Looks delicious beyond belief. — John
Lori shared this link with me yesterday from Kitchentreaty.com.
Next to more pasta, that’s all I’ve been able to think about for the last 24 hours.
It’s Sea Salt & Honey Ice Cream.
Wait. There’s more.
THERE’S NO ICE CREAM MACHINE NEEDED.
A hearty thank you to my blogger friends for baiting the circus monkey.
For recipe and more amazing pictures, hit this link at Kitchentreaty.com.
My email inbox today brought an unusually heartfelt political endorsement. I found it to be a touching tribute, and thought readers might find it interesting as well.
DOUG DUNCAN
Dear Bernard,
Today marks the third day of early voting, it also marks the 34th Anniversary of the day I married Doug. On our Anniversary Week, I had the pleasure of voting for my husband, Doug Duncan, to be the next Montgomery County Executive.
I voted for him for many of the same reasons that I married him. Besides finding him handsome, with a bright smile and bluer eyes than I have ever seen, what stood out most was how truly good and genuine of a person he was and is. Since we were 22 years old Doug has always wanted to be a public servant who had the opportunity to shape his community with compassion, competency and a diligent eye for getting things done. I have always been taken by his sense of pride for his home, Montgomery County.
We need his guiding hand again. Montgomery County is facing serious challenges – overcrowding in schools, leading the state in job loss, record high poverty and the unopened and unsafe Silver Spring Transit Center to name a few. He can get the job done and has shown before how great an Executive he can be. This election is about the future and a leader moving us forward. Doug is that leader, that public servant who has laid out his vision for where he wants to take us. So, on our 34th Anniversary, I am asking you to please join me in Voting for Doug Duncan for Montgomery County Executive.
With much appreciation,
Barbara
Early voting continues all weekend, even on Sunday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
What does it all mean? It means there are no excuses for failing to vote in the primary election, if you are a registered voter and registered as either a Democrat or a Republican. Both parties have primary elections, although the Democrats offer many more contested primaries, and many choices of qualified candidates. In many parts of Maryland, Republicans have only one candidate running for an office, meaning no contest. An important exception for Republicans is the governor’s race, where four candidates are vying for the right to face the Democratic nominee for governor in the November General Election. Please vote for the candidates of your choice.
— (Bernard) John Hayden
“It’s easy to find the answer when you look at one side of an issue. When you look at both sides of an issue, that’s when you lose the answer. When you look at all sides of an issue, four or five sides, you realize it might be impossible to find the answer. That’s when you go to church.”
— Quote, more or less verbatim, from my sister, Anna, and I think she might be right
Earthjustice photo
Earthjustice email newsletters are a pleasant way to keep up with environmental issues, which are often inherently unpleasant.
The Earthjustice online newsletter for May highlights five environmental issues with artistic photos and colorful videos. First of the five is the mysterious (or maybe not so mysterious) deaths of honeybees, and the last is fracking from a small town perspective. In between are two items on water pollution and one on air pollution.
Here’s a link to the Earthjustice online newsletter: http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/2011/pages/ebrief-2014-05.html . Be advised that each issue report comes with an appeal for financial contributions to Earthjustice. This post is for information purposes only and is not an endorsement of Earthjustice or any of its policy positions.
— John Hayden
This week’s email brings a reminder from Maggie Thompson at the organization Higher Ed Not Debt about an issue that remains under the radar for much of the population:
“This week we hit a milestone—but it’s not a good one. It’s been two years since the amount of student debt held in this country hit $1 trillion dollars. Americans hold more student debt than credit card debt and auto loans combined.” — Maggie Thompson
Everyone knows about credit card debt and mortgage issues, but the significance of student debt is still emerging. Higher education student debt should be at the top of the list of issues addressed by Democratic candidates in this year’s elections. Recent graduates (and also students who studied for several years but didn’t graduate) are well aware of the problem, and they could use some help.
The burden of student debt might not be so bad, if more and better jobs were available for young adults. But the fact is, graduates face a stagnant job market and declining wages. How do you pay off student debt and start a family on Walmart wages?
Higher Ed Not Debt is organizing events across the country to put the spotlight on student debt. For more information see the Higher Ed Not Debt website.
— John Hayden
Golden Retrievers on the bus, via Planet Ivy. Are we there yet?
I recommend this post about Michelle and her service dog, Ruthie Mae. http://dogkisses.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/a-campaign-for-the-sweetest-dog-in-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-3317
Please click on the title “Ruthie Mae,” to see a clickable link. Thanks. . . . .
— John
“STATE OF WONDER,” is a 21st century fairy tale. The Ann Patchett novel explores, among many things, the potential for human excellence, the power and consequence of romantic love, the implications of paternal presence and absence. Perhaps most importantly, the story reveals our willingness to deceive, disappoint, and betray one another. But also our ability to persevere and survive.
Read State of Wonder twice. It’s that good. I missed most of the message on first reading. I’m planning to give it a third go, a few years hence. I can’t wait to see how the story stands the test of time. After two readings, I think it has “classic” stamped all over it.
One reader called State of Wonder “A life-changing experience.” For anyone paying attention, it is a life-informing experience, at least.
As a story, State of Wonder is a tale of grand adventure, bordering on science fiction, in a faraway and dangerous place.
The journey takes us from frozen Minnesota to steaming Amazon jungle. It’s the archetypical plot of ancient and modern literature. To wit: The hero leaves home; the hero returns home.
First the hero, Dr. Anders Eckman, departs on a great quest, which includes birdwatching and searching for a disappeared mad scientist. Dr. Eckman contracts a tropical fever and perishes.
Now comes the heroine, Dr. Marina Singh, an unwilling volunteer on a mission. The heroine departs partly because she’s guilt-tripped into it, and partly because she’s in love with the anti-hero, a CEO named Mr. Fox. He stays home, at least for now. What a man! Mr. Fox must remain behind to keep the ship from sinking. In this case, the ship is a corporation. But never mind.
Is the brilliant (mad?) scientist, Dr. Annick Swenson, seemingly lost in the jungle without even a telephone, the true heroine? Or is she the villain? Whatever, Dr. Swenson understands the hard truth, when it finally slaps her in the face.
“I don’t know another story to match this,” says she.
Correct. There is no story to match this, at least not since Homer. Or maybe Adam and Eve. Forgive my hyperbole.
The icy Dr. Swenson inspires unwavering loyalty, admiration, and fear. She’s a central character here, but not THE central character.
The central character is our overeducated and slightly naive heroine, Dr. Singh. All the leading characters seem to be doctors, if you don’t count the endearing little boy, named Easter, who happens to be deaf.
Marina Singh is a humble but daring protagonist. She wanders alone in a sweltering, alien city, braving deadly insects and malaria day and night. She travels by small boat down unknown tropical rivers, deep into the dense Amazon jungle.
Our heroine is fearful, but overcomes all fears. She battles a fire-breathing dragon. And slays it with a machete.
(Time out for truth in book reviewing: OK, it’s NOT a fire-breathing dragon. It’s ONLY a poison-spitting boa constrictor, powerful enough to squeeze the life out of a child, and possibly also devour a grown man. This snake is a creature of mythic proportions, a perfectly good stand-in for the archetypical dragon.)
Dr. Marina Singh performs life-and-death surgeries under primitive conditions. She ingests the bark of the tree of eternal fertility, but eschews the hallucinogenic blue mushrooms.
Most importantly, Marina discovers a great truth (I’m not giving it away!) and uncovers a great deception (read the book!).
After all these labors, Marina finds and rescues our original lost hero (Dr. Birdwatcher) and returns him home at last to his family in Minnesota, where it is now springtime.
Ann Patchett has written five other novels and a couple of non-fiction memoirs. She’s only of a certain age, so probably she will write many more books. State of Wonder is, I believe, her masterwork. My review of Ann Patchett’s novel “Run” is here.
I’m tempted to nominate State of Wonder to be a Great American Novel, except that most of the story takes place in the Amazon jungle.
Tell me, have you read State of Wonder? Or Run? What did you think of Ann Patchett’s work?
— John Hayden
I stumbled upon this post, “Meanwhile” serendipitously via Michelle at “The Green Study.” Thanks to Michelle and also to Wyrd Smythe for putting into words the thoughts I’ve been repressing. Maybe bloggers of a certain maturity are all channeling the same frustrations.
It feels like cheating, but since I can’t force myself to write a worthwhile post of my own this week, at least I can repost a really good post by someone else.
(Regarding our shared perception of few readers and still fewer commenters, the WordPress blogger “Time Thief” has some insight — over at “One Cool Site” — on the possibility that people are seeing our stuff on the WordPress Reader, so they no longer have to visit our actual blogs.) Thanks to Michelle and Wyrd Smythe for helping me understand the “loose ends.”
— John
I find myself feeling “at loose ends.” If you search on that phrase, you find a big part of the definition involves the idea of “not knowing what to do,” although sources differ a bit on whether that’s due to having nothing to do or due to not being able to decide what to do. More to the point, most identify the main feeling: being restless and unsettled.
A key reason my ends are loose is obvious given my last post, but this river has other tributaries (I never met a metaphor I couldn’t mix). Certainly in my case, the problem isn’t having nothing to do; I have plenty of projects. The problem is the utter lack of fulfillment in doing most of them.
And, sadly, this blog is turning out to be high on that list.
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I talked with my uncle in Rhode Island this afternoon. It was snowing there, of course. Maybe it’s the same snow we had in Maryland yesterday. It shows signs of letting up. Today’s snow in RI., that is. Not the winter of 2014.
My uncle assures me that this is the coldest winter in his 85 years. And it ain’t over yet. When the snow stops, he’s planning to go out and shovel his steps.
He can’t drive just now. There’s good news and bad news from the retina specialist. The fluid in one eye has gone away, after five shots over nearly a year’s time. The shots cost $1,500 a pop. Thank goodness for his health insurance plan, which pays all but a $40 copay.
Meanwhile, vision in the other eye is not so good. It’s three years since he’s had new glasses. So the specialist sends him back to the regular eye doc. Maybe new lenses will improve his vision enough to make him legal to drive. Fortunately, a cousin lives just across the state line in Massachusetts and takes my uncle to the grocery store every week and the laundromat every two weeks.
The coming attraction is winter storm Titan. Look for it Sunday or Monday. Possible heavy snow, not to mention ice. How can we have reached the letter “T” in storms? What happens when we run out of letters? What if winter never ends? Let’s hope we never reach “T” during hurricane season.
Let’s wrap this report up neatly on a positive note. Only two days remaining in February. March arrives Saturday. I can hardly believe it, but my calendar claims that daylight saving time begins March 9. More amazing still, Spring is scheduled for March 20, a few days after St. Patrick’s Day.
Nothing can stop Spring. Not freezing temperatures, not snow. In case of a blizzard, school might be closed that week, but Spring can never be canceled.
I look forward to driving north to see my uncle, but not until the last snowflake falls.
— John Hayden
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 