Here is a photo of our more traditional Thanksgiving celebration on the actual day of Thanksgiving (Our orange grove celebration is always on the Friday after TG). We were invited to join Liz’s husband Ron’s family (the Bettys) at their lovely home for wonderful food and camaraderie. In this photo below are Ron’s parents, Ron’s…
Category: Writing
A Few Photos of Our Thanksgiving at the Orange Grove
I am too tired to write much tonight but I can share a few photos from our Thanksgiving. I didn’t get photos of all the people who came (I’m sorry). I also didn’t get any photos of our beautiful tables and food. I was too busy chatting to snap many shots, but I did get…
Flash Fiction Revisited: The Promise
The teakettle bubbled on the stove, sending up a stream of white mist into the air of the monastery kitchen. Brother Tobias yawned as he reached over to turn off the gas burner. The chanting voices of his Benedictine brothers wafted in through the open window from the nearby chapel where they were gathered for…
Flash Memoir: The Day JFK Was Assassinated: Sadness Everywhere
On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, I was ten years old and a student at Bailey Inglish Elementary School in Bonham, Texas, northeast of Dallas. I can’t remember how we were told the news, whether over the loudspeaker or by our teacher, but once we learned what had happened just 70 miles away,…
A New Holiday Attitude Inspired by My Late Sister-in-Law, Sandra
I am moving into a new phase in my life. It’s called the, “Oh, does it really matter?” phase, which is very far from where I have lived up until Covid when I zipped around in a mindset of “Okay, let’s do this!” This previous approach to life was accompanied by an impressive amount of…
Master Chorale Tonight at Disney Hall
We went tonight with our friend and priest Ian Elliott Davies to hear the Master Chorale perform Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil. It is 75 minutes long without an intermission. Everyone had to show their vaccination card and their photo ID. We all had to wear masks as well the entire time we were in Disney. Just…
My Mother and How Not to Cook A Turkey
I was ten years old the Thanksgiving my mother decided to cook. This wasn’t a good thing since she never cooked, but she decided that she didn’t want to order the usual ham for the main meal – turkey, after all, was what most people had for Thanksgiving – and she always gave our housekeeper…
Thanksgiving Preparations
Today, Rachael and I started our Thanksgiving cooking. We made Ray’s honey-sweetened cranberry sauce (recipe appeared in yesterday’s blog), cooked two pumpkins and pureed the pulp for pumpkin pies, and made a delectable gravy that is a family favorite from a recipe furnished by The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. The great thing about both the…
Ray’s Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe
It’s time to share Ray’s wonderful honey-sweetened cranberry sauce recipe to grace your table on Thanksgiving. It’s better to make a few days ahead so the flavors will meld. It is easy and delicious. No refined sugar, only honey. Here’s the recipe: 2 12 oz. packages cranberriesEquivalent volume chopped applesToss in a pan with 1/2…
An Emotional Day
I saw my beloved writing mentor John Rechy today on the sad occasion of his partner’s father’s memorial service. My friend and priest, Father Ian Elliot Davies, asked if I could drive him to the Los Angeles National Cemetary so that he could officiate. I was more than happy to accommodate. I wasn’t sure that…
20 Minutes a Day 