Quoting Winston Churchill

Back when I worked in an Intensive care unit and had to make out the night nurse assignments on a board at the desk, I would occasionally write in my favorite Churchill quote on the sheet as inspiration to the tired staff.


" Most of the world's work is done by people who don't feel particularly well".

My other favorite quote of his:

"To jaw jaw is always better than war war".

That is wisdom that the warmongers calling out for fighting Syrians, and Afghans, and Ukrainians will ignore, for they will never hesitate to send another man's son to his death.

But now I have another great saying that I heard for the first time the other night as I was watching "Call the Midwife". One of the elderly nuns quoted Churchill's remark on pets and pigs. Since I have two house dogs and a cat coven living under my porch couch, I appreciated this immediately.

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals".


There will never be another Churchill!

A Story

9 months ago my cable internet modem blew out in a thunderstorm. Repeated calls to the company for a new modem were ignored and I was without internet for five weeks until U-verse came in to the apartments I live in. I refused to pay the final bill after two cable trucks in the apartment parking lot refused to take back my cable box. For 9 months now I have been harassed by a collection agency and by the cable company. All I will say is that this is one of the most hated businesses in this country. And now we are in danger of a cable monopoly.

I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!

Mushroom Mustard Quiche

Mushrooms are expensive, and very perishable, which means that the ones that no one buys on the weekends go to half price at Kroger on Monday.

I bought a large container of Baby Bellas. Sauteed till soft in butter and chicken broth, they became the main ingredient in this quiche.

The ingredients are:


6 eggs

1 pie crust. I used store bought- standard 9 inch

2 cups grated cheese. (I used Jarlsberg).

Salt to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 stick unsalted butter.

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 cups sauteed sliced mushrooms

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

4-5 slices of a ripe tomato-optional, but pretty and tasty.

2 slices of crisp bacon,cut into small pieces. Add more if you like.


First I pricked the pie crust all over with a fork, then placed foil over it, then weighted the foil down with lentils, though beans would do. I baked the crust in a pre-heated oven for 12 minutes at 425 degrees. Then I took it from the oven, carefully removed the foil and lentils and added the filling. I baked the quiche for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

To make the filling I sauteed the mushrooms in 1 stick of butter with 1/4 chicken broth added. I sauteed over medium heat until the mushrooms were soft and the broth and mushroom juice were reduced and no longer watery. I added sea salt to taste.

In a large bowl I mixed the grated cheese, the eggs, the cream, and two tablespoons of mustard along with the bacon bits. Then I added the mushrooms.

I poured the mixture into the pie shell, garnished with the tomatoes, and baked it as described above.

A nice brunch dish-

The Real First Day of Spring-

Yesterday here in Nashville the day was warm, sunny, and silent. Usually by now the redwing blackbirds have started to sing but yesterday walking on the Greenway along the Little Harpeth River I heard not one.

Last night was rainy and 64 degrees, and I expected redwings on today's walk.

Instead I heard the first true voice of spring. Hyla crucifer- the spring peeper, a miniature frog that breeds in damp meadows and swamps. And I found Spring Beauties. the Claytonia virginica, blooming near a stone culvert on the park road through Edwin Warner Park. And a low growing little swamp buttercup as well.

Let us hope this God awful freeze dried winter has received its first eviction notice-

Pirates

Since humans do not hibernate, the only ways to get through a winter as awful as this one, are to read books and to watch TV. The former never fail, but the latter does, especially in January and February when we are anesthetized by dull sports spectacles and awards shows that preempt what few decent programs we depend on.

"Grimm" and "The Blacklist" are buried under ski-jumps for another two weeks, and no other network dares to put on "The Good Wife" or "Revenge" while someone gets bumped out of a bobsled.

I have never watched any premium cable series offered. I know nothing of "Da Vinci's Demons" or "Game of Thrones", but a few weeks back I started watching "Black Sails" on Starz, and I have kept on watching.

"Black Sails" is about a Caribbean island run by pirates, and about one crew who hope to find a sunken Spanish treasure ship.

This would be a great program for children, who have always loved pirates, but Starz has dosed it heavily with four letter words, nudity, and steamy scenes of every possible human combination.

Nevertheless, it is an intriguing saga that becomes more interesting as it progresses,though I have read comments criticizing the show for letting its characters talk. But that is what people used to do,before the Phone and Thumb Age.

These pirates have reasons and motivations and alliances, and these are better explained by conversation than by blowing things up.

This past episode on Saturday veered dangerously towards literacy, when a mysterious woman, fully clothed and in possession of an inner life, read a passage from Marcus Aurelius out loud. Usually,in screen spectacle land the only characters who read classic texts or listen to classical music are homicidal maniacs who want to take over the world.

This does not appear to be the case in "Black Sails",but sadly, knowing my countrymen, I know that intelligence does not sell.( If it did "Pan Am" would still be on).

I expect lots of compensatory demolitions on the next episode-

The Thumb Triumphant

Back when I worked in a hospital, I would walk into the nurses' lounge at 3am and find my co-workers text messaging.

How those thumbs flew! How intent and purposeful they were! They could have been texting to the pair of thumbs sitting beside them. Who knew? The owners were not talking to each other, and the only sound in the room was the TV showing dream real estate on House and Garden TV.

And last summer, when I was out visiting, I witnessed another Thumb Fest between a pretty 17 year old, two suitors, and the girl's mother.

One suitor had invited this young woman to a birthday party (hers), and the other one had invited her to a dinner with his mother.

These engagements were on the same night, and mother and daughter were twiddling mightily to prevent a showdown, a scene, and recriminations. What happened I cannot report, for I do not speak Thumb, and no human voice ever told me who triumphed.

In a different time this scenario might have been drama or comedy. Oscar Wilde would have chosen the latter, and his audience would have enjoyed at least two amusing scenes. A Russian novelist would have written a chapter or two, and Jane Austen would have wrapped everything up in a tidy two pages. Raymond Carver would have given it a paragraph, though one sentence would be more likely-

I was thinking about the Thumb's ascendance to human dialogue the other day, and before I knew it I had committed an act of doggerel. Here it is.



The Triumph of The Thumb, by Miss Betsy.


Back when we were apes and lemurs

Killing prey with flying femurs

Thumb and forefinger took a vow.




Through eons,ages,centuries

Never did they work apart.

They aimed the arrow,steered the plow-

They perpetrated Modern Art.



But thumb grew tired

of feeling hired.

Why not strike out on his own?

For he was weary of being cut

By Global knives and cat food cans

Consigned to boredom with the also rans

While other digits took the glory.


And then he saw her-glimmering.

A sly, ambitious little screen

Dressed scantily in silicon.



He touched.

She purred.

"Words are best when they're not heard",

She whispered. Silently.

"You can mummify the tongue!

Make the larynx obsolete.

Show that all that need be said

Is better by a finger led

Than by some vocal, whining bleat

That only ends in Drama.



Once opposed, but now Imposing!

The Future is yours,

Almighty Thumb!"

Amazonia

Forget the NSA.

If you think someone is watching you-
If you hear footprints behind, you are not paranoid. You have just ordered or are thinking of ordering, or have just clicked on an ad from Amazon.com.

Amazon goes where you go, even into the archives of the New York Review of Books. I went there this morning to read an article about Robert Lowell, and every time I scrolled down up came an ad advertising a blue Le Crueset Dutch oven offered at a half price of $149.99.

I clicked on this ad a few days ago,curious about that deep discount. I was not, and am not in the market for another Dutch oven. I have two-one a doppleganger for the pan in the ad. But mine is a Martha Stewart that Miss Betty from work gave me for free because she was too frail to lift it out of her oven.

I would not be worried about this if Jeff Bezos wasn't considering sending out Amazon orders before customers actually ordered. Then, one innocent click of inquiry about a set of copper pans could end up robbing you of your rent money-

And Bezos is also thinking of sending your Amazon orders out via drone. Who will be liable when the drone drops the cookware on the windshield of a minivan full of toddlers? Or on your neighbor's new Escalade-

And apropos of this, I read somewhere on the Internet, and this morning, that drones are delivering six packs to thirsty ice fishermen up in the North country.

Think of it! Beer delivered to your deer blind up in the trees. That might spook the deer,but they were only an excuse anyway to get away with your buddies.