Samois is sleepy under a heavy grey sky today. The village is beautiful, almost medieval. It was a station for barges on the Siene and other than doors and shutters, everything is made of stone—houses, roads, walls.  Along the river by the village is a tiny island where there is a jazz festival every summer. Django Reinhardt lived here, and the festival honors his influence. Down the the little one-way road we walk to the river, half-full with tiny cars. Some of the doors on the homes are barely five feet tall. Behind the homes are sometimes public paths and fields with winter vegetables and tall grass. We walked along “Ruelles” which means little street. The town is picturesque, and somewhat disheveled, with dying summer overgrowth, leaves and vines.

After breakfast my brother in law shows me his son's nursery school He introduced me to the staff at the little daycare, so that I could pick him up later. It was very clean and cute and to me, rather institutional, with an office, rows of lockers, and a playroom separate from a sleeping room. Its not like a home, typical of American daycare. It’s a tiny person’s school, imparting structure and ritual to the day, from “home-made” meals to naptime, outdoor time and playtime.
We are all writing.

During our walk my sister and I reminisched about moments of childhood like driving to Alaska and moving into the house which was under construction. We remembered Sawdust Baby, our first doll we made of wood shavings from the house, and the clothing mom made for us. And how mom could go for hours singing songs-- sea chanties, labor work songs, spirituals, yiddish and Isreali songs. When Mom called she  told us her new, no-fail pot pie recipe based on a Mexican dish.

“It starts out with knowing you have leftover beans and spagetti from previous nights. You bake this in a medium sized stone casserole dish.

Make your dough:
2 c. flour
1/2 c oil
1/2 c. milk or sou rcream or yogurt

Roll dough out and lay it in the bottom of the casserole, press into the dough some fresh rosemary. Layer the bottom with swiss or cheddar cheese (to prevent the bottom of the crust from softening). Layer on black beans, friend onions and garlic and any leftover vegetables like spinach or chicken sprinkle with dabs of sour cream top layer is either spagetti or another cooked pasta. Cover with pesto or pasta sauce, then one more layer of cheese and worchestire sauce, then layer on the top crust and sprinkle with a little bit of chili powder. It’s the mix of beans and pasta that makes it so wonderful”

We crack up with laughter about the idea of using leftover pasta, but we both write it down.