On a Whim

What to do with the chicken this time?

So I started to build a ‘recipe’ 

Chicken thighs - I’ll cook them in the oven but want something different.

Salt and Pepper - that’s usual, but a sprinkle of oregano sounds like a nice addition.

Hmmmmm……..sour cream! I’ll coat them with sour cream. 

Good. All in the baking dish but they do look lonely.

I know! Potato slices - looks too, I don’t know, boring.

A few slices of onion should help - flavour will be good. Just a quarter of one though. I’m not a big onion fan except for the flavour.

It really does need some colour!

Oh well, in the oven at 350 F for an hour.

~~~~~

Now for the colour - frozen broccoli over it all with little

chunks of orange bell pepper. Back in the oven so they can thaw and cook. That’s better.

Afterthought: finely grated parmesan cheese. Yes, that seems just right.

Final taste test  (my supper)

It was delicious! The chicken was moist and flavourful. I would do something different with the sour cream though. It curdled and the look of the dish wasn’t up to snuff. 

**Note:  I am incredibly grateful to all the truckers that brought me the groceries for my supper. I do not know all the personal reasons for the convoys and protests that each trucker and individuals brought to the Legislature today. I am, however, annoyed - no, I am angry - that some have chosen to disregard the very real danger of the viral spread we are living with. That includes our politicians. If any of it has to do with just a whim, I am even more angry.

“Are you going to cater to the whims and prejudices of people 

who have no intelligent knowledge of what they condemn?”

~ Susan B Anthony Collection

 

It's all in the Signs

When trees are dressed in gauzy green and birds are building nests,

spring will blossom before our eyes.

When grass is green and the weather warms, generous gardens offer food for our tables ~ summer sweeps us all away!

When rabbits turn from brown to white and red-gold leaves carpet the earth, 

autumn begins its long snooze.

When marshmallowed snowbanks change

from clean to dirty and ice floes slide to puddles

winter days recede with great sighs of relief!

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier 

state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”

~ George Santayana

All About Me

There’s absolutely no humility in this photo. In July of 2020, I turned my life upside down with a big move from B.C. to Saskatchewan. Since then, I’ve felt disorganized, sometimes falling apart and have had too much time living with me. Getting to know myself more than I ever have. Last winter, I was invited to go snowshoeing with friends. I was unable to at that time. That’s where the debilitation interfered. That is also when I set myself a goal to go snowshoeing this winter. Until I actually walked in the snow, following the trail set by my two new friends, I wasn’t sure that I could actually do it. With each step, I knew that I could. 

Recovering from anything means a lot of things. For me today, it was deep snow and funny flat things strapped to my feet, laughter with friends and a still, calm winter day.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

~ Ernest Hemingway, The Wild Years

 

Chapter Two, Episode Sixty-Nine - A Devious Doctor - Situationally Theirs

A Devious Doctor

“Jeremy! What on earth are you doing here? Does Em know you would be here today?” Dez really had not heard a car. Her brother-in-law usually swept into the yard with a flourish to make certain everyone knew he had arrived. “Shhhh! Don’t be so loud. No, she thinks I’m working a week of nights. Is she home? I don’t want her to know I’m here.” He had let himself into the house thinking no one would be there. “Let me come in and I’ll tell you what’s going on.You’re sure she’s not home.” He looked so very nervous, Dez almost laughed out loud. “Let’s go downstairs and get something to eat and drink.” Jeremy almost jumped out of his skin. “No! No one is to know I’m here……unless they see my car.”

~~~~~

For the remainder of the morning and into afternoon, he told his story. Dez finally convinced him that they really needed to eat. “You’ll have to go down and get us something. If Cook, or anyone, asks who you’ve been talking to up here…..” 

“Jeremy they’ve probably seen your car! I’ll just tell them to warn us if Em shows up. While I’m getting our lunch go park your car behind the rose bushes. They’ll blooming early this year. If Em shows up suddenly you won’t want her to see your car. After all, she thinks you’re at work!” Dez laughed and went down to see Cook about lunch. 

He tore into the sandwiches like a man who’d never eaten before. “Slow down! When did you eat last?” Dez had no sooner set the hearty roast beef sandwiches down on the table than Jeremy started eating. “You’re not going to leave anything for me!” He finished his sandwich, sat back in his chair and groaned. “I haven’t eaten since five this morning. Then it was just cold cereal. I had one more short TV shift to do before I could leave.”

“TV? How many surprises do you have for me? Since you got here today you’ve told me you’ve been isolating for the last 10 days, that it’s your first anniversary and that you have plans to spirit Em away up island for a second honeymoon. Now you’re telling me about TV? How? Why?”

“I really didn’t know how I was going to pull it off, Dez. Do you watch the TV interviews with different docs about the Covid or Omicron status?” He turned his chair so he could face Dez. “I’ve seem some, but try to avoid any kind of news reporting. It makes me too upset. What does that have to do with you?” Jeremy refilled his water glass. “More? No? Well, at lunch one day I overheard a conversation between our medical director and one of the main reporters. The timing couldn’t have been better. I needed a way to get some time off the Covid wards so I could arrange all of this. What I overheard was that a replacement doc was needed to present the latest data on the TV slots. It was going to be for two weeks. The doctor working with the TV crews would be away from any active hospital floors for that time. I only needed ten days before I could take some vacation time. I approached the medical director, who hesitated and seemed about to turn me down. Then I’d really be in a fix. I already have a bed and breakfast booked for the from tomorrow for a week. Had to pay upfront.”

He stopped to take a breath. Dez was amazed. She didn’t think Jeremy could be this devious, but wasn’t really surprised. She’d known him long enough to have seen his mischievous side. This was a bit different though. She could see that he needed a break from it all. “Did you bring some luggage at least for tonight? Let’s go for a walk and get it. I’ll show you the work Samuel and I have done in the last while. Em could be back by the time we get back in the house. 

~~~~~

Emelina was on her way home from the city. She was troubled. Turning the radio on, she had heard Jeremy’s voice in an interview. The interview was cut off for more of the political news about the Ukraine. “Oh, heavens! It’s our anniversary and I’ve forgotten!”

~~~~~

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.”

~ Audrey Hepburn

Another Summer’s Day

Another summer’s day 

will settle on still waters

to rest in the heat.

“What good is the warmth of summer, 

without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

~ John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

 

Giving a Nod

 

A shy prairie flower ~ 

    petals all askew

gives a nod to warmer days.

“It was all glimmer and warm honey in the yellow light.”

~ Patrick Rothfuss, The Slow Regard of Silent Things

On a Winter Night's Walk

November 23, 2020

A whispered wind lifted my hair.

Crunching beneath my feet.

blue shadowed snow sparkled.

“Night is pleasing to us because, like memory, it erases idle details.

A New Refutation of Time”

~ Jorge Luis Borges,  Selected Non-Fictions