The Evening of the 4th

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which nothing much happens

Speaker 1 you feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep

Speaker 1 i'm catherine nikolai

Speaker 1 i write and read all the stories you hear on nothing much happens

Speaker 1 with audio engineering by Bob Wittercheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a a different charity each week and this week we are giving to Save the Chimps.

Speaker 1 Save the Chimps is one of the largest chimpanzee sanctuaries in the world whose mission is to provide sanctuary and exemplary care to chimpanzees in need.

Speaker 1 You can learn more about them in our show notes.

Speaker 1 I send a big thank you to our premium subscribers. We wouldn't be able to produce the show without you.
And we hope you are enjoying the latest bonus episode called Window Boxes.

Speaker 1 I loved writing it. It felt like creating a little botanical clubhouse just for us.

Speaker 1 If you'd like to become a member and come meet us in the clubhouse, we'd love to have you.

Speaker 1 Follow the link in our show notes.

Speaker 1 The first month is on us.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 busy minds need a place to rest and a way to become less busy.

Speaker 1 That's what I have for you.

Speaker 1 A soft, positive technique for settling your thoughts and sending you to sleep.

Speaker 1 As this is a form of brain training, come with some patience if you are new to it

Speaker 1 and know that the response will become stronger over time.

Speaker 1 All you need to do is listen. I'll tell the story twice and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night, don't hesitate to restart the episode.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called the Evening of the Fourth.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a day-long event that ends with a picnic and a concert on the grass.

Speaker 1 It's also about hand pies and potato salad, a busy kitchen full of aproned volunteers,

Speaker 1 the sound of instruments tuning up on the patio, thyme and lemon zest,

Speaker 1 and the satisfaction of sharing good times with your neighbors.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 lights out, y'all.

Speaker 1 Let it sink in

Speaker 1 that the day is over.

Speaker 1 That

Speaker 1 it was what it was.

Speaker 1 And now we are here.

Speaker 1 Nothing left to do or keep track of.

Speaker 1 Nothing needed from you.

Speaker 1 You have done enough.

Speaker 1 Draw a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Again, inhale

Speaker 1 and release it.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 The evening of the fourth

Speaker 1 From inside the kitchens

Speaker 1 I could hear the band tuning up

Speaker 1 our small but beloved village orchestra.

Speaker 1 A scrappy group of all ages musicians,

Speaker 1 with just enough instruments to qualify,

Speaker 1 was set up on the stone patio.

Speaker 1 I could hear the cello's voice

Speaker 1 as it fell into tune beside the French horn and clarinet.

Speaker 1 I leaned closer to the window,

Speaker 1 inching it open a bit more,

Speaker 1 and heard the occasional scratch of a chair leg

Speaker 1 sliding over the stone.

Speaker 1 A music stand pulled closer,

Speaker 1 and the murmur of voices as they prepared to play.

Speaker 1 The day had taken quite a bit of planning

Speaker 1 but everything seemed to be falling into place.

Speaker 1 We were here at the village museum.

Speaker 1 This great old house

Speaker 1 with acres of lawns and gardens,

Speaker 1 and a reflecting pond full of koi,

Speaker 1 all of which were now being toured

Speaker 1 and enjoyed

Speaker 1 by what seemed to be nearly every one of the village residents.

Speaker 1 There had been an arts and crafts fair earlier in the day,

Speaker 1 with booths and stands set up in the carriage house.

Speaker 1 There was face painting for the kids and some of us adults. I myself had a few butterflies fluttering across my cheek

Speaker 1 and lemonade and snacks

Speaker 1 around nearly every corner.

Speaker 1 The day had been well attended,

Speaker 1 but the crowd grew even bigger

Speaker 1 for this evening's concert on the lawn and picnic.

Speaker 1 I'd been here since the morning,

Speaker 1 baking and helping with the kitchen duties.

Speaker 1 And what fun it was to work

Speaker 1 in this grand old house's restored kitchens.

Speaker 1 There was a huge open hearth, beautiful but unlit in today's heat.

Speaker 1 Spacious marble-topped counters to work on.

Speaker 1 Gleaming copper pans hanging from hooks,

Speaker 1 and open shelves with beautiful ceramic mixing bowls and porcelain platters.

Speaker 1 A baker's dream.

Speaker 1 The kitchen was turning out a lot of food to day

Speaker 1 cookies and hand pies for the snack tables,

Speaker 1 but also entire packed picnic baskets for tonight's dinner.

Speaker 1 My partner in dineing

Speaker 1 was my good friend Chef,

Speaker 1 who was usually cooking up magical meals at the inn on the lake.

Speaker 1 We'd worked together a few summers back on a wedding,

Speaker 1 and ever since then

Speaker 1 we'd been finding new culinary adventures to share in.

Speaker 1 They oversaw the savories.

Speaker 1 I superintended the sweets and baked goods.

Speaker 1 And we'd each brought a few volunteers to help.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper herself

Speaker 1 had been assigned about a hundred pounds of potatoes to peel

Speaker 1 for chef's potato salad and had been a very good sport about it.

Speaker 1 I'd supplied her with a couple of lemon tarts to keep her strength up.

Speaker 1 We'd made chickpea salad sandwiches on soft chiabata,

Speaker 1 topped with dressed arugula and toasted sesame seeds,

Speaker 1 along with the potato salad, which was the traditional type with pickles and onion.

Speaker 1 There was pasta salad, full of ripe cherry tomatoes and basil,

Speaker 1 and an herby olive oil dressing.

Speaker 1 I'd made a new recipe.

Speaker 1 Corn muffins flavored with lemon zest and thyme.

Speaker 1 They were just a tad sweet and went perfectly with the rest of the meal.

Speaker 1 They could even serve as dessert when spread with the whipped maple cream

Speaker 1 I'd packed into jam jars.

Speaker 1 Coolers outside were stocked with ice cream bars we'd made ahead.

Speaker 1 Coconut and raspberry swirled together and dipped in dark chocolate

Speaker 1 to send everyone home with a sweet taste in their mouths.

Speaker 1 There had been moments when we'd scrambled. There always are in a kitchen during a big event.

Speaker 1 But the mood had stayed sunny,

Speaker 1 even when we were all working like mad.

Speaker 1 Now as the band began to play,

Speaker 1 I shooed the others out to enjoy themselves,

Speaker 1 to eat and share in the entertainment.

Speaker 1 I wiped down a stretch of marble and rinsed my cloth under the tap.

Speaker 1 We'd have a good bit of cleaning still to do, but had all agreed to come back tomorrow to button everything up.

Speaker 1 I hung the cloth on a hook and dimmed the lights,

Speaker 1 noticing the colors of the sunset through the tall windows.

Speaker 1 I didn't take my my apron off, not yet.

Speaker 1 I just needed to go out onto the lawn and see for myself

Speaker 1 that folks were enjoying their meals,

Speaker 1 that no one needed anything further,

Speaker 1 that we hadn't forgotten anything.

Speaker 1 The halls of the great house were quiet and dim.

Speaker 1 They held the energy of the moment after the busyness,

Speaker 1 the lull

Speaker 1 between preparation and cleanup.

Speaker 1 It felt soft and cool.

Speaker 1 I passed the solarium,

Speaker 1 the twinkle lights glowing among the leafy trees and bright petaled flowers.

Speaker 1 Through open French doors from the drawing room, I stepped out onto the patio.

Speaker 1 I stood for a moment,

Speaker 1 my hands on my hips,

Speaker 1 scanning across the sloping lawn

Speaker 1 to take in the clumps of visitors

Speaker 1 sitting on blankets or benches,

Speaker 1 chewing slowly as they listened to the music.

Speaker 1 I recognized the composition.

Speaker 1 It was an original composed by the band teacher at the high school for a parade a few years back.

Speaker 1 It had since become a sort of village theme.

Speaker 1 It was played on the organ at baseball games.

Speaker 1 I'd heard it over the speakers at the finish line of the Village 5K,

Speaker 1 and a jangly version of it could be heard emitting from ice cream trucks

Speaker 1 as they slowly rolled through town streets.

Speaker 1 I couldn't help the beaming, proud smile that spread over my face.

Speaker 1 I was proud of this day

Speaker 1 and the event we'd worked so hard to put on.

Speaker 1 And I was proud to be part of this little village

Speaker 1 that played so well together.

Speaker 1 I started to stride through the crowd,

Speaker 1 bending down to say hello to friends and bakery customers that I recognized.

Speaker 1 I checked to see what people thought of the muffins,

Speaker 1 of the Chiabada bread,

Speaker 1 the hand pies and tarts.

Speaker 1 I took compliments, even the ones meant for Chef, graciously,

Speaker 1 nodding my acknowledgment with a cheeky smile.

Speaker 1 I saw an arm waving at me from a blanket on the edge of the yard

Speaker 1 and ambled over to find Chef unpacking a very full basket.

Speaker 1 Come on, they said.

Speaker 1 Family meal.

Speaker 1 I chuckled.

Speaker 1 Yes, it was our turn to eat.

Speaker 1 I finally untied my apron and lifted it off my neck.

Speaker 1 I kicked off my shoes and settled down on the blanket beside them.

Speaker 1 They fixed me a plate

Speaker 1 and handed it over.

Speaker 1 And we found paper cups to fill with lemonade and toast each other.

Speaker 1 The food was delicious.

Speaker 1 The air was cool

Speaker 1 and full of sweet music.

Speaker 1 And the stars were just beginning to shine.

Speaker 1 The evening of the fourth.

Speaker 1 From inside the kitchens,

Speaker 1 I could hear the band tuning up

Speaker 1 our small but beloved

Speaker 1 village orchestra.

Speaker 1 A scrappy group of all-age musicians

Speaker 1 with just enough instruments to qualify

Speaker 1 was set up on the stone patio.

Speaker 1 I could hear the cello's voice

Speaker 1 as it fell into tune

Speaker 1 beside the French horn and clarinet.

Speaker 1 I leaned closer to the window,

Speaker 1 pinching it open a bit more,

Speaker 1 and heard the occasional scratch

Speaker 1 of a chair leg

Speaker 1 sliding over the stone,

Speaker 1 a music stand pulled closer,

Speaker 1 and the murmur of voices as they prepared to play.

Speaker 1 The day had taken quite a bit of planning

Speaker 1 but everything seemed to be falling into place

Speaker 1 We were at the village museum

Speaker 1 a great old house

Speaker 1 with acres of lawns and gardens

Speaker 1 and a reflecting pond full of koi,

Speaker 1 all of which were now being toured

Speaker 1 and enjoyed

Speaker 1 by

Speaker 1 what seemed to be

Speaker 1 nearly everyone

Speaker 1 of the village residents.

Speaker 1 There had been an arts and crafts fair

Speaker 1 earlier in the day,

Speaker 1 with booths and stands set up in the carriage house.

Speaker 1 There was face painting for the kids

Speaker 1 and some of us adults.

Speaker 1 I myself

Speaker 1 had a few butterflies fluttering across my cheek

Speaker 1 and lemonade and snacks around nearly every corner

Speaker 1 the day had been well attended

Speaker 1 but the crowd grew even bigger for this evening's concert on the lawn

Speaker 1 and picnic

Speaker 1 I'd been here since the morning,

Speaker 1 baking

Speaker 1 and helping with the kitchen duties

Speaker 1 And what fun it was

Speaker 1 to work in this grand old house's restored kitchens

Speaker 1 There was a huge open hearth,

Speaker 1 beautiful, but unlit in today's heat,

Speaker 1 spacious marble-topped counters to work on,

Speaker 1 gleaming copper pans

Speaker 1 hanging from hooks,

Speaker 1 and open shelves

Speaker 1 with beautiful ceramic mixing bowls

Speaker 1 and porcelain platters,

Speaker 1 a baker's dream.

Speaker 1 The kitchen was turning out

Speaker 1 a lot of food today.

Speaker 1 Cookies

Speaker 1 and hand pies for the snack tables,

Speaker 1 but also entire packed picnic baskets

Speaker 1 for tonight's dinner.

Speaker 1 My partner in dyning

Speaker 1 was my good friend chef,

Speaker 1 who usually was cooking up magical meals

Speaker 1 at the inn on the lake.

Speaker 1 We'd worked together a few summers back

Speaker 1 on a wedding,

Speaker 1 and ever since then

Speaker 1 we'd been finding new

Speaker 1 culinary adventures to share in.

Speaker 1 They oversaw the savories.

Speaker 1 I superintended the sweets and baked goods.

Speaker 1 And we'd each brought a few volunteers to help.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper herself

Speaker 1 had been assigned about a hundred pounds of potatoes to peel

Speaker 1 for chef's potato salad

Speaker 1 and had been a very good sport about it.

Speaker 1 I'd supplied her with a couple of lemon tarts

Speaker 1 to keep her strength up.

Speaker 1 We'd made chickpea salad sandwiches

Speaker 1 on soft chiabata,

Speaker 1 topped with dressed arugula

Speaker 1 and toasted sesame seeds,

Speaker 1 along with the potato salad,

Speaker 1 which was the traditional type

Speaker 1 with pickles and onion.

Speaker 1 There was pasta salad,

Speaker 1 full of ripe cherry tomatoes and basil,

Speaker 1 and a herby olive oil dressing.

Speaker 1 I'd made a new recipe.

Speaker 1 Corn muffins,

Speaker 1 flavored with lemon zest. and thyme.

Speaker 1 They were just a tad sweet

Speaker 1 and went perfectly with the rest of the meal.

Speaker 1 They could even serve as dessert

Speaker 1 when spread with the whipped maple cream

Speaker 1 I'd packed into small jam jars.

Speaker 1 Coolers outside

Speaker 1 were stocked

Speaker 1 with ice cream bars

Speaker 1 that we'd made ahead.

Speaker 1 Coconut and raspberry

Speaker 1 swirled together

Speaker 1 and dipped in dark chocolate

Speaker 1 to send everyone home

Speaker 1 with a sweet taste in their mouths.

Speaker 1 There had been moments when we'd scrambled.

Speaker 1 There always are in kitchens during a big event.

Speaker 1 But the mood had stayed sunny,

Speaker 1 even

Speaker 1 when we were all working like mad.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 as the band began to play,

Speaker 1 I shooed the others out

Speaker 1 to enjoy themselves,

Speaker 1 to eat

Speaker 1 and share in the entertainment.

Speaker 1 I wiped down a stretch of marble

Speaker 1 and rinsed my cloth under the tap.

Speaker 1 We'd have a good bit of cleaning to do,

Speaker 1 but had all agreed to come back to morrow

Speaker 1 to button everything up.

Speaker 1 I hung the cloth on a hook

Speaker 1 and dimmed the lights,

Speaker 1 noticing the colours of the sunset

Speaker 1 through the tall windows.

Speaker 1 I didn't take my apron off,

Speaker 1 not yet.

Speaker 1 I just needed to go out onto the lawn

Speaker 1 and see for myself

Speaker 1 that folks were enjoying their meals,

Speaker 1 that no one needed

Speaker 1 anything further,

Speaker 1 that we hadn't forgotten anything.

Speaker 1 The halls of the great house

Speaker 1 were quiet and dim.

Speaker 1 They held the energy of the moment after the busyness,

Speaker 1 the lull

Speaker 1 between preparation and cleanup.

Speaker 1 It felt soft and cool.

Speaker 1 I passed the solarium,

Speaker 1 the twinkle lights glowing among the leafy trees

Speaker 1 and bright petaled flowers.

Speaker 1 Through open French doors

Speaker 1 from the drawing room, room,

Speaker 1 I stepped out onto the patio.

Speaker 1 I stood for a moment,

Speaker 1 my hands on my hips,

Speaker 1 scanning across the sloping lawn

Speaker 1 to take in the clumps of visitors

Speaker 1 sitting on blankets or benches,

Speaker 1 chewing slowly as they listened to the music.

Speaker 1 I recognized the composition.

Speaker 1 It was an original

Speaker 1 composed by the band teacher at the high school

Speaker 1 for a parade a few years back.

Speaker 1 It had since become a sort of village theme.

Speaker 1 It was played on the organ

Speaker 1 at baseball games.

Speaker 1 I'd heard it over the speakers at the finish line of the village 5K.

Speaker 1 And a jangly version of it could be heard emitting from ice cream trucks

Speaker 1 as they slowly rolled through town.

Speaker 1 I couldn't help

Speaker 1 the beaming, proud smile

Speaker 1 that spread over my face.

Speaker 1 I was proud of this day

Speaker 1 and the event

Speaker 1 that we'd worked so hard to put on

Speaker 1 and I was proud to be part

Speaker 1 of this little village

Speaker 1 that played so well together

Speaker 1 I started to stride through the crowd

Speaker 1 bending down to say hello

Speaker 1 to friends and bakery customers that I recognized.

Speaker 1 I checked to see what people thought of the muffins,

Speaker 1 of the ciabata bread,

Speaker 1 the hand pies and tarts.

Speaker 1 I took compliments,

Speaker 1 even the ones meant for chef,

Speaker 1 graciously,

Speaker 1 nodding my acknowledgement

Speaker 1 with a cheeky smile.

Speaker 1 I saw an arm waving from a blanket

Speaker 1 on the edge of the yard

Speaker 1 and ambled over to find Chef

Speaker 1 unpacking

Speaker 1 a very full basket.

Speaker 1 Come on, they said.

Speaker 1 Family meal.

Speaker 1 I chuckled.

Speaker 1 Yes, it was our turn to eat.

Speaker 1 I finally untied my apron

Speaker 1 and lifted it off my neck.

Speaker 1 I kicked off my shoes

Speaker 1 and settled down beside them.

Speaker 1 They fixed me a plate

Speaker 1 and handed it over.

Speaker 1 And we found paper cups to fill with lemonade

Speaker 1 and toast each other.

Speaker 1 The food was delicious.

Speaker 1 The air was cool

Speaker 1 and full of sweet music.

Speaker 1 And the stars were just beginning to shine.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.