Anselm is 18, a shopping list, other stuff

Today is Anselm Samuel's eighteenth birthday.  He has turned out okay; a better son than I deserve. He seems to be ready for adulthood.  He's better prepared than I was. We can't have a party for him since we are not allowed to do anything in groups per the Health Department's order.

It is the case, as I discovered a couple of days ago, that Anselm did not miss the deadline for Eagle Scout.  He has all the requirements met, and all the forms signed.  Only one thing is lacking: The final Eagle Project in which he leads a bunch of Scouts in a big public service project.  It was supposed to be finished yesterday but because of the Health Department's order he couldn't assemble the Scouts to do the work.  The BSA is giving him an extension on the time.

I wasn't too worried about the Covid-19, or the Chinese Bat Disease  as I am calling it just to annoy Chairman XI and the Chicoms, but since yesterday I've been trying to file and claim for unemployment insurance and have been able to get through to their office.  (The census bureau has delayed my start time until late April.)  Their website is down and they don't answer their phones.  They seem to be overwhelmed.  Also, I read that the Javits Center, a VERY BIG convention center in Manhattan is being turned into a hospital, and the Navy is sending its hospital ships to New York and Seattle.

The California Health Department is planning on 50% of the people in the state getting CBD by the end of April.  But they are not all going to die from CBD.  Depending on age group the death rate from known cases ranges from 0% (19 and younger) to 27% (85 and older), so lets just go with a 2% death rate to keep things simple.  The population of California is about 40 million people.  That means, if the California Health Department is right and the CDC is right, that 20 million Californians will catch CBD, and 400,000 Californians will die from CBD before the start of summer.

So, because the chances of getting the CBD seems to be about 50/50, I'm going out today to buy the stuff needed to take care of Kathleen and I.  This is made more difficult for me because yesterday something happened to my left foot. 

My foot has been hurting for a few weeks but the pain was tolerable, but yesterday, while I was walking there was a loud, audible pop right in the middle of my foot and now I can barely walk.  The various websites I went to say I probably have arthritis in my foot.  I don't know.  I sent an email to my doctor yesterday but haven't heard back from her.  She's probably busy treating people for CBD.

So, what will I have on hand to deal with CBD?  I think a couple of gallons of Gatorade, about 20 cans of Ensure, beef bullion, lots of kleenex tissues, aspirin, Tylenol, a thermometer, laundry soap, a big bottle of chlorine bleach.

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday was the first day of the state ordered "Shelter-in-Place" and "Social Distancing".  I spent the day working in the garden with Kathleen and Basil.  Then I cooked corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes in the pressure cooker/canner Kathleen gave me a couple of years ago.  Anselm Samuel made Irish soda bread.  I made two pies.  I gave everyone little icons of St. Patrick with his "Lorica" printed on the reverse.   I told the story of St. Patrick doing spiritual combat with the wizards at Tara. We prayed the "Lorica", ate dinner and desert, then watched a movie set in Ireland, "Waking Ned Devine."  All in all, it wasn't a bad first day of the pestilence restrictions, and it was a very good St. Patrick's Day.

The Pestilence: Covid-19

We've been watching as the disease spreads.  Three days ago the school district I work for sent everyone home and said not to come back until April 13.  The last three days at my other job were nuts.  We sold out of 9mm, .40, .38, and ..44 snd .45 pistol  ammo.  We ran out of buck shot.  We ran out of 5.56mm and 7.62mm rifle ammo.  A co-worker in the camping department said they ran out of freeze-dried food and generators.  A friend who works at the county hospital's ER said they are already overwhelmed. A friend who works for Cal-Fire was told last night to prepare for riots in case of quarantine.  The Governor is expected to make an announcement in eleven hours.

Kathleen and I have stocked up on beans and rice.  We have water.  We have chlorine.  We have cash.  We have gasoline.  I took a rifle and ammo over to my sons' house.  They have a fall back plan.

In other news, I was offered and accepted a job with the U.S. Census Bureau.  I won't start for a couple of weeks.  It will exempt me from the quarantine and give me an opportunity to earn money while I can't work at my other jobs.

This is the prayer the bishops have told us to pray:

"O God Almighty, Lord of heaven and earth, and of all creation visible and invisible, in thine ineffable goodness, look down upon us, thy people gathered in thy Holy Name. Be our helper and defender in this day of affliction. Thou knowest our weakness. Thou hearest our cry in repentance and contrition of heart. O Lord who lovest mankind, deliver us from the impending threat of the Corona Virus. Send thine angel to watch over us and protect us. Preserve the healthy in good health. Grant healing and a quick recovery to those suffering from this pernicious disease. Guide the hands of physicians, nurses, and all health care workers who are laboring on behalf of all of our people, and protect them from infection. Enable us to continue to serve our suffering brothers and sisters in peace that together we may glorify thy most honorable and majestic name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages."

Dinner Last Night, the Garden this Morning, and a Recipe

Preserving Lemons and Oranges

Last night Son #3 came over and we made dinner together.  When Kathleen and her kids got home we served hummus, homemade pita chips, halved pita for stuffing, thin sliced red cabbage, three kinds of olives, greek peppers, my homemade hot sauce, minced radishes, Morrocan rice (flavored with some of the lemons Son #4 and I preserved in salt a back in January 2019.  We also preserved some seville oranges that day.), sardines, and sliced onions, and Son #3's banana bread.  It was a good meal.

I didn't have a sub assignment today so I worked in the garden this morning.  The good news:  Everything seems to be growing, even some of the bulbs are coming up.  We bought some little coconut fiber pots to start more plants in.  Mostly cucumber and tomato; both doing well.  None of the marigolds have sprouted yet but I have hope. 
The bad news: Squirrels.  They keep eating leaves and shoots and digging things up.  Maybe it was a mistake to trap and kill cats.  I don't know.


My Hummus Recipe

Three cans garbanzo beans
One van tahini.
6 clovers garlic finely minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

In a large bowel use a potato masher to mash and mix together the beans and tahini.

Add the salt, garlic, and pepper. Mix well.

The Garden, my knee, and Lent

Red snap dragons growing near tomato plants.

The garden is looking okay for March.  My Indian neighbor, the one who taught me how to grow garlic, planted marigold seeds with me today along the eastern edge of the eastern most planter box.  We got the seeds from the marigold flowers we planted last year.  Two little boys came out and watched, they are the ones who gave us the little lemon tree we planted out by the garden.  I gave them each a snap dragon and taught them how to open it's saws.  Mammy, my Dad's mom taught me how to do it when I was about these boys' age.  A squirrel ate all the the squash plants that we started from seed.  Oh well.  What are you going to do?

It seems that I am getting old.  I thought I broke or, at least, sprained my knee but it turns out that I have arthritis.  It hurts pretty bad.  Walking is very difficult. The doctor said they don't want to give me shots at this age, 51 because if they do there won't be any tendons left when I am 60. So, I just have to take large amounts of tylenol and ibuprofen and use some some kind of gel on my knee twice a day.  Oh, and she said I have to lose another 50 pounds; like I haven't already lost 80.  I guess Lent is a good time to lose more weight.

This is Kathleen's first attempt at Orthodox Lent.  I am easing her into it.  So far, we are just going meatless.  It is a big change for her.  She has never been a vegetarian before and she is kind of aghast at the idea of no meat at all for 47 days.  Tonight I made indian food: Garbanzos cooked in ginger, garlic, turmeric, and coconut milk together with a roasted savory squash and sweet potato dusted with salt and allspice.

Anselm and I were able to to to Great Compline at St. Nicholas Church last night.  I think, given my work schedule that I should be able to go every Monday and Tuesday night during Lent.  I can't do prostrations because of my knee but, at least, I can be there.

Christmas, Birthday, the Boys, and the Garden

Christmas was pretty busy.  I did manage to find the time to go up the mountain to get Christmas trees.  It was, probably, the last time Anselm Samuel will do it.  I expect next Christmas he will be off in Alaska or Texas or South Dakota working as a welder.  I didn't find the time to make the Christmas sausage or go to any services at the Cathedral, but I was able to go to the Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas on Christmas morning and the boys went to vespers at St. Stephen with their mother on Christmas Eve.  I was surprised by that.  I didn't know she still went to church.  About the only things I remember from Christmas this year are the party at my sisters house, going to church, and going for a walk along Fulton Street in Palo Alto with Kathleen and her kids.  Unlike the crazy, crowded, loud, over-the-top decorations in Willow Glen or some other parts of the bay area, Fulton Street is quiet and quaint.  You just walk along in the cold, looking at the houses.  It kind of evokes the feeling Rat and Mole had experienced when they were walking through a human village on Christmas Eve.

January is kind of a blur.  All I did was work.  Everyday.

In February I began taking a class on wastewater management.  It is something I have always been interested in but I never knew how to get into it.  I tried to get into it about 10 years ago but the nearest school for it was in Los Angeles.  In January of this year one of my co-workers at Bass Pro Shops told me that her other job is for the City of Palo Alto and that she works in drinking water but knows all the people in waste water.  I mentioned to her that I was always interested in that but didn't know how to get into it.  So she told me.  Then I told Kathleen about the conversation and the next day she emailed me a flyer from the school where she teaches.  The flyer said that at the request of several local governments they were offering a course that meets the legal requirements for someone to take the waste water treatment plant operator test.  So, I signed up for the class and the test.   I am very excited about this opportunity.

My 51st birthday was on the 4th.  Kathleen and the boys threw a little party for me.  I had Rocky Road and Jamocha Almond Fudge ice cream from Baskin-Robins.  Those have been my favorites since I was a little boy.

Basil and I went fishing at Lake Amador a couple of days ago.  We had fun but caught no fish.  He is still doing high school and college concurrently.  He got straight As in high school last semester and a B in his college class.  This semester he is taking another class at Evergreen Valley College: intro to philosophy.  So far, he is enjoying it.  I love that he is spending two nights a week with me.

Anselm missed a dead line for Eagle Scout so he won't be getting it.  I don't think it matters to him.  He just likes going on the camp outs.  Him getting Eagle was always more important to me than it was to him.  Besides, he is more involved with his Venturing crew and Order of the Arrow  lodge than he is with his Boy Scout troop.  He has finished his welding training but is still to young to get a job as a welder so he is working full-time at Starbuck's and trying to get into the apprenticeship programs at either the pipe-fitter union or the sheet metal union.

The garden.  Not to scale.

The garden is doing okay.  The garlic we planted in the fall is ready to ready to harvest.  It isn't the typical big-bulbed garlic you see in stores.  It is tender flavorful spring garlic.  I've been cooking with it for a week.  On Monday (today is Thursday) we built a new planter box.  So now we have four 4'x8' boxes and a bunch of pots.  We planted a lot of tomatoes, some bell peppers, pumpkin (from seeds we saved from our favorite pumpkin last year), some early squash, and a lot of flowers.  As soon as all the garlic is harvested we'll plant cucumbers and zucchini.  The garden always makes me happy.  Yes, we still have grubs, but not as many as last year.  And more nematodes are being delivered today.

Advent So Far

Cranberry-Nut Bread:  One large, three small.

It has been a trying Advent.  Kathleen's one job takes about 60 hours per week.  My three jobs (Only two now.  I resigned my rental housing job last week.  Now I only work at Bass Pro Shops and and as a substitute teacher.) have kept me super busy, too.  Nevertheless, I have been able to get the boys and Kathleen to read through the Gospel of Luke with me; a chapter a day for 24 days, then the next morning is Christmas. 

I've managed to do some baking.  I donated three of my fruitcakes to the parish bake sale.  Tonight when I came home from work I baked four loaves of cranberry-nut bread.  (I'll probably give them to the people I work with at Bass Pro Shops.) It reminded me of when Cyndi and I used to bake a loaf for every family at Holy Trinity Cathedral.  It was so hard.  We both worked (I for AT&T. She for BAVC) but would be up all night long on Christmas Eve to get all the loaves baked and wrapped.  But it was so much fun to give them away after the Divine Liturgy on Nativity.
Somehow, I have to find time to take the boys to get a Christmas tree and we still have to grind and stuff the Christmas sausage.  Gosh.  There is so much to do.  I'm glad I don't have to do Christmas shopping. Presents bought at shops are the worst part of Christmas.

So, if I don't want boughten presents what do I want for Christmas?  To see my children wiping away tears at Confession.  To marry Kathleen so I can approach the chalice again. To cook for lots of people and make them happy.  To see Alastair Sims as Scrooge again. 

A Mouse in the Garden

I took out the last tomato vine and composted it.  Actually, I took the opportunity to turn the compost, something I haven't done in a couple of months.  In one bin I found a giant ant colony.  In the other was a mouse nest.  The mouse was little brown and afraid.  I didn't kill it.  I don't think it's hurting anything. All that is growing in the garden now is garlic and onions.

It seems that St. Nicholas visited my boys and Kathleen's kids early this morning for there were chocolate coins found in shoes.

A Christmas Gift List for Women Who Buy Presents for Men

One of my more popular posts (Like the Fall of Constantinople and Egg Nog it gets millions and millions of page views.) is the Christmas list for the man who has everything.  So, I'm going to make another Christmas list. If it is popular as last year's I'll probably make it an annual event.

10.  What is that sound, you ask?  It's the sound of majesty!  When your man wakes you up in the morning by playing these beautiful bagpipes you'll feel like Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle. 

9. Remember that time you and your man got lost while taking the tour at MGM Studios, and how you walked in the wrong door and got to see George Cukor berating Angela Landsbury for stealing every scene she was in?  Well, did you notice the chair?  Your man did, and he wants a director's chair just like that one, but made of leather.

8. Your man looks Irish but he is very in-touch with his Native American ancestors. His mother's mother's mother was a Cherokee so you just know he would cherish these Trail of Tears bookends.

7.  He's never ridden a bull.   He's never been on a cattle drive.  He's never worked on a ranch.  But he has a cowboy hat and he likes to eat at Harris's and Alexander's.  So get him what he really needs:  A steer horn chair. Just think of the hours of enjoyment!

6. When he joined the church you thought it was just another phase, like fly fishing or pasta making.  But now, decades after they let him in he's been elected to be parish warden.  He has the broom for sweeping up after services.  He has a plunger and a wrench for fixing the toilets.  Now all he needs is this gorgeous churchwarden pipe.

5.  His tools were given to him by his dad and he can tell you all about the many things he's built or maintained with those tools.  But they are all in a pillow case in the corner of the garage.  Give him a worthy home for those tools.  Give him a leather tool roll.

4. He was Colonel Potter's favorite author and he'll be your man's favorite author, too. Just as soon as you give him a a copy of one of Zane Grey's books.

3. He hunts. He cooks.  He camps.  He likes to play with fire.  Bring all his hobbies together with this wonderful memory-making dutch oven and tri-pod.

2.  He's wanted them ever since he saw Grease when he was a kid.  Get him what he always wanted but was too practical to buy for himself:  Fuzzy dice!!!

1.  The Leg Lamp. 

An Advent Wreath Service for the Domestic Church

We Orthodox (I still call myself Orthodox even though I am unable to commune for the past few years; a situation that will be rectified before this time next year) don't do as much during the Nativity Fast (In the west it is called Advent) as we do during Great Lent.  Pretty much, all we do is,  beginning on November 15, abstain from wine, oil, meat, fish, dairy, and sex.  Positively we give more secret alms and there are the two services on the two Sundays preceding the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ According to the Flesh. (In the west it is called Christmas).  Oh, there is also the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple but other than that there isn't much that is different about this time of year; very unlike Great Lent in the Spring which is totally jam packed with stuff.

So, what can a person do to get the most out this time of year.  Well, if you have little children there are many books you can read to them.  My children are not little anymore so

Two Good Bakers

Today I taught two little girls how to make the Cranberry-Walnut Pie.  The little bakers did  a very good job on them.

Toms

I took the morning off from work ( I am working later tonight though) to go turkey hunting.  I got my limit so the season is over for me.  I got two toms with one shot of Federal #5 steel shot. I was only aiming at the big one but at 40 yards the shot pattern is pretty wide and I got the smaller one by mistake.  They are, after plucking and gutting, 14 and 17 pounds.  The gun is a Stevens Side-by-Side 12 ga. made in1943.  It looks like I am all set for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Water Temple and Pumpkins

Anselm at the farm

Basil wore his plague doctor costume

I had my 90-day review at work tonight.  They said I am doing well and will keep me on.

Yesterday Anselm and Basil and I went to Bob's Pumpkin Farm over by Half Moon Bay and then to the Water Temple.  It was their first time at the Water Temple since they were little boys but we go to the pumpkin farm every year. Anselm says he is planning on moving to Texas or Alaska next spring when he turns 18 so I suppose this will be his last year to go to the Pumpkin farm with me.

We each got a pumpkin for carving and I got two for cooking.  I still have two out in the garden that are almost ready to pick.

Each each year since 2006

The Water Temple

Fishing at Coyote Lake

In the early 1990s my parents used to go to Coyote Lake in their motor home.  One summer, I remember, they stayed there for a couple of months with my two oldest sons, Billy and Devon.  (I miss them greatly.)  I went down and saw them at the lake several times during that summer.  I had to work but I got down there when I could.  Weekends.

This morning, about 20 years since the last time I at that lake, Anselm and I went fishing down there.  It was strange for me.  I loved being with Anselm (He caught a bass on a crawdad lure but it was two small to keep). but I was also sad because of my first two sons.  We saw three different flocks of turkeys (one was mostly Gould's variety but the others looked like Rio Grand variety.  I was surprised to see such sharp distinctions.) a covey of quail, several mule deer, and a bobcat.  but no coyotes.

Sometimes, it seems like I have had too many lives.  Everything and everywhere is full of memories.

Anselm and I are going to make a regular thing out of Thursday mornings, I think.  I am able to arrange my work schedule so that I don't have to be anywhere until 2pm on Thursdays, and that is fine for fishing.  I am very happy about that.

A Fourteen Year Old

Basil Wenceslas turned 14 today.  It is amazing.  I can hardly believe it. It seems like yesterday that I wasa driving his mother to Good Samaritan Hospital, that Fr. David was naming him, that Bishop Benjamin was baptising him, that he was going to his older brother's cub scout meetings, then becoming a Cubs Scout himself.  I loved reading to him.  Blueberries for Sal was one of his favorites.  It was given to him by an old woman who lived next door to us when Basil was still in a stroller.   For this birthday I gave him a Koine Greek curriculum.  I hope we get to read it together.  He is even taking a college class now.  He is doing so well compared to where he was a couple of years ago.  I am proud of him.

Nematodes, Tomatoes, and Hornworms

The good news is that the nematodes worked!  All the grubs are dead and the tomato plants are producing again. Cucumber and squash are recovering, too. We are very pleased.

The bad news is we now have tomato hornworms.  Kathleen has recruited neighborhood kids into an anti-hornworm task force.

Nematodes and a new Life Scout

I want to plant garlic seeds before November but not with all those nasty grubs in the soil.  So Kathleen bought 40,000,000 nematodes and I treated two of the raised beds.  She said she is going to buy more so I can treat all our other growing areas.  Hopefully the nematodes do their job and we will have lots and lots of garlic in the spring.

Anselm (AKA the little boy) had his board of review for Life Scout tonight.  He passed.  Next step is Eagle Scout.  I can hardly believe he is almost there.

Pumpkins

There are only three pumpkins left on the vines.  I ate a couple.  I gave one to some neighborhood kids who like to play in the garden but never hurt the plants.  They were pretty excited.  It took two of them to carry it home.  I hope their mom cooked it for them.

In addition to the Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good I have roasted pumpkin then cooked beef stew in it.  It was pretty good.  I think I'll make it again.  But sometime this week I want to make pumpkin soup.  It is something I've never made but I want to try out a couple of recipes before Thanksgiving.  If I like any of them I might make it for that great day.

Oh, about the powdery mildew.  It killed most of the pumpkin vines, but what it didn't kill is very healthy.  It is even flowering again this morning.  Amazing.

Cherubic Hymn

A couple of Sundays ago son #4 heard me explaining to someone what the Cherubic Hymn (It is part of the Divine Liturgy) is all about. He became unusually excited and said, "How come I'm just now hearing this?" At that time I thought, "What is he talking about? It's all I've talked about with him for thirteen years?" But later, I began thinking about it and it dawned on me that if one doesn't know everything that that is going on during that part of the service, the Cherubic Hymn really is the most boring and pointless part of the liturgy.  I think it really helps one to stay engaged if it is remembered that the liturgy of the catechumens has just ended, that the liturgy of the faithful has just begun, and that the faithful are mystically present in God's throne room and are offering worship in the place of the cherubim. Additionally, while the faithful are singing the cherubic hymn, the priest is at the altar quietly praying this prayer:

"None is worthy among them that are bound with carnal lusts and pleasures, to approach or to draw nigh, or to minister unto Thee, O King of glory, for to serve Thee is a great and fearful thing even unto the heavenly hosts themselves. Yet because of Thine ineffable and immeasurable love for mankind, without change or alteration Thou didst become man, and didst become our High Priest, and didst deliver unto us the ministry of this liturgical and bloodless sacrifice, for Thou art the Master of all. Thou alone, O Lord our God, dost rule over those in heaven and those on earth, art borne upon the throne of the Cherubim, art Lord of the Seraphim and King of Israel, Thou alone art holy and restest in the saints. I implore Thee, therefore, Who alone art good and inclined to listen: Look upon me, Thy sinful and unprofitable servant, and purge my soul and heart of a wicked conscience, and, by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, enable me, who am clothed with the grace of the priesthood, to stand before this Thy Holy Table, and to perform the sacred Mystery of Thy holy and immaculate Body and precious Blood. For unto Thee do I draw nigh, bowing my neck, and I pray Thee: Turn not Thy countenance away from me, neither cast me out from among Thy children, but vouchsafe that these gifts be offered unto Thee by me, Thy sinful and unworthy servant: For Thou art He that offereth and is offered, that accepteth and is distributed, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory, together with Thine unoriginate Father, and Thy Most holy and good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages."

Two Jobs, the Boys, and a Diploma

I have two jobs now.  My main job is as a hunting outfitter at Bass Pro Shops in San Jose.  I advise people on scopes, binoculars, guns, ammo, knives, decoys, and stuff like that.  It's fun.  Not much money but fun.  My other job is for Golden State Property Management.  In that job I drive around and show vacant apartments and houses to prospective tenants.  Its more money per hour but unpredictable.  For example, last Thursday I had six showings but today I have none.

Basil (Son #4) is spending two nights a week with me now.  That is because on Mondays and Wednesdays he is going to class at Evergreen Valley College.  That is where Kathleen works, and she drives him to school.  Right now he is only taking one class but that class meets the UC and CSU degree requirements.  My hope is that next semester he will take three, and by the time he gets a high school diploma already have the first two years of college knocked out.  He is the most academically inclined of all my children.  But my real joy is lighting the candle and incense, and singing the morning and  evening prayers with him when he is here.

Anselm (Son #3) is a qualified welder but isn't old enough to work as a welder.  No one will hire him until he is 18.  Until then he is working at Starbucks, which pays good money.  He is also taking advanced TIG classes.  Last week he survived the Ordeal and achieved the Brotherhood rank in the Order of the Arrow.  He is progressing toward Eagle Scout. He says that as soon as he turns 18 he is going to move to Alaska or Texas to find work as a welder, I'm hoping for Alaska; there's a higher percentage of Orthodox there.  Oh, how fast these years have flown by!

Perhaps, if you've read this blog for a long time, you remember that I began working on a masters degree in ancient and classical history about 11 years ago.  Well, I finally finished all the work and paid my bill but I took longer than allowed so I don't get the M.A. (One only gets 7 years from start to finish to earn a M.A. degree in the U.S.)  Instead they are mailing me a "Graduate Diploma".  So, that's something, I guess.  It's not an M.A. but it's something.