Veteran’s Day: Honor Your Veterans
We will be paying for these last two wars for a long time. Veterans of these wars, many seriously, but not fatally injured by IED’s, traumatized by the activities of war are walking among us. Many of our newest vets have been in the war zones more than once.
AdventureMan is a war vet. Strong and courageous as he is, there are still times he will tear up at some of the things he witnessed in Vietnam. War is an event which resounds throughout the rest of your life.
One of the things we love about living here in Pensacola is that there are a lot of vets here, and there is a culture which honors the Veteran’s sacrifices. When we show our military ID cards in Lowe’s or Home Depot, people say “thank you for your service.” The first time it happened to me, I was caught so by surprise that my eyes leaked tears. Several restaurants are offering active duty and veterans free meals today, reduced prices, and there are many ceremonies honoring Veterans.
The military culture doesn’t like to admit that the warrior life can cause severe problems, mentally, emotionally, with the family, finding a purpose in life after military service, finding relevance in a peaceful society – our men and women come home having seen and experienced sheer horror, and find themselves alien in their own culture. Recovery can be a long, slow process. More of our severely injured vets have survived, but live with brain injuries, lost limbs, and mental wounds.
Welcome them back. Bind their wounds, be patient with their sufferings. War veterans have a high rate of suicide, often related to inability to find a job, so if you are in such a position – hire a veteran. Honor their service, shake their hand, and value their sacrifice.
Law and Order SVU: How Did They Know and When Did They Know It?
What a tragedy. Joe Paterno, fired in disgrace. Joe Paterno, the much admired, the Penn State football coach who embodied integrity, fired, disgraced. “What did he know and when did he know it?” people ask.
What astonishes me is that the situation almost exactly parallels a recent episode of Law and Order SVU about which I recently blogged, in September.
In that episode, a much-admired football coach is reported to be preying on young men in his foundation, young men for whom he gave an opportunity to ‘be someone;’ he trained them, gave them motivation and the possibility of a lot of money, fame and good things for their very poor families. His victims were burdened by a debt of gratitude, combined with the shame of male-on-male sex, which they did not want to become public knowledge. The combination of gratitude and shame kept them silent, until one spoke out. It took a lot of courage, but finally, a big star who had come through this depraved coach’s program went public, appeared before the grand jury, and set the example.
The similarities are eerie. In Law and Order, however, the coach who had preyed on young players in the showers and locker rooms did not bring down a highly regarded top-ranking program director, and a university president.
Joe, we are so sorry this has happened to you, and we hope that posterity will recognize that one poor decision is counter-balanced by a lifetime of integrity. We pray that young men victimized by Defensive Coach Jerry Sandusky will come forward, have their voices heard, and be able to move on with their lives, knowing that Sandusky will be punished. We pray for their families, who had no idea what was happening in their sons’ lives. It’s a sad time all the way around.
And thanks be to God, we live in a society where the trustees made the right decision, they fired the men who looked the other way as Sandusky victimized his young men. Thank God, this dirty laundry was not buried away to be forgotten, but brought forward, the perpetrator arrested and shamed publicly. There are times, in this world, when in the interest of the God of football, or the respect of position, when a scandal victimizing the poor and voiceless is shoved under the table, ignored, the victims sent the message that they don’t matter. As bitter as this pill is, I thank God for it, and for the increasing transparency in our society which begins to equalize justice for rich and poor.
Getting Scripture Wrong
As you know, many Christians do readings daily; there are readings recommended for each day from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospels. Technology makes life easier and easier, you can just go online to The Lectionary and it is all right there for you. They have all the readings, every day, and even have write-ups about the Saints days.
This scripture makes me nervous. I attend a bible study where they tell us exactly what to think. They are very clear in their doctrine. Because I need the self-discipline in my studies, and because I believe that they are mostly women like me, trying to serve God to the best of their abilities, I don’t argue a lot, I don’t say “no! that’s not what it says!” or cause a disturbance. I trust God lives in each of us, as the Holy Spirit, and figure the Holy Spirit will guide me through our studies.
In this scripture, the disciples who know Jesus the very best, the ones who travel with him and who listen to him every day are talking about bread when Jesus is talking about hypocrisy. It worries me. What else to we fail to see? What else do we mis-interpret?
Matthew 16:1-12
16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” 3 And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.” You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’ Then he left them and went away.
5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ 7 They said to one another, ‘It is because we have brought no bread.’ 8 And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, ‘You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? 9 Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!’ 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Shoulder Ouch!
I have a new muscle I didn’t know I had. It relates to my left shoulder, but it is in my back.
Monday we did a strenuous routine in aqua aerobics. Mostly, I can sail through the routines, but this was stepped up a little, and we used the weights a lot. I must have gotten carried away. I woke up this morning, and ouch! It was a bad surprise.
I know there is no cure. For me, normally, it takes heat and going easy for a while. I know it will pass, but oh, in the meantime, I am moving gingerly. You don’t know how much you use a muscle until it betrays you.
My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme
I wish I had more self-discipline, and read more heavy weight books, but what I find is that when I read heavy non-fiction these days, it falls over when I fall asleep. Mostly, I read the New Yorker, or catch up with my news online, while listening to NPR.
I don’t know how I got My Life in France, if I ordered it or if I bought it in B&N. I’ve had it for a while. We’ve always loved Julia Child; her programs were a hoot, and she was an accomplished woman who never took herself too seriously. I will never forget one time I saw her on a Martha Stewart Christmas Special; they were doing a tall Croquembouche, and at one point, Julia was not throwing on the caramelized sugar strings the way Martha wanted her to and she grabbed the little thrower-thing out of Julia’s hand to show her how. I gasped! That is like grabbing a spoon from the Queen of England, no! No! You can’t grab a spoon from Julia Childs! You can’t show Julia Childs how to do it, Martha, you BOW to Julia Childs!
Julia Childs, classy woman that she was, just watched Martha with fascination and never showed an ounce of annoyance.
The book is hilarious. While alive, she worked with her grandson, Alex Prud-homme, gathering correspondence – she was a copious letter writer, and people in those days kept their snail mail to refer back to, the way we keep e-mails. They sat in her sunny garden, and he would ask her a few questions, and off she would go, regaling him with stories of people, places, occasions, parties, and especially FOODS.
Julia Childs worked for the OSS in World War II, the forerunner to the CIA. Stationed in India, she met her husband, and after the war ended, they married. Stifled in her California life, and and Paul jumped at a chance to live overseas. Imagine – Paris! She had to adapt to a totally different way of life, totally different living space, a totally different way of shopping for food, and she had to learn to cook. Since she was in Paris, and because she is the woman she is, she signed up for cooking classes at the Cordon Bleu, where she worked hard to master the techniques to successfully produce the sauces and delicate flavors which makes French cuisine so delicious.
She also moves to Marseilles, to post-war Germany, and to Norway, and manages to produce two books, each of which took, literally, years to finalize, because of her attention to detail, and wanting to make sure that women using her books could understand exactly what to do, and when to do it.
This is a really fun book. I would have loved to know this adventurous, courageous woman, who meticulously tested every recipe for Mastering the Art of French Cooking and changed the lives of serious cooks in America. No, I have never cooked from her book. No, I don’t have her book. I have a Larousse Gastronomique, from which she worked to get the ‘true’ Frenchness of French cooking, but I don’t have any cook books by Julia. I have put out a hint, though, and I am hoping to get one for Christmas. 🙂 Not just for me – AdventureMan is making serious inroads into adventurous cooking. He has mastered blackened fish tacos, and seared tuna, woo hoooo! He is working on the ultimate cornbread. Just wait until I get him started on the quintessential French Onion Soup, or even – maybe – French bread!
My Saudi Shoes
“I love your shoes!” my friend cried. “Where did you find them?”
“It was thirteen years ago, in Saudi Arabia” I told her.
“Thirteen years? They look brand new!”
(These are not my shoes. These are shoes Saudi women can buy in Saudi Arabia.)
Ummm, well . . . when you live in super hot countries during those thirteen years, you don’t often wear closed toed shoes. It’s more comfortable to wear sandal style shoes, and more hygienic – when you live in the dry heat, your feet can get hard and cracked, and are vulnerable to feet fungus. Your feet need to breathe. Most of my shoes are open, but we are starting to have occasional chill weather in Pensacola. The flowers of the South have all pulled out their heavy sweaters and are wrapping wool scarves around their necks, even wearing winter coats.
Since the current cold snap features daily highs that are normal for Seattle or Germany in the summer, and since I thrive in the cold and suffer in the heat, I am in long sleeve lightweight t-shirts and sweaters, and – closed toed shoes.
I dread close-toe shoe season. My feet no longer like to be confined in shoes or boots. My toes hurt when I walk too much in them. So I have only a few pair of winter shoes, but really good ones. 🙂
Saudi Arabia was one of the best places for buying shoes I have ever lived, with entire floors of malls devoted entirely to shoe shops. Prices were reasonable; French and Italian shoes were cheaper in Saudi Arabia than they were in France and Italy, maybe because of the taxes imposed by the Eurozone.
Think about it. When you live in a country where women are all covered, wearing abayas, and they are supposed to keep their hair covered (most of us shameless westerners carried a scarf but did not wear it unless ordered to do so by the religious police / Muttawa) and the most modest women even cover their face, what is there to wear that people will notice? And women ARE women . . . Yes! Shoes!
The Saudi women wore fabulous shoes, and they wore delicate black lace gloves, and they wore scent. They bought Berkin bags and Hermes headscarves, and fabulous Chopard watches. When a group of Saudi women would walk by, you would be enveloped by a cloud of the headiest, most seductive scents in the world. And oh, holy smokes, the shoes . . . Saudi women were just beginning to experiment with a little embellishment when I left – a little Swarovski crystal leaf on a scarf, or a sprinkling of crystals on the neckline of an abaya, some embroidery on a hem, a dark green abaya instead of severe black . . . women are women, no matter where we are. We like a little sparkle, and we buy things that make us feel special.
The shoes my friend liked are Italian, navy leather heels with a kind of leather lace around the toe area. They are lovely, and I wear them happily (for a short while) during closed-toe season. They are classic, and I am hoping I can wear them another twenty years or so, which is entirely possible if I only wear them during cold snaps in Pensacola. 🙂
Cajun Specialty Meats / Cajun Express in Pensacola, FL
This is just such a sweet story, a moment of magic, so I am going to share it with you. A group of foreign visitors was taken to have lunch at this place, the Cajun Speciality Meats in Pensacola, and as they were trying to decide what to order, the waitress noticed they “weren’t from around here.” In short order, plates appeared at the foreign visitor’s tables with all kinds of samples of the Cajun specialities offered at this restaurant, and the visitors were totally wowed.
So was I, when I heard about it. It takes so little to make an impression, so little to make people glad they visited our country, and these little moments of magic just make me so proud of the generous spirit it demonstrates. I hope the people at Cajun Meat Specialities got as big a thrill from doing it as the guests did from receiving it.
So, back in Pensacola, we are hungering for some of that gumbo, and laughing, because actually Pensacola has a lot of Cajun influence, too. We didn’t really have to go to Louisiana, there is a lot of it right here in our own back yard. I told AdventureMan the story of Cajun Meat Specialities, and he said “Let’s go there!”
So we did.
It is such a cool place. I did not realize that in addition to serving hot meals (gumbos, etoufees, Po’boys, boudin) they also carry a grocery store full of prepared Cajun specialities, all frozen. You just take them home, thaw, heat and serve. I am thinking how easy it would be to do a dinner, and never really have to cook, LOL!
As their name would imply, they also have fresh made andouille sausage, and other meats:
We had the Cup and a Half: a cup of seafood gumbo and a half portion of Po’Boy – Yummm:
They are on Heinberg, the street behind McGuires’ Steak House:
Eid Mubarak
So alike, but a jarring difference . . .
Our Moslem friends are celebration the Great Eid, when God / Allah (remember, the Hebrew word is Yah’weh, sounds a lot alike, doesn’t it?) told Abraham not to kill his son, as his son was lying on the altar, trusting his father – and provided a ram stuck in the nearby bushes. We Christians say that son was was Isaac, son of Sarah; our Moslem friends say it was Ishmael, Abraham’s first born son by Hajar, banished to the desert.
Right now, millions of Moslems from all over the world are making the Hajj. The men are dressed in two snowy white large cotton towels, symbolizing purity. The women are dressed plainly. I think the rules are no veils and no hair coverings, all just as they are, but it may be that the rules are changing from what I have observed and overheard on blogs.
Millions of Moslems, from all over the globe, gathered to fulfill one of the pillars of Islam, to make the Hajj at least once in one’s life. It is a very holy time for our Moslem friends, a time of forgiveness and purity and spiritual renewal.
May you find peace in your hearts, love for your fellow beings, and an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude for God’s unfathomable mercy.
Eid Mubarak.
Pocher’s in Breaux Bridge, LA
“Where should we eat?” we asked our guide, and laid out some of the recommendations we had received.
“Oh, Poche’s isn’t for tourists,” he said, “There are nicer places where tourists go, places with tablecloths and sometimes dancing in the evenings. People like us who live here go to Poche’s.”
Heh heh heh – that’s exactly the kind of places we want to go. We call them the Michelin Red R’s – good local food at reasonable prices. Off we go to Poche’s.
When we walk in, it’s like walking into a grocery store, but we knew we were in the right place. At the end of the counter is the serving line, and the daily specials. They still had rabbit. You don’t find a lot of rabbit served in the US, so this was a treat for the little French country niche in my heart.
AdventureMan had the Etoufee:
You can see, the portions are gi-normous. We could not eat our entire meals, nowhere near, no matter how delicious they were. We did buy some of the Poche’s Pecan Praline for the drive back to Pensacola, oh yummm.
This is a really fun place, a real people’s place. It’s just north of Interstate 10, outside of Breaux Bridge. You can even order from them online, or see what they’re serving for lunch today by going to Poche’s.
Here are their daily specials:
DAILY PLATE LUNCHES
Monday-Saturday 10:30AM – 2PM
Monday
Smothered Beef, Pork Backbone Stew, Baked Chicken, Crawfish Etouffeé, Mashed Potatoes, Pork & Beans
Tuesday
Smothered Pork Chops, Smothered Rabbit, Meatball Stew, Crawfish Etouffeé, Fried Chicken, Smothered Potatoes, Green Beans
Wednesday
Marinated Pork, BBQ Ribs, Stuffed Pork Chops, Crawfish Etouffeé, Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Field Peas
Thursday
Pork Roast, Sausage Stew, Crawfish Etouffeé, Fried Chicken, Corn, Yams
Friday
Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp, Crawfish Etouffeé, Chicken Stew, Marinated Turkey, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw
Saturday
Pork Backbone Stew, BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken, Stuffed Pork Chops, Boneless Pork Chops, BBQ Ribeyes, Green Beans, Fried Potatoes
Sunday Menu
10:30AM – 5PM
BBQ Lunches – A Tradition for over 30 Years
BBQ Chicken, Pork Steak & Sausage served with Homemade Potato Salad, Rice Dressing, & BBQ Sauce, Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp, & Crawfish Etouffeé
Dinner Menu
Monday – Saturday 2PM – 8PM
Fried Catfish, Fried Shrimp, Crawfish Etouffeé, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, French Fries
We Need to Talk About Kevin: The Movie
“So what is your group reading?” I asked my friend as we talked my last evening in town, after a visit from Qatar, several years ago.
“I’m about to start something called ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ for Book Club,” she responded, “it’s like an Orange Award Winner.”
“What’s an Orange Award?” I asked
“I dunno,” she laughed, “but it’s on the list.” I was able to pick it up on my way to the airport.
A week later, I called her. “Are you reading ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin?'” I asked, and there must have been a note in my voice she recognized. “Why did you recommend this AWFUL book to me? It’s awful!”
“Can you put it down?” my friend asked.
“No! No, I can’t! But I can tell this isn’t going to end well.”
“Where are you?” she asked, and I told her.
“I’m right at the same place,” she said. “I hate it.”
We continued talking regularly as we read the book, a book which is truly, truly one of the scariest, most awful books I have ever read. Sometimes an author can make it so real, it’s almost too real, like the nightmare you can’t wake up from.
I passed the book along to some reading friends, and each one had the same reaction.
“WHY am I reading this? It’s awful!”
It IS awful, and, I suspect, so awful because if you have a child you think might have psychopathic tendencies, your life might be a nightmare. And you live with a sense that this isn’t going to end well, and it must be like waiting for the guillotine to fall and chop off your head.
What I didn’t know was that they’ve made it a movie. I haven’t seen any mention of it in the United States, but I’m told it’s opened in England.
The trailer captures some of the terror of the book. I’d suggest you read – or listen to – the book, by Lionel Shriver, before you see the movie. I honestly don’t know if I can go see it, it’s that scary for me. I reviewed We Need to Talk About Kevin, the book, here.
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