I woke up at 11:30 this evening. It was because I had a very disturbing dream. I have been sitting and thinking about the meaning of the dreams. I think that I have found some reasons for the dreams. There are some issues from my past that have never been properly resolved. It is easy to resolve an issue that was not your fault. It is easy to let an issue lie that was your fault. The issue involved was resolved long ago but not by me. The entire incident was my fault and these dreams say to me "It is over and time to let it go. Accept the closure. You were a jerk and acted like a spoiled child. Be a man about it.".
The soup is getting tiresome. I have to learn to make less than two gallon soups. The cabbage may have been a mistake. It announces its presence early each morning. The zucchini and squash were a good idea but I will have to put more kielbasa in the next one. I have fished all of it out by now.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Soup's On
Sunday was a banner day. My darling daughter and her wonderful husband and my amazing grandson came for a visit. They brought lingonberries!!! We had a nice meal, my grandson complimented on the Swedish meatballs and ate quite a few noodles. There was cake that was a bit too rich. We walked to a park where my grandson displayed an amazing agility climbing and mastering an assortment of challenging obstacles.
When we left the park there was no whining or crying about the fact that the outing was over. He never seems to whine or cry about anything. He is so interested in everything that goes on about him that I am sure he looks forward to the next surprise that life offers him. This is a credit to his Mother and Father for they seem to have the same attitude about life. They don't complain or moan about anything and they gratefully don't seem to gossip about anything. I especially appreciate that because gossip is something that really irritates me. There are enough problems in our lives without commenting on the problems or perturbations of the neighbors. It is something that I admire about each of my daughters. They just get on with the business of living and look for the pleasant little flowers we find along the path of life instead of dwelling upon the thorns.
Yesterday I made soup and, lo and behold, it was actually edible! It is the first time that I have made soup that I actually liked. Homemade soup is usually not very good. The only really good one that I can remember was one that a lost love made with new potatoes and leeks and cream and butter. The soup that I made was not from a recipe. I just emptied all of the vegetables from the refrigerator into a pot, put in baby lima beans, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes. corn, peas, and beef broth. The addition of kielbasa may have made a difference as I usually don't puy any salt into the soup. Some leftover cheese rinds and olive oil went in and then a blessing of soy sauce as I remembered the words of another lost love. "Kissing a man without a moustache is like a soup without salt.".
Cheese, bread, and soup, life is good. I don't think that I can ever serve such a soup to my grandson as he is not very vegetable prone.
When we left the park there was no whining or crying about the fact that the outing was over. He never seems to whine or cry about anything. He is so interested in everything that goes on about him that I am sure he looks forward to the next surprise that life offers him. This is a credit to his Mother and Father for they seem to have the same attitude about life. They don't complain or moan about anything and they gratefully don't seem to gossip about anything. I especially appreciate that because gossip is something that really irritates me. There are enough problems in our lives without commenting on the problems or perturbations of the neighbors. It is something that I admire about each of my daughters. They just get on with the business of living and look for the pleasant little flowers we find along the path of life instead of dwelling upon the thorns.
Yesterday I made soup and, lo and behold, it was actually edible! It is the first time that I have made soup that I actually liked. Homemade soup is usually not very good. The only really good one that I can remember was one that a lost love made with new potatoes and leeks and cream and butter. The soup that I made was not from a recipe. I just emptied all of the vegetables from the refrigerator into a pot, put in baby lima beans, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes. corn, peas, and beef broth. The addition of kielbasa may have made a difference as I usually don't puy any salt into the soup. Some leftover cheese rinds and olive oil went in and then a blessing of soy sauce as I remembered the words of another lost love. "Kissing a man without a moustache is like a soup without salt.".
Cheese, bread, and soup, life is good. I don't think that I can ever serve such a soup to my grandson as he is not very vegetable prone.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Re-trek
Yesterday was almost a repeat of the day before. I took another trek to the grocery store. It is a good long walk and good for me. As usual I purchased too much and now my knuckles tend to drag on the ground. The grocery store is a magnet I cannot seem to avoid. I got mushrooms and dried baby lima beans and tomatoes and canned tomatoes and rice and yoghurt and heavy cream and quite a bit of other stuff. I will try to make the walk each day the the weather is nice.
Today will be pizza and Swedish meatballs and three layer chocolate mousse cake. Today will be mostly trying to figure out the new medical plan that I have to pick by Friday. I am leaning towards Bob's Health Plan and Excavation Supply Depot. Their motto is "If something goes wrong, we've got you covered.".
Today will be pizza and Swedish meatballs and three layer chocolate mousse cake. Today will be mostly trying to figure out the new medical plan that I have to pick by Friday. I am leaning towards Bob's Health Plan and Excavation Supply Depot. Their motto is "If something goes wrong, we've got you covered.".
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Trek
Yesterday I went for a long, long, walk. The weather was so nice and I had something on my mind, so a long walk was called for.
First I trudged to CVS. It is about three miles to that. There were some things that I wanted to get there. Their spices are very inexpensive. It was not an inexpensive trip as there were some vitamin supplements that I wanted.
Secondly I went to the Post Office to get some stamps. I am tired of paying a zillion dollars for ten stamps at the convenience store.
Thirdly, the main reason for the walk occurred. I went to the grocery store, about two more miles. Why the grocery store? Yesterday morning I felt an urge to make Swedish Meatballs and try a new recipe for triple chocolate mousse cake. I overdid it a little as the bundles were a bit heavy walking back to where I live. It was more than worth the travail. It was a beautiful day and I needed to get out and have the dust blown off of me. The walk back from the grocery store is only about two miles as the entire trip is one big circle.
When I returned I reheated some chicken and tumeric and took a nice long nap after reading for a while. I am looking forward to another stroll today, as soon as the Sun comes up. There is still more chicken in the pot for when I return. Chicken, tumeric, tomatoes, olives, leek, garlic, onion, chicken broth, peas, broccoli, corn, and heavy cream make a nice dish, over a large amount of rice. Five drops of Tabasco make it just right. I weaken and add just a few drops of soy sauce. I know it is not good for me but it just seems right.
First I trudged to CVS. It is about three miles to that. There were some things that I wanted to get there. Their spices are very inexpensive. It was not an inexpensive trip as there were some vitamin supplements that I wanted.
Secondly I went to the Post Office to get some stamps. I am tired of paying a zillion dollars for ten stamps at the convenience store.
Thirdly, the main reason for the walk occurred. I went to the grocery store, about two more miles. Why the grocery store? Yesterday morning I felt an urge to make Swedish Meatballs and try a new recipe for triple chocolate mousse cake. I overdid it a little as the bundles were a bit heavy walking back to where I live. It was more than worth the travail. It was a beautiful day and I needed to get out and have the dust blown off of me. The walk back from the grocery store is only about two miles as the entire trip is one big circle.
When I returned I reheated some chicken and tumeric and took a nice long nap after reading for a while. I am looking forward to another stroll today, as soon as the Sun comes up. There is still more chicken in the pot for when I return. Chicken, tumeric, tomatoes, olives, leek, garlic, onion, chicken broth, peas, broccoli, corn, and heavy cream make a nice dish, over a large amount of rice. Five drops of Tabasco make it just right. I weaken and add just a few drops of soy sauce. I know it is not good for me but it just seems right.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Gentle people
Yesterday I went for a flu shot at the senior center in town. This is a small town and it is remarkable how many seniors there are in this town. As I was walking to the center, some lady that I don't even know stopped and asked me if I was going to the flu shot. I said yes and she told me to get in and she would give me a ride. I wonder if it was the grey hair and grey beard that tipped her off.
I am by nature overly garrulous and as we were waiting for the shots to begin, I struck up several conversations. Most of the people in this town were born here and have lived here all of their lives. We spoke of the things of value here and the opinions were remarkably uniform. The little market, the small stores, the library, and the fact that the teenagers are all nice and polite. It is a quiet place, sort of like a Brigadoon without the flashy pants. We recently got a barber shop and Wal-Mart closed its doors and moved to another town. There is a bookstore that is doing well and a store that sells nothing but hot dogs. There is no computer store and no restaurant chain. There are some of these stores but they are in a town to the North. There is a hardware store. It is not part of a chain but it has everything that a person would need.
Evidently the people here continue to deal with the stores that their parents dealt with. They realize that any money that goes to Benton, Arkansas will never return. It will not pay for their neighbor's heating oil or children's braces or weekly groceries. There is definitely a Quaker heritage going on here. The quiet enjoyment of the simple things of life and the concern for neighbors are apparent in everything here.
The town hall must be over a hundred years old. The police station and the fire headquarters are in that small town hall. All of these buildings are within two blocks of each other and the library. I have watched town meeting and see one philosophy in the meeting. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.".
There is another gem across from the library, a doughnut shop that has cinnamon doughnuts
A good book, a cup of coffee, and a cinnamon doughnut. Simple things for a simple old man.
I am by nature overly garrulous and as we were waiting for the shots to begin, I struck up several conversations. Most of the people in this town were born here and have lived here all of their lives. We spoke of the things of value here and the opinions were remarkably uniform. The little market, the small stores, the library, and the fact that the teenagers are all nice and polite. It is a quiet place, sort of like a Brigadoon without the flashy pants. We recently got a barber shop and Wal-Mart closed its doors and moved to another town. There is a bookstore that is doing well and a store that sells nothing but hot dogs. There is no computer store and no restaurant chain. There are some of these stores but they are in a town to the North. There is a hardware store. It is not part of a chain but it has everything that a person would need.
Evidently the people here continue to deal with the stores that their parents dealt with. They realize that any money that goes to Benton, Arkansas will never return. It will not pay for their neighbor's heating oil or children's braces or weekly groceries. There is definitely a Quaker heritage going on here. The quiet enjoyment of the simple things of life and the concern for neighbors are apparent in everything here.
The town hall must be over a hundred years old. The police station and the fire headquarters are in that small town hall. All of these buildings are within two blocks of each other and the library. I have watched town meeting and see one philosophy in the meeting. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.".
There is another gem across from the library, a doughnut shop that has cinnamon doughnuts
A good book, a cup of coffee, and a cinnamon doughnut. Simple things for a simple old man.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Seasoning
I am up very early. I usually get up around 2 A.M. but this morning I am up even earlier. I have already had eight hours of sleep as I went to bed while the Sun was still up. It was so pleasant to lie down in the warming Fall Sun. The good book that I have had a lot to do with the incentive to lie down.
Yesterday started with a trip to the library. A long walk followed. Gazing at the trees and the waterfall brought pleasing thoughts. The trees are still in most of their glory but the black veins and bones of their fingers are beginning to show as the wind is slowly stripping their hands of their bright orange and red of their leaves. It is like an old man's hands, the strength and sinew of youth slowly give way to the veins and knuckles of the denoument.
The season is slowly passing and it will be missed. It is the simplist of times. The scurry of Spring and the labor of Summer are gone and the enduring of Winter is ahead. It is a time for reflection and savoring the year. The air is so attuned to us that we can barely feel it. It is dry but the mist of the waterfall cures that. Only the squirrels are scurrying about as a stroll through town and the fallen leaves seems to leave their peace on the mind and the heart.
The afternoon was spent chickening. Chicken braised in broth then combined with tomatoes, corn, broccoli, onions, pepperoncini, peas, and my new favorite, tumeric. A can of cream of mushroom soup topped it off and the whole was ladled over rice. The tumeric puts the yellow back into the sauce and I am told that it is good for me. So a bellyfull of rice and chicken, the Sun streaming through the bedroom window, and a new adventure to turn the pages of, led to a very enjoyable afternoon and evening.
I am enjoying the simplicity and slowness of the way my life is now. There are concerns but there have always been concerns and they pale before the joy of being alive. In the past they roosted in my mind as it lay down on the pillow but now they have to find another place to roost as I savor the simple joy of a warm blanket in a cool room.
I am on a journey to an unknown destination but I no longer try to steer. I will just look out the window and enjoy the ride. I will accept what life puts on my plate. There will not be a Nobel Prize on the plate or a fascinating novel but there will be rice and chicken and a little tumeric.
Yesterday started with a trip to the library. A long walk followed. Gazing at the trees and the waterfall brought pleasing thoughts. The trees are still in most of their glory but the black veins and bones of their fingers are beginning to show as the wind is slowly stripping their hands of their bright orange and red of their leaves. It is like an old man's hands, the strength and sinew of youth slowly give way to the veins and knuckles of the denoument.
The season is slowly passing and it will be missed. It is the simplist of times. The scurry of Spring and the labor of Summer are gone and the enduring of Winter is ahead. It is a time for reflection and savoring the year. The air is so attuned to us that we can barely feel it. It is dry but the mist of the waterfall cures that. Only the squirrels are scurrying about as a stroll through town and the fallen leaves seems to leave their peace on the mind and the heart.
The afternoon was spent chickening. Chicken braised in broth then combined with tomatoes, corn, broccoli, onions, pepperoncini, peas, and my new favorite, tumeric. A can of cream of mushroom soup topped it off and the whole was ladled over rice. The tumeric puts the yellow back into the sauce and I am told that it is good for me. So a bellyfull of rice and chicken, the Sun streaming through the bedroom window, and a new adventure to turn the pages of, led to a very enjoyable afternoon and evening.
I am enjoying the simplicity and slowness of the way my life is now. There are concerns but there have always been concerns and they pale before the joy of being alive. In the past they roosted in my mind as it lay down on the pillow but now they have to find another place to roost as I savor the simple joy of a warm blanket in a cool room.
I am on a journey to an unknown destination but I no longer try to steer. I will just look out the window and enjoy the ride. I will accept what life puts on my plate. There will not be a Nobel Prize on the plate or a fascinating novel but there will be rice and chicken and a little tumeric.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A child is ill
A child of the family is ill. All of the feeling of unfairness and not being able to understand rush back into mind from where they have been lurking. It brings old thoughts to mind.
I remember when mankind was able to go to the Moon. It was a very expensive journey and they didn't even bring back T-shirts. T-shirts that might have been able to clothe a child shivering in the night in one of Earth's backwaters. They took clean and pure water and air with them on the journey. I would wager that they didn't get the air and water from Mombasa or New York City. What about the cost of such a meaningless trip? How many innoculations or meals could have come from that cost? Is the government stealing our childrens lunch money?
Now there is a way to make automobile fuel from corn. It will result in even further savings because there will be no need to make trips to the grocery store because there will be no food there to purchase.
Somewhere in Somalia, a child went to bed last night without supper. Somewhere in America, a teenager was riding around in a Hummer fueled by corn. Both are children of the human family. Maybe we can spin mosquito netting from Moon rocks and a child in Burma will not get malaria.
Somewhere a child is ill and somewhere a child is hungry. Somewhere fuel from corn is going into a tank. Not a tank of a generator that will provide power for lighting for a school or power for a water purifier but the tank of the kind of tank that goes BOOM and RAT-TAT-TAT.
Somewhere a child of the human family is ill or hungry or cold. Somewhere derivatives have put health care for the poor on hold. Somewhere sagacious old men have decided that million dollar salaries and homes in the Hamptons are more important than a child with a fever. What if it was their child? I have news for them, it is their child. The family is not taking care of the children. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on us. You can capitalize the us if you wish.
There is one small glimmer of hope. Bill and Melinda Gates are using part of their 401K to pay for mosquito netting and clean water and a cure for illness. So I nominate them for high office. Not President or King or Emperor but for the highest office imaginable. I nominate them for Parents of the human race!
When I was young my heart steered me towards socialism. When I got older my mind steered me towards capitalism. It is nice to know that the hand of the heart is back at the tiller. So I will make an attempt to feed the man's sheep.
I remember when mankind was able to go to the Moon. It was a very expensive journey and they didn't even bring back T-shirts. T-shirts that might have been able to clothe a child shivering in the night in one of Earth's backwaters. They took clean and pure water and air with them on the journey. I would wager that they didn't get the air and water from Mombasa or New York City. What about the cost of such a meaningless trip? How many innoculations or meals could have come from that cost? Is the government stealing our childrens lunch money?
Now there is a way to make automobile fuel from corn. It will result in even further savings because there will be no need to make trips to the grocery store because there will be no food there to purchase.
Somewhere in Somalia, a child went to bed last night without supper. Somewhere in America, a teenager was riding around in a Hummer fueled by corn. Both are children of the human family. Maybe we can spin mosquito netting from Moon rocks and a child in Burma will not get malaria.
Somewhere a child is ill and somewhere a child is hungry. Somewhere fuel from corn is going into a tank. Not a tank of a generator that will provide power for lighting for a school or power for a water purifier but the tank of the kind of tank that goes BOOM and RAT-TAT-TAT.
Somewhere a child of the human family is ill or hungry or cold. Somewhere derivatives have put health care for the poor on hold. Somewhere sagacious old men have decided that million dollar salaries and homes in the Hamptons are more important than a child with a fever. What if it was their child? I have news for them, it is their child. The family is not taking care of the children. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on us. You can capitalize the us if you wish.
There is one small glimmer of hope. Bill and Melinda Gates are using part of their 401K to pay for mosquito netting and clean water and a cure for illness. So I nominate them for high office. Not President or King or Emperor but for the highest office imaginable. I nominate them for Parents of the human race!
When I was young my heart steered me towards socialism. When I got older my mind steered me towards capitalism. It is nice to know that the hand of the heart is back at the tiller. So I will make an attempt to feed the man's sheep.
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