While I am doing reasonably well with my strategy to disengage from the news, some things can’t be overlooked. For example, when the president of the United States calls for annihilating a civilization, it’s time for even drive-by citizens to speak up.
I’m calling my three legislators every day or at least until I poop out telling them Trump must be removed from office one way or the other. He is stark-raving mad.
But we all have ways of coping. Chocolate and caviar. But not together.
Dale and I had one tiny tin of really good caviar left over from New Year’s, which we didn’t celebrate due to our unfortunate turn of events. The tin was tightly sealed, but I said, you know now, it’s not getting any younger.
It was last night on the eve of destruction that I dragged it out and suggested we have one last pleasure before it all went up in smoke. Dale agreed, but then my sister called to tell me there was a two-week cease fire. So, we ate it anyway to celebrate the possibility of better times ahead.
For the record, we no longer make a pretense of eating caviar with accompaniments. We each have a mother-of-pearl spoon (nonreactive). I open the tin and we pass it back and forth until gone. Don’t worry. It’s over quick.
I have found that trying to restrict what I write about doesn’t do me any good. I think it’s better to write a little more frequently and let it roll. Hopefully, I will keep trying and find the right balance.
We are both doing well recovering from our injuries. Dale is amazing. I don’t think they thought a 76-year-old man would bounce back like he has from a fractured pelvis, but there you have it. I’m closing in on week 11 since I fell and broke my proximal humerus.
I’ve been referring to it as a broken arm, and I was surprised to find the whole thing so painful. But then I read this particular fracture is sometimes referred to as a broken shoulder, and for some reason, the pain level made more sense to me. It’s all in the branding.
The physical therapy hurts, but I am improving significantly, especially my range of motion. I have started to sleep better. Still not quite what I need for a happy snooze, but I do think it’s within sight.
For awhile there, I couldn’t keep weight on. It was scary, but I ate more, and now I have to pay attention to what I eat or the pounds creep back on. I sort of miss all that extra eating. It was fun while it lasted. But now, even being careful, I refuse to give up my evening cookie. I won’t say we eat one every single night, but most nights, yes.
I keep a stash of homemade cookies in the freezer. Two kinds of chocolate and an oatmeal. It’s the perfect treat – high in taste but not ultra-processed and built-in portion control. There’s a coconut sheet cake featured in a recent King Arthur email that looks absolutely enticing, but I feel like that’s a slippery slope.
I’ve been using really good quality chocolate baking chips. They are expensive but worth it, in our opinion. They also make delicious fudgsicles. And as our weather warms up again, I can see putting them back on the menu. It’s fun to eat one outside after dinner. I don’t know why it feels special, but it’s a simple pleasure we both enjoy enormously.
If you’re into making popsicles or fudgsicles, I recommend hard plastic molds like these. I tried the silicone, and they were worthless. My baking chocolate is from Dick Taylor. It’s a great place up in Eureka, where my sister lives. We toured the factory one time when I was up there for a visit. Very fun! This is their recipe for fudgsicles:
I haven’t done any of my art because I didn’t think I could sand the board. But I’m feeling pretty frisky and might try it today. My entire recovery strategy is to push hard enough to get things done and improve but not so hard as to interfere with my sleep. You might be surprised to learn that is a fine line. For me, at least, the pain always comes later.
As soon as I can predictably sleep through the night without a mountain of pillows, we are going to take some sort of a little road trip. We like Morro Bay. It’s a longish drive, so we might need a little more time before embarking on that particular journey. But we are ready to get back into life.
“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
You’re not lost. You’re here.
I sort of love that.
You know, I’ve never read Winnie-the-Pooh. Might have to add it to the list.
Caviar and chocolate before the end of the world. Sounds about right. I’m looking forward to you getting back to your art and showing pictures.
Thank you. I believe I will be starting soon!!
Good to know that the two of you continue to mend. Caviar and chocolate sound like the perfect antidots.
I love Morro Bay! We used to make it our regular stop when we traveled north to the Bay Area or beyond. The last time I looked at hotels there, though, the tourist tax was CRAZY and made me redirect our stop to Paso Robles as my little protest (although I know the powers that be didn’t notice).
We travel so little that we ignore the excessive fees. It’s such a cool place, and the food is great. Paso Robles is right there, and we intend to stop one of these days.
You and Dale sound like you’re both doing great. It’s always good when an injury heals. I had to look up where the proximal humerus was located. Ouch! I can’t imagine how painful that must have been. I was thinking it was your lower arm. No wonder they couldn’t put a cast on it.
Looks like I need to make an order from Dick Taylor one of these days. I made regular chocolate chip cookies today and froze half of them. My husband Jon came back from hiking just as they were coming out of the oven and took care of a lot of the ones that were going into the cookie jar. First time I’ve made cookies in 3 months.
If you drink tea, and like chocolate, you should check the single origin Bitaco Cacao Kisses: Colombian Black Tea from The Tea spot in Boulder CO. It’s the only place I buy my tea from these days.
Bitaco Cacao Kisses (or Besos de Cacao) is a Colombian black tea blended with organic cacao nibs and husks, grown and harvested at the Bitaco Tea Garden. This medium-bodied tea brings together Colombia’s long history of both tea and cacao, creating a cup that feels familiar yet unexpected. The cacao adds depth and warmth without turning the tea sweet or dessert-like, letting the character of the black tea stay front and center.
Bitaco Cacao Kisses has received recognition, including a top prize at a major competition, highlighting its exceptional quality and prestige. The expert growers at the Bitaco Tea Garden carefully produce this tea and cacao blend, ensuring high standards from cultivation to manufacturing. Expect a soft cocoa aroma, gentle sugarcane sweetness, and a balanced structure with light astringency that keeps the cup crisp and drinkable. Grown at high altitudes, Bitaco tea benefits from cooler temperatures and abundant rainfall, creating the perfect environment for producing this remarkable tea.
The Tea Spot has other “chocolate” teas and an exceptional blended Earl of Grey tea. We are both coffee and tea drinkers here.
And Morro Bay! I camped there as a teenager with the Torrance YMCA Jumping Frog Caravan. This was in the mid to late ‘60s and we traveled in a wood slatted truck, 35 or so girls, sitting on the floor or on the trip boxes that lined each side (they held pots and pans and stoves for cooking and some staples), our sleeping bags piled up against the cab side of the truck. We camped on the ground, on ground cloths, or, if in the forest, we could string a tube tent strung on a clothesline between trees. (I only tried that once and the condensation from breathing sent drops of water onto me so once was enough.) We were a rugged group, led by a rugged leader, Alpha, who always included a 10 mile hike for us at some point. We camped in the wilderness area of the Grand Tetons, Crater Lake in Oregon, Yosemite and Sequoia and stops in between as we traveled for 14 days. I can’t even image today’s parents allowing their kids to travel or to camp that way now. We camped next to some Boy Scouts who had tents with wood floors and when their leader found out that Alpha was going to have us hike 10 miles down switchbacks from near the top of of Yosemite, to the floor where we would spend the rest of our time, he said that she couldn’t do that to us. Hahahahahahaha! We carried our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples and water, down to the floor. We camped near streams and often had to bathe in them (Tetons) so Alpha would string a rope across the stream and we had to swim or bathe upstream so that if we fell and got swept by the current, we could catch the rope on the way. And on every trip we had one evening where we were set free to roam a town: San Francisco was one of them, on our coastal camping trip.
Anyway, my remembrance of camping on the beach at Morro Bay was that our counselor warned us to watch out for the “ear wigs” that lived in the sand that might slip into our ears at night and go into our brains. To say that I hardly slept that night is an understatement.
Your memories brought back some of mine from high school. The local Boy Scouts explorer troop let girls join, so our little gang got together and signed up. The focus was camping! We camped at Refugio, Joshua Tree and somewhere up in the San Bernadino mountains for starters. We had chaperones, but as you said, it’s hard to believe we got away with it all. Our leader for awhile was a rich dude with a yacht, and we all went to Catalina. There was a storm, and we had to stay an extra night (missing school). So much fun!
I love your account of your camping trips, especially the trip to Catalina. There was not the “hovering” over kids back then. Plus, our family YMCA was one of a few Leadership Y’s and their focus was to develop kids into being good leaders one day, not necessarily in important jobs, but in life. It was some of the best training I ever had.
I was getting to the point of the news becoming so loud (lots & lots of podcasters commenting with varying and increasing degrees of raised voices and incredulity) because Himself was stuck at home unable to work for a week. I was grateful when he went back and I could consume *just* the news without the commentary. I’ve realised it’s not the news itself which tips me over the edge stress-wise, it’s the loudness of its delivery. My chiropractor was telling me about his recent diagnosis of being an HSP and bits of it chimed – the noise aspect in particular. I’ve gotten this far in life without finding out I have a “thing”, so I’m choosing not to go down the diagnosis road on that one either (Himself is convinced I’m ADHD).
My sympathies about all the pillows required for sleeping. I hate when that’s necessary as I’m really a flat as possible sleeper, so pain (or being unable to breathe) does have to be involved with piles of pillows. May you recover soon and get to enjoy your next piece of artwork.
Oh & may the orange arse have a messy ending, double quick.
I can’t watch the news at all. I do read it, which isn’t quite as awful.
I’m taking a pillow layer off tonight. Wish me luck.