Perfect Memorial

After all the half-sunny weekends and rainy weeks, it looks like we are going to have the perfect Memorial Day weekend here in sedate, casual Richmond VA.

Mine has already started with a patriotic free lunch compete with military vets, red, white and blue balloons, and a beautiful woman singing a ballad. And, they let us go early. So, here I am!

My plan is to have a lot of unstructured time when I can do what I wish. So far I've done some weeding and sat in the sun reading junk mail. I have a lot of options and, as usual, more to do than time to do it in. Isn't it lovely!

Well, I'm going back to unstructured time to maybe play with my SL dolly and have tea with friends ... or not.

Current Fads
Listening. Peculiaroso, Leo Kottke and Sixty-six Steps, Leo Kottke; humm of lawn mowers
Watching. The Fifth Element (1997)
Activity. living la vida loca
Gadget. Palm Zire 31
News Source. Google News
Reading. The Highly Sensitive Person's Workbook - Elaine Aron; Living in the Heart - Drunvalo Melchizedek; The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien; Wicca - Vivianne Crowley; junk mail (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

King for a Day

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. –Dr. Martin Luther King

These words and others like them (taken from Dr. King's letter from a Birmingham jail) were words read this morning by the congregation where I attend church services. I decided to copy the wording from the hymnal before leaving but forgot because an amazing singer, Desiree Roots Senteio, had sung for us. I had to stop and thank her for sharing her vibrant voice. So, when I got home I searched the web for "mutuality" and "king" and found a number of sites, none of which quote the letter as it was written, but which, like the reading in my church hymnal, have combined a collection of inspiring sentences from that letter into a couple of paragraphs. (The link from the title of this entry goes to the full letter.)

I have a memory of seeing Dr. King on a black and white television giving his "I have a Dream" speech. I remember how strong and vibrant his words were. "I have a dream..." When I heard him and saw him my heart said "At last!" At last someone was brave enough to stand up with strength and compassion against the tide of corrupt prejudice. At last someone had the skill to lead with bravery and idealism instead of with anger and violence.

I've heard the question before, in school (where I was asked to write an essay), "What would the world be like if you were king?" Well, what would it be like?

what I really like about Christmas

Is that it makes everything shiny and bright.

Fabulous Virginia Fall

This time right now, including yesterday and the previous couple of days and probably tomorrow and the day after, is the time to be here in Richmond. It's warm enough to eat outside in the sun while enjoying a view of riotous fall color. And listening to kids screaming and birds and squirrels carrying the news. It's really not fair to be inside writing a novel however far behind I am (about 10,000 words).

My greenleaf maple has finally, after four years, decided to become as advertised – edged in red in the fall. I really like the way the inside of the plant stays green while the outer edges get red. It hasn't done this before. It used to just drop its leaves.

And here I am inside not writing a novel and I'm really far behind. I will not stay home on Thanksgiving and catch up by writing 6,000 words in one day. I'm glad I got through it last year but it nearly took all the fun out of writing. The plan this year is to catch up by writing a little extra every day. Especially since Mom is making dinner on Thanksgiving and she's a great cook.

Too bad her great cooking talent didn't rub off on me or creep in by osmosis. Although I have managed to concoct a nice breakfast fritatta that's done all in the pan with eggs, cream, goat cheese and fresh spinach. I have it nearly every day.

Well, I have come far enough from the intent of this post and spent a long enough time not writing my novel. I must get back to it. If only I could justify spending $50 to get a legal copy of Documents to Go so I could write outside. Damn. I might do it anyway. Although, wouldn't that just take more time?

Season of the Pumpkin

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween although that's one of their more enjoyable uses. Well, pumpkin pies are tasty, too. One year I actually went to the trouble of saving the carved out pumpkin and making pies with it. Another year I tried to make my own roasted pumpkin seeds. It was an interesting experiment but I highly recommend you buy them instead. Another year I got the little pie pumpkins. It's all the same. Pumpkin is pumpkin and it's all good.

Recycling is important with left over pumpkins. Don't let them sit on your front porch collapsing into gooey masses and attracting flies. Colorado and Ireland are particularly interested in seeing you properly recycle them. Just be sure you remove the seeds before you throw them on the compost heap or you'll have a boat load of vines next summer. The vines are quite attractive, especially as they cover up the rotting compost. However, you'll find yourself opening a pumpkin stand if you're not careful!

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. I love it. I could eat it all year round. On my journeys around the world I discovered that there's nothing as American as pumpkin pie, even though here in the US of A the saying is "apple pie." Apple pie is actually not an American preserve. It's a self deception we live with every day. In Lebanon they make some tasty pumpkin items (for St. Barbara's Day if I remember correctly) but only in American do we make the pies. Or maybe it should be "There's nothing as American as sweet potato pie." But that's another story.