Pride

I understand we are luckier than most, that it is a blessing to still have a mom and be able to have a conversation with her. But sometimes it's painful, especially when she seems to be trying so desperately to hang onto a little independence, a touch of pride. But things need to get done, personal things, duties that the ladies who take care of her must do to maintain her health. I hear her saying 'leave me alone!' But they can't leave her alone, any more than you can leave a child who is about to burn himself on a hot oven. With a child, he'll learn. But with a 100 year old woman, any slip up can be a disaster. 

"Leave me alone!" 

"No, Rose."

Patience. That's what it takes. We are blessed to have a team of beautiful women taking care of her. I kńow that, but it hurts me anyway. 

Four Way Selfie

Nefnik and Lilli came up for the weekend. Of course we got in some recording time at Decibelle.

Home From the Galapagos

And guess who flew to Boulder to pick her up at the Denver airport, as well as bring those flowers? 

The Golden Gate from Space

We have gotten kind of hooked on the NASA channel (346). Last week we saw two astronauts talking from the International Space Station, floating in space, tossing the microphone back and before between them. It's kind of low-tech boring, but also unbelievably fascinating. One of those astronauts (Samantha) took this picture that appeared on SFGate this morning.

Happy Rosie

Talking to Danny on the phone...

Guacapitty

Following yesterday's post about Guacapitty, we offer this recipe from The Great Plotnik Avocado Plantation:

GUACAPITTY

4 avocados from backyard tree.
1 hacksaw, sharp
1 sledgehammer, medium
Liver Loaf
Brussels Sprouts

Allow ample time for avocados to ripen. If they actually do, proceed to GUACAMOLE.

If they never ripen, place rock-hard avocado on concrete floor. With hacksaw, slowly slice through avocado, exposing pit. Set any avocado meat aside. It is inedible.

With sledgehammer, smash pit to smithereens. Watch out for toes, fingers and eyeballs.

Gather all avocado pit shards and inedible avocado meat into mixing bowl. Add 1/2 pound liver loaf and hundreds, no, thousands of brussels sprouts.

Serves 0.

Avocado Maintenance

Huge pruning going on over here. The avocado tree has been reduced by at least a third. Next year we can take a little more off until it is down to manageable levels and more sun can get into the lower acreage. The last time we did this we got three or four years of better sun so we could grow more things, which then died as soon as the tree leafed out again over the top of them.

Frank's pruning team found three small avocados already, the two in the picture and one still up on the tree. Which is to say this tree is ready to exploit global warming to its maximum effect -- I fully expect a bushel or two of avocados over the next few years. They might even turn out to have smaller pits, which would make guacamole possible instead of guacapitty. But regardless, for you serious investors out there, the market for organic avocado pits can only expand.

Open Kibbe

Bulgar and saffron crust, lamb, onions and pine nuts filling, tahini and and lemon juice topping, sprinkled with parsley and more pine nuts on top, and then baked. Thanks to Ottolenghi's "Jerusalem," from which I keep pulling new and delicious recipes. This one's a bit labor intensive but it's really good.

This is Why We Do It

TIAPOS, our beloved writer's group, has been getting together for danged near twenty years at this point. See our faces? See why we do this? Thanks for the photo PJ... That's Large Pants, Plotnik, Mushnik, Motorhead, SuzyQ, Bombshell and Chef Pickle in the photo...

The No Whine List Day 7

Wow, it's not easy not to whine. For one thing, it's Whine-ter. It's cold out. It is very easy to whine about being cold in whine-ter, except it is once again around 50 with but a few clouds in the sky. Wah wah wah, we are suffering so. Also, it's SO hard to park at the Legion of Honor, where we went this morning to take a fabulous docent tour led by our friend Virginia, except we had Liz and her handicap placard and that ruined everything because we pulled right in next to the front door. Wah wah wah, parking was easy.

And then there's that view of the Golden Gate and the blue water and the green pines and Rodin in the courtyard.

Surely there'd be some officious guard insisting that we remain 18" from the paintings, or an off-putting bunch of fat tourists with cameras getting in our way, or, for SURE, an overpriced lunch at the cafeteria. But, wouldn't you know, the food was great, it wasn't too expensive, the tour was fabulous, we were practically the only ones in the museum and no one cared if we got close or not.

This might be the best I can do for a whine right now: there was nothing to whine about wah wah wah.

Not a Threat, Nor a Complaint, Nor a Whine.

Sunday January 4, 2015. Haven't whined in days. The New Year's Resolution remains in place. The Great BZWZ says you shouldn't resolve NOT TO DO something, but instead resolve to DO something. Well, OK. But sometimes you just have to rid yourself of a bad habit.

I'm not saying I won't complain, just that I won't whine about it. Or, if I do, I won't use that voice I hate, the one that comes from people who have everything enduring a temporary inconvenience.


Threats are fine. If it comes down to violence or whining, I will not whine. Just saying. The next BMW that cuts through my bike path without looking gets a dent on the rear quarter panel if I catch up to him.

This is not a threat, nor a complaint, nor a whine. And yet, it feels so good.