Beat Up Monday

I woke at 2am Monday morning with a pounding pain in my jaw. 

 
The one in the middle was abscess.  After a while the funk rolled up in my mouth like a shrimp boat in summer that collided with a septic tank truck. He found the first root. 

The second hit came an hour later. Then he quit.

I'll have to get back in the chair December 12 to finish. Oh boy!

Three More Reasons Not to go into Space

The toilet. It complicated and breaks often. You've got to float with your pants off and hit a plastic bag. It requires further processing manually. It's all state of the art. No thanks.

 
The food. This is the food now and this is good compared to what is coming. Here the astronaut shows off Thanksgiving turkey and dressing. 

 
Deep space long duration mission food turns out to be wild bird protein bars. Enough calories and nutrients to keep you alive with minimal body waste excreted. Yum yum!  I think I'll pass. 

 
The water. Scientists are excited because "they think" this is an area of frozen water under the surface of Mars.  Imagine if you get there and it's just dried dirt like it appears to be? Again, no. 
 

This is a Grand Old Church

Rocky River Presbyterian Church

 
Ready for Christmas.

 
A lovely place. 

 

Succotash

Never underestimate succotash. It goes especially well dredged through mashed potatoes.

 

How To Spin A Turkey

   

Panic

The annual hype is upon us. I'm referring to the faux panic written every season about cooking one damn meal consisting of a baked turkey. I will do his herb encrusted rotisserie turkey. 

 
A few weeks ago I spun this turkey on Jekyll Island with just salt and pepper. 

 
I have some great herbs to cut and blend with salt and butter. 

Fresh Eggs?

The May chicks are cranking out the eggs. Young hens eggs are the best by far. So rich. 

 
Not sure who doodled this on the carton. It's been recycled many times. 

 

One Last Summer Tomato

My wife randomly stopped by a roadside farmers market this past week. She recognized one vendor that stops at our church on Wednesdays. His goods are usually the highest quality and locally grown in his own garden. He doesn't sell from boxes of produce grown in Florida or Mexico and claim it to be his own. 

She noticed two very small and very red tomatoes all alone in a box. Those two small tomatoes were the very last two of the season and she bought them. She brought them home and insisted they were mine. 

 
I did what any southern man would do. I began construction of a BLT. Look at that ripe juicy fruit. Bacon, lettuce, and sour dough in the toaster. 

 
Oh baby. A slice down the center and every bite was heaven. My last real summer BLT until next June, 2017. You can't buy tomatoes this good off season. 

I Launch Rockets

I love a rocket launch....always have. This one last night is a new generation weather satellite on an Atlas rocket. 

Command Center in Midland, NC. 
By far SpaceX has the best coverage. SpaceX shows live video through the second stage.  

Keep an eye out when SpaceX finally launches their heavy lift rocket. It's years over due but it will be a monster when it goes off. 

And So It Begins

Chafing dishes, stock pots, and heaters. It all must go. I'm liquidating the ability to cook for large crowds. If I could just get my wife to let me sell the Weber Ranch Kettle.   

Bygone Days

Just look at this picture. It is a picture of an old school friends grandmother on Thanksgiving morning. I would guess in the 1960s. Quintessential American Thanksgiving as I remember as a child. Alas, just a memory. Good memories. Warm family childlike memories full of excitement. 

This woman is proud. She should be proud. Look at this spread! The coffee percolator is on already for the cake and pie desserts that sit on the counter. 

The table is covered in Southern food, the stuff I grew up on. Biscuits on each corner, ham and turkey, peas, yams, potatoes and gravy. A feast fit for heaven. 

Her kitchen is meager by today's standards. Modern homes have the finest cooking gadgets yet no one cooks, preferring the preparations of corporate menus. 

This feast is the product of love, a good cook, a stove top, and an oven and sink. 

The table waits for a blessing and then a plate and the joy. 

I miss this. 


The Holidays

Thanksgiving approaches and with it comes a warm fuzzy. A four day weekend, good food, football, cool weather, and time with my wife. Thanksgiving is my demarcation line ushering in winter. 

Normally winter gradually decays into dark depression and by February all hope is lost. Then a refreshing trip to the Virgin Islands always primes me for Spring. 
coconut husk
This year however we will attempt to weather the winter forgoing the usual trip for a spring trip to Europe. 

Back to the present for now. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can make it to March. 

My First Birdie

February 2004, age 49, hole 3 par 3 at the Buccaneer Golf Club on St. Croix I got my first birdie. The first shot was downhill for 88 yards. Then a 6 foot putt birdie.