Sunday was the occasion of a reunion of our circle of friends that used to spend summers up in Westerly. We got together for dinner in Mamaroneck, the catalyst being Kelly who is visiting from San Francisco. The weather was cool and a little overcast almost perfectly evoking the idiosyncratic Rhode Island weather that we grew to love, cool foggy days were enjoyed as wholeheartedly as hot sunny ones. We had dinner on the porch at a long table surrounded by windows just like we used to on the porch of the Blue House. On the table, flowers from the garden- white Iberis and Rhododendron flowers with chartreuse Heuchera and Spirea foliage.
Dinners there were often simple barbecues dressed up with things that grew in the garden. This one was no different, there was oregano and thyme for the chicken, chives and chive flowers for the potatoes and the salad had thinnings from the vegetable beds- chard, spinach. The kids, toddlers then, now college age, put together the evening's playlist, uncannily remembering the eclectic mix from Tracy Chapman to Louis Prima that we used to play over and over, capturing the era and the soundtrack of all those summers. I don't remember all of Jim's toast that kicked off dinner, just the words friends, gardens and Rhodey. It's amazing how that place has provided and continues to provide us with such rare and vintage memories.
+ OGMedia:Chelsea Flower Show 2009
