Stuck in Traffic

Miss M went to town yesterday

and got stuck in a traffic jam.

She said they trotted right past her car window but she couldn't snap a photo because she was, you know, driving!

It's about 9:56 central on March 26, 2014

here in Mississippi. I will schedule this to post just after midnight on the morning of the 27th-- HA! how funny is that? I decide to take a month off and I start the month on the next to the last day of the only month of the year that doesn't have 30 or 31 days. That's funny.

In the last month, I read Wide Sargasso Sea in one day, eventually decided I didn't like it, went some places and took notes and photos, looked for but did not find Curious George, learned not to mess around with a gas leak, and planted lettuce.

Oh. I almost forgot. I've been waiting to show you these:

Daughter C and Mr. Big Food share a square on the calender. They have the same birthday!

No stars were visible. Disconcerting for a country mouse.

See the USA!

We crossed this bridge, turned right off the main road, went under the bridge,

saw this (someone "lives" there-- there was music playing), looked ahead

and saw this.

I commented, "This is a flood waiting to happen." Mr. Big Food agreed. 

No kidding!

By the way-- Arkansas is even less densely populated than Mississippi. Arkansas is ranked #34 (56 people per square mile); Mississippi #32 (63/sq.mi.). Now you know.

Still much more to come-- I dare say the most interesting part of yesterday's travels are still waiting to be shared. But I have an entire day to spend getting to know Jonesboro and so I'm off!

Portugese Chicken in a Clay Pot: A Photo

This was very good. There's a previous post about Portuguese Chicken in a Clay Pot.  We've had a lot of good food lately and I am behind on posting recipes. Expect a barrage come Monday. I've already started my list of "RECIPES NEEDED" (I tend to write in all caps) based on photographs of food for which I have not posted a recipe. I will add to it and leave it on Mr. Big Food's desk. He will look at it and keep it in mind.

Like magic (!) on Monday morning there will be an email to me from Mr. Big Food in my in box. Its subject line will be "Recipes." I have over 50 some such emails in my in box. I will open this email and open all of the attached Word docx's. I will then go find the associated photos. And I will begin to post recipes.

Please note that Monday's posting of recipes will be concurrent with Monday's replacing of belt that spins the dryer drum. Miss M had to hang her clothes on the line today. And over the picnic table. And on a little 2'x2' sweater drying contraption atop the "mint garden." Wash Day can be complicated.

I spent the day reading a crappy old book.

Books Bygone: The Life of Anna Mary Robertson

 

Courtesy Wikipaintings.org

I have a new essay out in our little weekly newspaper. It's online at the paper's site but behind a paywall-- you may want to subscribe so you so you can keep up with what's happening. (Extra! Extra! There was an arrest made in the school flag theft!)

The essay is also available here, along with all of the others.

Daughter C did a dramatic reading last evening for our Cincinnati Friends.* She says this one is her favorite!

*below

"It does not seem human."

Once-- it is a thought which troubles us-- once it was a simple enough matter to be a human being, but now it is deeply difficult; because life was once simple, but it is now complex, confused, multifarious. 

Haste, anxiety, preoccupation, the need to specialize and make machines of ourselves, have transformed the once simple world, and we appraised that it will not be without effort that we shall keep the broad human traits which have so far made the earth habitable. 

We have seen our modern life accumulate, hot and restless, in great cities-- and we cannot say that the change is not natural: we see in it, on the contrary, the fulfillment of the inevitable law of change, which is no doubt a law of growth and not decay. 

And yet we look upon the portentous thing with a great distaste, and doubt with what altered passions we shall come out of it. 

The huge, rushing, aggregate life of a great city-- the crushing crowds in the streets, where friends seldom meet and where there are few greetings; the thunderous noise of trade and industry that speaks of nothing but gain and competition, and a consuming fear that checks the natural courses of kindly blood; no leisure anywhere, no quiet, no restful ease, no wise repose-- all this shocks us. 

It is inhumane. 

It does not seem human. 

How much more likely does it appear that we shall meet men sane and human about a countryside fire, upon the streets of quiet villages, where all are neighbors, where groups of friends gather easily, and a constant sympathy makes the very air seem native!

Why should not the city seem infinitely more human than the hamlet? 

Why should not human traits the more abound where human beings teem millions strong?

On Being Human. Woodrow Wilson. Harper & Brothers, New York. 1907.

[This was one paragraph. I split it up for ease of reading.]

Wilson-- who I am not a fan of, by the way-- gives an answer but it will have to wait. I need to go to town and see if Fred's has any warm mist humidifiers. It's shockingly dry here at the Farm.

Plato Wrote an Allegory | Who Knew That?

I confess that I almost never think about Plato. Aristotle, sure. But Plato? 

Plato's rough draft was titled, "The Allegory of the Shadow-Box."

--Mr. Big Food

I wonder what Plato's allegory would look like?

--Daughter C

"The City Mouse and the Country Mouse" is an allegory for my life for more than a few years now.

--Dr. Mike

The spiritual tone of Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Less Taken" reminds me of a cold and dreary day, which itself is an allegory.

--Nick

The prosecutor convinced the jury of the defendant's guilt with an allegory describing the pain and suffering he had committed.

--Chris

References to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" have become trite... but then again references to Plato of any sort have become trite.

--A. Leland

I spent my morning reading about "Pilgrim's Progress," an allegory by John Bunyan.

--Marica

Reflecting on these sentences, I bet dollars to donuts this is the one & only blog on the whole entire World Wide Web that has Plato, Bunyan, Frost, and the classic, The City Mouse & The Country Mouse in the same post.

Look What Followed Us Home, Mom!

Good. Grief.

Daughter C and Miss M went on a run. They didn't even leave at the same time but they all arrived home together.

I gave it water. That's all I'm doing.

C&M are doing some clever combination of google maps and reverse phone number look up. We are all pretty sure he belongs somewhere around the burnt-out Court House. Naturally, he has no collar. I mean, why would he? Why would you want to make it easy for Goldie-Lost to find his way home?

Good. Grief. 

Word on the Farm is that just as soon as they put those silver coins under our tongues and push Mr. Big Food and I out into the River Styx they'll be turning the joint into an animal rescue farm. It should be wildly successful.

Meanwhile... .

(Goldie-Lost does seem to be a sweetie. If he were mine, I'd be missing him.)

"Good morning,

Small Town Mississippi City Offices, can I help you?"

"Good morning. We have no water. Is it us or is it everybody?'

Laughter. "It's Everybody. There's a broke line. They're working on it."

"Okay! Thank you!"

From the way she said it, it sounds more like they're working on finding it than actually working on it. But I'm sure they'll figure it out in due time.

Fortunately, we have a gallon or two of bottled water put up.

Good morning!

Whew! What a weekend!

Mr. Big Food did some Big Cuttin'

with a cheap little lawnmower.

Rocky likes the briar-free paths,

and the future campground.

Oh Those City Mice!

They're always good for a laugh, aren't they? Quoting at length from The Washington Post because it's just too rich.

Is a rabid fox ‘a really good sign’ for the city?
By Annys Shin and Theresa Vargas,February 14, 2013
 
A rabid fox bit a young mother on the leg this week as she crossed a road in Northwest Washington’s Rock Creek Park.

Tuesday’s attack was bad news for the fox, which was later captured by D.C. animal control officers and put down, and for the victim, who has to get a series of rabies shots.

But it was good news to city officials, who saw it as confirmation that the District’s environment is improving, making it more inviting to wildlife, even an occasional sick one.

“It’s actually a really good sign,” maintained Najma Roberts, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Health, which oversees animal control. “When you look at areas that are filled with pollution — not a lot of trees and grass, and garbage everywhere — there is less wildlife.”

[snip]

The woman who was bitten described it this way on an online forum for denizens of Mount Pleasant: “I was crossing by the bridge (Tilden?) at the end of the little trail down the hill behind Ingleside when a little fox attacked my ankle and wouldn’t let go. I had the baby in the carrier in front and couldnt see very much, but I eventually managed to get him off of me just as Animal Control happened by. I am not sure if they caught him. He looked really sick and I’m still not sure why he came at me or from where but keep a look out.”

[snip]

The attack has left some residents wary of the creatures, which are about the size of large cats. Some Crestwood residents suspect foxes are to blame for unexplained cat injuries and fatalities, and they’re keeping their felines indoors at night.

Christina Ryan, who has worked in the neighborhood for 20 years, wondered if foxes were responsible for the disappearance of rabbits, which she used to see regularly. Others welcomed foxes because they believe they keep deer with Lyme-disease-carrying ticks at bay.

 I have just three short comments.

1. 

That's one BIG large cat!

2. 

Boy with a Gun. Oh my!

 3.

Mr. Big Food's Version of a Country Mouse Brunch Buffet

We-- Mr. Big Food, Daughter C., Miss M. and I-- invited some friends and colleagues out to Farther Along Farm for Sunday Brunch to mark the occasion of another successful event at State. Kudos to The Bart Man who orchestrated the event's Main Events. 

Mr. Big Food thought it would be fun to treat our out-of town guests, i.e., the City Mice, to some Good Ol' Country Food. He and Miss M. teamed up to be sure there were tasty Vegan selections.

A Country Mouse Brunch Buffet Menu

Beverages

Coffee
Tea (choose from several)
Green-Tea Sun-Tea
Orange juice
Water
Bloody Marys from scratch

First Course (out, as folks arrive)

Great BIG fruit salad (soaked over night in dry white wine and cognac)
Shrimp in (New Orleans' style) remoulade
Hummus
Assorted cheeses
Assorted crackers

Homemade muffins: bran blueberry, chocolate (vegan), cranberry (vegan) served with whipped butter/vegan "butter"

 Main Course (below)

Commuters: I Feel Your Pain

Commuters' wasted time in traffic costs $121B
By CHRIS TOMLINSON | Associated Press – 5 hrs ago


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An annual study of national driving patterns shows that Americans spent 5.5 billion additional hours sitting in traffic in 2011.

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute released a report Tuesday that found Americans are adapting to road congestion by allowing, on average, an hour to make a trip that would take 20 minutes without traffic. The Urban Mobility Report also says clogged roads cost Americans $121 billion in time and fuel in 2011.

It also determined that the 10 most congested cities are Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle.

The report is one of the key tools used by experts to solve traffic problems. But the institute advises that every community has unique challenges and require different, multi-faceted approaches to solving congestion.

I plan my Friday Starkvegas errands quite carefully so as to avoid traffic jams. Last Friday, just as Mr. Big Food and I were finishing up the last errand, I received an unexpected phone call from Daughter C. letting me know she was back in her office. She had my color wheel in her office-- and I really wanted my color wheel-- so we had to backpedal against the flow. No matter how you looked at it, getting to Daughter C.'s office required a Left turn. (No. Multiple Right turns would not have worked. See above: "every community has unique challenges." Just ask the Experts!)

You should have heard Mr. Big Food cussin'. It took us about three whole minutes to maneuver out of the parking lot and onto a side street so we could scoot through the back streets. What a waste of time! Awful. Just awful. You should have heard Mr. Big Food cussin'.

A Country Mouse Explores an Over-grown Pasture

My task was to inspect the perimeter fence.

I'm happy to report that it is intact. 

The Conversion

She loves Tractor Supply Co.!

of the City Mouse to a Country Mouse is almost complete.

Because you can never have too many copies of the Declaration of Independence,

I bought two more yesterday.

$4.63 to the children; $0.32 to the state

I love The Palmer House Thrift Store where every penny I spend except those that go to the Sovereign State of Mississippi goes to The Palmer Home for Children in Columbus, Mississippi. I buy a lot of books there.

Palmer Home for Children is today an independent institution governed by an unpaid, volunteer Board of Directors. But we are proud of our Presbyterian heritage and maintain close ties with Presbyterian and other churches as well as interested friends concerned about family breakup and the plight of fatherless children.

[Incidentally, according to Off the Beaten Path Mississippi,  Mississippians give more per capital to charity than citizens of any other state. I tried to verify this independently but was not able to do so. It does make sense, though, given Mississippians' acquaintance with tornadoes and hurricanes, and our tendency to go to church. As my father would often say, "There but for the Grace of God go I."

Oh look. It's raining.]

The Palmer Thrift Store was having a 1/2 price sale on books! And yes, that is Ronald Regan who once said,

... On my way to the hall, a fellow recognized me and asked what I was doing in Las Vegas.... I told him what I was here for, and he said, "What are a bunch of farmers doing in Las Vegas?" I couldn't resist. I said, "Buster, they are in a business that makes a Las Vegas crap table look like a guaranteed annual income!" --Remarks to state officers of the Future Farmers of America, July 29, 1987

From The Quotable Ronald Regan compiled and edited by Peter Hannaford, copyright 1998 published by Regnery Publishing, Inc. It's for Mr. Big Food's bookshelf.

Lydia Pickham is Her Name (1949) is not a work of fiction! 

Berry Picking

Some danged BIG berries! (Photo taken with my phone.)

Since last Thursday, I've been told by a reliable authority the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (part of the United States Department of Commerce) that it will begin raining today and will continue to rain through Friday. I was also told to expect frigid temperatures late in the week.  Consequently, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish before the rains set in and it got cold. (Mid-70s is pretty chilly.)  Picking dewberries was on my list.

One 28 ounce coffee can, or about two pounds, of fresh dewberries, picked this morning

Part of my family's food heritage is berry picking. The Girls picked strawberries and blueberries from you-pick farms when they were little. Along with my parents, my sibling and I picked wild berries from roadsides and abandoned country farms and fields. My grandmother picked wild berries almost her whole life-- not until the day she died but on the very day she died while picking berries. We all picked berries back in the crappy olden times. So while I was picking berries I was thinking about berry picking.

Berry picking teaches important lessons.

1. Go/Be prepared. I had a gun and a knife and a couple of coffee cans and some gloves and my phone. I forgot my camera. I wore steel toed boots, long pants, hat, and a light, loose long-sleeved shirt. But I forgot to hose myself off with Deep Woods Off (TM)-- a very dumb thing to do when venturing into the deep woods. Thankfully, I was prepared at home. I knew exactly where the tweezers were. Stupid ticks.
2. Do not pass over small berries while searching for large berries. Two small berries = one large berry. The goal is to fill the coffee can with berries, not to impress your neighbors.

Happy New Year!

Let us pray... .

A little story

Retold by Alan Benjamin; Illustrated by Jeffrey Severn; Published by Western Publishing Company, Racine, Wisconsin

Those of a certain age may remember this little story of two friends who live in very different worlds. "A city mouse was once invited to visit a friend who lived in the country."

The city mouse was curious about country life. Simply curious. Apparently, she had no preconceptions about country life. Or if she had, she was keeping an open mind.

She found country life rather pleasant, until she and the country mouse sat down to a meager supper of "nuts and berries and a few stalks of wheat." (We hope the country mouse was not gluten intolerant.) Although she found the meal boring, she was polite and ate just enough so her friend's feelings would not be hurt. 

After supper the two went for a walk. The country mouse was "all ears" as the city mouse told her of the fine home and delicious food city life offers. 

The city mouse had a hard time falling asleep because of the unfamiliar-- and scary-- country night sounds. "The country mouse, on the other hand, was peacefully dreaming of all the things her friend had told her about life in the city."

The next morning the city mouse saw more nuts and berries and wheat on her breakfast plate and had "had just about enough of country life."

We must give the city mouse some credit here. She gave country life a shot. She seems to have enjoyed the company of her friend. It's the country life style she objected to. When she invited the country mouse to the city for a few days, she didn't preface her invitation with slurs about the country. And she certainly didn't mock her friend's style of dress or rustic home. If she had opinions about her friend's habit of going to church, or carrying a mouse-sized .357 magnum in her apron pocket, she kept them to herself. 

The city mouse respects her country friend.