In the Good Old Summertime

I love the slower pace of summer, don’t you? Fewer meetings and rehearsals, more leisure time to read (or write and rewrite), to take a day trip to someplace nearby, or simply to breathe. I have an interesting book to suggest, a yummy salad you might enjoy, and birthdays to note.

Do you remember reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in high school? It was often required reading, and it came to mind when I recently read James by Percival Everett. James received the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction along with many other awards. It’s a re-imagining of Mark Twain’s novel but told from the perspective of Huck’s friend Jim, an escaped slave.

The first third of the book sticks close to Twain’s original plot, and returning to Jackson’s Island was like revisiting a familiar haunt. But Everett takes the story in new directions such as when Jim is sold to the Virginia Minstrels as their new tenor. Picture this: Jim is a light brown black man painted black to appear like a white man trying to pass for black! Twain didn’t dramatize the racist brutality of antebellum America. Everett does, but it’s not overdone. You might find this an interesting book to read this summer, or dig up a copy of Huck Finn and leaf through it again.

Broccoli Cranberry Salad with Greek Yogurt Dressing
Salad Ingredients:

• 6 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• Asian-Style Crunchy Noodles one cup

Greek Yogurt Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup mayo
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

• Whisk together dressing.
• Mix all salad ingredients except noodles.
• Add as much dressing as needed to moisten the salad, but not soak it.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours. Add crunchy noodles right before serving. Note: If you plan on leftovers, don’t add noddles to the salad as they get soggy overnight. Instead sprinkle noodles on top of each serving.

Serves 4-6 and can easily be doubled.

On to the birthdays. I celebrated a big one last weekend . . .

What a luscious cake, but a crown? Are you kidding me? Honestly, it was kinda fun. Best part was having both kids in town with us and a few friends to share cake and ice cream followed by dinner on the Plaza. Best day ever.

This Friday will be America’s 249th birthday. We will have a low key celebration since we “partied hearty” last weekend but no doubt the grill will get fired up and fire works will shoot off somewhere. I hope you have a wonderful weekend remembering our country’s founding and celebrating its birthday. Fly your flag.

I have been reworking the plot of the next Lila book. That’s another way of saying I’ve changed my mind more than once and used the delete key a lot the past few weeks, but I think my latest idea has legs. Ever upward and onward!

Until next time . . .