January 2, 2013
Ellen/Reid: Well, we’ve turned a calendar page so let’s hope we can turn a new leaf, too, on a number of issues. Too many to mention down here but it would run the gamut from weight to reading more to being more organized. Same as last year, really. We see how far that got me.
For some reason, true Southerners think it’s good luck to cook collard greens (with a little bacon fat mixed in) and black eyed peas Continue reading
Filed under Writing to adult children
December 17, 2012
Ellen/Reid: Reid, I don’t know as if you’ll have a chance to receive this let alone read it before you fly out for Charlotte, but we’ll keep the string intact.
By now it is hoped you will have figured out where
We did fish and Reid did catch fish. Not as many as the better times of year, but enough.
to take Tim and Liz, respectively, for the nice dinners. Ellen, if there’s anything left over you might buy Emma some sort of designer baby food. Not that there is anything wrong with strained-diluted-tasteless peas and such, but maybe there is something else on the market at Whole (“Paycheck”) Foods. I’m not up to speed these days on baby food. Reid, you can spring for a little pricier Continue reading
Filed under Writing to adult children
December 3, 2012
Ellen/Reid: We were all set to put up the tree but we had issues with the lights, too. As in not having any lights. Last year I must’ve dumped the whole shebang when a couple of strands went on the blink (or non-blink). Now we have some new ones but I was too tired last night to muster the energy. But tonight is the night for tree trimming. Not much will go beneath it, but at least we will have something relatively festive. I’ve even though(t) about springing for a natural wreath. It reminds me of a story years ago when, in the hopes of saving a buck, I drove a beat up old Plymouth Duster into the countryside and cut down a feral cedar tree along a rural road.
Why in the world anyone in their right mind – that is a rhetorical question – would cruise a dusty country road to slice down a dusty cedar as a Christmas tree – is beyond me. It wasn’t back in the early ’70s, but it is now. The solitary gift under the tree? That is for Reid when he visits.
But the thing was covered in gray road-side dust, enough so that there was no green showing through. So, I tossed it in the shower and tried to rinse all the dust off, which only perpetuated the dust problem in my apartment and made a mess of the bathtub. It took forever to dry and it never did smell like aromatic cedar but instead like country mud. Once it was up, the scruffy un-shapely thing looked awful, so back into the trunk went the now-clean tree, and it was returned – quickly – to the country side. What an idiot. I haven’t thought of that story for a long, long time, and probably for good reason.
But in a momentary surrender to the holiday spirit, I did bake bread last night for the first time in many moons, and it was enjoyable as ever for breakfast toast this morning. It reminded me how much I’ve missed the hearty loaves we used to make when you were kids although I don’t recall you two eating that much of it. If there was a smidgen of planning here, some of it would go in the freezer to be retained for French toast. It may move me to whip up a few loaves of breakfast raisin bread this weekend. That’s my fav. Why didn’t we bake any of that at Thanksgiving? Sheer oversight is all that was.
Reid, I am perturbed at the lack of contact from the fishing outfitters in Oak Island. You’d think someone would want to book a 3 – 4 hour excursion for a couple of hapless landlubbers willing to pay their handsome fees. I emailed 3 of captains, thinking the first one that responded would get our business. Maybe it’s too close to Christmas for them, but at least they could have responded in some way. I’ll keep trying. Otherwise, we rent stuff on the pier and try our luck at whatever might bite there. They always show pictures of ‘catches’ but the fading photos have dates like ‘June 9, 2009.’ But it will keep us occupied for a few hours.
More depressing climate news this morning. Now, the pollution-caused blanket that traps the earth’s heat grew at 3% last year, meaning scientists are underestimating how high – or fast – temperatures will accelerate. We seem to be killing ourselves but mankind is wholly unwilling to do anything about it. Such a great gift we’ve been given and we know nothing better than to ruin it. Don’t get me started on the ‘fiscal cliff.’ The boys and girls in Washington had better learn to play together or they will send us in a long, downward spiral, all for party’s sake. Its mind blowing to think compromise is a dirty term. Both sides get the blame although I think things tilt the wrong way a little bit more on the GOP side. Obama has to get off the fence, too.
Most of my Christmas shopping is done, although there is still time to complete your wish lists. I need to at least pony up for another item or two for each of you, so move off the snide. Reid, I may unilaterally get you something else in time for your arrival, and Ellen, what is in that box under your tree won’t be enough. You gotta help me here. Throw your dad a bone, okay?
Filed under Writing to adult children
