The Plan B Thanksgiving Meal

Dear Diary,

I always like to start with a photo,

and I picked these camellia sasanquas

later in the day, today.

This photo turned out best.

I stayed in bed until 9,

turned on the Macy’s Parade

Made coffee,

and got back in bed

Things on my reasons-to-get-up list:

Buy a paper and check out

some Thursday sales.

Blow leaves off the deck.

Run the mower over the yard

to cut up the leaves, then empty

each bag for mulch.

(makes me tired just writing that!)

Work on re-recording the song

Sliced Blue Tomatoes with a faster

tempo and change the lyrics

to just Blue Tomatoes-

then record that

then set up a track in Garage Band

then compress to i-Tunes

then burn a CD

so I can sing with it for 

the Showcase Night of

From Athens to Broadway class.

(That really makes my HEAD tired

just thinking about all the technical stuff!)

At noon I got up and cooked oatmeal.

While chopping the apples that go in it,

I began focusing on the stuff in the fridge,

because I have WAY more than usual,

since I’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s.

Because, yesterday I bought a new

black stove & fridge!

Really!

The old refrigerator doors

have no handles

mushy gaskets,

and leaks.

(Please don’t tell me if

Home Depot has a 40% off

sale on Black Friday!

I’ve already done it.)

So, I started thinking of all the new

things I could to cook today.

and here it is

cooking away on all four burners

as a way to say GOOD-BYE to my old stove.

And here’s a healthy creative 

Plan B Thanksgiving meal

Trader Joe’s frozen French green beans

(Haricote vertes)

with spring onions & edamame

Pickled beets

(Splenda & vinegar

added to canned ones)

Butternut squash, which comes

peeled & cubed at Trader Joe’s

I sprinkled in cinnamon sugar,

curry powder & some water.

Never cooked butternut squash before

and won’t again.!!

Baby bella mushrooms w/sweet red peppers

and leeks mixed (leftovers).

I added those fake lobster bites.

I don’t really recommend Frozen leeks.

It’s convenient not to have to wash off

the mud, and peel and chop yourself,

but too much of the outside

skins are too tough to chew.

After I poured out the beets

I cooked up some rice pasta sticks.

All during the cooking,

my mind is zooming around

like a top on a merry-go-round.

I haven’t even thought about being

in a mindful place, which is what I’m

trying to practice. 

Also, in the meantime, I’m watching

You Can’t Take It With You on TCM.

I love that play! Everyone is doing their own thing.

After eating I googled to see

if it was ever a musical

and saw a Lux Radio Theater script.

So then, I revised my idea about

an interest group for Seniors.

I think I’ll call this one, Radio Days,

and we’ll read old scripts.

and talk about the good ol’Radio Days.

~  ~  ~

I OWN NOTHING

I have felt differently

about this little residential plot 

I used to think I owned

with it’s backyard to garden in

and land taxes to pay on.

But ever since I found

an arrowhead deep in red clay

with it’s edges still sharp,

I know I own nothing.

I wish I could give it back

to the Cherokees, or

whichever tribe was here,

but all I could do was write

a plaintive piano solo

called Trail of Tears . . .

(excerpt of Trail of Tears)


and try to remember

to never take anything

for granted.

~ ~ ~

Something to Think About

I woke up feeling remorse

for writing about basking

in a lazy decadent day.

Too many people are out of work

to humorously gloat over

having an easy day.

The thing about a blog

is that you can delete it and I did.

The good news is that you can

always try to rectify things.

Like buy extra canned food for

our local food bank

today.

AUTUMN RAINDROPS

AUTUMN RAINDROPS

I have learned that taking

photos after a rain is extra special.

Autumn colors -- glorious.

Shiny magic crystals on red leaves

of the Kousa dogwood.

or a variagated leaf

sometimes they hang like teardrops

The only plant blooming is

the Autumn Encore azalea.

Mosses are always beautiful.

Yellow maple leaves on moss.

A holly fern.

Thyme in a planter.

You’re a Master Gardener

if you recognize this leaf.

The grape leaf mahonia and 

 an old birdbath stand tucked

away in the wet shade.

~ ~ ~

In the meantime . . . inside

I am working on making a scale

model of my set.

It’s made out of folded 

poster paper.

This is what it might look like

if I did all the painting in pastels.

stay tuned . . .

~ ~ ~

HOLD STILL, SMILE!

She’d grown up watching her Mother

load the box camera,

holding it at her waist,

looking down into the square glass.

saying “Hold still!”

But that didn’t mean much, then,

to a curious twisty three year

being perched on a lawn chair

or on the running board of an old Hudson.

Her first weekend vacation was to

the famous Elder Hotel at Indian Springs.

Her Mother had invited a vacationing girl

to wade in the Springs, too,

had told them to stuff their dresses

into their panties so they wouldn’t get wet.

“Hold still, smile!”

There were beach photos with sunglasses,

rubber beach shoes,

her first kiddie ride.

There were photos of

Atlanta’s deep snow of 1940.

The only photo of her Grandma
and Joann, who lived next door.

And one summer a photo of the new

tricycle she was so afraid of.

She was posed in profile in pajamas,

holding a worn and scratchy 

teddy bear that wasn’t cuddly at all,

as it was losing the straw inside. 

Her Mother had set up a 

rubber figure of Popeye, too

to catch the profile of both.

“Hold still.”

More and more “Hold Still!”

became “Smile!”

Smile for the camera.

Smile to make Mother happy.

She learned to stage her own photos.

posing herself and her girl friends,

re-enacting raising the flag on Iwo Jima.

with the backyard clothesline pole.

She kept all her photos in an album.

It was the most precious thing in her life. 

Photos were a reminder she existed. 

Hold still! Smile!

stay tuned . . .

~ ~ ~