Kimball & Bean Newsletter	April 2, 2008

in this issue

:: You Can Lead A Horse To Water...

:: Chicago Botanic Garden Antiques And Garden Show

:: New York Botanical Garden Antique Garden Furniture Show And Sale

Greetings!

The sun is shining and it is my birthday. Sometimes at my age, that is just about enough.

I was feeling a little wistful last night so I decide to go through my childhood dossier. You know, all those baby pictures and report cards your parents are supposed to stuff into a used manila envelope and store in a box under the stairs? Something was wrong. Almost no pictures and the entire record seemed to just end around 1968. Where had it all gone? Was it vandalized by my jealous siblings? Had I been sent away for further testing after elementary school?

Then I found it - an obscure "plank" from the 1964 Republican Party Platform that my dad had clipped from his commemorative copy and tucked into my file:

Any children born to families containing at least two children already or children born to parents that have previously attained the minimum age of thirty-five are hereby declared responsible for the preservation of their own childhood records... qualifying parents may now retire out of earshot - with cocktails.

I've never let the fact that I just missed being born on April fools day stop me from participating in more than my share of foolish behavior. Maybe it was that AARP card that came two years early, but this year on my birthday, I'm playing it safe. No airplane trip to a restaurant in Rhode Island, no exotic foods shipped in from around the world.

We're having a slightly updated (mostly local ingredients and no margarine or MSG) version of the meal my family might have had the day of my birth in 1960. Ice cold beer from Milwaukee; perfectly grilled hamburgers from Willow Lea Stock Farm in Greenwood, IL served on soft and chewy pita buns from Le Petite Marche in Crystal Lake, IL; a little of Southern Illinois' first fresh asparagus oven roasted and just touched with a grating of parmesan on top; And finally, the Pièce de résistance, Nancy's fabulously lemony Lemon bundt cake made from a recipe in Cooks Illustrated.

Life can be pretty good, if you just let it be.

Wish you were here,

Beau

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