Irene Update

The storm was not a big deal. The projected path was right through my bathroom but it failed to appear. There are a lot of leaves down but there was no loss of power and, as I live on the third floor, there was no flooding. It is light out now and a little later on, it is too cool now, I will go out and check the plants and yard.
The weather forecasters should be back soon. They all ran to tell the king that the sky was falling. This might present a problem if another such storm comes. People will pooh-pooh the dire warnings and not prepare as much. The consequences of such behavior could be sad.
As of now, no one will have to water their lawn for several days. When they do need to water, they will simply have to pump out their cellar.

Damp

It is a bit damp here. The approaching hurricane is being felt. Since yesterday afternoon there have been alternating periods of torrential downpours and no rain. There is much talk about how soaked the ground already is from the past few storms and how there may be quite a few trees down if the hurricane hits us. The electrical power may go out. If that occurs, there will be much cooking when the power comes back on as everything in the freezer will probably have to be cooked.
There will be no computer to steal four hours of the day. There will be no television. That means that there will be no Masterpiece Theater. If the disaster occurs during the daylight hours there will be only one horror to endure, there will be NO COFFEE!
The rain has just started again. It sounds as if it is quite heavy.

Predictions

The weather forecast for yesterday was ominous. Torrential rains and thunder storms and very high winds were predicted for this entire region and those were not part of the hurricane that is supposedly coming this way.
My Brother Paul called and we arranged to meet. He picked me up and we went to the grocery store and got two nice porterhouse steaks and some fresh corn on the cob and some fresh mushrooms and some butter and a loaf of French bread. We stopped along the way and purchased some of Holland's most well known elixir.
We went to his house and picked up most of the potential projectiles in his yard. We cooked inside because of the weather forecast. It didn't seem prudent to be out in the yard grilling during torrential rain or standing next to a huge metal gas grill during a lightening event.
The rain never appeared. We sat on the porch waiting for some salesmen to appear but none ever did.
I am hoping that the predictions on the hurricane will prove similarly incorrect. If the weather computers are correct, the hurricane will come right through my bathroom. I think that the high winds are inevitable but all will be well if the rains stay west of here and the tree roots don't get sodden so that the big trees topple. Earthquakes and hurricanes, these are not normal for Massachusetts. If a plague of frogs and flies come, as a first born I will start to worry a lot.
Today I am going to go out and purchase some more flashlight batteries. I always have water set aside and candles at the ready but I don't have any spare batteries. I live on the third floor of the highest spot in town so I don't think that I need to unpack my waders.

Chip or Dale?

Yesterday I went to the hardware store and got a new bag of feed for my little visitors. It is labeled Fruit and Nut. The bag brims with nuts and dried fruits, cherries and cranberries, and other assorted goodies.
My little visitors seemed thrilled with it. I sat on a makeshift stool that I have on the porch and watched as they explored the new menu. Just two squirrels showed up. They seem to hear the sound of the food being poured into the feeders and show up a few moments later. They were reticent at first but eventually accepted the fact that I was there.
Soon the chipmunk showed up. The squirrels chased it off at first but after the squirrels left, the chipmunk returned and appears to have no fear of me. I enjoyed watching the tiny creature stuff its cheek pouches with food, scoot away, and then return to fill them up again. It seemed suspiciously interested in the tomatoes and relished the fresh nasturtium seeds that I had put in the feeder.
The hummingbird appears each morning to sip at the nasturtiums. The sparrows that live in the quince bush clean up all of the tiny bits that the others leave.
It was a quiet day in Lake Uxbridge. Going to the hardware store may seem like a simple day but it was the highpoint of mine.
I have had ecstasy and depression and joy and fear and pride and self loathing in my life. This quiet time and place suits me now. There are several whoppingly big Brandywine tomatoes that will be fully ripened today. Tomato sandwiches are surely coming today!

Brandywine Heaven

The Tea Pot Crisis has been resolved. All that was necessary was to double the amount of woodpecker food that I put out each day. Evidently the creature was not using the tomato scavening to nourish itself. It was simply trying to send a message that it was still hungry. I like to think that it was sending a message "More food or the tomatoes are history.".
The Brandywines are ripening. I ate the first one yesterday. After ten months of supermarket (blah) tomatoes, it was heaven on the palate. I had forgotten what sunshine tastes like. Immediately the thought of the tomatoes my Father used to raise in the backyard. The Nona Rosas are ripening in a torrent. They are very small grape type tomatoes and are wonderful fresh and quite a treat sauteed.
I have a full row of basil to use for cooking (MMMM!) and flat leaf parsley. The garlic is almost ready to harvest and the hot peppers are six inches long. Tomatoes, garlic, basil, and parsley, how do you define paradise?
There is a hummingbird that comes each morning to the nasturtiums and a male cardinal, sparrows, and a chipmunk that clean up after the squirrels. Squirrels, it started out as two that visited regularly and it is now six. They do not share well at all. The biggest ones chatter and bully the smaller ones and do not leave the troughs until they are sated. They eat all of the fruits and nuts and leave only scraps of corn for the weakest. They are all wearing tiny campaign buttons with an elephant on them. Someday the eagle that soars overhead may rectify this situation.
Life is good. It is not throbbing with ecstasy but it is good. Becker's rubber band is stretching but has not snapped back.

Tea cup crisis

There is a new crisis brewing. Two nights in a row something has been munching green tomatoes. The teeth marks look like a squirrel's bite but I don't think that squirrels are active at night. This has got to stop! So far the creature has only been taking small green tomatoes but there are many large green ones, heirloom Amish types, that will probably be next.
To quote the good President Bush "This will not stand.". I think that the teeth marks are from a squirrel or a rabbit. Anything bigger is probably going to have its way. It doesn't eat the whole tomato, it just nibbles at the skin and outer pulp. This is the first crisis that I have had in a long time. It is not as bad as the Great Turkey Soup Crisis but it is still bothersome.

Pork O.K

.The pork came out O.K.. It was very tender and had a crispy outside and the sauce was spectacular. Adding the balsamic vinegar was a definite plus. The problem now is that I have an enormous amount of leftover roasted pork. I can see what is on the menu for the next few days.
Last night I lay awake for several hours wondering about the concept of the soul. My mind wandered from the Christian concept, to the Egyptian ba, to the beliefs of India, and to the American Indians. Finally it rested on Thor and the Asgard race. There was a movie years ago with Mick Jagger titled "????? Jack" that also addressed the issue. Is the soul a collection of electrical impulses or is it part of String Theory? Do the Upanishads have the answer? Do animals have souls? Is there any way for a feeble human brain to understand a concept so mysterious? In the end we will all find out. Or Not.

Nightshirt 1.1

It was another cool night. This time it was necessary to wear the nightshirt to bed.
There have been questions about the fourth jewel. The fourth jewel shall forever remain a mystery. She is like Sherlock's Adele, smart, pretty, sensuous, and oh so vexing!
Today I will try a new method for roasting pork. The Boston Butt has been marinating in Kosher salt and light brown sugar for two days. The only problem will be that it has to roast for six hours at 325 degrees. Then will come the sauce. Peaches, salt, sugar, white wine, rice vinegar, thyme, and whole grain mustard are macerated together and half of the sauce is applied to the roast during the last half hour of roasting, the rest of the sauce is served at the table, reduced with the jus from the roast. The recipe calls for an internal temperature of 190 degrees. That temperature should reduce all of the collagen and eliminate any fears of trichinosis. Served with glazed carrots and pan roasted broccoli, it should be worth the wait.
I have a superb bottle of balsamic vinegar that just might be substituted for the rice vinegar. The balsamic vinegar will definitely go onto the Brussels sprouts. It is the only way to make them edible.

Massachuetts is so Cool!

The weather finally broke here. When I got up this morning, I had to put on a nightshirt. It is not just cool, it is a little cold.
I am sure that there are hot days ahead of us. September can be hot. I can remember going to high school in September, proudly wearing a newly purchased sweater and sweating like a Cub Scout at Neverland. Soon will come the halcyon days of Fall.

Politics again. Once more into the breach.

The political situation is heating up already. It used to be that we were only subjected to this fiasco once every four years but now the season has been extended. It reminds me of some of the professional sports seasons. The reason for the extensions is the same, more time to gather more money.
It also reminds me of a Mencken quote. "He is in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes him forever ineligible for public office.".

Even the Heavens Celebrate

Yesterday was August twelfth, a most auspicious day. It is the birthday of one dear to my heart. Even the heavens celebrate this day. The sky is filled with shooting stars, the Sun shines brightly, the clouds are a glorious Simpson display. The Universe rejoices that the Big E was born this day.

Self Respect

Self respect is the secure feeling that no one,as yet, is suspicious. Mencken.

It's Coming!

It is five o'clock in the morning and the temperature in my home is still eighty degrees. It is cooler on the porch but this is mosquito time and I don't spend much time out there during mosquito time hours. There are a few nasty viruses aroud here this time of year.
It is quarter after five and the sky is lightening. A few weeks ago it began to lighten about four-thirty. Lo and Behold, that means that Fall is on the way! The tomatoes on the porch are huge but still very green. The peppers are on their way. Fall, when New England turns into a paradise. The days of sweaters and flannel sheets and wool socks and jackets and beef stew with dumplings and hot cocoa and spiced cider with cinnamon doughnuts. Fall, with ice-blue skies and cool breezes and Fall's palette of leaves. Fall, when the heat is gone and the heat is not on.
Soon will come the day when we gorge on our pre-hibernation feast. Then comes the glory of Winter, with its ice-cold winds, its layers of soft fluffy snow, its icicles dangling from the roof, its chickadees and juncoes dabbing at seeds atop the meringue of Winter. There will be hours spent on the porch without worrying about some virus gifted to us by the Old World.
I look forward to Winter as some people look forward to Spring. That is because I am a Swamp Yankee. Swamp Yankees look forward to Winter because they get ready for it. Food is stockpiled, firewood is stacked, down jackets are taken out of closets, candles are laid out so that they are readily available, and cans of Dinty Moore are almost bursting the cabinets.
There will be walks where the crunch of snow and the brisk breaths of clean air clear the mind and the lungs. It is coming. As the Sun rises later and later each day, it foretells the days when we rise later and later each day because we want to stay snuggled under the wool blankets. Does Summer ever have the word snuggle associated with it ? Winter has "Mama in her nightshirt and I in my cap". The treasures of that day do not come from unwrapping the boxes under the tree, they come from unwrapping the nightshirt.

You Are Pre-approved!

The government debt crisis seems to be worsening. The solution that Congress seems to have selected is to get another credit card. I wonder if they have ever considered stopping borrowing. I assume that such a plan would involve quite a bit of belt tightening for some time.
The United States of America is a great, safe place to live. Americans are like tenants in a huge 300 million family home. We pay a certain amount of rent each year, called taxes, and we are able to use all of the facilities of the home. Corporations and oil companies are aware of the benefits of living here.
Now the landlord is in fiscal trouble but the dolt won't even consider raising the rent. Some very well off tenants live here practically rent free. It is much like having a relative that pays no rent. Some of the well off tenants have summer places in other countries. It is like having a child that has an apartment across town and therefore pays no rent at home but shows up at suppertime every day with a bag full full of dirty laundry. It might be time to tell certain corporations "You either live here and pay rent or hit the road permanently.".
Congress doesn't have to fret. I am sure that there is a letter in the mail, postmarked Beijing, that states "You have been pre-selected for our new Brass Credit Card.". Fees and credit terms will be printed in very small letters on the edge of the paper.
Belt tightening has one very large opponent. It is the Beltway! Maybe Congress should buy some Powerball tickets. That would be acceptable to both parties and if they win, they could go on with their life of limos and free lunches and cruises and sailboats and the really big shrimp and cigars and brandy.
I recommend that a motto be inscribed on the Capital building. "L'Etat c'est nous.".
As for the recent budget talks, I am reminded of something Samuel Clemens once said. "Facts are stubborn things but statistics are more pliable.".

The Budget

All of this crisis over the Federal Budget and how to balance it reminds me of two ideas.
Maslow stated that all we need to live are air, water, food, and shelter. Clemens stated that "Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecesary necessities.".
As far as I know, the gvernment still has a Tea Tasting Board to maintain the the quality of the taste of this heavenly beverage but has allowed the air and the water and the food and the shelter of the average American to go to hell! Is the board that was appointed in the seventies to oversee the fines on oil price gouging still meeting regularly and still holding all of the money?
When the average American reaches a budgetary crisis, we check our pants and under the couch cushions for spare change and have a garage sale. Has the government checked under the couch cushions lately or checked the garage for exercise equipment still in the boxes?