Friday bullets - November 17, 2021

November 19, 2021

It feels as though it has been a busy week. This is probably because I have talked on the phone more this week than I did the entire previous month. Inevitably the "just a brief 15 minute interview" becomes at least an hour. I won't miss this.

I drove to Iowa today to meet my brother and sister-in-law to do our annual Great Beef Move. They raise grass fed cattle and I always get a side a beef. It always feels just a little illicit moving huge coolers of beef between vehicles at the edge of a rest stop.
My freezer is very, very full. It was a close thing as to whether or not I was going to get it all to fit. It's a good thing that Thanksgiving is coming up and I needed to thaw the turkeys.

This is a full side of beef and very nearly a full side of pork crammed into this freezer. There are a few other things as well... sixteen quarts of applesauce, frozen leftovers, vegetables, some chicken. The only thing I ended up needing to move was two packages of pita bread which I found room for in another freezer. We are set for the year. Of course, for a few months we will only be able to use the items I can actually get out.

I was able to fill the freezer without huge chunks of frozen meat falling from the top shelf onto my head. Yes, this has actually happened before. Yes, this hurts. A lot.
L. has been busily making clay figures to sell at the upcoming craft fair at our co-op. She has set-up a whole workspace in the living room.

The horses are so muddy. With this whole freeze at night, thaw during the day, the ground stays pretty wet so trying to clean them will not do much good.
Tonight while J. and I were making dinner, we had an Ella Fitzgerald CD playing. At one point, R., who was sitting in the kitchen with us, started complaining that the elephants were too loud. I was baffled, but J. figured out that she was referring to the trumpets on the CD. They were very talented elephants.
It is beginning to be the time of year when I wear a ridiculous number of layers in an attempt to stay warm. K. is still wearing shorts, tank tops, and slides.
Many children (L. in particular) are counting down until they can official listen to and sing Christmas carols with abandon. In our house this occurs after we have watched A Child's Christmas in Wales together after Thanksgiving dinner. L. has mentioned how much she wants to listen to Christmas music almost as much as she has mentioned that she really wants a puppy. It's a lot, trust me.
Please teach your children not to make racist statements about an entire nationality based on erroneous assumptions about what the people in that country eat. Yes, even if you do not believe they are racist and are really no big deal. That will save me from having to be the mom who will educate your children about the egregiousness of their statement, because I will. Everyone will just make everyone happier if I don't have to go there.
Another article about the documentary has been published, this time in The Evanston Roundtable.
Because I was happily listening to bluegrass music as I drove home from Iowa this afternoon, I missed the announcement of the verdict in the Rittenhouse case. I have no words. I am, sadly, not surprised at all, but my heart is so heavy and grieving that I can't formulate any sort of coherent thought. One color of skin should not get preferential treatment over another. And I hate guns.

And on that sobering note, I'll end here. We'll be spending the weekend madly getting ready for the holiday and making our house look as though we don't live in slovenly chaos the majority of the time.