I think I hit writer’s block sometime ago and that’s why i haven’t been able to sit down and blog for a while. But in the last couple of days, I had to complete an assignment for a writing class i’m taking. It’s a six week 2-hour session/week writing class at a School of Continuing Education and it’s for anyone who wants to get their feet wet with short fiction and learn the basics in the process. So last night was our third session and we had to submit two 2-page sketches describing a scene. One had to be a setting we actually experienced and the other, a product of our imagination. It took me forever to sit down and write them but they were brewing up in my head the entire week, so i wasn’t fully procrastinating… just a little bit. I think they turned out all right; at least i hope the professor doesn’t rip them apart too much. But the point is: this class and writing these sketches did what i wanted it to do for me—made me sit down and write and break through the block that has formed months ago and hasn’t allowed me to get back to this medium and share my thoughts about my life.

There was a fourth wedding in Atlanta that took place in the beginning of September. I officiated that one as well. My close friend got married and i felt honored to be a part of her ceremony and her wedding weekend. I really enjoyed Atlanta as well, and did a little bit of exploration of it on foot and also on my last day when we went to the Botanical gardens and enjoyed a sunny day relaxing among the flowers and sculptures of Henry Moore. This fourth wedding was a planned one and was supposed to be the last one for me for a while, but i was pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago by my uncle who asked me to perform a very small and very private ceremony for himself and his bride at a very unusual venue—5,000 feet above ground in a tiny little airplane owned and piloted by his good friend.

Here are a few of pictures that will do a better job of describing this incredible experience for me than my words could.
The graceful, little four-seater plane getting gassed up for the journey

Excited before take off. And also a bit anxious. But mostly excited.

Woah! Going vertical and loving it. Probably the best part of the flight.
Touching the clouds
Getting married! Whoohooo!
Flying over the lake, looking back on shore.
Holly Hill
Best seat!
Back on solid ground after an amazing 50 min. journey.

Never thought that being asked to officiate one wedding this summer would lead to this fantastic and really, out of this world, experience.

Also wanted to share a very quick and easy recipe to make a fruit compote from frozen and fresh ingredients. I made it for the first time last night following my grandmother’s recipe and it turned out really nice, i think, at least i like it. Here’s what went into it:
Frozen cherries: rinse them once or twice in cold water and if you’re not as lazy as i am, take the pits out of them.
Fresh apples: no need to peel them but clean them out and cut them into small pieces, about an inch thick.
Frozen strawberries: rinse, clean, cut in halves or fourths
Frozen raspberries: no need to do anything to them before you toss them in
You can also throw in frozen blueberries if you have them. All the fruits can be frozen fresh and then used in the compote.

So fill a pot with cold water, toss in apples, cherries and strawberries and cook until it starts to boil at which point just lower the flame and keep it cooking at a low boil for 10-20 min, up to you. 10 minutes before turning off the compote, so 10, 20 min into cooking it, throw in the raspberries that way they might not completely disintegrate and will also add a great fresh flavor to the drink, instead of losing it completely if boiled the entire time. At this point you can taste your creation and decide on how much sugar to add. For a medium size pot that’s not filled to the brim, i’d start with three tablespoons of sugar, stir it up and try it again. It all depends on how sweet or how sour you like your compote. I used three tablespoons of brown sugar and it still came out somewhat sour but i like it. Without sugar it might not be tasty enough to drink. So some sugar is definitely a good idea. Right, so after tossing in raspberries, don’t cook for more than 10 min., turn off and let it cool on the stove for a few hours. Once it’s cooled down, transfer to a container and refrigerate and the next day you’ve got some lovely, fruit compote. The cooking process also fills the home with an awesome fragrance, which lingers for a while. ☺

Enjoy.