Moody Monday: Turning The Page

I will finish the year having read probably about 80 books, fewer than last year, more than my goal.  Most of them were good, a handful really great reads. Some real page turners.   

I am rapidly approaching two years in retirement. I continue to feel changes in my life as a result.  I am active and engaged, spending time doing things I enjoy, and being of service to my community and my profession.  At times the calendar is a little to full - it interferes with my desire to take a nap. Increasingly I feel the urge to turn the page on issues that filled my days in the past.  

I recall when I was working, wishing that the older generation would step aside and let new voices - new ideas be heard. I am hoping that I am doing that, I certainly feel the desire to do so. 

There are several places where I read obituaries, our community newsletter, the Bar journal, my original hometown newspaper. I always look at the age that people died at.  And think about my age, and if I live as long as they did, how many years do I have left to enjoy life - to turn the pages - to write entirely new pages, before the book of my life is blowing in the wind.  If the next decade flies by as fast as the last decade did, it will pass in the blink of an eye.  The time to turn the page and enjoy the adventure is now.  

Sunday Five: Turkeys

1: When was the last time you saw live turkeys (feathered or political)? 

2: Would you roast, or deep fry a turkey? 

3: Should stuffing or dressing be cooked inside or outside of the bird? 

4: Do you detest turkey? 

5: Canberrys from a can, or cooked from fresh? 

My Answers:

1: When was the last time you saw live turkeys (feathered or political)? This pair is out at Mt. Vernon, I check on them everytime I go there for a stroll. 

2: Would you roast, or deep fry a turkey? Roast. 

3: Should stuffing or dressing be cooked inside or outside of the bird? I have changed on this, outside of the bird. The bird cooks better, and the stuffing/dressing is just as good. 

4: Do you detest turkey? I rather like it. 

5: Cranberries from a can, or cooked from fresh? Cooked from fresh, let me know if you need tips on how to cook cranberries.  

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States in 52 Weeks - Texas

 

Texas is in the middle and bottom of the continental United States, when you look at a map, Texas is the weird pointy part center at the bottom of the map. Texas is huge, by landmass it is the second largest state (Alaska is larger.) 

When people think of Texas they think of Dallas - Ft Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin - I have been to all of them.  Those are the largest cities. There are vast swaths of rolling farm and grazing land.  The west part of the state is arid, and where the major oil fields are (I did an AARP gig in that part of the state.) 

The two photos above were taken in Ft Worth, I was there for a board meeting in 2019. 

Texas politics are conservative - to the point of being troubling. 

Dallas and Houston are major airline hub cities, it is a state that is hard to avoid. 

I will likely be in San Antonio early next year for a board meeting. 

Foodie Friday: Always on Hand

I enjoy playing in the kitchen, and we keep a well stocked pantry. We could eat well for a couple of weeks with what is on hand at any given time. With few exceptions such as shopping for a special holiday meal, I don't go shopping with a list or a plan for what I am going to make, I go shopping, see what looks good, bring it home and then decide what I will make from it. Often, I don't know what I am going to cook for dinner, until I open the refrigerator and look in the pantry and see what inspires me. 

There are a handful of core ingredients that I always have on hand. Here are a few. 

Onions: There is a joke around here that every dinner starts with peel and chop an onion. Not always, I don't use onion when I am cooking fish, but many savory dishes start with onions. So there are always a few in the basket. Storage onions come in four varieties.  Yellow onions are my go to universal onion. They store well, 2-3 weeks most of the time. Red or purple onions are sweeter, I prefer them if the onion will be uncooked such as in a salad. White onions are less common than yellow onions and I find them to be somewhat interchangeable. Sweet onions are well sweeter, the increased sugar content yields a much shorter shelf life. If you buy them, use them within a week or so. I find all of these to be interchangeable. Use what you have, don't fuss or worry that the recipe calls for one variety and you don't have it, use what you have. 

Carrots: There are always carrots in the refrigerator.  They can be cooked as a stand alone vegetable, raw in salads or used as a flavor base in soups, stews, braises, stocks.  While the exotic rainbow colors are tasty and fun to look at, the stock standard cheap orange carrots work well. Carrots store very well, a month or more in the refrigerator. Carrot trivia, wild carrots are a pale yellow almost white in color, the standard orange carrot were created by cross pollinating carrots with beets. 

Celery: I know the jokes, celery has the texture of hair stuck together with water.  For a salad I chop them fine.  They provide a great background flavor in soups, stews, braises, stocks. Wrapped to prevent evaporation, celery stores for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.  I always have it on hand.  

Sweet Peppers: There was a time when this ingredient of the trinity of cajun food was included in my always on hand list, but it tends to cause digestive difficulties for us. I have to be very careful with it. When I do buy sweet peppers, I generally by the small varieties. 

Butter: We have come to prefer Irish butter, here in the USA, Aldi has the best price. We keep a couple of pounds in the freezer most of time.  

A few pantry items:

All purpose flour.

Bread flour (higher gluten content - strong flour in England.) 

White granulated sugar.

Powdered or icing sugar.

Brown sugar (light or dark, or a mix of the two.) 

Kosher salt

Pepper corns and a good pepper mill (grinder) 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Red Wine Vinegar, 

White Wine Vinegar

White distilled vinegar 

Canned tomatoes, chopped, sauce, paste, pureed. 

Canned beans

Dried beans 

Rice

Chicken stock

There is nothing earth shattering or exotic on my list. I am always surprised when someone says that can't make something because they don't have these simple staples in the house.  Keeping a well stocked pantry and refrigerator makes it easier to play in the kitchen. Cook what is fresh, seasonal, and preferably local.       

The Thursday Ramble: A Rare Ask

If we are lucky enough to live long enough, 

we are all going to get old someday. 

I spent the last 25 years of my working life, at the intersection of law and aging; advocating for supports and services that protect and improve the quality of life for adults as we age. 

I retired almost two years ago, as Director of the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging. The Commission has spent decades doing research, policy development and education on critical issues and providing technical assistance to professionals.  

Unfortunately the American Bar Association is under attack by the current administration, accused of being a bastion of liberal ideas and Wokeness. We are being attacked for advocating for Due Process Rights, the independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law. The very core ideals that have shaped this country since colonial times. 

This has resulting an unprecedented loss of funding for programs across the country that supported important work, including the work of the Commission on Law and Aging.  When I retired indirect federal funding was about 40% of the Commission's budget, and that critical part of the funding is gone, or at risk of being gone when the Federal government returns to work. 

Today is the annual American Bar Association Giving Day. 

Hence my rare ask. 

If you can, and you feel comfortable doing so, please make a contribution, large or small, to the ABA Commission on Law and Aging at this link. https://givingday.americanbar.org/campaigns/commission-on-law-and-aging-1  

 

My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws October 22, 2025

Where have I been this week? Mt. Vernon for a long walk, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the National Symphony Orchestra, Crystal City for an amazing lunch, the Farmers Market, the pool, the community center and the pharmacy. Old town waterfront, and the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Into Washington DC for a long walk, Mt Vernon for a long walk. The pool. 

Who have I talked with this week? My sweet bear, Amy, Marcel, Mary, a couple of bored National Guardsmen walking the streets of DC, the shuttle driver at Mt. Vernon. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  Quiche - I used up the remainder of a bunch of cheeses, beef stew with an usual ingredient - zucchini I had it and it needed to be used,  a rice, eggplant, and beef stew, pumpkin custard. 

What have I read this week? "Small Wonders" a collection of essays by Barbara Kingsolver. It was excellent. What was the best thing she said, she gives a book she is reading 30 pages to draw her in, if not she drops in the donate bin. I am working on two other books, "How Do You Feel, and In Praise of Idleness.  I will finish both of those in a few days. 

What did I go out of my way to see this week? One of artists at the Torpedo Factory Art Center has caused a bit of a stir by posting his opinion in the window. The city owns the building, the Mayor has responded that it is protected first amendment speech. I love living here. 

What was I thinking during my Sunday walk? Children are naturally creative, give them paper and crayons and they start to draw. Then adults criticize the creativity out of them, trying to show them the "right way" to see and interpret the world. Our creative spirits are crushed as children. As adults we need to reclaim our creativity, purple skies, round faces, color outside the lines.  Allow yourself 5 minutes a day to create without hearing the critics. The more we create, the more creative we become.  I do that with my writing. I spend 2-3 hours a week writing for this blog, because I wanted to develop my writing, to get better at expressing my thoughts and feelings (I am still not very good at feelings - I will spend some time thinking about what suppressed my feelings.)

What have I seen that makes me love living here? 

Our local city government. 

The Face of Evil 

A Bald Eagle near Mt Vernon

 

Travel Tuesday: Out to Sea