Michelle in South Korea

Michelle and Tom are on vacation/touring South Korea. If CNN reports an American shot at the DMZ tomorrow, it will no doubt be Michelle who wandered off to find a restroom.

So here's her food report:

Part of learning the culture of a country is certainly to eat their food. Here are two meals we had

The first picture are little dishes of veggies locally grown close to a temple we went to yesterday. The guide likes to call it Temple Food or Monk food.  I don't know where the bony little fish enter the picture but that was our protein.  Have to admit, Pat, I ate very little. The greens were really bitter and the few dishes I liked had to be shared. But, no I haven't lost weight.

The other dish is Bibimbap that was served in a very hot stone bowl called a dolsot. It was another veggie dish served with a soft fried egg on it. The guest is to mix the dish until everything well combined. It's pretty yummy.

Today we go up to the DMZ. Hopefully you won't be reading a story  of me or Tom!

Monday in Schuykill County

You've heard, no doubt, of August in Osage County (the Broadway play) so here it is Monday is Schuykill County. For those not in the know, it's pronounced "sku-kul" with the accent on the first syllable.

Mary is up in Pennsylvania visiting Judy. The part Mary left out (the best part) is they lunched at Cracker Barrel where I put in a specific order for them to have country fried steak on my behalf. My order arrived too late, alas, because they had chicken and dumplings. I'd say that's a suitable substitution.

Mary writes:

Judy and I drove around on this beautiful day. She took me to see this Indian Cultural Center out in the country that draws people from New York and New Jersey. Pretty impressive even though my pictures aren't very good. We drove around Hawk Mountain where Fran and I are going soon.

Speaking Up

A friend posted this on his Facebook page this morning (for people who don't know, Publix is a supermarket chain):

In Publix this morning when a young boy pushing shopping cart for grandmother(?) Turned down wrong aisle. Loudly she barks, "G*d D@$#% it! THIS AISLE!"
Without thinking, I blurt out "HEY! That's a child you're talking to!"
Angrily she replies, "he needs to learn!"
To which I said, "Yeah, he needs to learn respect, and that's not the way."
She walked away without further comment.
People wonder why this new generation has no respect, because they're not being taught it.

It reminds me of an event that I regret... was on an airplane to Cincinnati, and there was a family across the aisle from me. A mother and father in one row, and their two pre-teen children, a boy and a girl, (maybe 11-13 years old) in another row. The father was a total bully and made the kids sit there, not reading, not playing, not talking. He wanted them to just sit there silently for the entire flight. Every so often he'd turn around and bully them. The mother did nothing. It was making my skin crawl.

When the airplane landed and we were getting up to leave, in my mind, I said something to him like, "You are a bully and your kids are going to grow up hating you." To the kids I wanted to tell them how beautiful and wonderful they are, but I didn't say anything. I have relived that moment so many times since and so regretted that I was silent. 

Friday Musings

When I got up this morning, I turned on the TV only to hear there was an "explosion" at the Pentagon. I said Oh {bad word}! And then I realized the channel was rerunning 2001 9/11 news. Whew.

I have such mixed feelings about today. As I have said to a bunch of people today, I have very personal, intimate memories of 9/11 that are precious to me, but then there is that whole 9/11 political monolith which I hate.  One of my strong memories is a news bit from that day, later in the day, with film from Lenox Hill Hospital and you hear this baby crying, and the newsman's voice over said, "Amidst all this death, there is new life."  And then coverage of the babies that were born that day. Last week I saw an interview with one of the "babies," now 14 years old watching this particular coverage with her mother.

I also think about firemen coming to my building in August 2001 one Sunday morning because somehow there was fear of carbon monoxide... and as this fireman went through my apartment (as they were all apartments) with a detector, the captain (more my age) asked me if I had a CO detector and I said no. He said I should get one, which I did. This captain was so nice and we chatted for a while and on 9/11 it just struck me as if I knew if for certain (which I did) that he had been killed. I just knew it.

And sure enough, when I went to the firehouse the following week which is 3 blocks from where I live, there it was -- his photo and he had been killed and it didn't surprise me in the least.

I also remember meeting Barbara for lunch that Friday, and when we came out of the restaurant, on Broadway, all these tractors, bulldozers, trucks, etc in a caravan were heading downtown and people (including us) just looked at it. Then I got in a cab and the radio said that they need "vets" at Ground Zero, and I thought they meant veterans, but they meant animal doctors because the paws of the rescue dogs were burned. So sad. So many everyday memories like this. Like on Wednesday, I was outside my building and a man in a suit, totally covered with dust and soot, carrying a briefcase walked by and it was like he was a zombie... just staring straight ahead.

So it wasn't all sad today. I had lunch with my longest-duration friend Judy who was in my kindergarten class... I was thinking we've been friends for 60 years! Yikes. She stopped at the bagel place and bought me (my choice) of smoked turkey and swiss with some mayo on a sesame bagel and she got lox and tomatoes on a bagel and we both so enjoyed our lunch a great deal. I was thinking that the ideal shelf life of a bagel is about two hours, and we got ours in that window. Sort of crusty (but not hard) on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Oh man, it was good.

We talked about a lot of things but the conversation turned to books, and she is also an avid reader... and here are her recommendations which I wrote down because Lord knows I would never remember them. Can't vouch for them personally, but check them out on Amazon if you're looking for something good.

• Americanah [yes, with an H at the end]
• A Circle of Wives
• The Storied Life of AJ Fikry
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Happy Friday everyone. 

What I'm Reading

This is the biography of Harriet Tubman, the "Moses of her People" who was instrumental in helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad. It is quite well written; in fact, one of the cover blurbs on the back is from Doris Kearns Goodwin who says it reads like a novel and it does, even though it's highly footnoted.

I saw Harriet Tubman's house years ago in Auburn, New York. One thing I learned that was interesting is that many slaves who escaped from Virginia and Maryland went to Philadelphia where they were protected by Quakers. The author believes that this is where African-Americans developed calling each other brother and sister. I'd never thought of that.

When I would visit my friend Katrina in Frederick, Maryland, she lived out in the country in a new house, but the old house near them had been a station in the Underground Railroad which fascinated me. Also, where I grew up, in this road that goes along Long Island Sound, there was supposedly a house on that road as well that was an Underground Railroad house. Never knew that growing up, but it would make sense that that location would be prime to getting slaves further north, and possibly into Canada.

I always thought she was a large woman, but she was only five feet tall. It should go without saying, but I've been so struck by her bravery to returning to Maryland (where she was originally from) time and time again to help people escape. She became so well known and so hated among the plantation owners that huge rewards were offered for her capture.

Anyway, I thought it was a timely read since she is one of the women mentioned to be placed on currency although I don't think she'll be chosen. I bet Eleanor Roosevelt may be the one.

And still another cat!

I totally fell for this prior to opening the attached photo. Barbara writes:

In contrast to Fran's & Mary's sleepy cats, I thought you'd like to see a cat who is always awake and lives on my deck now.   I paid too much for her at a flea market recently.  What can I say?  She was looking at me.  (Also in the picture is one of the deck chairs I built this summer, of which I am quite proud.) 

After seeing how Barbara rolled up her sleeves and assembled my sofa a few months back, it doesn't surprise me she does this. However, no chair I built (if I even attempted one) would look this good. I'd be afraid to sit on any chair I built.

Here's the cat:

Cat Nap

Fran writes:

This sleepy feline lives in a lovely curbside garden in front of a nearby apartment building. He's the perfect cat. Sleeps all day, Never fusses, doesn't sçratch furniture or shed, and eats everything. He's made of clay.

And then Mary adds about Milo:

I took this just because it was odd looking. Twisted around but with his feet on the little pillow. I guess we probably get in some odd positions at night, there's just no one standing over us with a cell phone.