A Conflation of Celebrations

Elizabeth and Gypsy drove to 1880 from Montana last week to celebrate anything and everything we could squeeze into the few days they could be here.  Cooking, eating, and dogs played a big part.

Elizabeth brought pumpkins she had grown in her Montana garden and roasted them to use in baked items.  World’s best muffins with fresh grated ginger and glaze will not be forgotten since I seem to be wearing them where my waist used to be.

We prepared and ate our traditional Thanksgiving feast: turkey, gravy, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, and, what I hope will be a new tradition, this delicious salad Elizabeth made of marinated root vegetables and pine nuts on a bed of garden greens.

Elizabeth makes a much greater effort on salad-making than I do. (It’s so worth it!)

Next morning, Elizabeth came upstairs with a stack of Christmas presents for me, and we participated in a bit of animal abuse by making the pups model costumes new and old.

 I believe Dolly it thinking, “That’s my bed and it is clearly too small for you, Gypsy.”

We then moved on to selecting outdoor potted trees to serve as Christmas trees.

Elizabeth helped haul this cedar in to the living room:

and decided on this redwood to take home to Montana:

Then we settled in to binge-watch the third season of “The Crown.” Highly recommended.

Trying to think of a closing statement here.  I think I’ll go with,”Celebrate whenever, wherever, however and whatever you can and be thankful.”

And Those Caissons Go Rolling Along

I am a patriotic pacifist.  Does that make me a human oxymoron? Is it oxymoronic to go to war for peace?

I hate everything about war, but I love this country and swell with pride whenever I hear a patriotic song.  When I was a post-WWII school girl, I was taught the words to every national and every service song.

At a concert yesterday, I sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at the top of my lungs.  When the service songs were played, veterans (There aren’t many left anymore.) and family members were asked to stand to honor their respective heroes, and again, I stood and sang the Caisson Song for Daddy with pride.

Requiem aeternam dona eis et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Okay, Boomer!

Sunday’s Leonard Pitt’s article was about kids disrespectfully saying ,“Okay, Boomer” to older generations. I’m not offended by that in the least.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say, “Okay, Boomer” to me.  I’m too old.  I’m actually a War Baby. But I wouldn’t mind.

I learn so many things from younger people.  I chose my doctors and financial manager from age groups that I feel sure will out-live me. They are brilliant, treat me with respect, and are very good listeners. I wait for a neighborhood kid to get home from school to give me some help designing my own emoji.

Perhaps it’s just as well they don’t remember all the things we taught them.  I guess it doesn’t matter that their kindergarten teachers didn’t teach them how to hold their pencils so they can write legibly.  No one needs cursive anyway.  Or arithmetic.  Got devices for that.
Recently, I received an email from an immigrant student I taught in 8th grade. He recalled our studying To Kill a Mocking Bird. He wanted me to know how it changed his life. I didn’t know it at the time.  I don’t think he did either.  He is now head of neurosurgery at Brown University.
Teaching, learning, and respect goes both ways.

November Holidays

I substituted for an advanced ESL class last night for which there were no lesson plans. I just winged it. We discussed the history and meaning of November holidays. I asked the students to name them: Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday were mentioned. The discussion then turned to bargain shopping. Oh, well. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.