before. [S]he did not seem quite human.”
― Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
My mom had a lot of babies. I was number four. But by five, she was still at a loss. Not a single one of her offspring had blue eyes. When Liberty was born, we looked a lot alike. This continued as she matured into full-fledged babyhood. The only way you could tell our baby pictures apart is that hers are cuter. She had this coquettish smile, significantly more beautiful ringlets and to my mother's delight, big, beautiful, blue eyes.
As Liberty has grown up, she's maintained her slightly different and magical perspective, seeing through the pretense of most things and creating a space which is both welcoming and very much her own.
― Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
My mom had a lot of babies. I was number four. But by five, she was still at a loss. Not a single one of her offspring had blue eyes. When Liberty was born, we looked a lot alike. This continued as she matured into full-fledged babyhood. The only way you could tell our baby pictures apart is that hers are cuter. She had this coquettish smile, significantly more beautiful ringlets and to my mother's delight, big, beautiful, blue eyes.
As Liberty has grown up, she's maintained her slightly different and magical perspective, seeing through the pretense of most things and creating a space which is both welcoming and very much her own.
On her birthday, we wish her joy, wonder, success, love, BABIES (not announcing anything, just trying to inappropriately prod, as Liberty will confirm, I always do) and a universe that continues to reveal magic to your gorgeous, blue eyes.
We love you Libby!!
You Win!!! AMERICAN GRACE GIVEAWAY winner!!
I am so sorry this took so long. You've al been AMAZING and SO supportive on Instagram and helped us WAY surpass our expectations. I didn't announce a winner til now because we've been traveling all summer long! So, the winner of the American Grace Giveaway is ...
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Please email us at fivetdsisters@gmail.com with your dress size and we will send you a gorgeous gown! Thanks to everyone who participated and helped to make American Grace the top Billboard classical album!!
Please email us at fivetdsisters@gmail.com with your dress size and we will send you a gorgeous gown! Thanks to everyone who participated and helped to make American Grace the top Billboard classical album!!
Do you ever feel totally helpless? This is how I like to deal with it.
Human trafficking. Ebola. Sinjar Mountain. Isis. Syria. The White Army. The Taliban. Russia. Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines. Israel. Gaza.
Sometimes the list of things that are going wrong in the world makes me wonder if we're living the Book of Revelations. What do we do? How on earth can we help these impossible situations?
There is always prayer, but there's also a pesky little scripture that says, "Faith without works is dead." In other words, you can pray all day long, but unless you're working to help the situation, nothing is going to happen.
I can't personally fly to Sinjar and deliver the food they need or broker a peace between warring factions or stop the sex trade or the slaughter of innocents. While we can support policies and companies that are ethical, we can't always change a situation. But we can change ourselves.
We can smile. We can be kind. We can keep food in our car for people who are homeless. We can be more generous. We can befriend someone who is different from us, or reach out to someone who is struggling. We can volunteer and try to be less cynical. We can show gratitude and extend love. We can visit or write a letter to someone who is sick or call our mom, our grandma or someone who we suspect is feeling alone. We can go to an animal shelter and spend time with some lonely animals. We can help a food bank. We can vote. We can send letters to our representatives to let them know what is important to us. We can volunteer. We can commit not to buy clothes and products produced by slave labor. We can consume valuable entertainment. We can be good to the earth. We can do so many things to reach out and remind the "other" that they are our brother, our sister, our friend and our neighbor. Our value isn't dependent solely on how we treat those who are close to us. Our character is clarified by how we treat those we have never met, those who are struggling and those who have no where to go.
So when you feel overwhelmed by the woes of the world, do something. Hate shrivels when we care for each other but love needs to be nurtured to thrive.
Sometimes the list of things that are going wrong in the world makes me wonder if we're living the Book of Revelations. What do we do? How on earth can we help these impossible situations?
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| The world can be a scary place. Sketch by Liberty, 2014 |
There is always prayer, but there's also a pesky little scripture that says, "Faith without works is dead." In other words, you can pray all day long, but unless you're working to help the situation, nothing is going to happen.
I can't personally fly to Sinjar and deliver the food they need or broker a peace between warring factions or stop the sex trade or the slaughter of innocents. While we can support policies and companies that are ethical, we can't always change a situation. But we can change ourselves.
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| We can reflect whatever we chose to the world. Sketch by Liberty, 2013 |
We can smile. We can be kind. We can keep food in our car for people who are homeless. We can be more generous. We can befriend someone who is different from us, or reach out to someone who is struggling. We can volunteer and try to be less cynical. We can show gratitude and extend love. We can visit or write a letter to someone who is sick or call our mom, our grandma or someone who we suspect is feeling alone. We can go to an animal shelter and spend time with some lonely animals. We can help a food bank. We can vote. We can send letters to our representatives to let them know what is important to us. We can volunteer. We can commit not to buy clothes and products produced by slave labor. We can consume valuable entertainment. We can be good to the earth. We can do so many things to reach out and remind the "other" that they are our brother, our sister, our friend and our neighbor. Our value isn't dependent solely on how we treat those who are close to us. Our character is clarified by how we treat those we have never met, those who are struggling and those who have no where to go.
So when you feel overwhelmed by the woes of the world, do something. Hate shrivels when we care for each other but love needs to be nurtured to thrive.
Have you ever wanted something really, really badly that was totally silly? I did and this is what happened...
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I wanted to enter the county fair and win a blue ribbon ... bad.
A few months ago, I started concocting recipes and outsourcing them to my sisters. I enlisted help from my mom, uber domestic goddess Ginger and a few others so we could locally source ingredients. Mercina and Glorianna were going to be in town and I was working overtime to lure Kimber to Colorado for the fair. It was gonna be awesome and if it was the last thing I did this summer we were gonna win.
And then life happened.
My cousin got married just when we were all supposed to head out West. One of my best friends decided to get married a few days after the wedding (the nerve of them both, right!?). I had two performances the week before. Mercina and Glorianna decided to stay in Washington. Kimber needed to go to California. Yoni's business partners needed him in New York. Mom was out of town and the dogs needed some serious loving. It was just me an Liberty. The day before we needed to register for the fair, we had no jars, no produce and no real chance.
There was an epic rains storm. While I braved the elements to collect every ripe and some not so ripe thing in Mom's garden, there was no way I had time to visit Ginger's house to get the remainder of the ingredients. But when Liberty opened the door to her house somehow, I knew everything was going to be alright. Vast stores of copper pots and pans pans emerged. Soon, the hum of blenders and cadence of knives on cutting boards echoed through her house. Settling on two time-honored family recipes, we decided to focus on a salsa verde and a Hungarian sauce studded with tomatoes, peppers and onions. We roasted and chopped, boiling jars and doing things that are WAY out of our cooking league. The scent of paprika, caramelized onions, hot peppers and garlic filled the air. Finally, at about 2am, we called it quits, hoping our jars would vacuum seal.
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| The tomatillos look like they're covered in Chinese Lanterns. I think they're so cute! |
Finally, with no time to spare, Liberty marched in our entries. The person at the desk (amusingly named Harmony. She should have been one of our sisters, right?) explained that we would receive an email as soon as the winners were announced.
Then we waited ... and waited ... and waited ...
Silence.
Then, the tirades began. The judges must be related to the entrants. Their palates weren't refined enough. They figured out our canning method didn't meet protocol. The tomatillos destroyed everything. We reduced the Hungarian Lecso for too long. Really, the whole thing was just super annoying and we were never going to do it again.
After church, I was going home. With noon day sun streaming through my car window I had almost forgotten the entire county fair debacle, when I opened my email.
Liberty and I rushed to the fair and ... well ... we liked the county fair after all ...
Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an outcome?? We'd love to hear about it!!
QQQQQuestion?
Are you able to tell when you have enough?
Kimber: Nope. If anyone has tips for developing this particular power of discernment, please do share.
Charity: Not to go all Confuciun on this answer, but the more I have, the more I think I need. The less I have, the more I realize I can live without.
Liberty: I'd like to say yes, but after a recent joyous conversation (partially motivated by 3 glasses of champagne), that concluded in a fit of public tears...the most accurate answer is probably closer to no.
Mercina: Probably not. This question makes me think of a diet Glorianna and I went on a few years ago. We attempted to eat only fruit. But after a few days we were feeling pretty woozy and indulged in some cookies. By indulged I mean we ate until we got sick. And we both felt awful for the rest of the day. Yeah, no.
Glorianna: Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean I stop.
Kimber: Nope. If anyone has tips for developing this particular power of discernment, please do share.
Charity: Not to go all Confuciun on this answer, but the more I have, the more I think I need. The less I have, the more I realize I can live without.
Liberty: I'd like to say yes, but after a recent joyous conversation (partially motivated by 3 glasses of champagne), that concluded in a fit of public tears...the most accurate answer is probably closer to no.
Mercina: Probably not. This question makes me think of a diet Glorianna and I went on a few years ago. We attempted to eat only fruit. But after a few days we were feeling pretty woozy and indulged in some cookies. By indulged I mean we ate until we got sick. And we both felt awful for the rest of the day. Yeah, no.
Glorianna: Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean I stop.
I know I've been inattentive, but my reasons are pretty awesome...
Thank you for ALL of your support. If you've yet to order an album, visit the store at www.charitysunshine.com.
ALSO ...
As timing would have it, the American Grace Giveaway is going to happen this weekend. Enter before we hit 400 followers on Instagram for a chance to win a gorgeous dress just in time for the opera balls this fall, since of COURSE, we're all going to ALL of the opera balls. Why I found that so amusing, I really do not know but I did so I'm gonna stay with it.
Even though we've all been remiss in writing, we love you. You're awesome. Thanks for visiting us when we're blogging bums. We will be better. Just like the campaign. xoxo
Bookclub Bites
Before anything... Go and get American Grace at www.charitysunshine.com. It drops tomorrow and it's gonna be epic.
Now...
A recipe request from Paige:
Kimber's Stuffed Figs*
A dozen figs
aged English cheddar with truffles (not too spendy from Trader Joe's!)
honey from Dave's hive on the roof (I suppose honey from a jar would work in a *pinch*)
honey from Dave's hive on the roof (I suppose honey from a jar would work in a *pinch*)
chèvre
balsamic vinegar reduction
prosciutto
flower pepper to garnish
1. Slice figs in half, longways. If you're feeling ambitious, grill them, seeded side down on a hot, lightly greased pan with a sprinkling of sugar for about 30 seconds.
2. Place about a teaspoon of cheese on each fig -- 12 with truffled cheddar and 12 chèvre.
3. Drizzle balsamic reduction** on figs with chèvre and top with strips of prosciutto.
4. Garnish cheddar figs with local honey.
5. Grind flower pepper over the whole yummy lot of them.
6. Eat one or two before your guests arrive, so they don't feel bad taking the first gorgeous morsel, which actually might taste even better than it looks.
7. Impress everyone.
6. Eat one or two before your guests arrive, so they don't feel bad taking the first gorgeous morsel, which actually might taste even better than it looks.
7. Impress everyone.
*edited to include the REAL recipe -- nice try, Charity!
**reduction: a cup of balsamic vinegar with a half cup of sugar on medium heat until it reduces in volume by 50%
**reduction: a cup of balsamic vinegar with a half cup of sugar on medium heat until it reduces in volume by 50%
Favorite Words
Con (kən : Latin) – with, together.
Sidereus, -a, -um (si- ˈder- ē- üs : Latin) – stars, starry, gleaming.
Consideration (kən-ˌsi-də-ˈrā-shən : English) – careful thought, meditation;
the act of bringing together stars.
My mind is a universe, filled with asteroids
and empty space and old satellite parts. It also has a few stars. Sometimes at
night I’ll shut my eyes and stare up at the domed vault of my skull, admiring
the lights shining in it like holes poked into black construction paper with a
sharpened pencil tip. As I look, white points align and then realign, grooving
iridescent ghosts into the dark matter through which they travel. I comprehend little
red planets winking as their orbits shift with my mere thought of them. Every so
often, a new star spins into existence out of free floating star stuff, adding
a digit to the factorial number of constellations available for my creation. Once
or twice, I’ve had to shield my eyes from the burning light of a supernova
burst; the incredible bright death of a sure thing.
I am a sort of divine mover, a type of creator.
The god of my own mind-sky. I collect celestial dust from books and long walks
and conversations overheard on subway cars, until there is enough of it and
heat and light to compact into something called knowing. Then, I can observe. I
connect bright dots in the sky. I consider.
---------------------
What's your favorite word? Why?
House
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| my father's campaign sign, and one of the flags that flew over the capitol during my grandfather's memorial service. |
This June marks a number of anniversaries for our little family: two-years married, one-year in Denver, and six-months in our cute li'l bungalow. Everything is settling. The sensors in my brain that used to tingle at the freshness of my surroundings have quieted. The new state of consciousness that has taken over is, perhaps, a duller awareness, but it is certainly no less delicious.
It is one of belonging. I am surrounded by people and things I chose, and continue to choose. I am responsible for them, they are mine. Every morning I wake up knowing where I will be, with the same sweet arm around my waist, and the sun cutting through the same thin curtain. On Saturdays there is chai. On Sunday, a bike ride through the park. My life is a tread, rolling through the seasons, held steady by love and place. It is a joyous routine.
QQQQQuestion?
Charity: Yoni and I went to a beautiful, magical party hosted by all of these wonderful women! It was so fun.
Liberty: Checking out Premal's cute bootie as we pedaled around Denver on our tandem bike.
Mercina: Seeing a mother duck and her SIXTEEN ducklings during a walk around the lake.
Glorianna: I was going through a lot of old pictures, so it's probably a tie between finding:
and
What about you? What was the best part of your day today?
Thank you.
To all the women who have contributed wisdom, love beauty and wonder to
our lives,
To our aunties for being amazing.
To Nancy for listening and loving us.
To Mimo for bringing Momo in the world and for guiding us to a place of enlightenment
To Momo, for bringing us into the world; for giving us one another; for giving us endlessly
of yourself; for making us work and love and try and pray harder than we knew was possible,
Thank you for sharing a vast array of woman hood .
You have made us who we are today.
We love you.
Happy Mother's Day!
Room
My time here at Yale has had its ups and downs. It has also had its neither-ups-nor-downs. Its many strings of slow dull moments. Those hours in between meals and after assignments have been turned in. Long afternoon walks alone. 1am sitting indian-style on the floor of Woolsey Rotunda, staring up counting light bulbs and listening to a lone organist practice through locked concert hall doors.
I've spent many of those spans of uncomplicated contentedness in my room. Reading. Listening. Watching. Strumming. Cleaning by shoving things into places I can't see. Dancing in front of the $5 Ikea wall mirror. Falling asleep on the couch instead of the bed for no good reason. I've organized and arranged and acquired this room. I like it in here. I think I've grown to love it a little.
Most underclassmen left campus a few days ago. During move-out, I caught glimpses of empty rooms hastily swept out of all the things which made them one person's and not another's. It's sad to think I'll be doing that same sweeping in a few days. My sacred little space will revert to four clean cream walls, a closet door, an empty bookshelf, and a cold-to-the-touch floor. Any indication that I ever ate or sang or slept or wrote here will be oversights -- careless residue leftovers where I neglected to scrub myself out of the whitewashed woodwork sufficiently. A cleaning crew will come in over the summer and wipe any old receipts or strands of hair I forgot to take with me into the irrecoverable yawn of a black plastic trash bag.
No, I don't want to stay in this one-room kitchenless fourth-floor walk-up with a bathroom shared by too many boys forever. Even I'm more ambitious than that (and also the university won't allow me to live in the college after I've graduated). But I've appreciated all the space I've found in this minute number of square-feet. Next semester, another student will turn a key in the lock of A41. They'll see how awkwardly the unsentimental desk, chair, chest of drawers, and bed-frame sit in its center, a big mess of blonde wood elbows. I hope they're able to find room for themselves within these clean cream walls. I hope they're able to find home for a little while.
Because, why not?
It's not often that I have a fleet of professional photographers following me around and taking my picture. That said, it does happen occasionally...These are photos snapped at my company's big conference this year, and while there was no Bill Gates this time around, I did get to hang with Ben Bernanke, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Colorado Governor (not to mention my numero uno political crush) John Hickenlooper.
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| I desperately hope I didn't come off as this cloying in person |
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| I have no words for the awkwardness I'm exhibiting in this photo |
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| Ahh! Much better! |
The easy, sexy cousin
No, I'm not dissing on one on my relatives, though that would be interesting.
I'm talking about sticky mango rice. The easy, sexy cousin of rice pudding. If you're worries it tastes weird, that's silly. It's delicious -- thick and creamy with a salty sweet yum thing going on. It's made with coconut milk, but it takes entirely different from the sticky-sweet coconut concoctions we're used to in the US.
A friend of mine convinced me it was "the easiest thing ever" telling me that she made it "all of the time." Since she wasn't Thai, I didn't believe her -- on either count -- until yesterday. I bought a box of about 20 champagne mangoes from one of my favorite stores pretty much ever. When I was buying my favorite noodles when the sweet rice across the isle caught my eye. It was a fat, short grain rice and I wondered if this was the holy grail of rice -- if this was the rice used to make what is perhaps, my favorite dessert ever. I whipped out my smart phone and looked up recipes for Mango Sticky Rice and sure enough, this was it. In my euphoria, I decided I had to improve on this practically perfect dessert. I opted for the short grain brown rice over the white stuff. Most recipes called for 6 ingredients: Water, salt, coconut cream, rice, mangoes and sugar. So I loaded up on the coconut cream. The results were delectable. While coconut cream is a high fat food, I don't see why this is much different from having oatmeal for breakfast. It also makes a super impressive dessert. I added some ginger to mine, just because I love ginger and opted for brown instead of white sugar to match my brown instead of white rice.
Choni's Gingered Mango Brown Sugar Sticky Rice
I used a few recipes for this recipe. You can find them here, here and here. If mine doesn't fit your liking, try augmenting it with recommendations from the other recipes! Some call for more or less liquid. It depends on how sticky versus how porridge-y you want it to be. The less liquid you use, the less long it will keep. I suggest reducing liquid for dessert and adding more if you plan to eat this treat for breakfast.
3 champagne mangoes
2 cups brown sweet rice
2 cans coconut milk
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated ginger*
Water (about 3 cups)
Place rice in pot and cover with water. Let sit in water. I let it go for 4 hours and that is the general consensus so I would do it. People say it's fine if you let it sit for and hour or even 30 minutes.
DO NOT DRAIN! Add a can of coconut cream and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt and turn heat to medium high until water and cream come to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until rice absorbs all liquid.
Meanwhile, on stove stop, mix 1/2 teaspoon salt, second can of coconut cream brown sugar. Boil together making a coconut syrup. Once rice has absorbed all liquid, add half of the syrup and mix. Slice mangoes (a good tutorial here). Serve sticky rice along side mango and topped with the syrup.
*optional
I'm talking about sticky mango rice. The easy, sexy cousin of rice pudding. If you're worries it tastes weird, that's silly. It's delicious -- thick and creamy with a salty sweet yum thing going on. It's made with coconut milk, but it takes entirely different from the sticky-sweet coconut concoctions we're used to in the US.
A friend of mine convinced me it was "the easiest thing ever" telling me that she made it "all of the time." Since she wasn't Thai, I didn't believe her -- on either count -- until yesterday. I bought a box of about 20 champagne mangoes from one of my favorite stores pretty much ever. When I was buying my favorite noodles when the sweet rice across the isle caught my eye. It was a fat, short grain rice and I wondered if this was the holy grail of rice -- if this was the rice used to make what is perhaps, my favorite dessert ever. I whipped out my smart phone and looked up recipes for Mango Sticky Rice and sure enough, this was it. In my euphoria, I decided I had to improve on this practically perfect dessert. I opted for the short grain brown rice over the white stuff. Most recipes called for 6 ingredients: Water, salt, coconut cream, rice, mangoes and sugar. So I loaded up on the coconut cream. The results were delectable. While coconut cream is a high fat food, I don't see why this is much different from having oatmeal for breakfast. It also makes a super impressive dessert. I added some ginger to mine, just because I love ginger and opted for brown instead of white sugar to match my brown instead of white rice.
Choni's Gingered Mango Brown Sugar Sticky Rice
I used a few recipes for this recipe. You can find them here, here and here. If mine doesn't fit your liking, try augmenting it with recommendations from the other recipes! Some call for more or less liquid. It depends on how sticky versus how porridge-y you want it to be. The less liquid you use, the less long it will keep. I suggest reducing liquid for dessert and adding more if you plan to eat this treat for breakfast.
3 champagne mangoes
2 cups brown sweet rice
2 cans coconut milk
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated ginger*
Water (about 3 cups)
Place rice in pot and cover with water. Let sit in water. I let it go for 4 hours and that is the general consensus so I would do it. People say it's fine if you let it sit for and hour or even 30 minutes.
DO NOT DRAIN! Add a can of coconut cream and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt and turn heat to medium high until water and cream come to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until rice absorbs all liquid.
Meanwhile, on stove stop, mix 1/2 teaspoon salt, second can of coconut cream brown sugar. Boil together making a coconut syrup. Once rice has absorbed all liquid, add half of the syrup and mix. Slice mangoes (a good tutorial here). Serve sticky rice along side mango and topped with the syrup.
*optional
Remember to enter the #AmericanGraceGiveaway for a chance to win a designer evening gown!
Dress Like a Diva: American Grace Evening Gown GIVEAWAY
My debut album, American Grace is on pre-sale now. One of the really fun part of being an opera singer is the dresses. But why should opera singers be the only ones to enjoy a ridiculous supply of sparkly chic clothing? It beats me.
To celebrate the release, FIVE is teaming makeup artist and stylist Leslie Storms so you can win a designer evening gown.
This is all you have to do.
Remember?
Remember that time we went to an magic island in Canada and all of the people were polite and the food was delicious and it was generally pretty sweet? No? I don't blame you, because we never put up any pictures of it, even though I have literally thousands of them. Here. These are for you:
Remember how we were all upset that morning but not with each other so it was actually alright? Remember deciding to have an absolutely perfect day just out of spite? Remember how much better that made everything?
Remember when we drove into town and Charity asked to street-preform with that boy who was handsome but only because he could play the piano so well and wore plaid and was polite. Remember when he said yes because it would have been rude not to and was so happy and surprised when Charity actually opened her mouth and sang like she does? Remember when we all sang along?
Remember when we ordered oysters on the half-shell and I ate one even though I usually don't and you told me it would taste like a salty kiss from the sea? Remember when I told you you were right about the oyster, but I still didn't like it?
Remember getting back just fine and seeing them read to the babies in the main room? Remember knocking on the window and then hiding just to scare them and then almost deciding to go skinny-dipping? Remember all the stars?
Remember how we were all upset that morning but not with each other so it was actually alright? Remember deciding to have an absolutely perfect day just out of spite? Remember how much better that made everything?
Remember when we saw lettuces and tiny baby radishes still in the ground and met the future King and Queen of England and then Prince William was all like -- "get your hand off of my wife's boob" and we were all like "no because actually you're a cardboard cutout and can't talk to us or tell us what to do" and his expression didn't even change even though that was a super rude thing for us to say?
Remember how we sat in all those places next to each other because we were wearing coordinating clothes and wanted everyone to see how cute we looked together but we never actually got a good picture of all five of us and I tried to hang my camera on a tree to use the self-timer but instead it fell off and almost broke? Remember how everybody's name was Will?
Remember when we drove into town and Charity asked to street-preform with that boy who was handsome but only because he could play the piano so well and wore plaid and was polite. Remember when he said yes because it would have been rude not to and was so happy and surprised when Charity actually opened her mouth and sang like she does? Remember when we all sang along?Remember when we ordered oysters on the half-shell and I ate one even though I usually don't and you told me it would taste like a salty kiss from the sea? Remember when I told you you were right about the oyster, but I still didn't like it?
Remember when we found the hat with red braids and we all pretended to be Anne of Green Gables? Remember how Momo bought Hettie one and whenever she wore it she'd become courteous and kind but also a little fiery and only answered to the name Anne? Remember the deep-sea diving shack that also sold the best lobster rolls you've ever tasted and pretty excellent salads too? Remember getting annoyed at all sorts of things that may or may not have mattered but still having a beautiful time?
Remember saying we wanted to walk back to the house but only because we didn't want to go in the car and didn't understand how far it was? Remember trying not to squash the tiny frogs as they hopped across the sidewalk? Remember being scared when we heard sounds coming from the forest and it getting so dark none of us could see and using Liberty's phone as a flashlight and all thinking to ourselves if a kidnapper or a rapist or a wild animal came out from the trees I'd stay and fight it so the rest of you could run away and get help and be safe?
Remember getting back just fine and seeing them read to the babies in the main room? Remember knocking on the window and then hiding just to scare them and then almost deciding to go skinny-dipping? Remember all the stars?