Good morning.
Do you ever think of the shadow-memory people in your lives? The ones you never really knew but whose path crossed yours more than once? I sometimes do, and today was one of those days.
Today is the Second Sunday After Epiphany, and the reading of the Epistle for this Sunday is from St Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians: "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth.....". Paul knew a Sosthenes too.
Sosthenes's name is pronounced SOS-ten-es, with the stress on the first syllable. In proper Spanish it is written with an accent on the o, but I can't find it in the alts. It is a Greek name, and beautiful. I remember the first time I saw Sosthenes. My father and I were driving from San Benito to Brownsville, on some business of his, on a Saturday morning long ago. He was going to meet Sostenes Berdeja for some reason, probably having to do with the cotton business, which was my dad's calling for most of his life. As we drove along, we met another car, and instant recognition caused much mutual honking; the cars turned around toward each other at the side of the highway (there were no other cars on that highway; that's how long ago it was). Sosthenes and my father performed the abrazo (the Mexican meet-and-greet) there on the side of the road, and leaning against the other car, they began a leisurely discussion.
"Stay in the car," had been my father's order when he abandoned me there, but of course it was an order no eight year old child could reasonably be expected to obey, out in the country on a perfect spring morning. I was shortly out and in exploration of nearby territory, which included an irrigation canal full of running water, lots of bushes and birdsong, and a bridge over the canal where I soon found myself lying face down, staring into the water. That is where and when I saw that magical little creature that I think I've mentioned to you before: a little tube about eight or ten inches long, of living crystal, snoozing in the water just below my eyes. I know he was snoozing because I had plenty of time to look at him before his eyes opened, he panicked, and swam out of there. I think he must have been a tiny baby gar, because I thought he looked like a little dragon in the water and there werent many alligators in the Valley back then. Dragons either.
Some time later, my father came to me in panic because he hadn't found me in the car and was sure I had drowned in the canal. I hadn't but I had to endure much recrimination all the way back to San Benito. That was my first memory of Sosthenes.
Five or so years later, my father took me and my sister no. 2 to Monterrey, N.L., to get us out of our mother's hair for a few days, as she was great with child and exasperated. This time I was thirteen, and Sosthenes rode along with my father over the night-dark roads of northern Mexico. I remember him as a huge, kindly figure, the lights from the dashboard dimly lighting the contours of his face, as the Spanish conversation drifted towards the back seat. Nothing more happened on that ride, except for having to stop so that Sister no. 2, who was High Maintainance, could decide whether or not to throw up. (She didn't).
That's nearly all for Sosthenes in my memory. There's one last memory where my father was in the kitchen telling my mother that Sosthenes Berdeja had hit a hog on the road, driving those same roads we had traversed in the night, before. (Everyone drove at night because it was too hot to drive in the day and there was no A/C!!) I thought it was funny but my father said it was serious and I think there had been a hospitalization as a result.
Funny the things we remember. A pleasant voice speaking a language I didn't understand much, a huge dark shadow with a kindly aura (children always know, you know), a beautiful name...which I am sure came from that very passage of St Paul I mentioned before. That was all. But I will not forget him, and on the Second Sunday after Epiphany I'll always be reminded of his name.
YAZZYBEL
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Something Bad and Something Good
Good morning.
Yesterday I had the yearning to make some brownies...but since I had no regular wheat flour (thanks to my anti-Gluten conversion), I decided to use Bob's Red Mill biscuit mix instead. Now biscuit mix, as in Bisquick, makes a perfectly good substitute for flour in a recipe where you don't use a lot of regular flour anyway...as my recipe which calls for a half-cup flour.
Anyway--I made the dough, but that stuff never made it to the oven because I took a bite and it smelled and tasted TERRIBLE. Probably because Bob's Red Mill uses garbanzos in the flour along with rice...and there is just something in garbanzos that doesnt mix with brownie fantasies, in my opinion. I dumped the entire batch of dough away.
So today after church I decided to start over because I was still craving brownies. I had to use cocoa because I didnt have any chocolate, but have done that before so I know it's fine. I used less butter than the recipe says (it says 1/2 c.; I used 3/4 of 1/2 c.)...I would have used all the butter but the ghost of my mother rose up inside me and reminded me, "Your heart!!"
I didn't have the flour but remembered some Bob's Red Mill coconut flour I bought and have not used, so I used that. There is only 1/2 cup flour in the recipe so I added just a little to make sure the cookies would hold together.
I spread my brownies out on a baking tin because I like them that way...a bit thinner than from an 8x8 pan...and I baked them for only a short time...till they were browning at the very edges..and I just had some with a glass of cold real milk from a cow (I hope)...and they were just delicious. A nice pre-lunch snack!!! So..just shows: don't give up hope, try something else, and it'll turn out very well. If you're lucky!!! YAZZYBEL
Yesterday I had the yearning to make some brownies...but since I had no regular wheat flour (thanks to my anti-Gluten conversion), I decided to use Bob's Red Mill biscuit mix instead. Now biscuit mix, as in Bisquick, makes a perfectly good substitute for flour in a recipe where you don't use a lot of regular flour anyway...as my recipe which calls for a half-cup flour.
Anyway--I made the dough, but that stuff never made it to the oven because I took a bite and it smelled and tasted TERRIBLE. Probably because Bob's Red Mill uses garbanzos in the flour along with rice...and there is just something in garbanzos that doesnt mix with brownie fantasies, in my opinion. I dumped the entire batch of dough away.
So today after church I decided to start over because I was still craving brownies. I had to use cocoa because I didnt have any chocolate, but have done that before so I know it's fine. I used less butter than the recipe says (it says 1/2 c.; I used 3/4 of 1/2 c.)...I would have used all the butter but the ghost of my mother rose up inside me and reminded me, "Your heart!!"
I didn't have the flour but remembered some Bob's Red Mill coconut flour I bought and have not used, so I used that. There is only 1/2 cup flour in the recipe so I added just a little to make sure the cookies would hold together.
I spread my brownies out on a baking tin because I like them that way...a bit thinner than from an 8x8 pan...and I baked them for only a short time...till they were browning at the very edges..and I just had some with a glass of cold real milk from a cow (I hope)...and they were just delicious. A nice pre-lunch snack!!! So..just shows: don't give up hope, try something else, and it'll turn out very well. If you're lucky!!! YAZZYBEL
Monday, January 6, 2014
New Year's Predictions
Shoot--why not? Everyone else is reviewing the year...and/or...predicting the new one.
The year was difficult. Losing a spouse is difficult, as are the days, weeks, months prior to that loss when one is struggling so hard against the bitter reality that it's exhausting. That is my review of the year.
Here is a capsule of 2014, personal and world-wide.
First the world-wide:
1. Janet Yellin will prove to be even more irritating, intolerable and boring than Ben Bernanke ever was.
2. The President will not do anything for the people that we really need, like fix the roads, fix the railroads, work on the infrastructure of electricity and power.
3. Congress will continue to preen and squabble, both at the same time.
4. Money will get more costly. Some things will begin to get scarce, but there will be plenty of junk and trash.
5. Food is going out of sight as to price. Unless you are buying bars, crackers, cookies, chips. You may have all of those that you wish for a reasonable price.
6. The weather will continue to be bizarre because the weather has always had a mind of its own, and is whimsical. Get a good roof and good drainage and hunker down.
7. About water, I do not know. I predict it will be dry in the deserts and more wet near rivers and streams.
8. If you want to buy stuff to store for the future, I recommend: man made blankets of the furry kind that are almost unbelieveably warm and very light weight; salt; ammo (tho I do not even have a gun and will be the first to go down.); Bibles; good shoes; aspirin; asthma inhalers.
9. War will break out in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans (if they are even real any more), and the parts of Europe that are heavily populated with Muslims at the present time. Americans will become even more paranoid than they are at present, but nothing will be done about our own political/racial problems as usual.
10. Music, literature and art will continue.
11. Films will get better and worse. The good ones will be unbelieveably good, and the bad ones will make a lot lot lot of money.
12. Smart people will begin to equate good health with good food. There will be a lot of controversy about what good food is, and it'll take a lot of study to figure out what is good for one, and a lot of work to find the good stuff after one has figured it out. It will be costly.
13. Mexico will begin to, or perhaps continue to is the better choice of words, wake up as to its inherent value and power of culture, nature, climate, and people.
14. Travel will get more difficult, but lots of people will be traveling more than ever.
15. I am running out of steam. There are topics I haven't touched I am sure. Later!!
As for my personal predicions for my personal year. I will obey the I Ching, which gave me CHIEN, the Great Creative Principle, for my New Year's reading. The practical application of that supernal hexagram is: Work, work, work! Work will save me, save my situation, be my touchstone for 2014. What more could one ask? YAZZYBEL
The year was difficult. Losing a spouse is difficult, as are the days, weeks, months prior to that loss when one is struggling so hard against the bitter reality that it's exhausting. That is my review of the year.
Here is a capsule of 2014, personal and world-wide.
First the world-wide:
1. Janet Yellin will prove to be even more irritating, intolerable and boring than Ben Bernanke ever was.
2. The President will not do anything for the people that we really need, like fix the roads, fix the railroads, work on the infrastructure of electricity and power.
3. Congress will continue to preen and squabble, both at the same time.
4. Money will get more costly. Some things will begin to get scarce, but there will be plenty of junk and trash.
5. Food is going out of sight as to price. Unless you are buying bars, crackers, cookies, chips. You may have all of those that you wish for a reasonable price.
6. The weather will continue to be bizarre because the weather has always had a mind of its own, and is whimsical. Get a good roof and good drainage and hunker down.
7. About water, I do not know. I predict it will be dry in the deserts and more wet near rivers and streams.
8. If you want to buy stuff to store for the future, I recommend: man made blankets of the furry kind that are almost unbelieveably warm and very light weight; salt; ammo (tho I do not even have a gun and will be the first to go down.); Bibles; good shoes; aspirin; asthma inhalers.
9. War will break out in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans (if they are even real any more), and the parts of Europe that are heavily populated with Muslims at the present time. Americans will become even more paranoid than they are at present, but nothing will be done about our own political/racial problems as usual.
10. Music, literature and art will continue.
11. Films will get better and worse. The good ones will be unbelieveably good, and the bad ones will make a lot lot lot of money.
12. Smart people will begin to equate good health with good food. There will be a lot of controversy about what good food is, and it'll take a lot of study to figure out what is good for one, and a lot of work to find the good stuff after one has figured it out. It will be costly.
13. Mexico will begin to, or perhaps continue to is the better choice of words, wake up as to its inherent value and power of culture, nature, climate, and people.
14. Travel will get more difficult, but lots of people will be traveling more than ever.
15. I am running out of steam. There are topics I haven't touched I am sure. Later!!
As for my personal predicions for my personal year. I will obey the I Ching, which gave me CHIEN, the Great Creative Principle, for my New Year's reading. The practical application of that supernal hexagram is: Work, work, work! Work will save me, save my situation, be my touchstone for 2014. What more could one ask? YAZZYBEL
Friday, January 3, 2014
How to Do Things (tips for 2014)
Good morning. Here are some tips for starting the New Year right. I've planned for some time to make a blog post on each of these subjects, but the time never seems right. What could be righter than to do it now, while the year is new and you're in the mood to listen?
How to Buy Socks
For winter, buy all black socks. For summer, buy all white socks. Buy them all of the same style and of the same brand. You may be tempted to get brown sox or navy socks under the impression that black and brown or navy and brown do not go together. Nonsense. No subtle color improvements could begin to compensate with the loss of one of a pair of brown or blue sox, in which case you'll have to use one black one anyway and look like a goose.
My present socks are of the Hue brand, ribbed cotton anklets. They do not have any elastic so do not press on the foot or leg and are quite comfortable. For summer you'll be tempted to get beige socks or even, as I foolishly did, pale gray and medium gray socks both. Naturally, I go about with one pale gray and one medium gray paired together, and nobody has commented yet. But save yourself trouble, and just get white. Lots of time in summer you'll go sockless, of course, and that's the best and thriftiest way of all.
How to Use the Toilet
Yes, these basic tips are necessary even for those who have lived a long time in civilization. Especially for us, perhaps...
The first thing to remember is to keep the lid closed at all times that the toilet is not in use. It is not pretty to see a yawning bowl when you look at it. The second thing is this: after you have used the toilet, move both lid and seat up and down looking underneath everything, to make sure things are as neat as you can probably leave them. Bathroom stains of any sort are an anathema, and while we are married we can ascribe them to the grossness of men, but when we are single, there's nobody to blame but ourselves. When everything is neat and clean, then close the lid.
How to Drive the Freeway
Being many years a Californian, I am still astounded at how many people do not know how to drive on the freeway. Let us assume that there are four or five lanes going your way. The extreme right lane as you see it is the getting-off lane, and is the only lane in which you are permitted to drive slower than the speed limit (65, at the present time, in California). Sometimes you are not sure whether you're in the getting off lane or not, but if you are to the right side of a line of squares on the pavement, you are getting off for sure. Do not change your mind at the last minute; it's terribly dangerous.
The next lane to the left of the getting-off lane is the might-be-getting-off lane, and in this lane you may be excused for a little slowness or temporary hesitancy while making up your mind. But 65 is still the rule of the day here.
One over to the left, you must go faster than 65. This is lane 3. You don't have to go much faster than 65, but you do have to move a little. This is the lane that causes all the problems coming up to San Diego from Chula Vista, because all the Tijuana people are on it and they mostly do not know that it is not okay to go 45 on the freeway, especially if you are not in the extreme right-hand lane.
In lane 4, you are expected to drive seventy or seventy five at least, taking advantage of open space to pick up some territory. And in lane 5, the sky's the limit within reason. (And sometimes not.) Many people are afraid of lanes 4 and 5, but really they are the safest lanes usually, as the best drivers are usually there if they have any distance to go at all.
You should use your turn signals on the freeway at all times when maneuvering from one lane to another, because people really do watch and really do yield when they see your intentions, and sometimes that can be terribly important.
How to Make a Cup of Tea
I do not need to tell you how to make a cup of tea, because George Orwell already did that perfectly.I remember having read that essay long ago and have never deviated from his principles except that I do use tea bags and I don't think they are ideal.
I had another How-to to add, but have forgotten what it was. Perhaps my New Year's Resolution should have been: remember things. I did do the I Ching on New Year's Eve...I got "Chien: The Creative Principle"; I could have received no better advice. The gist of creativity, it seems, is, "Work, work, work." The Superior Man busies himself from dawn to dusk. So says the I Ching and it is never wrong. YAZZYBEL
How to Buy Socks
For winter, buy all black socks. For summer, buy all white socks. Buy them all of the same style and of the same brand. You may be tempted to get brown sox or navy socks under the impression that black and brown or navy and brown do not go together. Nonsense. No subtle color improvements could begin to compensate with the loss of one of a pair of brown or blue sox, in which case you'll have to use one black one anyway and look like a goose.
My present socks are of the Hue brand, ribbed cotton anklets. They do not have any elastic so do not press on the foot or leg and are quite comfortable. For summer you'll be tempted to get beige socks or even, as I foolishly did, pale gray and medium gray socks both. Naturally, I go about with one pale gray and one medium gray paired together, and nobody has commented yet. But save yourself trouble, and just get white. Lots of time in summer you'll go sockless, of course, and that's the best and thriftiest way of all.
How to Use the Toilet
Yes, these basic tips are necessary even for those who have lived a long time in civilization. Especially for us, perhaps...
The first thing to remember is to keep the lid closed at all times that the toilet is not in use. It is not pretty to see a yawning bowl when you look at it. The second thing is this: after you have used the toilet, move both lid and seat up and down looking underneath everything, to make sure things are as neat as you can probably leave them. Bathroom stains of any sort are an anathema, and while we are married we can ascribe them to the grossness of men, but when we are single, there's nobody to blame but ourselves. When everything is neat and clean, then close the lid.
How to Drive the Freeway
Being many years a Californian, I am still astounded at how many people do not know how to drive on the freeway. Let us assume that there are four or five lanes going your way. The extreme right lane as you see it is the getting-off lane, and is the only lane in which you are permitted to drive slower than the speed limit (65, at the present time, in California). Sometimes you are not sure whether you're in the getting off lane or not, but if you are to the right side of a line of squares on the pavement, you are getting off for sure. Do not change your mind at the last minute; it's terribly dangerous.
The next lane to the left of the getting-off lane is the might-be-getting-off lane, and in this lane you may be excused for a little slowness or temporary hesitancy while making up your mind. But 65 is still the rule of the day here.
One over to the left, you must go faster than 65. This is lane 3. You don't have to go much faster than 65, but you do have to move a little. This is the lane that causes all the problems coming up to San Diego from Chula Vista, because all the Tijuana people are on it and they mostly do not know that it is not okay to go 45 on the freeway, especially if you are not in the extreme right-hand lane.
In lane 4, you are expected to drive seventy or seventy five at least, taking advantage of open space to pick up some territory. And in lane 5, the sky's the limit within reason. (And sometimes not.) Many people are afraid of lanes 4 and 5, but really they are the safest lanes usually, as the best drivers are usually there if they have any distance to go at all.
You should use your turn signals on the freeway at all times when maneuvering from one lane to another, because people really do watch and really do yield when they see your intentions, and sometimes that can be terribly important.
How to Make a Cup of Tea
I do not need to tell you how to make a cup of tea, because George Orwell already did that perfectly.I remember having read that essay long ago and have never deviated from his principles except that I do use tea bags and I don't think they are ideal.
I had another How-to to add, but have forgotten what it was. Perhaps my New Year's Resolution should have been: remember things. I did do the I Ching on New Year's Eve...I got "Chien: The Creative Principle"; I could have received no better advice. The gist of creativity, it seems, is, "Work, work, work." The Superior Man busies himself from dawn to dusk. So says the I Ching and it is never wrong. YAZZYBEL
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