Category: Slice of Life

Holiday Gifts Part 1

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A few weeks ago I asked other authors if they could give the world any gift at all this holiday, what would that gift be. The response was so overwhelming, I had to split the responses into two blogs. Here’s what they had to say.

KERRY ADRIENNE (The Guardian of Blackbird Inn):  Compassion and understanding for other people’s differences.

YOLANDA ASHTON (A Will for Love): A guaranteed Salary/Wage that will ensure the ability to take care of loved ones comfortably.

MARIE BOOTH (Dying for a Bite): An extra dose of compassion and an urge to help people and animals in need.

ANNE B. COLE (Souls Estranged): Hope.

CRYSTAL DAWN (Cassandra, White Wolf Matriarchs):  Peace with a side of goodwill to all. Even for just the season it would be a beautiful thing.

ALINA K. FIELD (Rosalyn’s Ring):  A peaceful world, peaceful communities, and peaceful homes, and for each man, woman, and child, I would give wisdom to see blessings, and a heart filled with gratitude, “not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others

REBECCA HEFLIN (Ship of Dreams): Tolerance.

KIRA HILLINS (Take You Away): Bringing superheroes to life. With all that’s wrong in the world, we need them. 😉

EMERALD LAVERE (The Wikomsette): Empathy–each person would have the ability to truly see and feel life from the perspective of others. I believe that would result in understanding, compassion, and the ultimate gift…peace. Hugs are good gifts too! 🙂

VIKI LYN (Lover’s Trill: A Magical Christmas):  Universal inclusiveness and acceptance.

CAROLE ANN MOLETI (The Widow’s Walk): An end to terrorism in all its forms.

J. LYNN ROWAN (Better Than Chocolate):Lasting tolerance and understanding between peoples of all races and religions.

RYAN JO SUMMERS (Chasing the Painted Skies): Knowing the internal peace of knowing we are at the right time and place in our individual journey. Life is not always easy, especially for those who are really living it, but it should always feel right inside our hearts. I wish everyone could capture at least one of their dreams in their lifetime. I wish everyone could feel true love at least once, even if just for a short time. May all find time to enjoy the pleasantness around them, wherever they are, if by choice or design or fate.

CAROLINE WARFIELD (Dangerous Weakness): Eyes that could see people as God sees them, each be loved in his or her own way, all beloved no matter how different from one another.

Random Observation

As a writer, I observe what is going on around me. Live and the people in it are always interesting. And I’m nosy.

One of my favorite places to observe people is in line to checkout at the supermarket. I like to snoop into what the people ahead of me and behind me are purchasing. I try to imagine what they’re planning to cook; if they’re having company for dinner; if they have children or grandchildren. Do they live alone? Are they on a diet?

A few weeks ago, I was behind a man and a woman, my age, maybe a little younger. No meat for them. Whole grain bread. Lots of fresh veggies–squashes, hearty greens, and so on. What little processed food on the conveyor came straight from the natural food section.

And a box of women’s laxative. Generic store brand.

Guess all those fresh veggies needed some help.

Vegetables

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I’m not quite sure what people in the US have against vegetables, but there is definitely a conspiracy. We seem determined to cancel out any health benefits from eating veggies by adding things to them. I don’t mean seasonings or even a dab of butter, but other stuff. Unhealthy stuff.

As a child, I wasn’t fond of vegetables. I ate canned green beans, canned yellow beans, canned corn, and canned peas. Which probably explains why I didn’t like vegetables. As a teenager, I added iceberg lettuce to my repertoire. I didn’t really begin to appreciate veggies until I was older. Unadulterated vegetables. Asparagus. Broccoli. Cauliflower. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. (No, I still don’t like green peppers.) Kale–and most other greens. Beets. Sweet potatoes. Carrots. Winter squashes. I’m still not fond of summer squashes, but I’ll eat them.

I first realized this propensity a couple of years ago. I used to make a butternut squash/red onion/baby spinach/craisin dish for our family’s Thanksgiving celebration. A co-worker made her butternut squash with cheese and cream. Now, I have nothing against cheese. At all. But isn’t gooping up a vegetable with unhealthy stuff contrary to the point of eating vegetables?

For the past several years, my Thanksgiving contribution has been sweet potatoes. I think sweet potatoes are sweet enough without any help. So I invented my own recipe. A savory sweet potato dish. It’s now my annual contribution to all autumn, winter, and early spring family gatherings as it is gluten free, dairy free, oxalate free, and vegan. And it’s edible. This year, I wanted to try something simpler. Maybe something in the slow cooker. I asked friends for recipes that didn’t involve additional sweetening. No luck. I received many links and ideas, but every one of them called for one of the following: sugar; brown sugar; molasses; honey; maple syrup.  So I ended up making my usual sweet potato faux gallette. And it was fabulous.

Next up, I want to try roasted brussel sprouts. Anybody have a good recipe?

Telephone Woes

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I know I’ve written about my loathing for telephone solicitation before. In case you missed that rant, you can find it here.

I have a new strategy for live callers.

“Thank you so much for calling. You can find my books on Amazon dot com. . . No, no you called me. I’m an author and this is my place of business . . . I pay the phone bill. . . check out my author page on Amazon, or go to my website. I have books available on Barnes & Noble and Kobo and . . . no, no, you called my place of business. Do you call your supermarket and pitch them whatever it is you’re selling? Then what right do you have to call my place of business and not buy one of my books?”

The caller usually hangs up before I can finish the spiel.

I still need to deal with robocall. I’ve heard NoMorRoBo works really well. I just need to hunt down an account number and a password to register the house phones.