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| So. many. dice. |
Looking for solace and levity wherever we can find it, in any possible amount, we turn to the Common Household’s autumn tradition, The Thanksgiving Survey.
Thanksgiving survey:
GAME
1. What is a game for which you are thankful?
2. Tell about a game from your childhood.
If you are so inclined, please feel free to share your answers in the comments. Or not. It’s up to you.
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| Home-made Jeopardy, constructed for a major birthday |
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| A different sort of game. |
Friday Nov 8 2024
Never has driving to a wedding felt more like driving to a funeral. What an ugly and joyless time we face. Tears welled up numerous times as I thought about upcoming losses, including losses in my own family for what might have been but now will never be.
Here’s some of the music we were listening to on the way through Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Mary’s Song.
Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes.
The hungry he has filled with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
This was always a worthwhile dream, but seems vastly more unreachable now, as we install a full kleptocracy. We’ve always had oligarchs, but now they are even more in charge.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God…have mercy on us.
But me, I have no scrap of divinity left in me, and I am not feeling merciful.
America, you have chosen. You will get what you deserve based on these choices. And whether it is in the very next election, or one further out but in the near future, you will not have any choice. The choice you made in this election has assured that. Unless… unless… I have no answers for what will forestall this future. I tried my best, but it was feeble and not enough.
Have fun with your tariffs, whether they are used as negotiating tools or just put in place across the board in some fool’s pipe dream that foreigners will gladly pay for our well being. Worldwide recession is the prospect. If recession doesn’t happen because of that, it will certainly happen when the federal government is decimated by the kakistocracy.
…
All the green and all the gold
The hurt you hide, the joy you hold
The foolish pride that gets you out the door
…
And sometimes fear is the only place
That we can call our home
Cedarwood Road
…
And a heart that is broken
Is a heart that is open
Open, open
I weep for all of the people who will come under attack for who they are in their being, their sexuality, their ethnicity, their disability, their skin color, their accent, their language. For all the women who will have no control over their own bodies. For all the women who will be unable to get adequate healthcare for their wanted pregnancies.
To all those who said that these hatreds and restrictions will not be codified, they already are, in many places. The hatred and violence, institutionalized or not, will become more widespread. But please, prove me wrong, America.
On Saturday, while we were waiting for the right time to go to the wedding ceremony, the Common Household husband and I discussed retirement.
CHH: If we both retire, then we could go traveling. Where would you like to go?
Me: I don’t want to go anywhere anymore. This [movement toward authoritarianism] is a worldwide phenomenon.
CHH: This is the only world we have. We can’t go to another world.
And that, my friends, is proof that all roads lead to Mary Oliver.
Poem of the One World
This morning
the beautiful white heron
was floating along above the water
and then into the sky of this
the one world
we all belong to
where everything
sooner or later
is a part of everything else
which thought made me feel
for a little while
quite beautiful myself.
- Mary Oliver
And so, we got into our fancy clothes, put away our tears for a few hours, and attended to the joy of the wedding couple. The groom is the youngest child of immigrants from an erstwhile Eastern European dictatorship, a family whom my parents helped to settle in this country, with great success. The situation now drips with irony.
Mary Oliver, I am having trouble seeing beauty in this the one world, and in myself.
Below are the first lines of the books I finished reading in October. 3 fiction, and 3 nonfiction.
Book 1
Like millions of workers, I was stewing about my pay. It was 1977, and after eighteen months at my first newspaper job, I was earning $220 a week.
Book 2
Waylon Joseph crouched behind Mercury’s ballfield bleachers on the south end of town, smoking a cigarette and hiding from his wife.
Book 3
Zero
To write a book against despair implies an intimate acquaintance with the condition. Otherwise what would be the point? To write an introduction implies something to introduce, and I have no idea what this book will be. This is salvo, self-challenge, zero at the bone.
Book 4
Lustre. That was what had been missing and was suddenly back. The Esslemonts’ Armistice Ball was lustrous in a way feared to have disappeared for ever; and for once, as Daisy Esslemont observed, the emphasis was not on lust.
Eastern Screech Owls
Book 5
What is it about owls that so enthralls us? They appear in the Chauvet Cave paintings of France dating to 30,000 years ago and in the hieroglyphics of ancient Egyptians, in Greek mythology and among the deities of the Ainu people of Japan, in the prints and etchings of Picasso and as couriers in the Harry Potter stories, shuttling between the realm of matter-of-fact Muggles and the magical. They inhabit our languages and are embedded in our sayings.
Book 6
The Question of Birth Order
Elspeth Harmony’s triplets arrived in the order that was to dog them for the rest of their lives: first, second, and third.
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor
By Steven Greenhouse
416 pages • first pub 2019
I first saw this author on a Jon Stewart podcast. Glad I found him. This book gives a really good overview about unions and labor in the US. Not a comprehensive history, but selections from throughout our history, and delving deep enough to get a decent understanding.
Book 2
Mercury
By Amy Jo Burns
336 pages • first pub 2024
Interesting characters, who cannot escape the situations they find themselves in. I like reading a novel set in the area I live in. The writing style bothered me, but I can’t put my finger on why. That was redeemed by one particularly hilarious situation in the book, although it is not a humor book but a serious family saga.
Book 3
Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair
By Christian Wiman
320 pages • first pub 2023
Reading poetry is a difficult task. Reading poetry about despair doubly so. That’s no surprise – despair itself is difficult. This was not a book of just poems, but also some essay-type writing. After reading it, despair was not eliminated, but I wasn’t expecting that. This is a good book, but frustrating in some aspects, especially when I couldn’t easily tell what were the author’s own words versus when he was quoting another writer.
I had to wait quite an age to get this book on kindle from the library.
Book 4
After the Armistice Ball (Dandy Gilver series #1)
By Catriona McPherson
303 pages • first pub 2005.
When I saw that the first in the series was available for a low low price on kindle, I decided to try it. It was a gripping tale without being too awfully gory. I will likely be reading more in this series.
Seen while canvassing
Book 5
What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
By Jennifer Ackerman
328 pages • first pub 2023.
Because of me, the Common Household has several instances of owls in outdoor art, and a few more indoor instances. I figured it was time to acquaint myself with actual real owls. I am sure now that I do not want a live owl around the house (I mean, they are RAPTORS), but I continue to be fascinated by them. Some people go to extreme lengths to learn more about owls and the world should be grateful for that.
One fun thing about this book is reading the interesting names for species of owl: Flammulated Owl, Elf Owl, Saw-whet Owl, Pygmy Owl, and so many more.
Book 6
Bertie Plays The Blues (44 Scotland Street series #7)
By Alexander McCall Smith
310 pages • first pub 2011.
Includes Scottish nudist colony, Masons, and an au pair from Denmark, among other things. The Scotland Street series is just what the universe ordered for reading material for the end-of-October anxiety.
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| Sinkhole in driveway paved over! |
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| Grass seed |
1. Sinkhole repair
No trees removed after all! It took them 5 weeks to do what was a rather complicated procedure, involving digging up the street (sometimes with manual labor, sometimes with giant diggers), putting a new storm sewer pipe in, plus engineering two new storm sewer grates, and filling in the old pipe that collapsed under our yard. Now we are just waiting for that psychedelic-colored grass seed to sprout.
Good thing we didn’t have to have the trees removed, because deciding on what new trees to plant would have been too hard. Decision-making: done for.
2. Daylight Saving Time
On Nov 3 it’s done, for this year, but I wish it would go away forever. Note that my calendar says it is also the Day of the Dead.
3. Dishes.
The dishes are done. Or they were when this photo was taken.
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| Pumpkin muffins in the thought stage |
Since the Common Household Husband went on a low-carb regime, I have done almost no baking. But a few days ago I decided to rage-bake half a batch of pumpkin muffins.
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| Pumpkin mufffins, NOT done |
This is the second time these muffins have been baked on this blog, but this time, because of my rage, I added ginger and cloves for an extra kick, SO THERE. I like the more complex flavor. Most of these muffins went in the freezer for me to rage-eat later.
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| Pumpkin muffins, done |
My final and last day of canvassing will be on Sunday, unless my ankle gives out before then.
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| It feels so good to actually complete a canvassing list. |
6. Democracy? Is democracy done? We will find out.
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| Dead mole (seen while canvassing): accurate metaphor for US democracy? |
Pumpkin Bread, HALF RECIPE
Makes 1 large loaf, or 12-14 muffins
Dry ingredients:
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sugar (use 1 ¼ cups if you don’t have o.j.)
¾ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
Optional: ½ tsp ground ginger. Include when angry at national news.
Optional ¼ tsp ground cloves. Include when angry at national news.
Wet ingredients:
2 beaten eggs
2 ¾ Tablespoons orange juice
⅓ cup vegetable oil
⅓ cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree (a little more than half of the 15 oz. can pumpkin)
¼ cup raisins (optional)
¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Optional ingredients
Ginger, cloves are optional spices (about ¼ to ½ tsp)
raisins, nuts, craisins, chocolate chips are optional: approx ¼ to ½ cup
Grease and flour pans (for muffins you can use muffin papers). Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix together dry ingredients (you can sift them if you want).
In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients.
Make a well in dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until you are tired of mixing. Add optional goodies if you want, and stir.
Bake loaf pan in 350F oven for about 1 hour. Or make muffins, baking for about 20 minutes.
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| Clever mailbox, seen while canvassing recently |
Book 1
Foreword
America is at a crossroads. A country that once stood as the global symbol of democracy has been teetering on the brink of authoritarianism.
Book 2
Siobhán O’Sullivan hurried through lush green fields, adjusting every so often for the bumps and dips of the terrain, imagining that from high above, Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland, must look like an ocean of green, rendering her a mere speck at sea.
Book 3
One day, when he was naughty, Mr. Bunnsy looked over the hedge into Farmer Fred’s field and saw it was full of fresh green lettuces. Mr. Bunnsy, however, was not full of lettuces. This did not seem fair. – From Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure
Book 4
Catalpa Tree
Catalpa speciosa
A catalpa can give two brown girls in western Kansas a green umbrella from the sun.
Book 5
The Girl in the Mirror
Mary Jekyll stared down at her mother’s coffin.
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America
By Heather Cox Richardson
304 pages • first pub 2023
Book 2
Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery #1)
By Carlene O'Connor
334 pages • first pub 2016.
I guess this qualifies as a cozy mystery, although some details were a bit gruesome. Thank goodness there was a pronunciation guide for the names, and a glossary in the front of the book for Irish expressions used. But still, I struggled with the names. I liked the characters. For some bizarre reason, the acknowledgements were at the beginning of the book. I probably will not read more in the series, at least not soon.
Book 3
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld #28)
Terry Pratchett
256 pages • first pub 2001
YA lit. My husband and kids LOVE LOVE LOVE all books by Terry Pratchett. I have not been able to tolerate the ones for adults, but seem to like some of Pratchett’s YA lit. Even the children’s lit is quite dark. This one takes place mostly underground. Pratchett is definitely a clever writer.
Book 4
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
Aimee Nezhukumatathil with Fumi Nakamura (Illustrator)
184 pages • first pub 2020
Second time reading it, this time for book club. Thoughtful and delightful. Not all sweetness and light (perhaps only recipe books should be such), but definitely more uplifting than the other 4 books I read this month.
Book 5
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
(The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #1)
By Theodora Goss
402 pages • first pub 2017.
A wild story reworking the fates of female characters from various horror/dystopian stories of the 19th century and early 20th century. I was a little bit out of my element, since the earlier stories are not in my favorite genre.
* * * * * * *
Okay, reader, whatcha got? What’s on your reading shelf right now?
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| Creepy door decoration, seen while canvassing recently |
