The sun is shining! It's been undercover for a long time. I'm feeling better today, so far I'm not wobbly on my feet. Bill stopped in yesterday, we don't see him all that often anymore. He spent about forty minutes and it was very pleasant to see and talk to him. He is allowing the state of the nation and the world eat at him. Bill will do what he will do, no matter how much I try to cajole him into disengaging from what there is no control over. I've got to figure out how I can get him to visit more often. I'm a different personality compared to the locals and I am able to make Bill laugh. I'll never be a local, no matter how long I live here.
I guess that's it. Time to hoist myself out of the chair and start the day. I think I'll make a pasta salad with salmon, fennel and tarragon for lunch and have some of that bread with it. Hoist away, my friends.
17 comments:
Ohhh, fennel. Very nice add. I used dried dill yesterday in a homemade free-from dairy dressing. Delightful. I have fennel in a tea I drink though. Also delightful.
Why not just come out and ask him to visit more? Using a direct approach I find works best.
Ivy, you would think that would be the thing to do....but you'd need to understand Minnesota, especially rural Minnesota. A direct approach and Minnesota are an anthesis of one another! This would guarantee he would stay away. A better approach would be to say I am lonely. That I have no one to talk to. Put it on me, he needs to help me. He gives us stuff all the time but is put off when we try to reciprocate. So I stopped trying. It's not an easy culture.
Bill sounds like a nice guy. I hope you can continue to help him laugh. Enjoy that salad and bread.
I agree with the assessment of culture. You almost have to leave subtle hints and not be direct. I know my neighbors ask if we'd like a visit and I say yes. Then ... nothing. But that is my further away neighbors. However IF I called them and said I needed help they'd be here in a second.
Nice heavy looking loaf. I see it in my mind's eye as a perfect place for my miniature mountain climbers to explore.
Thankfully I am now a local. But I married a local so I think that makes a difference. Our place is no longer the 'Withers' place. It is known as Mule Man's Place.
My new neighbor is a local. He was born here, grew up here, lived in Africa and upstate NY, but came back. Funny how that all works.
Yum on your food. I'll take a chunk of bread with me please as I go exploring Duck Egg today. ;-)
e, the salad was good! Bill is a good guy. He was our first friend here and that was several years after we moved here. Ever hear of Minnesota Nice? HA! Now his brother is a sorta friend. He needs some distraction, so I guess I'll put on my poor me face.
Val, Ha! I should send you one for your props. This is a VERY closed community. I will never be a local. If I'd married a local I'd still be the "city person with fancy horses". :)
Your neighbor will be grudgingly allowed back in. Val the Explorer!
That's too bad that the direct approach doesn't work. Well, either way, here's to fun and yummy new week ahead. Cheers and boogie boogie.
37paddington: I understand the action of hoisting oneself out of a chair far too well! Yes, we must disengage from the news if the world sometimes. We go mad if we don’t.
You are a master and my favorite writer. So glad you had the energy to get out of your chair. I don't do anything I don't want to do and there is no way you can make others do what you want if they don't want to. Will Bill join you if you invite him to lunch? It sounds like you clearly care about each other. Gary and I have been in Brockport since the 60s so we are townies and have met so many people over the years. We both worked at the college at different times and had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world....my favorite way to travel. It takes energy to participate in the community, but the rewards have been great.
You are such a master and my favorite writer. I've been in Brockport so long (since 1966) I consider myself to be a townie. Gary and I both worked at the college and that allowed us to meet people from all over the world. So many of them are still in the area. We are definately townies.
I made the bread with half wheat and half white flour, I think I need a new jar of yeast and it would have been better but we liked it and ate it all. Thanks for the recipe.
Yes some people keep to themselves and it is hard to know if you should invite them over, make them cookies and drop them off. Everyone is different. One May Day I took an old bachelor a six pack of beer!
Lori, Bill used to have lunch with us at least once a week while his wife still worked. You are deeply engaged in your community. I tried a few years ago, everyone was polite, which is the way, but I was on the outside looking in. I am for sure not the master of Gatto, he has me bested! Thank you for being so generous.
Far Side, I'm happy you made the bread. The thing is, even if it doesn't turn out perfect, like my einkorn loaf, it is still good and only took about an hour! Maybe I should give Bill a six pack of beer!
Your meals always sound delicious and fresh Bread...well it's the manna of Heaven...no matter what flour is used. Your Friend is exposing himself to too much of the Nation's Negative Energy. I am keeping Aware and Woke but it's unhealthy to expose yourself to that which is beyond our ability to change...we have to balance what is doable as a Collective and cope with what may not change for the better in our lifetime...Dawn the Bohemian
Amen to this, Dawn.
I need to make bread today. Maybe soup, too.
I have never tried buckwheat bread, Sandra, and it does look so dense. Good with soup? It's to bad that your friend, Bill, lets the news and state of everything get him down. It's why do not watch any news and read the minimal amount online every morning. There are better ways to fill my time than becoming anxious over most things that cannot be remedied by my worries.
It is dense, Beatrice. Next time I will use only a small amount of buckwheat. It does go very well with soup. I used to be politically active. After the 2016 election I started backing off. Now I'm like you. I stay informed but not absorbed.
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