A friend of ours from University in South Africa drew this sketch in about 1982, depicting a 'character' often spotted around the computer services division on campus. My friends and I referred to him as John the Baptist (how ironic), while my youngest brother couldn't remember his name as Dale, but described him as 'a guy who looked like a bird watcher'.
We have been busy spending more time with family this past week, culminating in a day of 4 of 6 Brodericks together for the first time in about 35 years. Wild! Family photo overload alert!
My youngest sister and her husband have been travelling through Europe and the U.K. on motorcycles since Oct last year, and my eldest brother flew in from Florida to be part of the rare reunion opportunity this presented.
It grew from 2 sibs from last week to 3,
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| Photo: ML Broderick |
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| Photo: D.Schultz |
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| Photo: D. Schultz |
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| Photo: D.Schultz |
Vegetation shows the path of a stream so nicely. A pity it wasn't enough to form a cooling off pool. 
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| Photo: D.Schultz |
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| Photo: MLB |
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| Photo: D. Schultz |
We're excited to have had family visiting for a few days, so we've been a tad preoccupied. We last saw both my sister and b-i-l in 2011, though we did see Maryann on her own more recently (2016!).
The best parts were simply catching up, sampling beers, and dining together outside when the air was cool enough. Here is one of those instances:
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| Photo: D. Schultz |
Here are a few pics of scenery from our evening walk after a sweltering day.
Darling, pathetically-needy and loving Fluffalo has become my shadow. He DEMANDS contact. And heck, I must say I love it that he chooses ME.
But ... he's been tailing Dallas (resident cat) relentlessly wherever she goes, or keeps advancing menacingly towards her, even as she's yowling "NO." He keeps at it without letting up, and then acts as if his threatening advances are innocent.
He's also INSISTENT that he ought to be allowed on countertops and tables, a big "No-no" in our house. Did I mention the word relentless? I'm worn out from scolding and chastising (but it's not as if I wasn't warned ahead of time). How can he not melt your heart, though? Fluffalo usually starts the day in the negatives on the cuteness scale because of his nightly yowling, but manages to exceed way more than 100% before days' end.
And then there's Peep - silky, talkative, and perfectly delightful. Fluffalo's feisty partner in crime has so much more dignity, smarts, and cunning. She manages to stay under the radar - I suspect she's the mastermind behind the plot to send Fluffalo out into battle with Dallas, so he can test the waters and pave the way for her ladyship.
She's so playful, and lightning fast at pouncing games. Never mind "the pitter-patter of tiny feet - I think Peep's the main culprit when it comes to thundering back and forth across the slippery floors at night, rumpling my floor mats into trip-able floor obstacles.
I love seeing her shred egg boxes for fun (I think she imagines she's tearing up prey) - it's so much fun to watch, despite the awful mess it makes. Her little vocalizations as she arrives at our side or gets stroked on a lap are unbelievably endearing (she usually chooses Dale for laps) - it's like a mix of a goat bleating and an old woman who's had her voice-box removed! She has managed to stay consistently adorable despite her one BIG flaw of charging around like a herd of elephants in the early hours of the day/night.
Despite all this, I totally adore them! It's the same as I felt about my own kids, and would go into battle for them! I love the feeling of them cozying up at the foot of our bed - if only they'd sleep ALL night through.
Meet Her Royal Highness, Duchess Peep of Clark County, Nevada. She has a delightfully haughty air about her that is quite comical!
Meet His Royal Highness, Duke Fluffalo of Clark County, Nevada, one of our guest cats (Cat 2 in a previous post). He is incredibly photogenic and adorable - his fur is like a soft cloud of marshmallow - it has to be felt to be believed. And he invites you to touch it whenever you can!
He's feeling pretty much at home after a week with us, but he has yet to have fur-to-fur contact with our resident, reigning queen, Dallas of Limerick.
'Don't Adventures Ever Have An End? I Suppose Not. Someone Else Always Has To Carry On The Story'
(Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring)
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| Photo: Chantelle Somers |
Three long days without power or Internet because of winter storm Elliott drove us batty -- so batty in fact that we decided to venture outside into the woods on a frigid day to take advantage of the 'free' day of disc golf in our town! Our high temperature that day was 23°F (-5°C), so you know how loopy we were feeling, when that was preferable to staying indoors again with nothing to do.
The route to the Disc Golf location turned into a little adventure since the road was 'closed' at both ends, but we were so determined to have something to DO, that we decided the barricade on the furthest entrance was not really serious enough to stop cars using the road, and we proceeded without incident or altercation to our destination.
This whole idea of throwing discs through the woods was rendered more ridiculous by the fact that I still had stitches in my hand from carpal tunnel surgery and there was no way I was going to be able to hurl discs without hurting myself. As it turned out, there were only 2 discs to be had at the 'honor system box' so I accompanied my guys around the course, taking photos and keeping score for them.
As you can see, the course was quite hazardous from the freezing of the overland flow from the heavy rainfall we'd just had. We did a lot of extra walking through having to make long detours around the ice sheets and streams.
This tree was very interesting - it reminded me of a flying mythical creature about to take off, or maybe a stylized skier?
Oh what a memorable Xmas we had! We lost power and Internet before noon on Dec 23, and after about 55 hours without either, we have it all restored.
We were warm, dry, satiated, and well provided for ... but yet, I still found myself annoyed that my usual comfy lifestyle was disrupted.
Since we traditionally have breads, cold cuts, cheeses and pickles for our family Xmas Eve meal, not having electricity didn't impact our plans.
Daytime is generally fine without electricity, until about 4:30pm, and then it's a long, waiting game of a night. No TV to pass the hours. No Internet vegging. Even with a generator, baking cookies and fun Holiday treats in my oven wasn't an option. I could page through my recipe books, but not always carry out what I desired. So frustrating. I did make nostalgic chili bites, a curried Chicken Calcutta dish with lemon rice and a pot roast on the stovetop since I can light my gas range.
I got tired of doing Sudokus - they seemed too easy and repetitive after a while. I got tired of doing my rows and rows of crocheting. I got tired of reading. It was uncomfortably cold outside, so I didn't venture forth much.
Our heat pump didn't 'talk' well with our generator, so hot water became depleted after a day.
Being powerless gets tiresome after a while. What bothered me the most was how dependent my life is on the Internet and electricity. And it was humbling. I felt ashamed for complaining - thinking about Ukrainians facing a winter without heat and other services was a sobering thought. I hope it's a lesson in appreciation that I won't forget.
Five yeas ago, we said our final goodbyes to my Dad, after 3 years of him living with Dale and I in Maine. What follows is not a sad recollection, but a celebration of cherished memories.
When we arrived at the airport to pick him up in June of 2013 to start his new life with us, he'd already got help disembarking and claiming his bags, and was waiting in the lobby for us, thinking he'd been stood up, poor man! I felt awful - we were so used to planning for disembarking last with a wheelchair, long customs lines and taking forever to pick up luggage at Boston, Logan, that our timing was awry for a little jetport like Portland. As you can see from the pic below, he just took it in his stride - no harsh words or chastising. It was very courageous of him to leave everything he'd ever known, and start again on a new continent at age 80 without his life-long partner, my Mom.
Oh, we had our differences! I was not the conventional woman he expected his daughter to grow up to be, and he was more traditional than I could swallow at times. After all, we'd lived apart, on different continents, experiencing different cultures and expectations for 25 years. We not only made it work, but created some fantastic new memories.
Here's a pic of Dad and I enjoying our last Thanksgiving meal together a few months before he passed. By this stage, it was easiest for him to eat with a spoon from a bowl, and with an apron to keep his shirts clean. He used a water glass with a handle that he could grip. Making use of little adaptions like this meant he could still be in control and feel independent. The little folding table in the background was there so he could make himself a cup of tea when he felt like it, with his water and medications handy. Over time, he developed lymphoma, to add to the list of other conditions he endured, and chose not to pursue treatment.
At the beginning of 2016, we noticed that he was sleeping for extended periods, and was awake less during the day. He was feeling weak, and listless, and was losing interest in his usually engaging jigsaw puzzles. His red blood cell count had dropped to the point that was usually recommended for a blood transfusion. Since his body was no longer able to produce enough red blood cells, this procedure would only offer a temporary, and ongoing, reprieve every 2 weeks or so. It would be disruptive and could cause him some discomfort. It was not a fix. It was a very tough decision to make, and to commit to, but he ultimately decided to embrace his journey and forego the stopgap intervention. He missed my Mom terribly, and wished to be rested, like her.
He assured me that he was ready, and was not afraid. He did ask me to do whatever was necessary to alleviate his pain, and was confident that I would do as he asked. He so very bravely stuck to his guns to die peacefully, without intervention. As the hospice nurse was setting us up for his care in our home, the local priest visited for his Last Rites. He passed a week later. Visitors came from near and far to say their goodbyes: from next door, to New Hampshire, Florida, England and New Zealand. It was a busy week of ferrying relatives to and from the airport at odd and uncoordinated hours - a task Dale took on without hesitation. He rigged up a 'virtual vigil' camera for relatives who couldn't visit in person, to sit by his bedside and spend time with him. We coordinated Skype calls and held the phone for him to talk during the day. It was busy! We had people stay with us on and off for the entirety of his last week with us, so setting up extra beds and meals happened in the midst of his care. We had meals together, laughed, disagreed, and bonded.
The expression on his face when he passed was so incredibly peaceful - he looked sweet and angelic. He was alone in his bed, with three of us chatting at the breakfast table in the next room. I hope this doesn't sound macabre, but it was quite beautiful. Though it was hard to stand by (I had to put on my detached, nurse demeanor), I'm happy to have given him the end he wanted.
We received an electric grinder/sausage maker from Home Depot in exchange for an unbiased, honest review. It led to a fun activity for my husband and I to enjoy together one afternoon: making boerewors (pronounciation: BOO-ruh-VORS), the traditional South African sausage, flavored mostly with coriander, cloves and allspice, and no garlic or onion.
It's been some years since we savored boerewors. Best I can work out, we last had some in 2016 when we visited South African friends in the U.K. It was memorable enough to photograph on the grill as one of our holiday snaps!
Dale also made some at our home in Massachusetts using a hand grinder one year, with our son. That was back in 2002. Making it then was an incredible amount of hard work, muscle-power and a lot of mess for an 11 year-old, so we didn't repeat it. At the time, I recall it was difficult to find the hog casings, and I'd felt fortunate in locating some at Whole Foods in Bedford, MA. I'd kept the leftover casings in the freezer.
Mixing the sausage ingredients together, and using an electric machine this time around was a great way to do it. We tweaked the recipe and blended things based on how we both recalled the flavor to be - mostly, MORE coriander. I even found the 19 year old hog casings in my freezer, carefully labelled and cherished all these years (remember this silly post? https://vignettes.mixmox.com/2021/03/freezer-song.html). They were still good! Even with an electric grinder and sausage attachment, it needed the two of us to coordinate the task of pushing the ingredients through and supporting the sausage as it filled sensuously into its skin (one recipe on Food.com did admit that 'grabbing hold of a second pair of hands at this point makes wors-making less traumatic.'). We only had one blowout!
We felt pretty satisfied and accomplished, and couldn't wait to sample our creation, but we followed directions and left the boerewors to rest and settle in the fridge for a day. And, this is what we had for dinner the next night - bliss! It was delicious, and made all the more so because we made it ourselves! And we knew exactly what was in it - no soy flour, natural flavors or corn syrup, with the taste of home!
