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  My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| My niece's husband, around 32 or 33, had a heart attack while driving Thursday, with both kids in the truck. The kids are okay. He has not waked up as of Sunday night. He was healthy with no symptoms. He's been clearing land to make a small farm, but had just made an offer on a slightly larger farm, contingent on the sale of the current property the day before the accident. Thank goodness for functioning carseats and that the kids were properly belted in. They are ages 18 months and three going on four. They have no idea what they went through. They are currently staying with their aunt and three cousins, so they're having a great time. This younger niece is very calm and keeps good control of all the kids. She had just been out to help clean the house for viewing by buyers. He hasn't been able to tell anyone his version of it, but the police claimed they responded quickly, having someone in the area already. He had the presence of mind to steer off the road and brake a little, because he ended up on the shoulder against the guard rail. Someone saw it happen and called it in, but kept on going. My niece won't leave his side and needs rest. His mother, brother and sister have come in from several hours away. She could take shifts with them, but so far, not. The brain scans and tests show that he has brain activity and responds to stimuli. He was iced down at first, but once all organs were stabilized and his blood pressure was normal, they warmed him up again, but he still is not responding. He's been a part of my family for over ten years now. This is devastating to all of us. I worry about the kids, my niece, and my brother, too. He's recovering from cancer. This is very stressful for him and tiring. He's too young to retire, but he is taking off for at least a few days. He's cutting their grass and tending to their dog. He's spending a lot of time at the hospital and with the grandchildren. I pray that God will watch over all of them and give them courage. |
| I have worked in several furniture stores and learned a little while there. The first, while a professional decorator is nice if you can afford one, the average home owner is capable of doing his or her own decorating. There are exceptions, like some men who think good decorating means having your tools on the coffee table and placing your papers on any flat surface as though no one else lives in the house. Most people are capable of dressing themselves. They combine their colors successfully. The same rules for color and prints apply in furniture and accessories. You see more fleur-de-lis in upholstery, but generally women's fashions are one year, or at least one season ahead of furnishings. Whatever the hot color is this year for women's fashions, those colors and prints will be in the department stores next year for bedding, curtains, other linens and accessories. Then it will move to the upholstery fabrics and the wall paints. I've been of an old mind frame for a long time, like there would be one final perfect look for my home, and it only gets refined with time. I still have accessories from decades ago. However, we no longer live in an age when we are going to hand down our precious belongings to the next generations. We're living longer, for one thing, so they're older when we leave it all. They don't need it. Our lives are filled with more expendable items. We don't attach the same sentimental value to things that people may have in our youth. Our grandparents may have held onto things for a lifetime because they just couldn't afford to replace them on a whim. You can choose to buy all new furniture, use second hand furniture, or go to bargain shops and do mismatched sets. These bargains can be painted or decorated to coordinate. I would wax the drawer runners, so that they open and close easily. Some older pieces were really well-made and can be tenderly updated. I use an old sewing machine cabinet as a bedside table, for instance. The foot treadle looks cool to me. For some people that would just be too shabby. Tying it all together with curtains and wall treatments and accessories makes it work. Money, or the lack of it, has me have eclectic tastes, rather than one style choice. Modern furniture, unless you pay big bucks, is not designed to last forever. A sofa, for instance is designed to last seven years, with moderate use. And it has to be vacuumed on a regular basis, just like the end tables. Some more expensive designs may have a 20 year warranty on the springs. But you have to keep the paperwork handy, and hope the company is still around all those years from now. The fabric is seldom under warranty unless you pay extra for a stain proofing application. Generally, the less you pay, the sooner you can expect to replace it. The point I started out to make is that you have really nice things that aren't coordinated very well. Or you can have simpler things that fit together nicely and reflect your lifestyle. The pictures in the magazines don't really seem to be homes that people occupy. I want to see pictures of rooms and spaces that serve people of all ages and don't look like museums. |
| I have never cared for Kathy Griffin as a comedian or entertainer. I found her vile and disgusting. I avoided watching her whenever possible. When she started emceeing awards shows, I stopped watching them. I refused to pollute my mind with her sick humor. Long before Trump gave her new fodder, I disliked her. But I would defend her right to be lewd and disgusting and to have her own political opinions. I just don't have to hear them. I obviously didn't see first hand the most recent objectionable thing she did, but I saw a still shot on the news with the gory part distorted out. I would think that would be very hurtful to people, whether American or some other nationality, who have actually lost loved ones this way. How crude to make a joke of this horrible violent act still being practiced. But again, if that is her need to express herself, so be it. We can all tune out. What really offended me was the press conference she called. It was not an apology to anyone. It ended up being a "poor me" kind of talk. I am a victim. People have tried to hold me down my whole life, and then the religious litany began, "older white men" blah blah blah. It didn't even make sense coming from her. She is an older white woman, for Heaven's sake, extremely successful in Hollywood, particularly rich and famous. How did anyone hold her back? How has her career or her finances suffered as the result of anyone holding her back or down? I am confident that women have hated her as much as men, and that people of many colors have not liked her. If anything, other female comedians and emcees would have liked to see her held back so that they could have had a chance at her gigs. She didn't mention them. Then she mentioned death threats. If that's true, that is bad. Shame on the people who felt they had to do that. But how can we know that's true or if she made it up as she was going on? Unless a police detective or sheriff states it, I'm inclined not to swallow that one. But listen to what she is saying. It's okay for me to suggest that someone else meet a violent death or for me to incite someone else to carry it out, but it's wrong when the same is done to me. I can shed tears over this, but the victims of my humor have no right to react negatively to me. When I was in school, there were civil rights and anti-war demonstrations all over the place. We were taught that civil disobedience was our right, but that we had to be willing to pay the consequences. Martin Luther King certainly was an example of that, as well as Gandhi and Mandela. They stood up for what they believed and they were willing to bear the consequences. We've drifted far from that today. Liberals believe that they can go beyond civil disobedience, act outrageously, suffer no consequences, and even receive praise and honor for it. Kathy, and all other "entertainers", be prepared for the consequences of your actions. You go out on a limb and offend public standards of decency, you are going to have disapproval. You are going to receive snarks, and verbal attacks (very few death threats are real, but let the police determine that), so don't cry and moan when you do. You brought it on yourself. You aren't in grade school, and no one is going to approve of everything you do. Stardom has gone to your head. You are not golden. The very fact that you are a public figure means that no one ever held you back. You are nobody's victim, so get over yourself. |
| There was a question on Jeopardy tonight about the "star-crossed lovers", which of course were Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Immediately, it irked me. They are infamous as "star-crossed", but there's another angle to that story. They were kids. Kids do not rule the world. They are directed and guided by sensible, trust-worthy adults. In this case, the adults in charge were the nanny/nurse and the priest. Both were supposed to be protectors, instilling moral strength in the young people. Instead, they were weak and gave in to the childish begging and cajoling of their charges. Neither nurse nor priest did what they were supposed to. They did not follow the directions and trust of their employers/parishioners. They caved to the spoiled and pampered teenagers. Death was the result. Children, even teen children, do not know what is best for them. Ultimately, it was not the animosity between the families that did in their loved ones. The adults who had been entrusted with the safety and well-being of these young people did not have the moral fortitude to uphold tradition or family loyalty. They caved to childish impulses and deception, and by doing so betrayed their employer and supporters. The parents in both families failed to have communications with their own children. Once I looked at it from this angle, I can no longer abide that "star-crossed" bologna. True love is developed with time. It doesn't grow up overnight like a mushroom. All teenagers have to learn this, not just these two. They are no more "star-crossed" than any other teenager whose hormones pushes them to challenge the rules. As for the families fighting, they were just Hatfields and McCoys with British accents. |
| The problem with cooking shellfish in your home is that the odor lingers and lingers. Fish smells go away in 24 hours when properly cleaned. This smell of mussels and clams is hanging on. There's a pine scented candle burning in the bathroom down the hall. A lemonade scented candle is burning in the living room. A coconut candle is burning in the kitchen. Upon returning indoors from the fresh outside scent, I was hit with a mixture of perfumes and stink! The trash was removed yesterday. The dishes were washed, the pots were scrubbed, the sink scoured. The floors have been mopped. But that odor just won't leave. The doors have been opened front and back. It's too chilly today to leave the windows open, especially with all us pollen sufferers inside. So our noses are adapting to the smell as long as we're here, but when leaving, our noses go back to normal. so when we come back, our senses are offended again. I hope we don't have company for a few more days. By the way, I can't remember what lemonade smells like, but the lemonade candle doesn't have much fragrance. The coconut candle doesn't smell as strong as suntan lotion. Now the pine candle smells as expected. None of them cover up seafood. |
| I led the older ladies' Bible study this morning. I lectured on history and the Bible. That's a subject all by itself. The choir had the day off, so I sat with some older friends (they're celebrating their 62nd anniversary this week). At home, I prepared to entertain family. It sprinkled all day, so outdoor dining was out. One set of children didn't come. But I had a ton of food just in case. Fortunately, I only cooked half the hush puppies I had planned to have. I settled for a brownie mix instead of the fancier cookie bars I had seen. So I had time to sweep up after my Dad and hide things from children. I did a "low country boil", a mixture of corn, vegetables, spices, and seafood all in the same pot. I thought my pots were pretty big, but I ended up using both (two gallon size). I cooked garlic cloves, bay leaves, Chesapeake Bay style seasoning with some pink salt until the water boiled, then let it rest for a bit.The fresh corn, I broke into three pieces each; the first one comes off with a snap, but the second has to be cut. I had fresh broccoli and cauliflower, which I did not want to get soggy. So I put all of these into the hot water together and cooked for about 5 minutes or less. I washed live mussels, clams and let them sit in the sink while frozen raw, easy peel shrimp thawed under running water. To solve my dilemma, I put a colander onto the second pot, and drained the vegetables into that. I put the drained vegetables back into the first pot with the cut up smoked sausage and put a lid on it. The sausage got hot in the steam. I boiled the second pot of used seasoned water and added all the seafood.It only takes three or four minutes for the mussels and clams. I tested the cauliflower, and it was great with the seasoning. I took the pan off the heat and let it sit. It would be a bit of a wait, so I removed the shellfish into a bowl. I had homemade coleslaw from the night before (a whole head of cabbage, so that's a lot of coleslaw). The cabbage was a little bitter, so it could have used a bit more sugar, but I was leery of adding more. When the first guest showed up, I put the hush puppies in the oven and boiled the water again. I added the vegetables to it to heat up. After a few minutes, I put the seafood into the empty pot, and used the colander to put the water back into it. So the seasoning and meat flavors were influencing everything. I didn't recook the seafood, but allowed the hot water to heat it up. I dipped it all out into platters, just as the rest of the guests showed up. I took the hush puppies out and started pouring tea. It was a big hit. The one year old (18 months) loves mussels! It was cute watching him eat out of the shell. I tried something new, it was a success, and it feels good. I was there for the wildest child to keep her from tearing the house apart. Oh, I still have to clean up what she did get into, but it would have been worse had I been at work. Now tonight I can rest. |
| Memorial Day weekend. I hear Sergent York on the TV in the other room. My dad is watching Gary Cooper play pacifist turned soldier. I've seen it so many times. I did watch the last half of a John Wayne movie earlier. I'm so accustomed to him playing cowboys, it was interesting to watch him playing a naval officer who was wounded. The rest of my family is having a bonfire tonight, a cookout and fireworks---out in the country, of course. My niece's family bought a few acres and are clearing land to make gardens next year. The kids are having a great time, I'm sure, with the little hens, and pet pigs, and running around the fields. Even the one year olds love the "boom" of the fireworks. And they're learning to roast marshmallows. But my dad has had bronchitis and an eye infection. I won't let him go out in all that smoke and pollen. I had to work, so we would have been really late getting there if we had chosen to go. (You actually have to drive past James Monroe's home to get there.) Sunday after church, I'm fixing a menu out of a current magazine. The corn on the cob is broken into smaller pieces, thrown into the boiling water, along with other fresh vegetables, shrimp, and sausage. You drain it and pour it all out on a pan or platter and let your diners use tongs to pick what they want. Hush puppies and homemade coleslaw go with it. And cookie bars and melon. We drink iced tea. The kids drink milk or water. Dad thinks I should fix hot dogs because the kids are such picky eaters. I want to set up a buffet inside and let them go out to eat on the deck. We can carry the children's table outside, too, if it doesn't rain. I have to talk to these children about a lot of things, like not going into my room when I'm at work, not opening my cabinets and closets and drawers in all rooms of the house and opening packages that aren't theirs. Oh, and not beating up on Big Pop/Grandpa who is getting old and fragile and has thin skin and bleeds very easily. I know he likes to play with them, and they don't understand where rough housing ends and hurting an old man begins. They can be my helpers by taking care of him when I'm not here. I work most Sundays, and that's when they visit him. I don't think their mothers realize how fragile he's getting, and I know they don't keep track of where their kids are. I also want to share with them what Memorial Day means and tell them about their great great grandfather who served in World War I in France. And so many more stories.They need to understand it's not just about food, fun, and fireworks. We are remembering special people and special causes, We celebrate the freedom that we have, the rights that have been won for us. And we do not forget the sacrifice of those who lived before us. |
| I heard two people on TV interviews this past week say that sometimes violence is necessary to make your point or to get what you want. They were leaders and spokes people for various political groups. If I were facing those people, I would respond with, "You mean if I don't agree with you over some issues, it's okay for me to confront you with physical assault, break the windows in your business, and loot the place to make you conform? It would be okay for me to jeopardize the safety of your children or kidnap your family members to make you into a different person with a different way of thinking? Are you saying, I should set fire to your car or break into your home to get your attention?" I believe these people say this because they only conceive of themselves as the perpetrators of violence, not the recipients. They see the violence of the masses against their enemies and can't imagine that it would turn on themselves. This lack of empathy is rampant in our world and contributes to the unrest and the lack of law and order. Violence is never the answer. There may be some justification in self-defense or the defense of a helpless one or a loved one. Revenge is not self-defense. And civil disobedience should never lead to violence. The violence itself defeats the cause and never gains the desired results. |
| Wow! Kris Kristofferson! In concert! Here in my hometown, in The Paramount Theater where I went to midnight horror movies in the summer with the neighborhood boys and my brothers. The ornate wallpaper, ceiling, and gilded baroque molding brings back so many memories. His music brings back so many memories, so many feelings. He played acoustic guitar with an amplifier and sang his own songs. No back up band, no back up singers. When he flubbed, there was no hiding it. He has an old man's voice, not the melodic smoothness of his younger days. But the audience loved it. It was HIS voice, his songs. We overlooked the abrupt endings, his getting lost in one song, and some errors because of who he is and who he has been. His harmonicas and guitar playing are still pretty good. What we listened to was a poet singing his poems, making his statements, telling his stories. Some of the songs were an old man's reveries looking back over his life, his loves, his dreams. He told a few stories or made casual remarks that came from his heart and were sincere. Quite a few of the more familiar ones were made famous by other singers, but he wrote them. He has a sense of humor, too. For the love ballads, I closed my eyes and mouthed the words (I used to sing them when I still played guitar.) I have never seen him in concert before, so I can't really say how he's changed. I've listened to his recordings or have seen him in movies, like A Star Is Born, and I know he doesn't sound the same as in those recordings. This may well be his last tour. He's getting feeble, moves slowly, plays slowly, and his memory isn't that sharp. If you have the chance to catch a concert, you should. It made me want to write some poems and tell some stories. I wanted to catch those feelings and give them words. It might inspire someone else, too. |
| I made a decision to eat more fruits and vegetables, preferably raw. If I have cooked vegetables, they should not be mixed with pasta or sauces. Well, deciding and actually pulling it off are two different things. I come in from work and I'm ready to snack. I can take out a kiwi and peel it or I can grab my Dad's Cheetos. Before I make a conscious decision, a handful of Cheetos are already down my throat. You wouldn't think that getting out a knife and peeling a little kiwi would be such a delay in gratification, but apparently it is. My subconscious takes over while I'm thinking about it. I get my fruit in the early morning. Plus my computer program counts avocado and raw tomatoes as fruit. Cooked tomatoes count as vegetables. I eat ribs of celery at work for lunch, followed by low cal yogurt, but the celery is so low cal that it doesn't register very high on the vegetable list. Surely the fiber must count for something. Trying to eat "naturally" is not easy, almost impossible. Organic costs more, and it isn't as pretty or as big. We bought things from a local farmer on a weekly basis one year, but found it was too much for us. I couldn't prepare it all before it went to waste. And we had to eat seasonal stuff until we were sick of it. The supermarket has that great variety, that was shipped from faraway and has preservatives, hormones, and all that jazz that's not good for us. There's a lot to be said for the taste of "vine ripened" any thing. So I sit in the lunch room with my celery and yogurt and gaze into the vending machine with the Rice Krispy Treats and tell myself that I'm satisfied. I don't feel convinced, but I keep talking it up. At home, I really want to fix the Rice A Roni, but I try to fill myself up with steamed asparagus and romaine with vinaigrette. I pushed spaghetti squash last week. I ate a lot of that to try to stay away from processed stuff. The bottom line is I really like that processed stuff that doesn't seem to have any connection to anything that grows from nature, plant or animal. I must be addicted to all those chemicals and fake foods. Eggplant, zucchini, and corn on the cob just can't compete with imitation food. Corn, by the way requires an awful lot of chewing to prevent coming out the same way it goes in. You'd think you would just get tired of eating after chewing corn, but no. There's always room for dessert. |
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. Isn't it funny how we take things like electricity and plumbing for granted... until we don't have them. Happy for you!
