Snow

Yesterday I went for a much longer walk than usual. It was snowing gently and everything was so quiet that I avoided turning around and just kept walking. The clean, cool, moist air and the muffled footsteps were a pleasant change from the bustle of downtown Uxbridge where three or four cars rush past each hour. I went one of the back ways, there are many in Uxbridge, and was saddened by something I saw. There are many houses for sale. None of them are new or mansions. They all seem to be old, simple homes. Most of them can't have more than four rooms. I feel uneasy for America. It reminds me of ancient Athens. The decline in the numbers of individual farmers and workers, their being replaced by slave factories and large landowners. The disastrous war with Syracuse, the building of the walls to Pireaus, not a wall along the Gadsden Purchase, the rise of the oligarchy, the condemnation of Alcibiades, not William Clinton, the takeover of the Delian League, not Nato. My generation will leave a much poorer America to our children.
Today is Supper Saturday, the day I enjoy most in the week. I enjoy all of the cooking shows on WGBH except for Todd English. Not that he isn't wonderful. He must be, he tells us constantly that he is. I really enjoy Mark Bitman and Jose's Spanish cooking show. On top is Lidia. I wish that Lidia would publish a racy calendar of herself. Imagine the picture: clams Casino, stuffed peppers, Osso Buco, and Lidia in a swimsuit edition! She better hurry though, before gravity takes a toll on her beauty.
A new dream just appeared. Lidia and I, a small villa tucked away on a Tuscan hillside, a good stove and refrigerator, a garden, a vineyard, chickens, prosciutto, Parmesan Reggiano, and the entire All-Clad inventory. A good local bakery and Double Diamond distributor would be the frosting on the cake.