Friday, January 1, 2010

It's quiet around here

Well, most mornings I step out the front door and say, 'Another damn day closer to death.' This morning I said, 'Another damn year closer to death.' We hew to the folk observances of our culture, so we we lunched on blackeyed peas and hamhocks plus steamed cabbage. May not guarantee prosperity, but it did make a nice lunch. Blackeyes taste like dirt, but in a good way.
Had my customary birthday dinner last night – pot roast and spaghetti, vino, antepasto, and a nice little dessert of pumpkin pies that herself baked. Served beer bread with it, simple as one-two-three: One can of beer, two tablespoons of sugar, three cups of self-rising flour, mix it together, leave it sit for a quarter hour, then bake on a greased sheet at 350° for an hour and fifteen minutes. Operating in the spaghetti mode, I sprinkle it with Italian herbs, brush it with good olive oil, and sprinkle it with coarse sea salt. Not as good as real yeast bread but not bad.
The guests were a good bunch – the Girl and husband, a newspaper guy and his wife, plus Mad Mike himself and his girlfriend, a very prodigy of accomplishment. Entertaining conversation on a lot of topics, including music and newspapers. The hardier then took boys over to Swan Point to shoot off midnight fireworks. I admired the show from the sidewalk as I smoked a fine cigar. I would observe that every year we bang the vino a little less. A nice way to end the old year and initiate the new. I wish all a Happy New Year, one damn year closer to death. Try to eat as well as your purse and your digestion [and your narrow-minded, niggling doctor] permit.


We all suffer some for the holidays, dogs included. Without benefit of bipedal locomotion, that baby has achieved rapid deployment techniques.

7 comments:

Edith Ann said...

Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! I wish you peace, love and a whole lot of really fine days ahead in this new year.

Sounds like you had a great time with great friends. Doesn't get any better than that.

Enjoyed this evening here with my kids, but spent last evening with a bunch of the Christmas party bunch celebrating the uncle's birthday last night. Lots of great conversation there, too.

Truth Ferret said...

I add my warm wishes for a great birthday and peaceful new year.

Enjoyed the quiet day with hubby as he worked in his woodshop and only occasionaly came into the house reeking of saw dust and cigar smoke. Ahh, what becomes perfume in a relationship that has mellowed throughout the years. On one trip into the house, he remarked, "So, are you going to get dressed, anytime today?"

I set my soda down and gestured to my fresh gown, "Yeah, I showered and put on another gown."

Nothing says relaxed like a clean flannel gown and snuggling in my chair with my warm laptop. With a little chuckle, he shook his head and headed back to inhale more saw dust as he continued his project.

Thanks for the insight into your life, Loon. Enjoyed the pictures.

Pilot said...

I think you got a skewed result on the amount of vino consumed. One of the usual suspects was rendered a non-factor this year. Indeed a fine time and great company. It was an unusually usual ...Adrift night for a gathering - shirtsleeves weather to start the evening and parkas required too endure the fireworks. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to start the new year, or to roll the digit and begin the next year of one's life though, huh?

Kari said...
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Kari said...

Happy Birthday! So you are a New Year's Eve child? Just think of all the fireworks that welcomed you into the world!

Happy New Year, too! Or should I say Happy One Year Closer??

The Loon said...

Thanks for good wishes. I always enjoy my birthday. When I was born, 'Auld Lang Syne' was playing on the radio beside the hospital bed. I didn't hear the entire song this year; most years it'll pop up somewhere.
Pilot: The mark of a real pro is the ability – no, the guts and desire – to fight through a sorry little virus. You did the smart thing, nevertheless, to lay back a little. I have heard that red wine might be efficacious in fighting some viruses, haven't I? Oh, well, it should be. Nice day, if a little cool. Good napping weather.

Sugar Magnolia said...

And a very happy birthday and fine new year to you, Mr. Loon. I agree with Edith Ann; when we are surrounded by friends and loved ones, even of the canine and feline (and, in my case, the equine) variety, and we are breathing and have half our wits about us, it's a good day.