Lost another friend?

As we've gotten older (he's 80, I'm 76) more and more family, friends, and those "famous people in our lives in a peripheral sense " are "passing on."  Yesterday he might have lost one of his few still living friends by finally saying aloud one of the few things that would end that long friendship.  "You know *****, every time Donald Trump opens his mouth he lies." Poof! No good clicking sound like you'd get with an old fashioned phone, just ... nothing. You'd still say " he hung up on me!"  But he really just touched that red (icon?) that says END.  So to that long list of family, friends,  and "others" we no longer have with us, we might now a friend lost to us because of that *** trump. 😪

So, starting my day feeling sad (and even before testing my blood sugar), this is me, just thinking out loud. 

2016 Doesn't Feel Much Different - first published January 2016

Made it through day one of the new year.  2016. The 20th century seems long ago and far away.

 Last night (Dec. 31) I sat alone; husband in bed, dog asleep in husband's recliner, cat asleep on husband's jacket he left on the sofa, anyway, I was, if not actually alone, the only one awake.  I was doing fine too:  Reading all the Happy New Year messages on Facebook, texting with a daughter or two,  trying to read a James Lee Burke novel, not drinking .... when I clicked on a link to a  Dougie MacLean video. He was singing Auld Lang Syne and through the song the lyrics - and the English translation of those lyrics -  are all that are on the screen. That's it: just a black screen with the lyrics in white print.

That's all it took and I was back in time remembering friends I hadn't seen since high school graduation in June of 1966.  I thought about growing up with my brothers: one older; one younger.  Spending time at my sister's house when I was in high school and she lived on the Alafia River. Now I'm not talking about long, drawn out, maudlin memories. These were more like flashes of memory. Maybe what we always hear about as "our life flashing before our eyes."  I wrote my first blog post New Year's Eve morning so maybe these things were simmering right near the surface.  But it shook me up.

Music does that to us, you know.  A few notes of your high school fight song and you can feel the wind making you keep your hands in your jacket pockets and the cold bleachers freezing your behind on an autumn Friday night.  Everyone has their own music memories. So why did that version of Auld Lang Syne hit me like a metaphorical brick?  I'm not sure but MacLean has a beautiful voice and understanding the lyrics (finally) probably had a lot to do with it.

But this blog is not supposed to be a "stream of consciousness trip down memory lane."  Nope. It's supposed to kick my old ass (jeez...icky mental picture...seriously. I own mirrors.) in gear to quit wasting my "golden years" ....which are actually more like "silver-plate years" or maybe "stainless steel...." well you get the picture.  So - executive decision. Instead of a trip down memory lane, I've decided that song and that singer will be the impetus for my trip to Scotland.

Whenever the obstacles seem overwhelming, I'm going to listen to some of the Scottish music I've downloaded and picture the lochs and mountains of the Highlands.  I'm going to plan a trip with great accommodations.  I'm going to follow my doctor's advice so I, hopefully, don't die from blood clots on the plane trips.  I'm going to ask for help planning tours that take into account my back problems etc. I'm publicly setting a time frame:  between September 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. God willing and the creek don't rise... and I can get my (even older than me) husband to actually retire, because he's a great traveling companion.

Watch this space.

Update: 

Wrote this January 1, 2016 and now it's not quite 5 in the morning of October 3 2024.  Failure!   I still haven't made it to Scotland (and probably never will) but I'm still here!  Older - yes. Wiser- probably not. Healthier - no. One reason I've not made it to Scotland - or anywhere else really. But that's a whole 'nother blog.

Cornish pasties and woods cops - first published January 2016.

I've read about Cornish pasties. ( No, dear husband, not those kind of pasties.)  These are meat pies (pasties NOT pastries ) that workers could hold in their hands and eat for a satisfying meal.  

     Having always wanted to try them, I was pleased to find a company in the U.P. that sells and ships them.  Now being a huge fan of Joseph Heywood's Wood Cop books, which are set in

 Michigan's Upper Peninsula, ( the U.P.) I know that at the turn of the last century many miners from Cornwall came to the U.S. and especially the U.P. so it would seem this would be a place that would know what a pasty should be.  

     The box just arrived by FedEx.  It's Thursday, about 1:00 and they were shipped Tuesday.  They were still cold and mostly frozen so I put 11 in the freezer and the 12th in the oven.  

frozen pasty - I didn't say they were pretty

      While I'm waiting on my lunch, let's go back to Joseph Heywood.  If you like things about the  woods and hunting and stuff, and you'd like to read about such things from the prospective of the game  warden...or woods cop...I highly recommend this series.  Lots of action. Lots of great dialog.  Lots of things about a part of the country I used to know nothing about.  He's not written any woods cop books lately and I miss his protagonist, Grady Service. However, he's now published 2 books in the Lute Bapcat series.  These are about the very first wildlife officers in Michigan.  Lute rode with Teddy Roosevelt in Cuba  and he was an orphan.  The latter being how he got his odd name; the former how he got his job.   But I won't spoil that in case you decide to try these.  The first one is.  Red Jacket.  Lute is a man's man. You'll actually come to like  him. 
    I like these books and I don't hunt or fish.  "Outside" is not someplace I want to be.  But a well written book can take me places I've never been, and teach me things I did not know.  I guess that's why I've always loved to read.  And now because of Heywood's books, and those of Steve Hamilton, I've developed a desire to visit the U.P. and eat Cornish pasties.

This was good!  The baking directions say serve with gravy, ketchup,etc.  I used Tabasco sauce and it was really good.  At 14 ounces it was a bit much for lunch so I'm saving half for supper.  Hey.  The better half is off working so I don't get fancy.  The crust was flaky and the filling was tasty...and filling.
Since I'm not selling anything, if you'd like a link to this company, PM  me on facebook or leave your info. in the comments.

I love you is more than 3 little words.