Some may prefer circles:
Crisp cookies inviting
With chips so delicious
Or spices exciting.
And I know there are those
Who crave sugary squares:
Lemon bars yummy
And brownies to share.
However persistent
These geometrical treats,
I beeline for the triangle:
Cherry pie, tart and sweet!
Some of my friends are huge Gilligan’s Island fans, but I never got into it. A big reason for that is suspension of disbelief, which for me is intensely subjective. While I had no problem believing that Jeannie was a genie or Samantha a witch, I couldn’t stand the fact that Ginger and Mary Ann were BAKING PIES on the island with no electricity, flour, etc. And not just any old pies either, but fluffy coconut cream pies. How did they get the milk to make the cream? It just bugged me so much. Why didn’t the women ever run out of makeup and hair products, not to mention you-know? What did they do for their “time of the month?” Mrs. Howell excepted. I’d rather have actual magic.
So there.
As an aside, not that it matters, but it also irritated me when people (men) would say they preferred the wholesome “Mary Ann” type as if she didn’t wear a ton of makeup and carefully style her hair. She may not have been wearing a glittering evening gown a la Ginger, but her look was just as deliberate. It’s funny how people (men) think Mary Ann looks “natural.” In my novel that no one read, I had the drug dealer/buyer go through this whole Ginger/Mary Ann routine that I thought was pretty damn funny. In fact, I had more fun writing my drug dealer dialog than the romantic leads, which may give you a clue as to why my romance writing career never took off.
Anyway, speaking of suspension of disbelief, I recently read a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The original book has a “logical” reason for the prince’s transformation and it makes sense how he grows to love and be loved in his beastly form. But this one had nothing that made sense. Some things were enchanted and some weren’t ~ magic happened when it was convenient to the story and arbitrarily disappeared when it was inconvenient. I have no idea why the writer thought this was an improvement on the original. She didn’t take a different angle as far as the moral of the story or anything else. And it took forever for the plot to get to the magic forest/castle, etc.; there was all this other gobble about Beauty’s father’s shipping business and her sisters blah blah blah. Annoying. The heroine was a redhead in this version ~ a “ginger,” as they say in England, which returns us to the theme of this post.
My smile for this week is that after being super extra careful all month, I drove alone 7 hours Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving with my daughter and her husband. It’s just the 3 of us (plus pets) and I’m having a great time. Last year, I flew up here and we spent the day with lots of other people, which was wonderful ~ nevertheless, I am so grateful I get to be with some family. (I will see my other daughter mid-December.)
Four years ago, my Thanksgiving week was depressing because I had just been dumped by a man I’d been dating. We’d planned to spend the day together (and do fun stuff the whole weekend)… then poof it was over. My younger daughter saved me from being totally alone by changing her plans and having a festive meal with me. We picked up a magnificent veggie feast from Native Foods. I was so thankful not to have to be alone when I felt so down. I haven’t dated anyone since then, and that seems to be the best way for me because I’m a total idiotat choosing which men to date.
I’m only humanthough, and I still sometimes think… what if? But unlike 10 years ago when I was newly single, I can answer that question by recalling my bad experiences since. I learned a lot from these episodes and there’s no reason to believe that a new foray into the field would have different results. This year especially has reminded me that I’m not only fine on my own, but I actually do better when not obsessing over what some random man thinks. I know other women date without getting so emotionally wrought up… but I’m not them. I tend to go to extremes…
I used to believe that the only good path was to have a partner to plan the future with, but life has a way of wrecking our plans and expectations (see year 2020). While I may not be totally footloosedue to physical and financial limitations, I find it freeing that my future will be for me to choose, whenever and however I decide to make changes. For example, I don’t know exactly what I want to do or where I want to live post-retirement, but I get to decide that without having to consider what someone else wants.
Onto a more important topic: what will we be eating today? Welp, it’s not going to be the usual turkey and gravyfeast, since there are only 3 of us here and 2 don’t like turkey. We are basically having sides, including baked sweet potatoes, mushroom stuffing, pasta, etc. We’ve already dived into the pie, and though there’s a bunch left (huge Costco pie), I’m thinking we might bake some cookies…
Have a sweet day, my peeps, however you’re celebrating or even if you aren’t. While I understand the historical reasons some may not think of today as something to be happy about, it can be soothing to take the time to be thankful for the good in our lives.
Dr. Tanya continues her #5Things prompt series with fall favorites. Here are mine…
1. A break from oppressive heat. While I love summer days, by October I’m ready for cooler nights. Since I’m in Southern California, we’re not talking freezing temps (usually), just a civilized dip into the 50s or so.
2. The opportunity to wear boots!
3. Going north for Thanksgiving to visit my eldest and her hubby. Yay!
4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkin candy. (These are peanut butter/chocolate cups in a pumpkin shape, which are even more delicious than regular ones because of the ratio or some other magic.)
Fandango’s Dog Days prompt today is asking for our favorite season. Well… here is a pic of me from the beach yesterday. I had so much fun! But first let’s talk about the other seasons because each has good qualities.
I used to love autumn best, mainly because of Halloween. But I’m not so into it now. It’s hard for me to get excited about costumes when my eyes are too sensitive for wearing makeup. There are other good things about fall, of course… I am a fan of pumpkin. Pie, coffee, muffins, etc. Noms. Thanksgiving with my family… great! My daughter’s birthday. 💝 Hurtling toward the end of yet another year though… meh. I think about all the stuff I haven’t done, books unwritten, fitness plans abandoned, and my big failure to find a life partner. Not so great.
Winter is yuck. Cold dark depressing days. Wearing layers of sweaters and scarves and boots and corduroys and still freezing everywhere. Yes, in Southern California. There’s just nothing good about it. Except cute sweaters and boots, okay. And the fun NYE party I generally attend (dunno about this year). One bright spot is my youngest daughter’s birthday in March. But I have to deal with Valentine’s Day, which didn’t use to bother me, but kinda does now… 🥶
Spring seems like yayness… flowers, pretty sunsets, Reese’s peanut butter eggs. But it’s also a time of bad memories. My mother died in April. I have to pass through the ghost anniversary of my last marriage. My ex left us in the spring too. Then there’s the crash and burn of my last “relationship,” which shouldn’t bother me because it was so short and stupid, but yet I still find the memories upsetting. He dumped me on Thanksgiving (boo fall). Then I was super down for months (boo winter). And he popped back up in the spring to further torment me via text and email. 💔
But summer? Wheee wonderful! ☀️ Both my grandchildren were born in summer. 💖💙 Long warm days, lovely produce, ice cream, the beach, light clothing, sandals, super fun times with friends. All good! Well, except for the onslaught of migraines at the end. September is my worst month with them. But whatever, summer wins!
Both daughters got married in the summer too. This is from my eldest’s venue. ❤️❤️
“One of my limes is missing,” Lisa said, “and now I don’t have enough for my pie.”
The two other housemates glanced at each other and shrugged. Lauren spoke up. “Lisa, do you mean to insinuatethat one of us took your lime?”
“I’m just saying,” Lisa said.
“I have lots of bananas,” Letty said. “You can use them for pie.”
Lisa made a yucky face. “I hate bananas! I can’t believe you need to be reminded of that, Letty.”
“Shh,” Lauren said. “You’ll wake up Logan. We had a late night writing musiclyrics.”
Letty crossed her arms. “We have a no-boys sleepover rule! That’s not fair. I made Larry go home on Saturday and pay for a Uber.”
“But it’s raining!” Lauren said. “Surely that changes things.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “I don’t think weather is a factor in our house rules. Stealing, on the other hand…”
The other women gasped in outrage at this accusation. “That’s it!” Lauren stomped off to her bedroom, yelling, “I’m moving in with Logan! You’re just too mean, Lisa.”
Letty sighed. “Nice going, Lisa. Now the legacy of our childhood friendship has been destroyed over a piece of fruit.”
Lisa stared at her empty pie crust and muttered, “Friends who steal your fruit are no friends at all.”
Behind the sofa, oblivious to the drama in the kitchen, Lucky the cat played with the round green thing he had batted off the counter when Lisa was in the bathroom.
Pasta with seafood and butt’ry potatoes;
Pizza with mushrooms, grilled cheese and tomatoes;
Avos all ripened and berries of blue…
These are a few of my favorite foods.
Warm PB cookies and cupcakes with icing;
Nachos and mangoes and pie so enticing;
Brownies so fudgy you have to eat two…
These are a few of my favorite foods.
French toast with cinn’mon and syrup is yummy;
Burgers with pickles get into my tummy;
Ice cream with caramel and choc’late ooh ooh
These are a few of my favorite foods.
When the spam bites,
When the troll spews,
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite foods,
And then I don’t feel so bad.