On Sunday, I got up early, made a cup of coffee and started washing clothes. I had a couple of loads finished by 9:00 when Meet the Press came on, my Sunday morning ritual. While I watched, I took garbanzo beans that I had cooked all night in the crockpot, roasted a little garlic and hatch chilis from the garden, and made a big batch of hummus. That was my breakfast along with some rustic rosemary crackers, then I went back to cleaning. As I straightened and cleaned my bedside table, I touched The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Weak moment. It is a classic that most everyone has read at some point in their life, probably because you were required in HS. I was still in my pajamas, so I fluffed my up my pillows and crawled back in between the covers, with Sully cat curled up next to me. It is such a great story about happiness and gratitude for what you have in life, along with the reminder of the power of greed, and how that greed can become evil and change your life. It is only 118 pages in paperback, so I finished it in no time. The copy I have is 1964, tattered and torn, but it did show 25 different printings since first being published in Woman’s Home Companion in 1945. Just think of how many times it has been published since my 1964 copy. My copy has Lester Turner – English 5th period written on the outside cover. When I Googled, “how many copies of The Pearl has sold since 1945,” it pulled up something about Pearl Jam. Hmmm. Some things you read again because the message never gets old.
Husband and I went grocery shopping with masks, got home, took off masks, brought home wrong husband. Stay alert people!
I am going back in time. A friend sent me a picture of a bottle of Mad Dog 2020 that says, I survived 2020 once, I can do it again. I thought that was clever, but then I can remember drinking/sipping MD2020. Did you? I believe it was one of my first tastes of wine, along with Boone’s Farm, so it is no wonder most people in our generation did not drink real wine until much later in life. We were scared.
The first of earthly blessings, Independence. Edward Gibbon.
Stay away from any product that claims to cure or prevent COVID-19. ‘Cure or Prevent’ is an obvious sign of a scam. Many items sold online do not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for effectiveness. Face masks, sanitizers, testing kits…the list is huge. There are counterfeit and used medical supplies, ineffective or counterfeit sanitizing products, ineffective UV sanitizer lights, informational books…be wary…is it coming from China? I am telling you this from experience. Check out Keepa, which tracks the price history on Amazon listings. Another is Fakespot. Stop and think. The FDA has discovered methanol, a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through skin or ingested, in some hand sanitizers produced by Eskbiochem SA.
Kids, do not play with fireworks! Let the adults who have been drinking all day set them off.
China has a plan to reduce the amount of single use plastics use…that would be a humongous bunch of plastic because there are 1.4 billion people in China. It includes a ban on non-degradable bags in big cities by the end of 2020, in all urban centers by 2022, and everywhere by 2025. Restaurants must eliminate plastic straws by the end of 2020. If China can do it, why can’t we? In January, Malaysia sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 countries. They also shuttered more than 200 illegal plastic recycling factories. Talks were ongoing with the U.S. needing to ‘take back’ 60 shipping containers of plastic waste. “Our position is very firm…Malaysia is not the dumping site of the world,” said their Environment Minister. “If people want to see us as the rubbish dump of the world, you dream on.” Gee does that mean we are going to be forced to do something with our own trash besides throwing it in a big pile and hoping for the best. We are so lazy.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Filmmaker Mel Brooks is 94. Actor Charles Kimbrough is 84. Straight-faced anchorman Jim Dial on Murphy Brown. International Tennis Hall of Fame John Newcombe is 76. One of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. Actor Al Pacino is 80. Actress Renee Zellweger is 51. Actress Kathy Bates is 72.
Comedy great, Carl Reiner, died of natural causes at 98. Best remembered for The Dick Van Dyke Show, which is still considered to be one of the 50 greatest television shows of all time; he was best friends with Mel Brooks, and the creator of so much genius comedy that there’s no room to list it all. Recently, he was a featured celebrity on Dispatches from Quarantine, an interview series of inspiring seniors.
Disney is removing “Song of The South” from Splash Mountain ride. Houston Association of Realtors has stopped using the word “master” to describe a bedroom. Instead the association agreed to update the phrase to primary bedroom/bath. The Court of Master Sommeliers says it will no longer use the word “master” before a wine sommelier’s last name. Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A. The Dixie Chicks are changing their name to The Chicks. Russell Crowe said that he and Ed Sheeran once drank shots out of Johnny Cash’s Grammy.
When I was younger, I would never have thought I would be able to walk into a liquor store in a mask and not have a getaway driver waiting for me in the parking lot.
Recently, I was having a discussion with my sister, Gillian, on the subject of TV dinners. I wish I had the space to tell you the whole story, but out of respect…and protection of the innocent, I will not. Anyway, when I Googled (of course) Swanson TV dinners, I found that a cardboard box from the creamed chicken, frozen peas and fake mash potatoes, along with the shiny tri-compartment foil container from 1960’s, can be yours for only $249.99 plus $14 for shipping. Yikes. If only I had known when I was little, that I could have paid for children’s college, bought a new house, vacations and luxury car along with a driver…if only I had saved ALL the boxes from ALL the TV dinners that mom fed me and my sisters. Wait, if I am remembering correctly, there were way more chicken pot pies left in the oven for us than TV dinners…ok…I was just hoping someone would ask, so I looked. On ebay, prices for chicken pot pie boxes are much more affordable than TV dinner boxes, running from $29 to $95, and all listed are labeled as EMPTY. Except for one ‘Swanson 1960’s frozen deep-dish chicken pot pie’ food box marked unused. UNUSED?!?! Now, how could you keep something like that frozen for the past 55-60 years. Hoarders? How do you even ship it? Dry ice?
On May 26th, there were 10 cases reported in a 24-hour period in Brazoria County, and one-month later June 26th, we had 97 cases reported in one day. Hmmm. (100 cases in Brazoria Co. on June 30th.) It is like virus soup. Please wear a mask. The number of infections is rising by about 1 million every week, and the WHO worries that the surge could lead to oxygen shortages as countries struggle to obtain oxygen-making machines. Interesting is the number of patients in their 30’s and 40’s, that are having strokes…the kind of strokes that the median age is normally 74. It is all such a mystery since this virus has the ability to affect nearly every major organ system in the body. Of 200 total staff at the Houston HPD forensic lab and crime scene unit, 10 have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and another 12 are self-quarantining while they await test results. Delays in collecting evidence could mean further backlogs in criminal cases.
Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought. Pope John Paul II
On Saturday, I made a trip to Pearland to drop off a carload of glass that I have been saving since this virus mess started. Target was my drop-off location here before they quit accepting recycling. I left an hour before the Stella Roberts Recycling Center closed and thought that would give me adequate time, but my GPS said, “Welcome back. You haven’t used me in sooo long that I’m going to be a pain,” and sent me in the wrong direction. I even knew it was the wrong direction but steered the car where she told me to go because I am a polite person. Of course, I arrived five minutes after they closed, so I stopped and asked someone for instructions so I would know the rules next time. Katherine was so kind to find a cart when she found out that my entire car was full of glass. They recycle everything. And because you live in Brazoria County, you are welcome to use the facility. FYI. Tues. thru Sat. 9-1. 5800 Magnolia Pkwy. These are temporary hours so be sure to call or check out their website.
Tina took a bottle of wine and left it on the porch of a mutual friend. The friend sent me an email stating, “Lisa, you own a newspaper and sometimes express opinions and support issues, etc. ‘Any how’ a friend brought wine to this old lady shut-in. On the bottle it clearly stated that after opening it would last 30 days! Three days later it is empty. Isn’t that false advertisement?” Yes, Virginia, that is false advertisement.
The bicycle is the hottest item in town. What an awesome tool that is finally getting its due. In the past few months bicycle sales have surged because the pandemic has people searching for ways to stay active and as entertainment for children, as well as an excellent way to stay physically distant from people. Remember the freedom of riding your bike down the street with the wind blowing in your face? Industry experts predict that bikes will continue to be difficult to find until the next production cycle wraps in late July. If you have an old bike in your garage, get it out, pump it up and ride. If you do not want it, then place an ad and sell it…or give it away…that is a FREE ad. Make someone happy.
Happy Anniversary to sweet friends, Paula and Carlos Garcia, on their 20th anniversary. Four children later, you have made it look so easy. We love you. Thank you to Josh & Mark at Lackey Refrigeration for coming out immediately and fixing our cool…to Hayman for the most beautiful tomatoes. My evening meal was avocado chunks and lightly salted tomatoes with truffle balsamic vinegar. Two nights in a row. BLT’s are on the menu for tomorrow evening…to Keith for fixing everything, and I mean everything…thank you to Lisa for making me another beautiful mask…to Mayor Bob Sipple for developing and implementing a policy requiring employees and patrons to wear face coverings/masks. This will give direction to those that require direction. (all of us.)
Recently, I found out that a friend Nathan Gauthier, died a few months ago in Hessmer, Louisiana. He was a crazy Cajun with a big heart, that gave his friends cooking lessons, including how to cook alligator gar (slow-cook all day long) then made gar balls that were the best. We perfected dirty rice and much more, but the gar balls stick in my mind. He was also a great Rotarian that gave of his time and money.
America has seen more coronavirus cases in the past week than in any week since the pandemic began. Sorry, guys, but there is nothing about this that is good. Remember how horrible it was in New York at the beginning of this mess, well, here we are. Because we are spiraling out of control, Europe will bar Americans traveling from the U.S. starting on July 1st. Our country is deemed too risky because our coronavirus outbreaks are poorly contained. One model suggests that if everyone in the U.S. would wear a mask in public, 33,000 lives could be saved over the next 3 months.
Have a great 4th. Be safe. Make Lady Liberty proud of us by social distancing, wearing a mask and washing your hands. NOW is a gift. Enjoy it. (Her full name is Liberty Enlightening the World, but nicknames include Aunt Liberty, Green Goddess, Lady of the Harbor, and Mother of Freedom.)
Lisa
