holiday

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

It is St Patrick’s Day! Who doesn’t love St Patrick’s Day? The patron saint of Ireland who drove the snakes out of Ireland (even though there were no snakes in Ireland). Sub zero wind chills for the parade today. I think I’ll skip it.

I watched the film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles the other night. It is a three and a half hour film starring and directed by Chantal Akerman, first screened in 1975. What little dialog there is is in French. It follows a single mother over three days. It is slow and mundane. She cooks, she shops, she feeds her child, she does the washing up, she takes a bath, and she provides sex for money. It is mesmerizing in its monotony. But the changes are subtle, you have to watch closely to see her controlled behavior begin to unravel. She is a complicated woman trapped in her own world. Trapped by society? Very interesting film.

She cooked potatoes every day and some kind of meat. One day it was veal. I am feeling so uninspired. Nothing sounds good lately. I’ve been watching the Sopranos. They eat mounds and mounds of pasta at every meal. Manicotti, Ricotta, Salami, meatballs, Spaghetti, Ziti, Fagioli, etc etc. What I really want is a short rib bolognese but I’m too lazy to make it.

Requiescat by Oscar Wilde

Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.

Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.

Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone
She is at rest.

Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.

Not a very happy poem but nicely done by an Irish son….

Have a good one!

Holiday Mail Friday

It’s that time of year… the holiday card, the holiday letter. It always includes travel, family, achievements, mostly positive stuff but sometimes includes losses as well. It’s the holidays, time to be upbeat and happy. Mine went something like this.

Happy Holidays!

We started the year off with an amazing trip to Egypt! I am still processing all the beautiful things we saw. Cairo, Abu Simbel, Aswan, and the boat up the Nile to Luxor. We highly recommend it.

In the spring I flew to San Francisco and had a lot of fun hanging out with old college friends. Golden Gate, Point Reyes, and Sonoma wine country.

I took a trip to Duluth and Lake Superior with my family. It is nice to be able to travel again. I also spent a long weekend in Washington DC with more old friends.

But the really big news is happening in January. I am retiring. Can’t wait. I have a million projects waiting for me. And Travel. Stay tuned.

Joy and Happiness to all in 2023

Nothing earth shattering but full of action and positive vibes.

I read today that a Radisson Hotel in Berlin boasted having the world’s largest Aquarium in their lobby. It had 1,500 tropical fish in it. And it broke, exploded, kaput. All the dead fish on the sidewalk. There is something just wrong about that. Is that entertainment? Looking at jailed fish on your way to your room? Ugh.

I watched the second half of the Harry and Meghan series as I’m sure many of you did too. I came away with some questions. What do they actually live on? So I looked it up. Apparently Harry’s father cut them off so they had to fend for themselves. They cut a deal with Netflix for $100 million. Harry got millions for his new book, Spare. Harry inherited some money from his mother and possibly from the Queen. So what they live on is their Name. They are selling their Name. Coming away from the show, I couldn’t help but think about the Duke of Windsor. I felt like they were both treated similarly. Is that a word? Anyway, way too much about that.

I watched a delightful film about Bhutan – Lulana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019). It is about a young man who is a teacher as part of his State service and he has a year of teaching left on his contract. He wants to go to Australia and be a singer and has no interest in teaching but they send him to the remotest part of Bhutan to teach. The experience changes him. I saw it on Netflix. A nice “holidays” film.

Good advice from Charles Bukowski….

Roll the Dice
by Charles Bukowski

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.

Now that is upbeat and holiday-sie, right?
Have a good week.

Mothers

Even though Mother’s Day is a warped capitalist American invention, I still enjoyed my mimosa!

Everyday is Mother’s Day in my book. Hail to the goddesses who keep it all together!

The Family

Flying home from my winter wonderland visit with the family I thought about a conversation my mother had with one of my nieces as they were saying good-bye.

Mother: We really do have an odd family

Niece: Should we take offense at that?

Mother: Well, no, you are all very interesting.

Niece: Interesting? Now I know we are being insulted.

Mother: But interesting is good. I can’t think of anything worse than a bunch of boring people.

Niece: Well, we certainly are not boring.

Mother: No, none of you are boring!

It was all in good fun but it made me think of what makes up my non-boring family. There were sixteen of us. We are scattered across 5 states.

The patriarch grew up on a farm in Iowa and ended up spending over forty years as an expat. He met many Heads of State and he had been to 90 countries by the time he was 90. The matriarch, kept up with him all the way also starting out in a small town in Iowa. My brothers and I are third culture kids who grew up all over the world.

I married Nicholas, a Russian American whose parents were refugees after World War II. Nicholas’ father never learned to speak English so Nicholas was his translator from a young age. Nicholas used to tell me that coming home from school every day he felt like he was crossing a border into another country. Most of his family still live in Russia. Our son spent the first six years of his life in Russia and has traveled to many places around Europe.

My brother moved to Australia after college and met and married a woman from New Zealand. She also came from a cross cultural family with roots in England and Australia. Their children carry dual passports – New Zealand and USA. They visit their relatives half way around the world whenever they can.

My niece married a first generation American with Indian roots. She is now immersed in the traditions and culture of an extended Indian family. One tradition included a rice eating ceremony for their baby daughter. For this ceremony they needed a baby sari. Not just any sari but a beautiful, fancy sari. They found it was difficult to find one the USA and so another sister-in-law of mine and my niece are starting a baby sari business. They have an Indian woman lined up to make the saris and they are working on a website to market their goods. You will be hearing more about this as things progress.

So we are a cross cultural conglomeration. And we all get along beautifully.

Cheers!

Food Friday: Sicialian Twists

This is my son’s favorite cookie and he is usually the one who makes them. They take some time but are not difficult.

Sicilian Twists

Filling:

1.5 cups almonds

0.5 cup honey

0.5 tsp cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a food processor and go at it until you have a smooth paste.

Set aside

Dough:

2 cups flour

one-third cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp salt

4 ounces (1 stick) cold butter cut into pieces

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Combine the dry ingredients.

Add the butter

You can do this in a food processor or using your fingers. It should be mixed until it looks even and the butter is all incorporated.

Add the eggs, vanilla and zest.

The dough should be easily formed into a ball.

Flour your work surface and roll out the dough. I do half at a time. You can cool it in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic for a while if you think it needs more firming up.

Cut into strips about 1.5 inches wide.

Spray your hands with cooking spray or rub with butter.

Take about 1 tablespoon of the filling and roll it it into a long thin tube and set in center of a strip of dough.

Fold over the dough to enclose the filling.

Cut into thirds and twist each piece once or twice.

Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or foil.

Cook in 350 degree F oven for about 12-14 minutes – until slightly brown on the bottom.

Just before serving you can drizzle with honey and cover with sliced almonds. Mine never seem to last that long.

Happy New Year!!

Blog of the Year Thanksgiving

It is almost Thanksgiving Day in the USA. I think it is the most important holiday we have. It has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity. It is the one day a year this big melting pot comes together on common ground and takes a moment to reflect on all the things they have and should be thankful for. They don’t all eat Turkey, they don’t all watch Football, they don’t all have big families surrounding them, but they all have something to be thankful for, even if it is something small. And this day should remind them of that.

One thing I am thankful for is this blog and all the fellow bloggers I have come in contact with over the past 8 months. I love writing little stories and reading other people’s pieces. I am only sorry I don’t have time to read as much as I would like. There is so much interesting stuff out there!!

Maggie at Fly Away Home was one of my first followers and she has been very supportive all the way through. I have enjoyed reading about her life in Norway and growing up on the New Jersey shore. Her book, Fly Away Home, is great! Check it out.

Maggie has now bestowed the Blog of the Year 2012 Award on me. Thank you, Maggie!

Well, it has been an interesting year.

I started my blog with my new Mantra: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

I have written 109 posts about growing up TCK, travel, genealogy, my current life, and various other miscellaneous things that popped into my head. I started a Food Friday blog that brought me back to my love of cooking. And, I published my memoir, Expat Alien.

Plus I had my gallbladder removed!! (Thank you all for your comments and best wishes!)

I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am passing this award to:

Wanderlust Gene – because her beautiful photos are other-worldly and transport me to far away places

ExpatLingo – because she makes me laugh

Dounia – because she is a fellow TCK who “gets” it

Moonbeam McQueen– because she persevered and published her book, Peculiar Rhymes and Intimate Observations: A Book of Light Verse

Award Rules:

Select the blogs you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012 Award’.
Write a post and tell about the blogs you have chosen and present them with their award.
Please include a link back to this page Blog of the 2012 Year Award and include these rules (do not alter the rules or the badges).
Let the blogs you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the rules with them.
You can now also join our Facebook page – click the link here Blog of the Year 2012 Award and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

As a winner of the award please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award. Proudly display the award on your side bar and start collecting stars.

Chapultepec Castle

I lived in Mexico City for seven years. I never saw any Cinco de Mayo celebrations until I moved to the USA years later. In Mexico it is a regional holiday centered around the state of Puebla. It commemorates the defeat of the French in the Battle of Puebla. Napoleon III decided it would be a good idea to invade Mexico – for several reasons I won’t go into here. The French army landed on the coast and marched in toward the capital. As they reached Puebla, they met with heavy resistance. Although there were only 4,000 ill equipped Mexicans, they were able to overcome and defeat the 8,000 well equipped French army on May 5, 1862.

Yay! Margarita time!!

Unfortunately Napoleon III did not take this well. The following year he sent a much larger army and was able to take over the Mexican government and place a puppet emperor at the head of it. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian was a Hapsburg and Commander in Chief of the Austrian Navy. In May 1864 he arrived in Mexico as Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico. He was accompanied by his wife, Charlotte, Princess of Belgium.

He was liked and supported by the conservatives but had problems with the liberal forces led by Benito Juarez who refused to recognize his rule. Battles continued over the three years he was Emperor. When the US Civil War ended, Abraham Lincoln supported Juarez and Napoleon III started to withdraw his troops. Maximilian fought until the end but was captured and executed in June 1867. In 1866 his wife, Charlotte, had returned to Europe seeking support for her husband but was unsuccessful. She never returned to Mexico and spent the rest of her days, until her death in 1927, in seclusion. They say she went insane and never acknowledged her husband’s death.

During the time they were in Mexico, they lived at Chapultepec Castle. It is reminiscent of the palaces of Europe with one room leading into the next and all lavishly furnished. It has big terraces with views overlooking Mexico City. When we were in grade school we had school trips to see what is now a National Museum. We could walk up the hill to the castle or we could enter the hill through a dark tunnel and take the elevator. It was both scary and thrilling to risk taking the elevator!

Every year they would show the American 1939 movie “Juarez” on Mexican TV. Bette Davis played Charlotte and she was wonderful. It is a classic and I made sure I watched it every year. I felt sorry for the European Emperor and his wife but the triumph over the French every year was exciting!!

Viva Mexico! Happy Cinco de Mayo!!