Go plant that seed, man. Plant it with your finger.

Summers in Michigan are rivaled by few things in my book. Spending time on patios, or more accurately, apartment balconies, has brought much joy and peace to my life as friends and I navigated college, then grad school, then the shock that we were adults. Or more accurately, no longer in grad school. How wonderful it would be, I’ve thought, to take (better. more consistent.) note of the many elements that make our “patio living” what it is.


WHAT IF WE HAD A MAGAZINE?!

Anyone know how to make a magazine?

No?

A blog it is.


The hug-like breezes and lilac bushes and lost out-of-towners asking to be pointed toward Zingerman’s lay the foundation, but friends and I build upon these Ann Arbor givens. We eat. We get drunk. And a lot of the time, we do these things with more creativity than would really be required. How wonderful, instead of keeping this amateur homemaking magic to myself, to share it and showcase it, and hopefully strengthen my cooking or gardening muscles along the way. Not making any promises here. But I would welcome a reason to expand on my current culinary repertoire of … bread and cheese.

Last summer, I thought I might produce such a collection. I made lists. I ate and drank a lot. (Research.) And totally did not go to a free class at the library branch about blogging, only to find out that only old ladies go to classes like that because everyone in our generation already knows basic computer skills but really it was ok because I was unemployed at the time and that was like the only social contact I had that day. Totally did not do that. But alas, I lost steam. I needed to find an apartment and move and work and then the summer was over. But hark! Not ONLY have my dear friends Michelle and Diana set wonderful examples by sharing their writing. Not ONLY do I have a continued, if not heightened, interest in eating and drinking and DIY decorating. Not ONLY does Better Homes and Gardens still “do it” for me after all our years together. But this summer, unlike all summers before, I will be moving into a new (to us) (rental) home with my man (we’ll call him Charles). Excited is an understatement. And with that, I have a new fire under my ass to be a kickass (say “ass” again.) cook and bartender and container gardener and DJ and all around patio ninja.

So here we are! After a cold winter and a series of cruel jokes posing as spring, summer is just about here. And so is Patio Living, a journey in eating, drinking, sitting, growing, and jamming, all on patios.  Or porches. Or apartment balconies or whatever you’ve got.

As a first endeavor, I’ve ripped last year’s dead herbs out of the windowbox. I have planted new seeds. Basil. Cilantro. Chives and oregano, and thyme.  (I regret to report, Josh, that your confidence about them lasting through the winter was unwarranted. I admire your optimism.)

Let’s do this.
McDrew