A good cry on the train

Joe et railroaders


Have a wonderful day. x

Thanksgiving is for the Pilgrim Fathers surviving the first winter in the New World, with the generous help of the native indians, and later.......

Do the indigenous peoples survivors commemorate Thanksgiving?

Good question, McT, so I looked for an answer. Here's one I found as a balance from responders. http://media.www.bsudailynews.com/media/storage/paper849/news/2006/11/20/HolidayTab/American.Indians.Harbors.Many.Traditions.Opinions.On.Thanksgiving-2468778.shtml?norewrite200611201955&sourcedomain=www.bsudailynews.com

I hope you had as good a Thanksgiving as I did. The train to New Jersey was only slightly crowded, the group at dinner contained two grandparents who are about to become great-step-grandparents, two priests, a bachelor uncle, (or, I guess, two, counting me.) the young pregnant couple, two lively little girls and my brother- the host -and his wonderful wife. I chopped a bunch of stuff to help prep, stuffed myself too much (Baked Brie!!) and craved er, carved the turkey onto two huge platters.

The subjects of conversation were genealogy, geology, flights on C-47s, how to use a six day school schedule, Mumbai (one of the priests, now working with the poor in Hartford, was from India originally and had spent many years in Argentina.), the chances of Rutgers going to a Bowl Game, the serendipity of finding just the right lines of code to change in a recalcitrant program on the first try (that would be bachelor Uncle #1 ) and whether or not the make-up the three year put all over her face (some kind of blusher) made her even prettier. Did. There were others, truth, beauty, only one person made a political remark (that would be bachelor uncle #2) but it was quickly ignored.

No sooner had we arrived than it seemed like it was time to go.

Joe(that's always the sign of a good Thanksgiving)Nation

Most excellent!

We were on the other side o' the Hudson. Probably saw you as we walked along Riverside Park, trying to in advance burn it off. Saw a lot of smiling dogs and their equally smiling owners. Didn't overhear anyone on a cel complaining about their 401(k) or beach house or whatever, though there was some one-sided conversing in Spanish so I can't be certain.

Plus saw lots and lots of squirrels, many coming close up, less than 18" away and asking if we had an extra stuffing.

jes(we didn't)pah

Lovely time at the house of D & D, filled with some hilarity, sneezing by one guest, some good long convivial talk with BBB, Diane, and Osso, a nap by the sneezer, a good visit by Roger, lambent visits by Dante Alighieri, and an afternoon full of rawhide chew pursuit by Sally Dog. Oh, yes, and lightening and thunder (very very close) and rain at the home of the sneezer just as she was getting into the car. (She said, why am I standing here, and went back in the house, for a few minutes.)

Happy Days

Yes.
Are these.

Joe(all)Nation

I had forgotten how much fun it was to be a farmer.

Wait. Farming implies actual rideable machines, so maybe not farming. Gardening, vegtable gardening is the growing of food. I am growing my own food, okay, some of my own food now. Okay. I'm just sprouting seeds, but it's like gardening only without the scraping around in the earthy muck. Sprouter just doesn't have the same pop as Gardener. Ah.


A customer came in the other day and asked if anyone knew how to sprout cabbage seeds. I knew. Back in my hippie days I sprouted wheat, mung beans and alfalfa. I showed him the Mason jars and the food-grade cheese cloth and gave him a two minute recital on rinsing and waiting. (Most seeds will sprout in about three days after soaking in water the first night and getting a rinse twice a day after that, but it's the setting in the window to get some sunshine that makes almost any sprout extra tasty.)
Anyway, he shows back up three days later with a big smile and thanks and a bag of organic cabbage seed for me. I've already grown a batch and, not only do they punch up a salad, but it is also such a satisfying experience.

Joe(photos=== that will be dull as mud=== to follow)Nation

The earthy muck is safe for another seson. We rolled it all up and stored it in the barn. (Ive got about 60 acres of earthy muck plots allready for spring). Its a bitch getting em all numbered correctly so we know where they belong.Now weve gotta cover up the spots with plastic so the canada geese dont fall into the earth.

Thanks for the reminder! I've got some not-too-elderly mung beans in the cupboard I've been meaning to sprout. (They're nice on tuna salad sandwiches.)

What??? Is this grass?? You roll up the grass and take it indoors for the winter??? 60 acres???

Must be missing something, I feel.

Very common, McTag.

The land is cut up by hectares into what are known as hectari (pieces 6 feet by 6 feet by a foot thick) by littlepeople known as heccups. They stack them in barn silos, you've seen those, I know.

Joe(Silos are round so that the heccups can't be cornered.)Nation

my ancestors used to make very pretty necklaces of the little heccup skulls.

but it was banned. stupid westernization. we did make sure heccups had a fulfilling life and all. it's not like it was some abuse or something.

In Western/Central Europe - that's west of the land of the Sorbs, Slovaks, Czechs, Slovenians and all those other heathens - we have the mornings cutting the grass. We are very kind to them - hence: "The morning's hour has gold in the mouth" [which made it into insular English as 'the early bird catches a worm'] - neither put them in silos nor make necklaces from their skulls but drive them around on pretty carriages.

Oh, you guys!

what, what?! it was you britishers who brought them into europe in the first place!

((((joe))))

How's the cabbage coming along, Joe Nation? Can you make sauerkraut already? Mmmmh, sauerkraut with spicy portuguese sausages ......

Calamity(I am hungry)Jane

Coming along nicely. About to bring the crop in.

Picture tomorrow.

Joe(Yes... picture tomorrow, yes.)Nation