Road Kill Cafe

When our kids were little they loved it when I would come up with outragous names for the food they were eating. Little kids and gross sounding stuff just seem to go together.

They would ask me what we were having for lunch or dinner, then wait impatiently while I racked my brain for something crazy to call it. Some of the more memorable things I came up with are HD Octopus with cheesy squid brains. Translated that was hot-dogs and mac n cheese. The hot-dogs were cut about 3/4 of the way up into eight strips. When they were boiled the cut pieces would curl up around the uncut part, looking kind of like an octopus.

We also had things like bones and blood…………french fries and catsup. Mangled monkey brains and worms equaled spaghetti and meat-sauce. They loved poodles’n'noodles………beef and noodles. Swirl of squirrel was tuna salad sandwiches. The lunches I would send with them to school would be known as the bag’n'gag……anything dead in bread. It went a long way towards making a lunch-meat sandwich more exciting.

I really did get them one evening for dinner. As usual I was being questioned about what I was making. I told them they were having Graveyard soup and pine floats. They were so excited and trying to figure out just what it was that they were going to have for dinner. The look on their faces was priceless when I set before them a bowl of milk toast and a glass of water with a toothpick floating on top.

Our son left this morning to go back home. It was so wonderful that he was able to come for Thanksgiving, since it has been over a year since we saw each other.

As I knew it would, his leaving was hard for this mothers heart. I still saw the boy I knew in the man he has become. He still enjoyed hanging out in the kitchen with me as I prepared meals, as always intrested in learning how to cook “like mom”. I loved listening to him talk with his dad, even though the technicial computer conversations sailed over my head.

I loved it when would say to me, “Lets go for walk, ma.”  Then he would talk about his job, his friends and other mundane things. But slowly he would talk about the things that were really important to him, problems he was dealing with, dreams and plans. As we walked through the windswept piles of leaves and along the babbling water of the creek, he unburdened himself and I could see peace returning to his soul. He would turn to me and simply say “Thanks ma”.

What a joy it was to watch him out spending time with his dad,  talking, laughing and chasing down arrows that failed to hit the target when they were practicing with the bow. As I watched I tried to remember just when it was that he got so tall and broad in the shoulders. It still seems like only yesterday when he tried to keep pace with his fathers long strides, trotting along in his bib overalls and ever-present cap. Now they were matching strides, effortlessly.

In a way it seems hard to believe that a year has already passed. The “official” anniversary date is on this coming Wednesday, but since we are eagerly expecting the arrival of our son and his family that day, I thought I would stroll down memory lane a bit early.

We have accomplished a number of projects in the year since we acquired the gulch. Some were easy, some not. Some were even unexpected. So here is a list, in no particular order……….

Repair and upgrade of the water collection system for the cistern.

Discovering and uncovering the walled over window in the bathroom.

Removing the “Twilight Zone” wallpaper and weird chair-rail in the hallway.

Installing lights in said refurbished and repainted hallway.

Creating, planting, maintaining and harvesting a garden.

Installing a clothesline.

Remodel of the kitchen. (Before and after photos in the April archives.)

Repairing plumbing.

Repair/replace/install several electrical outlets.

Repairing plumbing.

Replacing bathroom sink and toilet.

Installing a screen door.

Installing ceiling fans.

Repair of windows so they would open.

Removal of a huge bush that was over taking the yard.

Installing a wood stove.

Ridding the house of a mouse population.

Painting.

Cleaning and refurbishing wood floors.

Put up a porch swing.

Removal of satellite dishes left by previous owners.

Planting a rhubarb patch.

Installing an attic ladder.

Setting up communications and back up power.

Building a bookcase for the video library.

I think we have had a fairly productive year. There are still more projects waiting to be accomplished, but I am proud of all the work we have done.

We have successfully gotten the wood-stove installed. For once the installation was not fraught with unseen contingencies. A little more time consuming than we had thought, but not bad.

There was a lot of climbing up and down ladders both to the attic and to the roof, but hey, exercise is good for you. My main role in this production was as a go-fer for Jeff2. Especially when it came to the on the roof part. But that helped what he was doing go much smoother and without having to stop to retrieve things. You can only carry so much on a trip up a ladder at one time, and yet so many things are necessary.

We enjoyed our first fire shortly after completing the install, and we enjoyed another one last night. As a test to see how well the house would heat with only the wood-stove, we shut off all the baseboard heaters. The stove we chose has a fan that helps to distribute the heat and that worked very well. It was only 40 degrees outside, so it was not very cold, but the heat from the stove warmed the whole house. Now we know that in the event of an extended power outage we will be able to stay warm and keep the plumbing from freezing. Plus it will help to lower our electric bill.

The sounds of December days are muffled under a blanket of snow, whether the gray and white days of falling snow, or the sunny days of blue skies and glistening snow. In the meadows few animals are seen. Only their footprints are revealed, in meandering lines that originate somewhere unseen and go to places unknown. Grasses nod their heads of grain, inviting flocks of passing birds. Cardinals, so secretive throughout the summer nesting season, now flaunt themselves on backyard feeders, and sprays of wild roseberries add a decorative touch of red to roadsides and hedgerows.
The nights of December fall dark and early, and houses twinkle with strings of colored lights. Back porches are stacked with firewood, and the crystalline air is delicately scented with wood smoke. Inside, homes are filled with firelight and candle glow, and ovens yield old family recipies, while outside, the drifting snow fills the valleys and covers the rooftops.

This all sounds so wonderful, peaceful and comforting………………………………..

OK, now back to reality.

Most people , this time of year are waiting for the blitz days of savings at their area stores, the true start of their holiday season. They will line up in the pre-dawn hours the day after Thanksgiving, pushing and shoving their way into the stores as soon as the managers key hits the lock. Then, watch out! It is a free-for-all of grabbing, stuffing into shopping carts and rushing on to the next aisle……….kind of like an out of control mob of looters in a smash and grab frenzy after some disaster.
The background cacophony is made up of sterile Christmas music, the ceaseless ringing bell of a Salvation Army volunteer asking you to donate money, car horns, car alarms, sirens of all types and the cries of overtired children demanding that you ” buy me something. ”
Thanksgiving is the the eve of this over- commercialized, basterdized debauchery. Thanksgiving used to be a time of families to gather, enjoy each others company and a good meal filled with special treats, love and laughter. That has been replaced, for many, with getting the ads from the newspaper, spreading them out on the table and making a battle plan of shopping the blitz day sales that would make a WWII general proud. Armed, not with the weapons of war, but with debit and credit cards, eyes steeled with determination of obtaining as much of the sale merchandise as they can carry, and God help you if you get in their way.
What has happened to the holiday season, when giving gifts was a sign of love for one another? It has spiraled down into a competition of gluttony, attempting to buy the the love and affection of those close to you, to demonstrate by spending beyond your means the ” love ” you have for someone, of buying instead of making your holiday meal.
Gone are the days of spending your time instead of your money, making with your own hands and heart, a special holiday rememberance for some one you care for. Just what are these people going to do when the economy crumbles under the weight of overspending with fiat currency? The crisis that is sure to follow will make the depression days of the 1930’s look like a picnic on a warm summers day. Most will not have a clue how to survive when the local grocery store can no longer get their shipments of prefab, canned, boxed and frozen meals, the fast food restaurants are closed and they have to make their own cup of coffee.

The golden leaves that were the glory of October now lie dead and brown on the frosty ground, and bare black branches etch their silhouettes against the bleak gray sky. The nights that begin so early now twinkle with candlelight and the comforting glow from wood-stoves or fireplaces.

To be sure not all days are cloudy gray. The brilliant sun casts a bright but not too warming sheen on the countryside. The leafless trees are a contrast to the still green lawns and most hillsides. Our hummingbirds have flown off somewhere warm and are replaced by blazingly red cardinals and bluebirds.

Most mornings begin with a frost covered landscape, but there are still warmer days to be had. Days that remind you of the warmth of the summer now past. Soon we will be celebrating our first full year at the gulch. What a year it has been living in new surroundings that never seemed strange, but more like finally coming home.

We have accomplished many improvements to our little gulch and still have many more planned. So as the cooler weather of winter sets in we can look back on projects finished and forward to more yet to do. There have been ups and downs, to be sure, but all in all it has been a fruitful year.