Category Archives: Editorial

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Nonchalant

Posted on February 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

I don’t believe the dictionary, instead I believe my dog. She’s sleeping behind me, never more than two feet away, but never touching unless she wishes to do so. Her photo should be next to the word “nonchalant” except she’s pretending, otherwise she wouldn’t always stay two feet from me.

The other morning around 5:00 she aligned her spine against mine on our bed, to assure I would not move without her knowing about it. She hasn’t done that for a couple of years, but things are different with my husband away on business.

Nonchalant is definitely the word of the day. OED calm, relaxed. I might think of a lady sure of herself at Ascot, with the best hat. Sean Connery as Bond, James Bond. Or Meryl Streep in any movie.

Who doesn’t care about the maelstrom surrounding ones lives? I’ve done change all my life as a kid, at work, in life. I can’t tell you how many because you won’t believe me. I can say that most were very good changes since my birth but change does take its toll.

My word is inured, not nonchalant. I had a new school, new friends and was pulled out, even in high school. Luckily I got to spend four years at the same college. So much for nonchalance. Cheers, Dee

ps My brother and I have agreed to make even a better Cassoulet than I did for our father 25 years ago. It will be a project, lasting days or a week, to better what Dad once called the best meal of his life.

My life has been inspired, I’ve learned, loved, of course lost a great deal. I’ve never shied away, at least for 20 years, from controversy. There is so much controversy about this French dish that I lost my book, Simca’s Cuisine that kept me warm on cold winter nights on my unpaid culinary apprenticeship.

I’ve found the long-lost book, on Amazon, that is the dish to give to my father. Back then, it was my best friend as I was living in an unheated cabin on a mattress just to cook. We’ll fly in and cook, that’s the plan. D

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New Things

Posted on February 23, 2015 | 3 comments

When I was 12 years old we moved to a very different place. We usually had only the networks and PBS for television (I liked PBS when it began showing Julia Child). OK, also Sesame Street to keep my young brother occupied for a bit.

As to music I’d always bought transistor radios and only had a few channels so it was mostly top 40. Then I met other kids who listened to Dave Mason. I tried out a lot of bands and began with Elton John, lots of famous balladeers including Joan Baez. Dylan, but was missing several components, but in gym class got to play the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. I created a stretch class for that, no teacher, I was in 10th grade.

Our family was back north (luckily I didn’t have to shoot BB guns in gym class anymore) a year later. I was into Beatles, Bad Co. and a lot of other music.

One thing I missed was country. I thought it simple and somewhat backward but I was wrong. It is true music, granted I can probably transpose many songs into the traditional cowboy chords. Who spoke to me? Johnny Cash, CSNY (not country, but worth mentioning as well as Peter, Paul and Mary). Joan Baez, always, though her chords are too difficult for this neophyte.

At the time we laughed at Glen Campbell while singing his songs, as he is a legend in many ways. This year at the Oscars they sang a song he wrote to his family about having Alzheimers. He has done wonderful work and I love the simplicity of country songs and the lyrics these “cowboys” put to music.

Perhaps I mis-speak but I am not a fan of “entertainers” taking the stage and yelling undecipherable lewd lyrics into a microphone. I grew up with Mozart, Bach, Beethoven. I believe that folk, country and pop have a place and not just on the oldies channel.

Speaking of which, I do not yet have or use Pandora. I do not listen to music in the car as I usually only drive a couple miles per day. My guitar teacher was so pleased that I actually wanted to learn a song that came from this decade, Hey There Delilah. We parted ways and moved before that ever happened.

It just shows that anyone, musician, dancer or otherwise should always keep up with the times but also remember classical training. That is first. For cooks as well. Learn the groundwork and riff away. Cheers! Dee

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Good Signs

Posted on February 21, 2015 | 1 comment

Over 12 years ago, my husband and I eloped. There were eight of us and everyone played a role. Dear friends, a Navy Captain and his wife, helped out. He married us and she was a witness on the marriage certificate.

She also made me allow her (you don’t argue with J, her three sons know as much) to buy my wedding bouquet. I saw a simple arrangement in a small vase at the florist and said “that’s it.” She wanted something more grand, I said small. I got yellow French tulips and alstroemeria in pink and yellow and ordered it to be wrapped in pale blue silk ribbon to carry through the eucalyptus grove we trespassed onto, overlooking the Pacific ocean, for the Ceremony, which the Captain wrote for us.

I already had my great aunt’s pearls (old), new pearl earrings, a borrowed bracelet and now the blue ribbon.

Today I received flowers, and not from my husband, a thank-you gift that is business-related. Valentines and our anniversary have passed and we have a pact not to celebrate “Hallmark” dates.

My husband asked me to engrave our wedding date and my birth date into his wedding ring. He still forgets both. Today’s flowers include yellow tulips and pink and yellow alstroemeria, from my wedding bouquet. There is no way the sender knew my wedding flowers as my husband does not even know them.

It’s a good sign of things to come. Cheers, reader. Let the weather warm and the birds be happy that they flew North two months too early! Dee

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You Know Your iPhone

Posted on February 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

is old when:

People you don’t remember are listed as contacts;

Dead people from years ago are in it and their names bring back memories;

The bank you’ve been with 20 years will no longer let you access via cell phone;

You can not read texts without better glasses or a magnifying glass (that’s me getting old as well);

You cannot text because everything is too darned small (that’s partly me); and

Dinner guests come over, all place their phones on the coffee table for a pre-dinner drink and hors d’oeuvres all the iPhone 6+s laugh at my antique phone.

It’s a 3. Not a 3G or 3GS. It’s an iPhone 3 that can only last 20 minutes off life support. So what did my husband do on a business trip? Stole my car charger. What happens if I’m stranded in the middle of the desert with a dead, old phone? Yes, I’ll be a dead, old gal and my dog will find her way somewhere to a new home where she’ll be welcomed with open arms.

He did get me a new charger, realizing the implications of his actions. I went to dinner with the other new phone owners and didn’t bring mine along lest it be laughed at. They enjoyed the comment and we had a lovely meal.

Can I keep the phone as an antique? Not a great idea, though I’ve the first 1957 portable Smith-Corona typewriter, a gift from my dear aunt for high school graduation that was the envy of my dorm in college. Market value on eBay is $6 but I lug it across country, waiting for that country cabin where I can place it on my antique English oak desk in front of a window overlooking mountains and really write. Think Ernest Hemingway with snow. That’s if I can still find ribbons.

I lug the typewriter and desk because they have great meaning to me. They both signify independence of a sort. Being on my own at college, buying my first piece of furniture. Dear husband, of course your counsel will be sought but I’d rather an iPhone 6+ and the $20 MacBook (8 years old) battery you sent me last week than an iPad and new laptop. You’re great! And as you see, I’m not a shopper.

The husband and dog come with me everywhere, no lugging involved, some dog hair when I lift the old girl up to her orthopedic bed in my car. She has no hips.

Cars bring me from A to B, safely. I fought against having a cell phone for years until I was caught in the middle of Camp Pendleton for three hours. A day after my car’s 35K checkup ($700) the rear differential broke on the highway. I was on the shoulder with no access to the base and walked to a horrible yellow highway phone box and waited for hours. Of course someone left a wrench or something in the works and the dealer paid to fix their mistake. It cost me a lot of time and a critical client meeting, as Art Garfunkel would say, 99 miles to L.A.

Cell phones keep me in touch with family, friends and get me out of trouble if I’m ever stuck with a flat tire and have to call AAA. I do like the look of the iPhone 6+, dear, and for once would like a new phone, not a hand-me-down. Cheers! Dee

 

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What Would Sam Rayburn Do?

Posted on February 13, 2015 | 1 comment

Yes, former Speaker of the House. There is a museum and roads named after him in NE Texas but anyone who remembers knows Sam Rayburn.

Frustrated that it took so much time to get back to his House duties in our nation’s capital, he devised and had taxpayers fund a highway to Dallas, TX. It’s still there.

He was a visionary. Now Dallas is creeping, seeping, arrogantly claiming NE Texas as its own by taking over cow country and flooding bottom lands in order to build reservoirs to provide itself water. Our family is being kicked off of 500 acres of land that will be a reservoir, and not a pretty one where folks vacation, in a few years just so a Dallas “metroplex” family can get a glass of water.

Sam Rayburn opened the roads for his home town and its residents, and doomed them at the same time. The train stopped its route there because of the highway. Trucks stopped because of the Interstate highways. His home town has become more of a ghost town. But I’ll bet your bottom dollar he got the funds to build the VA Hospital there. Looks like the era. I know because my husband’s mother works there as a nurse.

Of course my husband’s family is there and we join a large group every  year for Thanksgiving. Every once in a while, I drive by the Sam Rayburn Museum en route to DFW and think I’d like to visit one day.

My point of this tale is to say “pave your own path.” If it is golden bricks to the Emerald City, or creating a light bulb, do it. That’s what Sam Rayburn would have done. Cheers! Dee

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Recalls

Posted on February 13, 2015 | Leave a comment

Right about now I think I’m about to be recalled. My college mentor was recalled and buried yesterday.

I scratched a pole in our tight parking garage the other day, then received two recall notices this week that say if the air bags have been in hot and humid weather, if they deploy that metal shards may kill me even if someone runs into me and the accident wouldn’t have done as much damage. Me, not the car.

My insurance company tried to get me to concentrate on the scratch and dent and told me it was all my fault. Yes, my neighbor entered the garage and waved  and I waved back at 1m per hour and scratched the concrete pole.

The auto manufacturer said I had two other recalls I’d never received, one for seat belt malfunction and the other for keys falling out of the ignition when the car is not in Park.

Let’s do the scales of justice. My insurance company is demanding the car for a dent and scratch. My car manufacturer says it’s time to come in because I could be killed because my key could fall out of the ignition in drive or reverse, my air bag could fail or inflate and kill me, and my seat belt will not keep me from going through the window. The parts are scarce and I ordered them the day of the recall notice and was told it would be 7-10 days before they arrived on site.

Small dent or life. No choice according to my insurance company. Did I say I was a former insurance analyst for the government, looking for client mishaps? You’ve read of my success against the insurance industry. I’m waiting for them to tell me that my car potentially killing me protects them against helping me out on a 1  mph mishap in our parking garage.

Tune in for the next episode of As The SUV’s Turn. My fantastic car is nearly 12 years old, I love it and want to keep it for another five years at least. Ok, I’d also love to move to the Rockies and once again look at blue skies and mountains forever. Yes, both.

It’s freezing here and I have to gear both me and the dog up for a walk. No, not a drive to a fun place as my car is not safe because my seat belts won’t work and my air bags will send metal shards through by body. Chances are the ignition has already choked up my key and I’ve no control so am probably doing a Thelma and Louise exit. Great movie ending but not mine. No way.

There are priorities in life and they include my husband, my dog’s and my safety. The insurance company can wait for the dent.

For me, my husband and our lives we are awaiting parts for the recalls and I’ll get the dent taken care of later. Our insurance company is more mechanized by the day and given an hour or so someone may get on the phone and the number they posted is wrong for our area. The new number takes another hour and the person on the other end of the line is so rude it is beyond description.

When did customer service become a bad thing to offer? I certainly thought this offspring of the most revered stock trader in history would continue to provide support to its customers, especially those who’ve been with them for at least a decade.

Is there a Hire a Gecko line I can choose? Cheers, Dee

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My Priest

Posted on February 5, 2015 | 1 comment

He is near death. We have known each other for nearly 40 years and I’d hoped to see him before now. He has been a savior, my savior teaching me to learn and believe in myself, and to help others. He helped shape my life.

I wanted him to marry us 12 years ago last week. He wouldn’t until my husband became a Catholic, and perhaps me as well. I did miss Confirmation because we moved in a small town and had to go to mass elsewhere. It was a small town so confirmations were only done every other year and I missed it. I was also a rebel on issues regarding women in the Church. In other ways as well like women in sports. I think he liked my enthusiasm, not necessarily the message.

I awakened the other night with a very strange entire body feeling I’ve only had when someone close was dying. Immediately I thought of him and reached out to my alma mater. Hours later I received confirmation from another priest that he had just been moved to comfort care, aka hospice and expected only a few days of life.

Fr. C will always be in my heart. He deserves Heaven, and to meet St. Francis, who brought us together. Many people love him for his faith and actions and that love is deserved. I will miss my teacher, my mentor, my friend. With sadness and love, Dee

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Measles

Posted on February 4, 2015 | 1 comment

It seems to spread so fast, and can be dangerous. For parents who don’t want to get a vaccine to help their children, family, friends and people across the country, think again.

When I was growing up there was no vaccine. We were lucky that Jonas Salk found a vaccine for polio. I suffered both types of measles, chicken pox and mumps in two years as a kid. That’s after having ear infections up to age four and that day my tonsils were extricated and they said I could have all the ice cream I wanted but I couldn’t even think of eating anything.

To my dear mother-in-law, the nurse, I’ve asked to please tell me if my husband has already has experienced measles or whether he needs the vaccine. He only recalls chicken pox. M, you know better as his mother.

Just as I don’t believe in using antibiotics for a common cold, immunizations are now reviled by some and a political issue. This is a health issue. This morning I saw politicians very badly straddling a fence that was about to fall. Do we really want smallpox, tuberculosis, and other diseases to return and kill thousands or millions because parents want to “protect” their children from a vaccine while injuring or killing others because of that decision?

Think of this litigious society and that if I don’t give Peter the vaccine and he gets measles and passes it to two other kids who get sick as well, just look at the lawsuits. There won’t even be any more reality TV, it’ll all be lawyer ads for MeasleGate. Heavens, I just gave the bottom feeders something to chew on. Hey, I’m your agent, I get 10%. Hello? Shark #1 caller just hung up on me.  Kidding.

I am not a measles carrier or a water carrier for others to cash in, only satire for a bad situation. That I’m not a carrier is always good for family and friends to know, Dee

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Puzzles

Posted on February 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

My parents always expected me to go to college. I never got to rebel against anything or be bad so I fought the thought of going to college, for a few minutes.

We came up with a deal. Apply jointly, choose, visit with my father, who was a college president, and then decide my future. I chose college, and worked summers to make 1/3 my tuition, that was part of the deal.

It was a Catholic college, even though they said it was not. The first class, a guy walked in wearing a brown robe with ropes around his waist and a crucifix and we all stood and said a “Hail, Mary.” That wasn’t on the potential student tour from the gal who went to public school.

So here’s this 17 year-old, unable to get into bars, thinking she will be alone in the dorm forever making no friends, shy and away from home the first time. I was corralled into classes to meet my requirements, including religion. Philosophy is a different post but that was included as well.

By end of sophomore year I learned to work the system (volunteer in the development office for a couple of years) and got art history. Fr. John, didn’t know him but was interested in art and history and had to take tougher courses so really wanted to do this.

It was exhilarating and all the English, history, science, math, religion, philosophy courses started to coalesce. Why do we learn these disciplines and never put them all together? I was 19 and happy to think I could gain knowledge and not just facts.

Look at art, especially ancient, medieval and renaissance art and it tells you the story of the people. I believe Guttenberg changed the world of religious art because with the first Bible, peasants learned how to read and didn’t have to depend upon what religion told them of stories and beliefs.

Fr. John gave great stories and slides of his travels and expected us to learn history from his lectures. Once in a darkened auditorium setting where Fr. John held class a fellow student tried to cheat off my test. I covered it and after class I told him I’d report him if he ever tried to do that again but I would spend time tutoring him for free, before the next test. He thanked me, and never cheated off my papers again. Perhaps someone else’s….

Years later I studied art on my own in Europe. Pulling together all the disciplines and knowledge was a gift from two priests, unfortunately Fr John passed years ago but I know he keeps sending me to art museums and churches.

After Art History II, I chose Fr John once again for Renaissance and Reformation, a history course. He was an inspirational teacher. To higher education, Dee

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More Snow

Posted on February 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

Yippee to the homeowners. They will be fined for not shoveling the sidewalks they do not own if they are not cleared.

Roads, City and County sidewalks and paths, forget it, most likely they’ll wait for Spring for the snow to melt and mosquitoes start biting me again. In snow, I know the side of the street on which to walk the old dog. Homeowners, hurrah. Thank you!

Stuck indoors I made a great small pizza yesterday and ate the remainder for lunch, and for dinner made my version of a vegetarian cold sesame noodles.

It just turned midnight, must join the dog as she will wonder where I am after I’ve lifted her up on the bed for the night (old, no hips). She’s a herder so follows me everywhere.

Cheers! Dee

 

 

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