My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws - Closing out October 2025

What is the Photo? Someone asked to see the arts "Showcase." We ended up with a full house again, the items are numbered with a poster explaining each item, and who loaned it for display. The showcase is just outside the entrance to the community bar and restaurant. (Technically it is open to the public, but security won't let you in the front gate unless you live here or are invited by someone who lives here.)

Where have I been this week? The Community Center for four different arts committee meetings, the pool, the farmers market, a long walk in a shopping plaza, a long walk in old town Alexandria, a walk around the local neighborhood, National Harbor in Maryland, Crystal City in an unsuccessful attempt to spot Blobby running the Marine Corps Marathon. About 35,000 runners started the race, I missed him. Mt. Vernon for a walk. 

Who have I talked with this week?  It was an arts heavy week, Pratibha, Linda, Joan, Rebecca, Amy, Kevin, Ruth, Dian, Gail, Guido, and John.  I talked on the phone to Doc Spo. My Sweet Bear, lest anyone think he is not talking to me. Doug Braeburn, the CEO of Mt. Vernon - he was in the shop when I was finishing up my walk. 

What did I read this week? I finished two books, "In Praise of Idleness" was written between WWI and WWII and talks about economics and political theories, a shocking amount of what he talked about applies 90 years later. The second book was "How Do You Feel?, by Jessi Gold, MD, MS, a psychiatrist. She explores mental health among health care providers and medical students, during COVID.  It is informative and intriguing, but repetitive. Each chapter follows either her personal story or the story of a composite patient, through over a period of time. The format of each chapter being an update on the case, gets a little circular. I understand why it is written this way, she is a researcher by training, but for the non-medical reader it fails to bring each life story to a conclusion. Time to dig some light reading out of the stack and head to the library. 

Who deserves a nice scratch behind the ears this week?  The cutest Golden Retriever in the DC area, he was watching the Marine Corps Marathon, mostly sitting or lying quietly for almost 2-hours, never saying a word despite thousands of people around and running past. I could tell what he really wanted to do was run along, Good Boy! 

What is the blog quote of the week? 

"I also realized that maybe the most rebellious thing I can do to fight against this fury-driven fascist government of hate, is to continue to be kind; continue to help others in need; continue to be caring, compassionate, and sympathetic; continue to do what good I can, whenever I can, to whomever I can."

What made me cringe this week? Hearing Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for the first time in a retail store.  

Travel Tuesday: Jamestown Glassworks since 1608

I am fascinated by glass making and glass blowing, taking simple ingredients and lots and lots of heat to make something stable and beautiful. Glassmaking at Jamestown Virginia dates back to 1608.  I visited the glassworks in the 1970's with my grandmother, I was delighted to see that the glassworks had expanded and was still in operation. 

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