Daily Archives: August 31, 2010

Big Guy vs. Little Guy

Posted on August 31, 2010 | Leave a comment

The big guy is sitting on a pile of money at BP and Deepwater Horizon, who owns the rig, and 11 little guys are dead. A gulf and ocean may be dead as well due to their abject negligence of any safety mechanisms known to mankind.

Mankind, what does that term mean. Apparently it means nothing in the Gulf disaster. Eleven people died. Their families are grieving but few care about that.

The big guys care about their corporate names and blaming others lest they be blamed for the havoc they wrought. Give a guy a bonus for putting duct tape on a valve, that’s my fictitious take on this whole disaster, not necessarily the truth as more information comes to light that gives deep water drilling a really bad reputation.

If a company doesn’t have ways of preventing AND sealing leaks don’t give them a permit. Who knows what we’ve done in space with satellites and besides littering the universe, what is the damage we’ve caused?

No one cares what we’ve put up in space because the big guy doesn’t live there and hasn’t sent the little guy there yet to test it, and we’ll all be sorry for that later and not because it’s falling down, it’s spying on all of us. And now there are white vans that can see everything in our car and even through our clothing and then someone will stop the little guy, violating 4th Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure.

The time of beloved Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” is over. If you do something to protect your Constitutional rights this “little guy” will learn that song for you, and take up the guitar again. This land is my land, too. It was made for you and me. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

Tagged

Commonalities

Posted on August 31, 2010 | 1 Comment

I was so afraid to start this blog. First, the mechanics of it which my husband took care of and presented it to me. Then I had to write. Write what? What would be the title of the blog? What could I possibly write about that would interest anyone?

One of the first things I wrote about over 30,000 hits ago was How To Eat A Concord Grape. Every fall the numbers go up and I get comments from kids I knew in grade school whose parents helped western NY grow its vinifera business, even my grade school music teacher who sent me a book about cooking with grapes and highlighted the recipe that most resembled her Concord grape pie.

Having a blog is not just about hearing from people from “home,” it’s about meeting people with similar interests. Living in a community that rents to short-term folks out for a ski or summer weekend, we meet a lot of interesting people and have something in common, whether it be work or food or nature.

Traveling in different countries and remaining open to the cultures and people it is easy to discover that however different we think we are, we’re more the same. I didn’t meet a Black person until 9th grade and we became fast friends. I didn’t meet a Jewish person until after college and it was years before I met an Indian. Now I have Black, Jewish, gay and lesbian friends, female and male friends that make my life more complete.

Our supposed “melting pot” of cultures is breaking because of hatred of the beliefs of others who certain folks deem to be “different” thus unworthy of being “American.” Even US citizens are tarred with this hatred, beginning with our President. What used to be Republican vs. Democrat in this country (I always welcome other parties) has become ugly. If your only platform for election is airing negative ads against your opponent you don’t deserve to be elected.

Call me a sap or a true American. Yes, this past weekend I watched part of The Glenn Miller Story. Of course they sugar-coated everything from the band to relationship to the military in WWII (or perhaps they didn’t). But they stood up for the USA, courage and patriotism. To the soldiers who have fought on our behalf I believe they fought for their country, the USA, not for pockets of it that they liked.

As long as our young people are in harm’s way anywhere in the world, we must remember that we are a nation. We have much more in common than we know about the “strange” neighbor who moved in down the street. He may be Muslim. She may be divorced with two kids. We’re all American so you can take over that casserole or plate of cookies and welcome your neighbor. You’ll find your neighborhood changes in a positive way very quickly. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial

Fall?

Posted on August 31, 2010 | 2 Comments

There’s a tinge of fall in the air, and much rain, lightning and thunder, so we’re not grilling this evening. I have thin-sliced pork chops that I’ll pound even thinner, then dip them in milk, flour, egg and bread crumbs. I have thinly sliced potatoes in the oven with a bit of milk and cream for scalloped potatoes, and have some corn on hand.

Friday morning before leaving for Jim’s mechanic we saw the two adult cranes being stalked by a coyote. I saw one later that afternoon but heard them calling to each other over the weekend and believe I saw the colt (baby) trying to fly. I thought it was the baby because the flying and turns were irregular and its parents are master flyers. So I hope they’re all still alive.

After we dropped Jim’s car off at the shop I took him to work and was two minutes out when he called and said he forgot his badge. I turned off the freeway into a neighborhood and called back. I hoped not to have to drive all the way home, into town again and back home but it was OK. Seconds after getting off the phone I was pulling out to turn around and saw something. Young deer, in about six front yards in 20 seconds, just hopping away, its legs literally springs. I know the homeowners don’t like them eating their veg’s and flowers but this was a beautiful sight.

Dinner went well last night. Jim called them “chicken fried” pork cutlets. I took 1/2 inch cutlets and pounded them thinner, then coated them with milk, flour, egg and breadcrumbs. We saved extra room for potatoes, but I put too much liquid in them and were great but not quite as brown as I’d like.

Tonight I must get started on stuffed peppers. Unfortunately I only have a handful of regular rice so will use a cup of Arborio and probably make something else. Perhaps meat loaf with a very basic risotto and sauteed onions and peppers. Sounds good to me, thanks for the ideas.

The great news is that we saw the entire crane family early this morning, confirming that the parents hid the colt (baby crane) and fended off a coyote on Friday and perhaps over the weekend. It was heartening to see the family out “shopping” for food this morning. If I were a coyote I’d go after less lethal prey. They’re big birds, know how to protect themselves (though have lost one colt this year to predation or disease), will kick and I’ve seen their beaks kill a 1-2 lb. rodent in seconds, fillet it and gulp it in three portions. All in less than two minutes.

When the coyote was stalking them, hours on end, they never flapped their wings and flew away (hence protecting hidden colt). Amazing what beautiful creatures we get to see here. We’ve been here a while but I never tire of nature and mountains. Thanks again for helping me think through dinner. It’ll be good. Jim loves meat loaf, but always puts ketchup on it. Hey, if he did it to an aged NY strip, well, he never would in my presence. Cheers! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas