Saturday night Soup for the Soul (04)

s we wind up one year, the new one is is already well under way, anywhere, and everywhere that one might choose to search. And Spring is pushing up everywhere throughout my winter garden. Snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, and hyacinth, though not yet in bloom, are making there presence known through out the yard. And I do have two of my super early Rhododendrons blooming: r. Lee’s Scarlett, and r. mucronulatum. Like the garden, my life too has raced ahead of my ability to consciously keep up with where it is. But as Martha would say, this too is a good thing. " It won't be long (oh no, it won't be long)" Where I was for Christmas eve, we spent seven hours laughing, eating “whores ovaries”, followed by a splendid multi course New York Dominican style traditional Christmas dinner: mouth watering pork shoulder, fried plantains, a Caribbean rice, crispy ham sliced wafer thin, salad, biscuits, four or five type of wine, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake, homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and Couvoisier brandy. I believe that there were other more exotic aperitifs being served elsewhere on the premises, but I was not told about until this after the fact, by prior arrangement with the host. I cannot afford to get sidetracked by such distractions. During dinner we discussed the two months of wild weather we have endured, our kids, what we wanted for Christmas, and politics (a shining sea of liberal progressives seated at the table so thsi was a fun topic). The only tense moment came when the final topic morphed into the recent threat of a law suit by an orthodox Jewish rabbi from Mercer Island that forced the Sea Tac International airport to remove their Christmas trees (followed by such a terrible public uproar that 24 hours later the rabbi backed down claiming that he never said what he clearly said, and back up went the Christmas trees). I had thought I knew the story, but the hostess and her boss (a lawyer) set me straight on what had really happened behind the scenes. The two of them seemed ready to order an air strike on Mercer Island, and it's "stick up the ass" culture. I sat like a manikin on a chair for this discussion. I *adore* the hostess, and know her to have excellent character and judgment on all matters great and small, so I take her telling of this event as being accurate, especially since her boss concurred in even stronger terms, and he is both Jewish and a lawyer. Once we got past that un-christmassy episode, out came the brandy and desserts and on went the hot New York City style salsa and merengue for dancing, silliness, and general merriment. The kids all sussed out that I am the proverbial fun adult who still knows how to act silly, to they all latched onto me, dog piled onto me, and I obliged with my one man children’s comedy improvisation to keep then entertained. I love seeing little children having happy and fun childhoods, something that I did not always have. "When you least expect it, things are gonna start changing." One gift that I gave to the hostess was from my beloved mother who died this past spring. She had me buy it as a future Christmas gift shortly before she died for this so very kind person. I thought that I would not be able to handle being there when she opened it (I thought that I would lose it and start crying or something which is not my favorite thing to do – cry in public). However, I did actually handle it well, as it made her alive again in this world, if only symbolically so. There is one more such gift for the same person next Christmas. Generosity and kindness, delivered from the grave is a nice touch. I must remember this one for when it is my time to leave. Delivering gifts to kind hearted loved ones from the great beyond. All of this makes it's way into this week's soup. You can get your 32.4 Mb bowl of Saturday Night Soup for the Soul by clicking the jukebox. 1. GREAT DAY -- This piece is from Paul McCartney's 1997 Flaming Pie CD. A simple piece, yet nevertheless powerful in it's simplicity. =======================================================2. FLUID -- From Paul McCartney's secret late 1990's ambient work titled "Rushes" under his alter ego "The Firemen". I like this piece. Sexy, so very sexy, as it begins to dissolve the ties that bind one to the here and now so that you are free to transport to a place called "tomorrow", and do so today. QUESTION: why does McCartney choose "The Fireman" for his alter ego? ANSWER: Because "The Fireman rushes in from the pouring rain," as he said in "Penny Lane." Very strange. =======================================================3. SPANISH CASTLES IN SPACE -– The Orb. The perfect music to allow one to dissolve away that you might pass thru to the other side. Have a great journey. See you all on the other side next week.