On Cuddling

Spring comes rolling in like a giant sternwheeler, finally reaching our port and we tend -- with the exhilarating warm air, inspired by bits of brave, early greenery and occasional rampant birdsong, our hearts loosened by squeaks and friskings of lambs and rotund puppies--to jump aboard with abandon.

Sweeping decisions are made in the early bright mornings. The sun peeks in the back windows in the afternoon and we dash inside and clean, at long last, the messy closet.

The anthills glitter with their little roadster bodies and we move all the house plants.

The sky shines blue and pristine for a few minutes and we weave ourselves into it by clearing out the underbrush.

Suddenly--ping, poing, ping--three yellow crocuses bloom amongst the old rocks from the mountains and we must mend and repair and sort out the workroom.

Wonderful!

We have survived the winter, all of us, and we can't help but feel the moving of the sun into our Springtime.

We receive the new long light and its gladness and the joy of it. And likewise the legs of our children are lengthening as they play, these afternoons, into the dusk where the lowering sun lights them up like angels, and where their voices, from a distance turn into a watery, natural music.

Homework, social cares, chores certainly, current events, all woes and sorrows forgotten in the easy hours after school.

Bicycles gleaming and ticking, circling the hoopsters and tininklers, kitty petters, dirt cooks, scorekeepers, chalk artists vying for space on the single magnetic square of asphalt in our neighborhood. It can be lovely.

And when it is, it is not to be infringed upon too soon by the time-bound pragmatists parents have become, especially mother hen types in full chick-gathering maneuvers.

Make some tea, I tell myself at times like this. Let them play. Sit down. Take advantage of this.

Then, when the hour truly presses and the yodels from kitchen doors all around begin to thin out the crowd, hopefully Family Enchiladas are ready to come out of the oven.

Have ready: l# grated good quality cheddar cheese, and refried beans, chicken, cooked and shopped, or ground beef, cooked and lightly seasoned, tofu marinated with garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Anything handy.

For garnishes, you can prepare salsa, guacamole, sour cream or yogurt, ripe olives, green onions.

The key is the sauce and here is my recipe, handed down through generations of Mexican women and bestowed upon me in a moment of great good fortune. The measuring is casual.

Using a heavy skillet, heat:

1/4 C. mild cooking oil

Saute:

1/2 large onion, diced

When the onion is translucent add:

2, 4, 6 cloves of garlic, finely minced

When they start to sizzle, add:

1 1/2 Tbsp. good ground cumin

1/2 to 1 tsp. mild red chili powder

Stir this around for about 30 seconds -- it gets dry. Add, and stir in:

1/4 C. white flour

Now it will start to glom up a bit.

With a whisk in one hand, add slowly to the mixture:

1 1/4 oz. can of chicken broth

1 C. water

You can use vegetable broth, too or just water. Allow this to simmer for five minutes or so, stirring frequently, over medium--low heat.

Taste and add salt and pepper to suit yourself, you can add salsa, green chilies, or tomatoes to it, but I just keep it simple.

Wrap your fillings in flour tortillas for a nice change, surround them with sauce, cover them with it and with cheese and olives, bake covered until the sauce bubbles, 20-25 minutes at 350.

Serve with those garnishes, Spanish rice, salad.

Now comes the cuddling part.