We’re snug, don’t have to venture out except on good days, have plenty to eat, the fireplace is operating (we have an electric fire with a little hidden heater) and we’ve brought up the portable radiator for the bathroom (one place in the house you want it warm! 😉 ) and over all, we’re comfy. The eyes are improving, the work is progressing, the leaves got wet and are NOT blowing into the pond, and all’s well with the world.
Rain, rain, and rain…with snow on Thanksgiving followed by rain…
by CJ | Nov 19, 2012 | Journal | 16 comments
16 Comments
Submit a Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
That reminds me… do the Atevi celebrate any seasonal holidays? I know that Cajeiri had a to-do about his birthday (and whether the number was felicitous or not!) but don’t know if birthdays are widely celebrated among the Atevi. In the first or second book, I vaguely remember that humans had dumped holidays (probably because of a number of complexities), but I wonder if they have developed any new traditions on Mospheira.
It’s raining and raining and raining over here in Bremerton too. It’s not just a drizzle either; it’s coming down in copious amounts with goodly amounts of wind! And the forecast is for more rain thru the end of the week even, but luckily no snow…
Anyway, I’m very glad to hear that your eyes are improving-I do sincerely hope that trend continues! I love hearing that the writing is progressing. 🙂
Yeah, this was a heckuva storm. We got something (though not up to the standards Sandy set!) over 2.5″ of rain. I’ve got some potted plants, albeit 4′-5′ tall, that got blown over.
All definitely well here. 😉
Atevi holidays—yes. Birthdays, and there is a winter festival; the court audience day—which is actually several days; there are local festivals celebrating various seasonal foods important to the economy; there are commemorations in some clans—various comings-of-age and the accession of a lord or the birth of a child in some; in others, commemorations of important anniversaries. These things linger regionally: those celebrated by the aishidi’tat as a whole are fewer in number and usually centered in Shejidan, around the court, except the winter festival and the summer-ending festival.
Mospheirans and ship-folk do have traditional days of giftgiving and celebration, not to mention birthdays.
I suspect that Ilisidi throws a most traditional and proper winter festival on her holdings! I’d like to be a fly on the wall for some of that.
I’m guessing that many atevi, despite the benefits which have eventually appeared, still are ambiguous about whether the arrival of the humans is cause for celebration. Landing Day may or not be noted, on either side of the strait!
Dry, low 60s, threatening to be in the low 70s for Tanks Gibbon here in the Big D ‘burbs.
Wishing you and your household a warm and flavourful holiday!
Yes, definitely wet in Pugetopolis (Puget Sound) today. As I was changing from my bike/bus commute this morning, my presence and my towel were requested most expeditiously. A new antenna mounting had not been sealed properly and we had a gushing leak not three feet to the side of our server racks. Fortunately, all was put to rights quickly.
One MUST carry one’s towel!
I’ll be out tomorrow for groceries, but I’m undecided if I’ll do anything else, errand-wise.
Our weather’s supposed to be sunny, high in the upper 70’s, low in the mid-50’s all week. Common enough around Thanksgiving. The alternative is cold and clear, or cold and wet. Snow only happens, a light dusting, every five years or so.
“John Barleycorn” came up in my playlist today, and I’ve been struck by the multiple messages; the overt analogy of how the folks “do in” the grain, the bit about resurrection or the circle of life, and, after some thought, it occurred to me it was also a commentary by common folk about being common folk in those times. Also both gloom and humor in there. So I’ve listened to it a few times today, until I felt I really ought to move along. 😉 It’d be a neat background piece for some movie or documentary. I haven’t looked to see when the song dates to. The only version I know of is the “old” (harrumph) recording by Traffic. — Anyway, it struck me as fitting for Thanksgiving, in an odd way.
I’d wondered too if atevi had some sort of harvest festival. That early Americans thought it should be a celebration giving thanks for family, friends, prosperity, having a good harvest, I think is remarkable.
I’m looking forward to the further episodes of “Mankind: The Story of All of Us.” The first two of the six episodes, I wish had gone into more depth, but I ghought they got a solid B.
John Barleycorn? Whiskey, hard cider, wine, beer, cheese, et al, were all important ways of preserving “food”, albeit in a different form, that would otherwise spoil or rot and be lost to bacteria and fungi.
One of my friends uses apples when they are inexpensive to produce cyser, a distilled hard apple beverage. According to him, it contains apples, spices, rocket fuel and trapezoids; it does kick like a Rockette!
I remember Ilsidi commenting that the young folks had no stamina, and that they should have seen the harvest festival at Malguri when she was young… Can’t remember which book although I think it was around Pretender.
Corn whiskey was used as currency in early colonial and independent America. It was easier to transport than the corn from which it was made, and the return on investment was much higher. You could get significantly more for a given quantity of whiskey than you could for the equivalent quantity of corn. Even George Washington was a distiller. I agree with the reasons for hard cider, as well as cheese, but beer did have the advantage of having been boiled for at least an hour in order to get the malt ready for fermentation (boiling got rid of excess non-fermentable proteins as well as harmful organisms), and it tasted a lot better than the water from the local well, river, lake, etc.
Harvest festivals would be held in celebration of having finished a hard season of farming, the relief that one is ready for winter, and that the joy is shared with family and friends. BTW, the very first grain malted would be used for bock beer, which would be lagered (stored in cold areas) until spring, and then would be drawn. Some people think bock is from the “bottom of the barrel” but that’s not so. A good bock is a joy to partake.
And I’m sure when local wine and brandies are ready to drink—there are festivals.
I know almost nothing about beer, wine, etc. nothing against it, it just was rare with my parents.
Hmm, and I keep in mind, “corn” was originally a generic word for grain/seeds, and became specific to corn (maíz) in America.
—–
Thought I was going to do audio testing and recording today, if testing worked. But one neighbor has been working with power tools off and on all day, and two others have had their lawns mowed. Tonight, if all goes well. The cats are vexed at all the commotion, and have made themselves scarce.
—–
I lucked out, getting “fixin’s” for Thanksgiving. Mostly missed the crowd rush and got everything I need…I think. If I missed something and am out, I’ll do something else. Roast or fish, depending on my mood tomorrow night. Prep will include cornbread as part of the dressing (baked) and if I’m ambitious enough, a mince pie, pretty easy to fix. Also wassail, definitely, though it’s better for cold weather. Cranberry sauce, of course. I’m not going to fix a lot. A salad with some avocado for the vegetables, and that’s likely it.
Recipes: see Grandmother’s Stuffing and Wassail, specifically, the Bank’s Wassail, #1.
I use less sugar, as noted. You could cut down further on the sugar, but it would make the drink more tart. A couple of Colombian friends asked about adding or substituting mango juice. I’m not sure how authentic the wassail recipe is, to English wassail, but I said sure, try it with some mango juice. I’d think it would add body and a sweet, smooth flavor and texture.
jus’ ask me, BEE SHEE ESS, I’m the bigges’ ex,ex,ex….aw, heck, I know more ’bout alcohol than ennywun else in thish house…..