Lydia Likes It

If I Were a Carpenter

In high school, I got my first -- my only -- acoustic guitar. I taught myself to play, and honestly, I never got very good, but I had loads of fun imagining myself a wandering hippie minstrel. One of the first songs I learned, If I Were a Carpenter, was written by Tim Hardin, who performed it live at Woodstock in 1969. Bobby Darin recorded it first, in 1966, and though his version was a commercial success, I've always loved the simplicity of Tim Hardin's own very first recording of it. An Earworm Award winner, if ever there was one. Here are the lyrics, in case you'd like to sing along.

 

If I were a carpenter
And you were a lady,
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?

 

If a tinker were my trade
Would you still find me,
Carrying the pots I made,
Following behind me?

 

Save my love for sorrow,

Save my love for lonely.

I've given you my tomorrow,

Love me only.

 

If I worked my hands in wood,
Would you still love me?
Answer me babe, "Yes I would,
I'll put you above me."

 

If I were a miller
At a mill wheel grinding,
Would you miss your color box,
And your soft shoe shining?

 

Save my love through loneliness,
Save my love for sorrow,
I've given you my onliness,
Come give your tomorrow.

 

If I were a carpenter
And you were a lady,
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?

The volunteering life {when it rains...}

After a month of not working in any ESOL classes, with no Spring classes on my calendar, I had a mild case of antsy-pants. I figured it was time to gently knock on some doors and see who might want some of my volunteer time. My criteria? Must be working with adults. Must be working with a teacher who is a good communicator and has clear goals. Must be walking distance from my apartment, if the class meets in person. 

I sent notes to two Chinatown agencies, the Boston Public Library, and two agencies with workforce-focused programs where I've volunteered before. And within a couple of days, I'd heard from both of the workforce agencies. Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), where I've been working for five years, offered two different classes serving international research fellows at Mass General Hospital. A new volunteer manager at the International Institute of New England invited me to meet and talk about ESOL opportunities in the more elementary classes there.

JVS offered me a place in an accent reduction class I've done before, with a teacher who's new to me and new to teaching this class. There are two cohorts, both meeting in the afternoon, and I signed on to do both. And then, just a few hours after I agreed to that, the teacher I've been working with for the past year and a half invited me to join her in a higher level class than the one we've been doing previously. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with her, and to learn what the higher level class is all about.

So bingo bongo, just like that, I'm doing three classes this Spring! Two afternoons and one early evening, each week. The accent reduction classes meet on Zoom, and for the higher level class, three of twelve sessions will be in person. I've told the International Institute that I'll be available in June or July, which gives us plenty of time to sort out what I might want to do in their refugee and immigrant program.

Power of the blog

Never underestimate the power of the blog. After I posted about my search for the perfect reading chairs, several of you sent suggestions for where/how to look for them. I wrote to Levenger, the company that sold the chairs, and several back-and-forths with customer service convinced me they had no secret graveyard of unsold, returned, or discontinued leather club chairs. I scoured big online sources for vintage chairs, Chairish and eBay and Etsy, and looked at new leather club chairs on dozens of sites. And then, quite by surprise, I received an email from someone who lives in Brookline, the next town over from Boston, saying he had two Levenger leather club chairs for sale! How did he know I was looking? He'd done a Google search to get more information about his chairs in preparation for listing them on Craigslist, and my blog post popped up. When he realized the post was recent, he reached out to me. Yes, he had a matched pair, ten years old, both recliners (a bonus), lovingly cared for, with only slight wear, quite similar to the chairs of my dreams. Redecoration of his condo meant the oh-so-comfortable chairs no longer fit, and might I like to come and try them out? Two days later my husband Ted and I were sitting, reclining, relaxing, dreaming of them in the new configuration we plan for our own living room. We made a deal, paid for the chairs, and now will figure out how to get them moved here, and we feel great knowing we're recycling and giving these beautiful chairs a second life.

Read All About It

Every now and then, I love to immerse myself in books of a particular type or on a related theme. Lately, I've been revisiting some old favorites about Boston, where I have lived for the past 45 years, and collecting on my iPad a few that are new to me. These ten books, fiction and nonfiction, explore busing, homelessness, politics, history, corruption, race, jazz, and ducks. Click on the links to learn more about each of them; all are available in a variety of formats, and at your local public library.

Common Ground (J. Anthony Lukas 1995)

Rough Sleepers (Tracy Kidder 2023)

Make Way for Ducklings (Robert McCloskey 1941)

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (Nick Flynn 2005)

Boston: Voices and Visions (Shaun O’Connell, editor 2010)

Boston Boy: Growing Up with Jazz and Other Rebellious Passions (Nat Hentoff 1986)

The Boston Girl (Anita Diamant 2015)

Wild Women of Boston: Mettle and Moxie in the Hub (Diana Vargo 2015)

The Last Hurrah (Edwin O’Connor 1956)

Caucasia (Danzy Senna 1999)

For pure fun, lose yourself in Robert B. Parker's Spenser books, or the Carlotta Carlyle mysteries by Linda Barnes (thanks to my friend Phyllis, for reminding me how much I enjoy both of these series).

What are your favorite Boston books? Leave them in the comments below, so we can share.

Turkey and cole slaw stir-fry

Cooking doesn't get any easier than this recipe for a satisfying, and low-carb, stir fry of ground turkey or beef, sliced mushrooms and a bag of cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots -- not the prepared cole slaw with mayo!) from the supermarket. It calls for seasonings you probably have in your refrigerator, and Bachan's Japanese barbecue sauce, which isn't entirely necessary but ups the deliciousness by at least one thousand percent. You can substitute impossible meat, or even tofu, for the meat, and serve it on its own, or over steamed rice or rice noodles. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey (or beef, or impossible meat, or tofu)
2 tsp oil, any type (if using beef, you don't need oil)
1 small onion, chopped
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms, any type, or 2 4-oz cans sliced mushrooms, drained
1 14-oz bag cole slaw mix, or equivalent amount of thinly shredded cabbage
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp Sriracha
Bachan's Original Japanese BBQ Sauce, or hoisin sauce (optional)
Bachan's Hot and Spicy Japanese BBQ Sauce (optional), or more Sriracha

Directions

Heat a wok or large frying pan. Add the oil (no oil if you're using ground beef), then the turkey. Stir fry the turkey, breaking up any large bits, until it's no longer pink. Add the onion and mushrooms, and continue to stir occasionally for 2 minutes, until onions are translucent and the mushrooms are no longer raw. Then, add the bag of cole slaw mix. Pour in the soy sauce, rice vinegar and Sriracha. Stir, bringing the hot meat up and over the cole slaw until the cabbage wilts. Taste, and add more Sriracha if needed. Serve in individual bowls, and drizzle with Japanese BBQ sauces, to taste.