12 Oakdale

We’d gone to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate Patten’s birthday, bringing the watermelon cake he’d requested. He said I’d made one for his birthday many years ago. That recipe was long gone with all the cook books I’d tossed when I sold 14th Court. Onto the internet for a recipe where I found one using watermelon-flavored Jello. None at Publix, but three brands at Wal-Mart: Jell-O, Sonic, and Starburst. Do those customers do a lot of Jello shots? I opted for the Sonic, which claimed it tastes just like their slushee. Could be. Because the frosting was buttercream, I’d had Grant put our camping fridge in the truck to keep the cake cold on the trip down. It thawed while we watched the Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens 42-38. Actually, I watched while Patten, Ryann, and Grant went to the grocery store. They’d left at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Ravens leading 35 to 7, with the Dolphins not looking good. Fortunately, Patten keeps his phone on so they saw the comeback while they sh...

We really thought we’d stay up this year and ring in the new year. On the agenda was the Cotton Bowl at 3:30 PM in which out-of-it’s-league Cincinnati did much better than expected against Alabama. Final score: Cincinnati 6; Bama 27. Could have been much worse. Next up, the Peach Bowl at 7:30. My plan went away when Georgia got a touchdown on its opening possession and never looked back. Final score: Georgia 34; Michigan 11. I’d quite by halftime. Grant had wandered off to play his computer game. We’d eaten my onion tart with a bottle of American sparkling wine during the first game, and Grant’s black eyed pea salad with seltzer during the first quarter of the second. Desert was a shared Kris Kringle cookie (formerly known as Santa’s Winter White) from Gideon’s Bakehouse. Off to our respective corners, me to continue my binge of Episodes , a decade-old sitcom being retired by Netflix on January 4th, and Grant to manage his dragon quest. By 11:00, we were in bed.  The Town of Winder...

For the first time in almost two decades, I am not working the election. When we moved to Windermere, I assumed I would continue my career but spending 16+ hours in a room with other people seemed too risky in this Covid era. I did still get up at 5:00 AM, not to drive to my precinct where I was clerk, but to call a friend to be sure she woke up in time to get to her election job. It is her first time volunteering. Dealing with the American public is odd in the best of times; these are not those. I hope she gets a competent clerk who can keep control of the process. I know people are on edge, with poll watchers checking every move. Crossing my fingers for her and for our country. When I clerked, my precinct shared a rec center with 2 other precincts, so we had 20-25 volunteers. There were the good, the bad, and the incompetent, but volunteers are hard to find. Most were even older than I. We were called volunteers, but as clerk, I got $200 for 4 hours of training plus working Election ...