friends

A man, a dog, and an altercation

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I was out walking Barkley yesterday with  my friend Nancy when something happened.   We were on a street around the corner from where I live when a big German Shepherd came running out from the yard into the street and approached me.  I have to say, it scared the S*@T out of me.  The situation ended with no injuries except emotional ones.  The owner of the dog called his dog back and then verbally got stuck into me.  We had an altercation.  First I was shocked, then angry, then I got to thinking.    What did it mean? Continue reading →

A Bird, a Birthday, and Store-bought Cake

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A few days ago this little bird started tapping on the front door.  It tap tap taps and then flies up and tries to throw itself at the window.  I closed the front door, and still it attempts to get in.  I think it sees itself in the reflection.  Today I saw him (or her) again, puffing up his chest as if to impress his supposed reflection. Continue reading →

Walking in a Desert Wonderland

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Sunset at the Grand Canyon, AZ

Well, I suppose mid-February is a good a time as any to post my holiday (yes, those holidays) guest blog post.  After months of subtle reminders from Marla dropped over texts, calls, emails, cards, e-cards, in-person reminders, and carrier pigeons (well, almost)… here it goes! Commence guest blog now!   Continue reading →

Digging out: the day after

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The view from the garage.

On Sunday we woke up to a cacophony of snow blowers.  It was our neighbors clearing their driveways.    It seemed like everyone had a snow blower.  Larry went out to join them and try to get us out.  It was trial by fire for the poor machine, first time out in the snow with the challenge of two feet to move and our long driveway. Continue reading →

The blizzard of 2016

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The blizzard hit the east coast on Friday, 22 January and didn’t end until Saturday.  We were happy to be out of the DC area for this one, but we still got hit hard.  Before the snow we treated ourselves to a pizza lunch at an Italian restaurant near our local ski lodge.  Then it was home to wait.  In the afternoon it began. Continue reading →

Vegetable tagine with friends

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Over the weekend we hosted our first dinner party.  Well, not exactly a party in the traditional 1950s sense, but a dinner with friends.   Since I love to eat and I love to cook it was an opportunity to try out something new.   I decided to focus the meal around Turkish food, one of my favorite cuisines.  What’s not to love?  Garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, olives, feta cheese . . . seriously, this is great food.

The lentil soup is already done.

The lentil soup is already done.

I stuck to some old standbys that I knew would come out well.  I started with baba ghanoush and artichoke hummus as starters with pita bread.  For the soup course I made a red lentil and bulgar soup.  For the main course I served zucchini squares and vegetable tagine. Continue reading →

In a holiday frame of mind

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It’s that time of year when we get together with family and friends.  We go to parties and eat and drink too much, stay out too late, spend too much money and flit between a state of bliss and stress.  We want to drift into that place where all we feel is sweetness and light.  Inevitably we are sometimes disappointed.   Our plans don’t come to fruition and our Continue reading →