In 1794, Robert Burns was working diligently to preserve traditional Scottish tunes for the future...the most famous of which is “Auld Lang Syne”. One of the songs he worked on was this:
“My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose”
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in june;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in tune:
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry;
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only Luve
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.
Mr. Virgo used to work at the Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs. He was the Food and Beverage Director, and once a year, the Annual Robert Burns Dinner was held there. Think men in kilts, good single malts served in proper thick-bottomed scotch glasses, steaming haggis, neeps and tatties...all to the tunes of bagpipes. Oh, he loved that dinner....so steeped in tradition and manly things and cigars. The highlight of the evening is the recitation of Burns’s “To a Haggis”, during which the haggis is ceremoniously split open. Followed by lots of drinking and dancing and entertainment...all to celebrate the life of Scotland’s favorite son.
My heart has taken such a beating in the last few weeks. Covid, killings, riots, politics, strokes...hokey smokes, it’s been crazy. Then, I go on Facebook to see the kids’ pictures and the violence is escalating. I went through my feed yesterday like a woman with her hair on fire. I’ve always been one to try to see both sides. And I find myself failing at that. I find myself sassing back and that is not the person I want to be. It is not the person God intended for me to be. So I went through my feed and if it stirred anger in me, I blocked posts from that site. That way, it won’t show up on my feed anymore when one of my friends share it on theirs. There were a few that I have tolerated unkind and flat out mean behaviors from and I just gave up and hit “Snooze for 30 Days”. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.
I think I’ve been playing around with this sourdough for a couple of months now. My first loaf was kinda sad and disappointing. The English Muffins were divine. The second loaf was worse than the first. I believe I could have used it as a door stop! It was dense and dry and didn’t resemble traditional sourdough in the least.
My mom always said, “Mind over matter!” She was right, of course. I could have headed into my birthday without expectation. My post yesterday morning looked like that’s where I was heading. And, somewhere between there and here, I heard my mom’s voice telling me “Mind over matter” and I pulled myself up by the bootstraps. First, I made sure I slept really well Friday night. I didn’t eat spicy food and I didn’t eat late. I took it easy on caffeine in the afternoon. And I practiced good sleep hygiene before bed, ie no TV, no news, soft music, and we slept in the camper. It was cool overnight so it was the best sleeping weather.
It’s my birthday. I hardly remembered. Last year, I celebrated my “Birthday Month”. Last week, Mr. FixIt said quietly...”Your birthday is coming up. What would you like?” I didn’t know what to say. Usually I have a list of fun things I’d like. Experiences mostly. But this year it is almost like, “Really? It’s here already? I hadn’t really thought about it.”
In the middle of yet another busy day of appointments and trips to the pharmacy for yet another prescription, Mr. FixIt and I decided to go pay a visit to his good friend, Harry. Harry loves Atomic Fireballs. Addicted to them, really. So, every time we go to Sam’s, we get Harry a box of them. Harry doesn’t ask for much. He works hard. He lives a simple life. And...he’s a widower.
One of the things I missed the most when I lived in Colorado was grand thunderstorms. Lighting flashing and thunder crashing, echoing through the hills and valleys as a storm passes through always brings a warm feeling to my heart. One of my earliest memories of 1st grade was sitting at my desk in the old school building with the huge windows down one wall. The sky was nearly as dark as night and great flashes of lightning arced through the clouds. Soon, fat raindrops started hitting the windows...first here, then there...till the glass was covered with a torrent of rain that blurred the view of the neighborhood beyond.
Land’s sakes...it was so hot yesterday, you could have fried an egg on the sidewalk. We had a couple of appointments in town with an hour and a half in between, so we rand a few errands. I was out pumping gas at Sam’s and carried the trash around the end of the truck to the can nearby. I had to walk out of the shade into the sun and it was searingly hot. Not only that, with our humidity level, the heat index was around 100℉. Brutal.
We used up last week’s tofu over the weekend so it was time to make a new batch. I actually make a double batch to get a good sized cake of tofu when I’m finished. It last a week and gives us 3-4 meals, depending how we prepare it. I paid $35.00 (including shipping) for 13 pounds of new crop of Laura Soybeans from the Chambers Family Farm in Iowa. They are certified organic and non-GMO. I did a quick estimate and a double batch of tofu costs me approximately $1.17 to make, not including the initial purchase of tools to make it or the coagulant which you only need to purchase once or twice a year for around $10-12.00. Bottom line...this is a really inexpensive and easy way to make a tasty meat alternative that’s really good for you.
