Cooking with Dee

We had a neighbor from there years ago. She was a brilliant scientist who worked on oil rigs around the world. Thank you, New Zealand, for reading.

She adopted a dog, a rescue from Hurricane Katrina. Good dog, needy and used to get under our pillows to take a nap from time to time, as I’d let him stay in a thunderstorm, knowing what those memories might be. I offered to take him out for a few moments at lunch time, free, of course.

One day I had another dog in the house. His folks were moving and he was barking at the movers so I took him in with our now ancient dog Zoe for a few hours. I took them out at lunch time and brought them back. We had two locks on the door, one inaccessible from the exterior.

Then I went to get the New Zealander’s dog for a quick walk. I got him back safely and could not get into my home. The visiting dog was taller than Zoe and turned the upper lock that had no access from outside.

I talked to management and said I couldn’t get into my loft. They handed me the master key and asked me to get it back asap. No, I have that key, we’ve a dog here for a few hours that has tripped the deadbolt so I cannot get in or care for them.

They laughed hard, then sent maintenance. It took hours. First we had to use my neighbor’s key to open her door and measure the distance so they could drill a hole in our 3″ thick wood door to negate the interior lock structure and pull the deadbolt from the frame.

I was the only person with two exterior locks and it was a source of amusement for our neighbors and friends. After we left, the lofts were sold and deteriorated and thieves used axes to get inside those doors to steal everything inside. All I can say is luckily, we moved way away to get rid of the mean element. I’ve seen and heard them, been called names verbally and in print.

Politicians look to keep graffiti and illegal activities like skateboarding, from their front door. They find a donor and put it off-site with no input or information from the community. No trash facilities, no bathrooms, no parking, no water fountain, nothing. The kids had a facility but skated our garage, holding us hostage because we don’t want to hit a kid with our car when we’re going to the grocery store.

We’ve been away a long time, and if we were to return we would never live at that place. It’s sad, because we liked it there. Dee

Welcome to France, Estonia and India! I enjoy and respect your presence on this site.

My picture framer is moving away next month. I will not have the wisdom of her counsel in a month’s time but she has taught me well and I have chosen the art for her last month here in town and believe I know some of my framing choices. It always helps to narrow it down and chose the colors and pare down. If one chooses a silver frame, there are dozens from which to choose.

I believe it was she who inspired me to get into floral arranging, simple flowers in miniature arrangements and classes on specific techniques for larger ones.

Summers in college I taught gymnastics every day, then went to another job, recruiting students for a local college. In gymnastics my favorite group was the 3-5 year-olds because they didn’t know anything about boy stuff or girl stuff and we’d do 15 minutes of training and go play a singing game for a few minutes.

Both genders had to walk along a balance beam 1′ from mats, holding my hand if they needed to do so. I taught them to not look at their feet, look at the end of the beam for balance and an end to the exercise. Your feet will lead you there.

In work, life, framing and floral arranging if one looks at the goal, it is easier to achieve. It is difficult for me to be out of my pond or on a small branch on a big tree. My Dad always told me I could do anything I wanted to do, and I love him for that.

Oh, one of the 3-5’s in gymnastics, a boy, always got a crush on Miss Dee during those summer months between my college courses. One told his mother, when she picked him up, that Miss Dee was coming to dinner that evening. Surely she and her husband had other plans. Mom looked at me, I shrugged my shoulders and nodded “no.” She explained it kindly and fairly to her son. I’m sure he’s married and has college kids now. I like to think that I helped him and others to see the goal and not just the impediments. Dee

Welcome, Sudan! This is Dee the cook, bottle washer, dog owner and very amateur weather person.

I have clues. The flag. There is one on the beach below but the government takes it down for six months a year during the winter. It allows me to know in which direction the wind is blowing, and how fiercely.

The trees. Unfortunately they lose their leaves for six months each year (same as when the flag is gone) so they tell me nothing.

The lake. Calm or strong waves (whitecaps) going in a particular direction give me a clue. I don’t have time in the morning to check the weather because I need to get out of pajamas and dress and take out the dog immediately. Above are the signs I normally use, but there are more.

After all I need to know shoes or boots, denim jacket or winter coat. Today it is foggy and I can barely see lights below and no houses. That means warmer air is coming in.

When it’s cold and the skies are clear there are more signs. One is the direction the planes are landing at the airport. They always land against the wind and start coming in at 5:00 a.m.

Signs of spring include squirrels finally leaving their safe tree “apartments” and bird sounds. Of course bulbs start sending shoots up from the ground but when that happens everyone knows it is spring.

To judge cold, I look at the “quality” and direction of smoke from chimneys below. Living in a cold climate much of my life I’ve learned to do it by sight so I can’t explain. If it’s not snowing but very cloudy, I know it is probably under 20 degrees and with wind chill probably below zero. Heated coat, boots for warmth, scarf, fur Cossack hat, serious gloves. Then I need to decide if ancient dog Zoe needs a jacket, even though she is wearing fur, always, as her dog-ness dictates.

If it’s a two minute walk before her breakfast I don’t take all these precautions, but in the few moments when I dress (long undies or not?) I take clues in and decide on outerwear for the both of us. I can probably get us out of here in under five minutes if I quickly read any clues available at the time.

Even in cold weather I know Zoe needs four walks a day. The first walk of the day is the test. The rest I know what to do and have time to check weather online to see if it became spring when the sun came out! The weather here is crazy. Flag people, return it to its rightful place. Trees, send out some buds. Birds are welcome from everywhere, geese, even our resident turkey who is pardoned every year. Cheers and enjoy the day, Dee

My husband can be asleep within a minute or two of lying down. He snores all night. The dog sleeps instantly as well.

Why am I awake? Ok, I worry, about anything and everything. It’s late morning and the dog has been out and fed, Zoe. I need to mention her name. She is our only “kid.”

My cat Nathan, who was named for Kevin Kline’s character in Sophie’s Choice and yes, I was visiting a legislator on Coney Island and believe I saw the original Nathan’s hot dog place. Before I named this five week-old kitten I had to look up the name. Apparently Nathan is “gift” and Nathaniel is “gift from God.”

He was a gift, “surprise” from my sister at five weeks of age. My brother bought a crate at the airport and took him under the seat for 3,000 miles. I didn’t know anything about his presence or about cats.  Switch to 13 years later, of him always getting the last word.

When I went to see Nathan at the hospital I knew he was asking to go. The folks there always said “Nathan’s Mom is here to see him.” When I gave them the OK I drove there and they said “Ms. H is here.” I am no longer considered a part of his life. Heart problems and pneumonia. The vet brought me outside for specifics and I held him through the procedure and afterward.

I know that my dog will have a peaceful passing, hopefully in my arms and with a straight shot, not a catheter. If my husband can make it home, he promised to do so when we adopted this dear mutt 14 years ago. Our vet will not acknowledge requests for euthanasia procedures, well she has been off on maternity leave. Do you see why I’m up at night? I worry about my family. That is my job to assure that they are happy and healthy. Dee

Welcome Czech Republic, Paraguay and Argentina! I always hail my Country’s readers as well as Canada, which is also my family.

Walls keep us apart. A child of a pro athlete lived next door to us and started hitting our living room wall, then bashing his head on it, then throwing his entire body against it. He was three and I don’t think he liked naps. I was glad when the team didn’t make the playoffs as the kiddo actually broke a huge double-paned window and they thankfully moved out.

We live in a transient community of business owners, doctors, consultants, et al but are able to connect with a few neighbors.

I’m on Facebook but do not use it. I do not tweet, Instagram or anything else. I have my own social media. Adopt a dog, you’ll catch on. Eight walks a day as a pup that everyone will want to see because s/he is so darn cute, four walks later in life. Keep yourselves spiffy and you’ll have dates and new job offers regularly. Heaven forbid you might actually marry.

Well, I did. My future husband and I met at TGIFridays at lunch and left at 5:00 p.m. It was two weeks after 9/11 so a few strangers were talking about 9/11. We shook hands in the parking lot and he said we might call each other to see a movie sometime as friends. I threw away his phone number.

He called me the next evening for a movie and dinner, opened his car door, took my hand and never let go. We’ve been married for over 15 years. I met him because he wanted to go with me as I had a side job to my consulting, dog walking.

That first weekend he came with me on 14 dog visits. Later, after software dot.bomb I found him a place to live 1,000 feet from my place. Yes, we were walking a dog. After meeting all the parents, we eloped 15 years ago. That’s another story.

I don’t call it social media, I call it social networking. I’ve met some amazing people over the years, just by walking my incrediible old dog. Musicians, I even surprisingly ran into the couple who hired my father now 40 years ago. It was because of our dogs. Dad is gone but we get together at their home nearby, their dogs are gone, every once in a while.

Open the invisible walls. Here’s to Sugar, Spice, Jake and Wurli and my dear Chani. I water your tree in the Park. Get a real dog, and take good care of him/her. When my husband is home for the weekend Zoe wants to see him, then me. When we trade I just say “I’ve got the football” as in the proverbial presidential nuclear code briefcase. Cheers! Dee

Welcome Portugal! I look forward to seeing your country, meeting people and eating your wonderful food.

We have a nosey parker, in our ancient dog Zoe. I can’t tell my husband what I’m doing but I’d like to clear stuff out, and organize other things. He’s taken over two 100 year-old pieces of furniture of mine. They’re filled with keys and wallet and change and books and papers so I can’t even treat them with lemon oil.

I would love some storage solutions but it comes down to this. There are two windows Zoe looks down from at squirrels et al, these cannot be blocked by any furniture or storage solutions.

That’s just the way it is. If there are interior windows to clean each Spring I know the “go to” ones in an instant and can do them myself. No kids have handprints on the upper windows. It’s just Zoe’s nose, she’s just 30# and can not jump because she has no hips. I know her better than anyone else. It’s interesting that as she ages, she loses hearing and sight but her nose is working…… Dee

After a really strange winter we got our cars cleaned, super duper and now after two weeks they’re so dusty in a garage we need to take them back. One person wrote on my husband’s car windshield to move it. I wrote back stop touching my car. In the end I can’t believe they didn’t say “clean me.”

We were on line at the car wash two weeks ago when it shut down. We had spent a while to advance to second in line so it took us a long time to get out of there as everyone behind us had to back up into a busy street. We were diverted to and found another  facility a couple of miles away.

Yes, there was a song, way back, and I remember it for a reason. A college friend and I found ourselves en route home for the holidays. He was really cute but we had nothing in common except our college and home towns so we decided not to date. I was 18.

It was a four-hour trip that took nine hours because of snow on the tracks. A little girl sang “Workin’ at the Car Wash” all those hours and even when her voice was shot she kept going. That said, it is not the worst Amtrak trip I’ve had. That time, I was so happy to get off the train and be met by my family! My husband taunts me from time to time, especially on Amtrak, and starts singing the car wash song. No, Dear. I’ll get off the train before we depart. Just stop. He does, and we travel together. No car wash songs, please. Dee

I always liked the tune and voice to that song and its’ writer, John Denver. I think it a bit condescending to women but have considered it as a song if we renew our vows this year, after fifteen married. We eloped so would like to do something for our families.

At this time I would hope they would follow us. It would be small, short and quaint with Texas sweet tea and lots of pies and cakes.

My husband might meet me there, he only follows me when we’re on an escalator! Guess who follows me now? Our old dog Zoe. If she is well enough I’ll take her on a three-day journey to Texas on her 4″ orthopedic bed in the back, and she’ll be a bridesmaid. No dress, just a white silk collar to go with her leash and my  little comb-out from the bath I gave her 48 hours before.

She used to follow me everywhere. Now I have to pat her head to go for a walk or eat her dinner. She’s still a chow hound and everything inside is working, it’s just her ears and eyes, and she can’t follow me anymore. Sorry Chani, you’ve been gone a long time and I’ve another great dog. There’s a photo of you in my kitchen, you and Sam the cat, who used to get in the gate and take a sun nap with you every day. I always remember my Chani. Zoe, we’ll see about that……… Dee

Some are on the straight and narrow. Mine was that way for a long time. I lived in a Germanic household and Dad would come into our room at seven in the morning and blow his trumpet mouthpiece as in get up, get breakfast, do your chores. Reveille.

Mine took a different path as I did go to college as my parents wished, then went to work and waited 20 years to marry. We have an old dog, no kids.

An architect once told me that when one designs a college campus, it is wise to just place grass and see for a year how the students walk from the dorms to the science building or community center.

They blaze their own trails. A year later the architects place sidewalks in the places students tread. I thank friends and family for allowing me to go off the beaten path.

Thanks everyone, especially my teachers L and J, and Franciscans Cap and John, for leading me off the beaten path. Cheers, Dee

That is a man who has a prominent, dominant voice in opera or other domains. He has a commanding presence. Think Darth Vader’s voice (not the person in the mask) saying “Luke, I am your father.”

It came through like a lightning bolt even though his voice must have had to go through many filters to seem like the mask. I knew his voice right away.

In the early 90’s my father was tasked to consult with an HBCU, an Historic Black College/ University, in southeast Texas. There was an auction he put on, and he bought a special gift for me and I’ll pick it up from my framer later today. Dad is gone for over a year and I treasure the little things he got me from around the world. They are not little things, but big ones like love, inspiration and trust, plus Ferragamo scarves and Italian leather purses, boxes, all kinds of things from every land he touched. Silly things like a plastic Italian chef timer. Turkish Pashmina scarves, lithos I’ll have framed for my office. Funny little things that are endearing and keep him in my heart.

He started me on OXO kitchen tools decades ago, before I was ever diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. He knew, because he knew me.

This, his paintings after age 80, and the charcoal dancer sketch bring together the things we loved, art, dance, imagination, hard-headedness, food, helping the little guy, even rooting for the Bills after…… yes, four failed Superbowl attempts. I stopped wearing my t-shirt 3,000 miles away because I thought I was the curse.

The gift that I found after 25 years is a piece of paper. It is on the personal letterhead of renowned and gifted actor James Earl Jones, and signed, of his recipe for Chilean Sea Bass. It is going on my kitchen wall, way above where my husband can splatter tomato sauce when he decides he wants to make himself spaghetti and meatballs!

I had to get it framed, for Dad, as well as HBCU’s and James Earl Jones. I’ve now a mosaic, a story and framed art in my small kitchen, as well as a plethora of frig magnets from all over the world. Husband says he doesn’t know what I wish for in jewelry so he stops by the airport gift shop and usually gets me something local that wiggles, like a Dungeness crab from San Francisco, and the overseas ones tend to be more sedate. They don’t wiggle like the Indianapolis colt when I open and close the refrigerator.

Oh, the college turned out great. They didn’t need Dad anymore. They found oil on the property. Go figure. I will treasure this piece of paper that took Mr. Jones two seconds to sign. Dad always said we women only wanted to talk about food. He only wanted to talk about work and I was on a college break. The men and boys would not have eaten if not for us. Thank you James Earl Jones and happy cooking! Dee