A real vacation, we said, and this time last week, we were hiking through rainforest on a small Caribbean island.

The forest floor was mossy, that greenest of green,

strewn with leaves as big as both our hands, as if the trees were operating on another scale as they grew from the volcanic rock,

and small white flowers, fallen from mountain cabbage plants (that lean on the sides of trees) dotted the path.

We were quiet, using sticks to guard against mudslide areas, and a little talked out – as happens when you have whole days to dream aloud together.

Suddenly, up ahead a goat appeared, as if to guide us through,

leading us into the sun,

to a good vantage point on the island’s runway, the shortest in the world.

Back in the rainforest, we felt as though we might never emerge, the way true vacations transport you from the life you know.

Soon after, we would glimpse translucent fish, pearlescent coral, and a sea turtle in a protected marine park dive in blue, blue water, and eat local Wahoo and Red Snapper our guide had caught.

Just then, though, was all green,

and we found spider webs. You know how I feel about spider webs…

If you do visit tiny Saba, the Queen’s Gardens Resort is the place to stay. We were well looked after; the property managers’ competence is unparalleled. The entire island is an excellent example of ecotourism. Thanks to K for a beautiful week.

The spider webs on the porch glinted from every angle last night as I considered the squat little squash that make me smile when they appear at farmers’ markets.

I’ll concede it’s precious, but stuffing is the best use of this squash shape, and the little green vessels sit regally on top of a bed of corn and new potatoes—potatoes to match the quinoa, an Incan grain, that is one of the smallest whole grains (amaranth works well here too), a complete protein, and one that cooks quickly.

To make this, heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and prepare half a cup of dry quinoa in a separate pan while making the filling.

Filling: use two or three round squash (per person, this recipe is for one) and cut the top off about half an inch from the stem, scooping out the inside (leave a quarter of an inch of squash flesh inside).

In a tablespoon of oil, sauté half an onion until translucent, add the diced squash insides, a pinch of crushed red pepper, salt, and cook 4-5 min on medium.

Stir the onions and squash into the finished quinoa, add a diced tomato and its juice (this keeps it moist inside the squash), half a diced avocado, a clove of minced garlic, and a few chiffonaded squash blossoms, if possible. Stir.

Spoon into squash, recap squash, place in small baking dish with a quarter of an inch of water in the bottom to steam the squash while they roast. Cook 45 min, serve, roasting the corn and potatoes in a separate dish alongside the squash or in a pan on top of the stove.

While many vegetables work well in this stuffing, I like what is at market nearest the squash best. It seems wrong to me to stuff these with meat, as some recipes call for, as the squash are so good filled with the tiny popping quinoa and, ah, squash that then tastes of the tomatoes, garlic, warmed avocado, and hot summer nights…

This recipe is dedicated to my good friend Ben, who has been cooking without dairy lately, and the talented (and hilarious) writers of Vegansaurus.

As we corner in on a long weekend, the rains have increased to their usual frequency for this time of year, bringing out spiders,

and reviving plants I watched wilting earlier in the week.

Here’s to a few days framed with sun, as we turn toward restorative summer—

Why are there so very many spider webs on kthread?

This is how my day begins—with morning webs draped across cacti like necklaces tossed off by flappers, the many strands tangled after a night’s revelry (certainly explains the dew),

or hovering like white noise,

catching stray new light as though a cornet,

and often working from underneath, the spiders tool coded strands,

attentive only to the attached lines, while I am easily distracted by the circular and hexagonal bokeh that imprint the air like softened measures from celestas…

Last night, I watched eight philosphers riff on meaning in the film Examined Life playing at the Miami Beach Cinematheque on Espanola Way. Likely I’ll frequent this ongoing film festival and the crêpe place next door, where my fabulous friend Dianna and I discussed the film, and deliberations, community spaces, and the transient realities of Miami.

This morning, I woke hoping to find the purple, diaphanous dress of my dreams (where is that sewing machine?) in the closet to match these Janus-like water hyacinths that bloom in the ponds around the magic cottage in April and August.

Last year, I compared these to a data visualization using the Many Eyes tool; this year, upon closer examination, even the stems seem to sparkle—stunning the closer you lean in (see the larger version here).

From one stem, the petals face in many directions (Janus was the god of doors and beginnings) like the stance scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah takes in the film and his work that the cosmopolitan citizen understands multiple ideologies and ways of sorting the world as equally valid.

And in our continuing coverage of spider web season, here’s a new web for your Saturday—