rajafacesbothways

Ying Yang Life

Read a review of the film, The Iron Lady, about Margaret Thatcher. I saw her in Parliament and stayed with friends who lived a few doors from her last residence; easy to identify with the constant guards in front.

And currently I'm in my loft with both doors open to dispel the odor that saturated the bricks in the empty space below. Keeping the heat turned off and the back door open I was able to sleep here last night, due to the unseasonably above freezing weather.

Just two observations on the extremes in my life but the list could go on and on. But I won't. The under-examined life is not worth living and the over-examined life is a bore. And I've never been bored.

Bourbon Trail

Tucked between the parties of great food and stimulating conversations, we managed to get to Makers Mark distillery, a producer of Kentucky bourbon off of a very narrow road, down in a holler. Hard to believe they ship one million bottles of bourbon a year.

There  are big wooden vats where the grains bubble and burp. The one below was filled with mash that tasted like sour beer. Fortunately it gets much better--just one of the steps to making, maturation and storing  the results for years in charcoal oak barrels.

Makers Mark hands dips each bottle in red wax. Kentucky has more oak barrels filled with bourbon than it has people.

Entrance to Makers Mark distillery tour. The day after our visit, the New York Times did a feature on bourbon and Kentucky. Living here is sooooo cutting edge.

 

Don't Breathe!

Had a super Christmas visit with Karen and friend Kathryn. The strong odor downstairs still persists; thanks to my landlord, we moved to the Magnolia Inn a block down Main Street to spend our nights. I keep the heat off, my back and front doors are open when I'm here and it is getting better. However we managed to be fed and entertained well by friends and had a casual Christmas dinner here.

Kathryn--eating soup, waiting for heat to come on.

By dinner time we were warm and filled with good beer, fine wine--and I recall a Bloody Mary?!

 

Main Street Mania

Workmen put a sealer on the bricks downstairs with a very strong and toxic odor that permeates the 2 upstairs lofts and even into Favas, a couple of walls away. I spent the night at a friends house and saw my landlord as I was returning this morning-- toting my jammies and toothbrush--told him I slept all night in the park because of the fumes. And wondered if this substance was EPA approved.

At the other end of the street, across from the court house, the Sons of Liberty gun shop has a sign pasted on the door--baby equipment for sale in the back room. Oh my Gawd! Last year's manger scene has not reappeared--did someone shoot the Baby Jesus!

 

 

 

Favas Food Fest

This week's food frenzy kicked off last night with Favas Open House.  Every year the owner, Jeannie, has a party with an abundance of free food for her customers--including her incredible dirty rice and gumbo, meats, veggies, breads, homemade deserts, etc.; an Elvis impersonator provides entertainment.

This year was no different--despite the fact she is battling lung cancer the party went on. "Of course," she said. " It's Christmas!"

Jeannie--Favas owner

 

 

Badge of Honor

Grandson Cory stopped here en route to Minnesota and Korea.  He completed training in GA to become an Army Ranger.This "piece of cloth"  required extremely hard work, difficult training and dedication. An example why we can be proud of our country's military.

 

Weisenberger Mill

--the ultimate answer to adult easy bake ovens for over 100 years.

Powdery Substances

Picked up 4 dozen packages of pizza and scone dry mixes  at Weisenberger Mill--to send along to Chicago. Hmm. They requested the same amount  just a couple of months ago. a

Question? Are they really baking that much or are they snorting the white powder?

Bringing the Troops Home

Another war has come to an end--I truly honor and respect all the troops that served while the rest of us were encouraged to do our part by shopping. I've lived long enough to see a lot of wars--I remember the end of WW2 as a little child--jumping and somersaulting on the grass in celebration with a friend as the few cars passed honking. We won!

I can't recall us "winning" another of the many wars since then. They have been declared ended but not clearly won and I've known some injured or killed from my lifetime of wars.  The Vietnam Wall reduces me to tears.

And if/when we leave Afghanistan I'm not the young naive patriot I was as a kid. I definitely will not be doing somersaults down Main Street. By then I'll be too old.

A REAL Tea Party

Went for a fabulous tea at beautiful Shaker Village with 2 friends. a real tea party--no signs, hysterical speeches or angry Obama bashing.

Just several courses of wonderful tiny sandwiches, scones and muffins and deserts.

A lovely yin to the yang of the apparent German WW2 machine gun in the window of the Sons of Liberty gun shop on Main Street.