Travels with The Rayman

Dear reader, have you developed any new habits in light of our current incarceration?  Oh, you know, I kid when I use such an inflammatory description such as incarceration.  It actually doesn’t really feel that drastic, now does it?

Habits, it has been said, are hard to break.  And yet, we here at the beach bungalow have been breaking them with some repetition so that is funny just on the face of it.  Take for instance, the act of sleeping.  Our entire working lives and into retirement, sleeping in was never much of a thing.  Well, that has changed.  Since we have been given permission to go no where, and do nothing…sleeping is a new thing.  Take for instance, this a.m.  Woke at 7ish and lolliygagged in bed until 8:30.  Some of it, admittedly, was actual sleep.  The rest of the time was filled with contemplation.  So many things to contemplate.  How should I cook those chops tonight?  Should we still rent out the house this summer?  Should I float down the river this summer?  What will happen with the dispute with the Canadian Rockies train company?  What horrible thing has Trump done now?  Should I continue pulling weeds today?  Is it raining or is that just fog?

And on and on.  Some fleeting of thought, some deep dives into knotty issues.  It was lovely.  So, there is that habit.  No jumping up, throwing on of clothes to beat it to the first tee.  Or running to the grocery store for bananas.  A trip to get just one thing is not a thing in longer.  Which, is another habit broken.  Substitutions are the new rule at the moment.  No bananas?  How about an apple?  Do I have one of those?  How about raisins?  yes, I have raisins because we accidentally bought two life time supply bags of raisins at Costco…home of the place where you buy way more than you need because it is such a better deal.  Turmeric?  Do I have that?  If not, well, throw that recipe in the trash.  There just isn’t a substitute for that, is there?  

Making a special trip to the store for one item is just not a good idea because of all the work it entails.  Gloves, masks, swipes.  These are our new going-out-clothes now.  We don them at home or in the car in order to enter a store, or an office, or…well, anyplace except our home.  That is our new habit…if you go, make it worth your time and trouble.  If I have a need for buttermilk, say, throw some vinegar in milk and save your time for something else.  

In a manner of speaking things are easier and harder all in the span of a day.  And that makes it all interesting… sometimes.   There are few absolutes except to stay safe, wash down with swipes anything touched.  Another new habit of necessity.  

Weeding is my new morning activity.  And I literally mean weeding here.  During this hiatus from  normal life, we had our yard re-done.  And when it was replanted, they applied (threw) gorilla hair all over the place.  Gorilla hair is also known as shredded bark.  Right after our yard was completed, it rained.  And after the rain came the weeds.  Everywhere.  Oh, how I wish things I wanted to grow would grow like a weed.  Here is an example.   To save money, we opted for 3 or 5 gal. plants.  I am hoping to live long enough to see them bigger.  I guarantee that if they grew like weeds, it would take about a week.  Weeds are relentless, obstinate, uninvited, opportunists.  Do you suppose they hope we don’t notice?  Put all guessing aside.  That is exactly what they hope.  And if you do notice and don’t get the whole darn root, they grow back like the tail of a lizard grows back.  Or they spread their seeds the moment you pluck them from the garden.  That is just what they do.  God, weeds will inherit the earth.  That and alligators.

Turning on the TV during the day is a new habit.  Never, ever, ever have we done that.  And yet, here we are.   Cuomo is our guy.  He pays attention to facts and science and it is so refreshing, we can’t look away.  Oh, we don’t do it every day.  But we do turn the tellie on now again these days.  And why not?  There aren’t a plethora of things demanding to be done.  Except those darn weeks.  

Today we were to go to Santa Barbara to see the Pod Save America gang…all these young, bright ex-Obama aids that have turned their experience into a money making machine that includes doing live shows.  But, alas, that was cancelled.  And my eye appointment was cancelled.  My calendar looks empty.  Oh, wait.  It is empty.  So, the new habit is not to look at the calendar so much.  Because there is NOTHING on it.  

After some reflection, I guess, there are some silver linings in all this.  Life is slower.  And slower isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Just look at it as… in the words of the immortal BeeGees…, just staying alive.  

Thursday doings:

I isn’t so much about what we’ve done today.  I mean, how different can it possibly be from every other day?  It’s what I think about that is more interesting.

How will I cut my hair?  

Why did I leave my immersion blender in PDX and should I buy another one?  And why is it that if I had the immersion blender here, I would probably never see a recipe requiring one?  One of the mysteries of life?  

Does the call of a cormorant sound more like a whale or a lion?  And how does such a bird of its size manage to produce such a loud, strange sound?   

Where are the masks I ordered?  Had to brave grocery shopping today and so I used a very stylish 1960s Vera scarf to cover my nose and mouth.  Where are the masks?  

I am glad I am not an elected official.  Those poor Governors.  What they must do to help people stay healthy.   We can never repay them, those that listened to the scientists, anyway.  Rush Limbaugh famously implored his audience to lighten up because the virus was not anything more than a common cold.  He implored his fans to ignore the warnings.  So why would anyone be so irresponsible?  I mean, I long ago gave up trying to understand his listeners.  But why would he say that?  What is the motivation?

How and when should we bathe the Beaumeister?  Poor baby is starting to lose his good smell.   All the groomers are unable to ply their trade.  

As irony would have it, the house is clean and I can’t have company.  Now, that is a real bummer.  If it weren’t the plague and we were having a dinner party, cleaning would ensue before the day of the party.  But now, with no cleaning needed, there are no parties.  This is not fair.

Should I buy that blouse on Cabi’s website or not?  Where will I wear it?  I guess I don’t care…I’m buying it for a bit of retail therapy.  Besides, it is yellow and cheery…with long sleeves which I am apparently transitioning to as my arm skin is looking like hippo skin, or shall we say, lizard skin?  Which brings me to withered skin.  How did it get that way so fast?  Seems like just yesterday (yesteryear) that it was smooth with a few creases here and there.  Now, if the sun shines just right on an outstretched arm…it is downright frightening.  On the flip side though, if I wear long sleeves and long pants, I don’t need to apply sunscreen…so there is that.  

But I digress.

Or maybe I don’t.  This is taking on the appearance of a stream-of-consciousness kind of blog so digression seems to be part of the style.  

When will I start up on my book?  What is stopping me?  Hard work?  Boredom?  I don’t know.  However, last night as I was reading in bed, I came across an article about how to write…better.  So, it has given me something to think about when I do launch back into the effort.  It also terrified me because it said my first draft is only the first draft.   Is that true for a prolific writer like, say, Stephen King?  If that’s true, that guy must be glued to his keyboard, literally.  So many questions.  

It’s 5 p.m. and so it’s time to drink…cocktail and apps might be my favorite time of the day now.  And I don’t want to keep the Rayman waiting.  So I’ll bid you a fond adieu.  Stay well.

Authored 4/4/2020

Here is my advice to anyone who will listen is this:  don’t guzzle your margarita before you cook dinner.

 

Really, I now speak from experience.  Tonight’s experience.

Here are the ingredients for 4 generous drinks.  We halved it.

• 3/4cup fresh lime juice, about 3 large limes.
• 6 tablespoons sugar.
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoon blanco tequila.
• 1/4 cup Gran Torres orange liqueur.
• Lime wedges.
• Coarse salt.
• About 1 1/2cups small (or coarsely broken) ice cubes.

 

Pinto beans were to be refried until I read how to do it and abandoned that idea all together.  I was hungry.  I was tipsy.  No refried beans were going to happen.  

However, I had earlier in the day committed to the idea of making tortillas from scratch.  My pantry has been safely guarding the masa for about 20 years and tonight was the night.  I won’t deny it…it did not smell particularly good, the masa.  But I soldiered on and mixed it with the warm water.  Kneaded it after a resting period of 5 minutes.  Like an archeologist, I unearthed my tortilla press before we took to drink.  

The ground beef was cooked with spices ahead of drinking.  The lettuce was crisp.  The crema was still good although, it was passed it’s sell by date.  The salsa was bottled…tomatoes just don’t cut it this time of the year.  And anyway, I was making the tortillas.  The avocado was past it’s prime but enough of it still looked edible so I made it so.

That was the plan.

Rayman was the bartender.  He made the margaritas following the recipe from Rick Bayless.  One of the limes was brown but we do what we do given our circumstances in the age of Corona.

As I mentioned earlier, after our before dinner cocktail, it was time to cook and plate.  The tortillas would not be separated from the plastic wrap.  After adding more masa and kneading it to my own in-my-head rendition of La Bamba, I could not get them onto the heated griddle.  So, I found some old tortillas from the store in the frig and used them.  They were stale.  So, we had opened faced tacos because when I tried to fold them, they cracked.  And pintos on the side in a ramekin to hold the broth of the beans.  It was passable, but disappointing.  However, not too disappointing because we scarfed them up and acted a bit silly too.  The margaritas had staying power.  And that was dinner party tonight.

Earlier today I made a batch of eggplant with Parmigiano Reggiano.  No meat.  No deep frying involved.  It is now resting in the frig for tomorrow night.  

Let’s see.  Tomorrow’s plan.  Spriti (that is the word I made up to denote two spritz)  before dinner.  Dinner already made except the salad.  Good to go.  

Looking back, I am going to buy new masa and perfect the art of tortilla making.  It is just literally masa and water.  I can do this.

Other than that, we washed windows today, took a long walk, and watched Sound of Music,.  I had never seen it.  Rayman has seen it many times.  He was kind enough to watch it again.  It was great…with our headphones and the big screen.  When we turned off the TV to go to bed, we both broke into song.  Not one key was hit.  It was literally a scream.

 

Today I coaxed Rayman out of the house to walk Beau.  I wanted to go.  He resisted.  But he relented.  And a fine walk it was.  Light breeze, cloudless sky…well, why describe it when I can show you.  And the crazy thing is, we’ve lived in our location for about 10 years and we just discovered a fabulous walk along the bay that we did not know existed.  

 

 

So while we tiptoed thru the tulips, I got the idea that we should play golf tomorrow…alone.  Called the pro shop and got us a starting time…just us Mohicans….walking…the course.  Upon securing a starting time, I suggested that he wear his earplugs and listen to music so as to distract himself from his aches and pains that will inevitably make a showing.  He said, “Then I won’t be able to hear you.”  Like that would bother him?????  Ha ha.

Rayman is a master at the last word…getting it in, that is.  And while having noticed this tendency for years, being shut up together for days on end, it is a bit more noticeable.  But to get real, I am a bit of a last worder myself.  My mom used to tell me that I loved to argue.  She was right.  I should have been an attorney where I could apply my skill of arguing in front of a judge.   

But I digress.

Yesterday I actually weeded the atrium.  It was a bit enjoyable, sitting on the flagstone, delicately plucking out the small little weeds that have emerged thru the tiny rocks that fill the gaps between said stones.  It was relaxing and outside.  It was after I finished that I decided to rearrange some pots with plants that I loped back to the backyard and picked up some pot “feet”.  You know those doodads that keep a pot off the cement or ground.  Lugged them back and started to spread them out when…out jumps a spider.  A BLACK WIDOW.   OMG.  No-gloves me…jumped back and said, “RAY…THERE IS A BLACK WIDOW.  RAY!!!!!”  He came out and squashed it.  It was huge…it’s body seemed to be about the size of my thumbnail.  Okay.  That might be a slight exaggeration.  I was extremely lucky it did not bite me.   I swear it was the size of my thumbnail.

Really enjoyed my martini last night.

Our house painter finished painting yesterday.  Hooray.  Looks good.  Now the fence painter comes next week to paint the wrought iron fence.  Then we can reposition all the pots on the deck that were moved for all the painting.   And yesterday I ordered a heron.  It is made of metal of some type and will grace the yard.  With so many herons around here,  a heron statue makes perfect sense.  And it is something to look forward to receiving.  Of course, I have on order kleenex, JetDry, dish soap.  Ordering things on-line keeps us safer, I suppose.  So, as I have perfected on-line shopping over the years, this experience now comes in handy if I can even find stuff…so many things are out of stock…on every website.  Who knew JetDry was in such demand.  Really, people.  

Now I need ground lamb.  Where do I get that without going to the store?  And what store will even have it?  May have to put that recipe on hold.  Tonight I am making crab cakes for dinner.  They should be swell.  Bought pasteurized crab for the recipe.  I prefer fresh crab to be eaten out of the shell so I opted for pasteurized.  

It’s Thursday today.  May print out a puzzle..they are hardest on Thursday so this gives me the opportunity to get really frustrated by my lack of skill at crossword puzzles.  On the other hand it keeps me off the internet reading the news which is getting extremely grim.  Just sayin.

If Trump wanted to purposefully turn the virus into a shit show, he could have not done a better job.   Still hard to get a test.  Two hospital ships with about 20 patients total.   Hospitals without ventilators and him telling Governors to go find them themselves instead of using the power of his office to nationalize companies to make the ventilators.  Shipping much needed supplies here at home to other countries.  You can’t make this shit up.   Really, folks, he needs to resign.  I am sure I have said this before.  He is so far over his head and so uncaring, he just needs to go to FL and play golf for the rest of his days.  Leave us alone.  It is a question whether Pence would do any better, but it is worth a try.  The main reason I even mention any of this is that is why I am blogging…to catch on “tape” what is happening and what has happened for posterity   and my own recollection.  It is doubtful that I will ever forget it…it is so horrific.  No amount of words can minimize the sheer idiocy.  Well, maybe I should re-read A Confederacy of Dunces.  If you haven’t read it yet, it would be fitting at this time.  Or you could try The Plague.  However, Dunces is pretty hilarious.  

More, later.

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Morro Bay.  The weekend came and went as we hunkered down trying to avoid peeps from other places coming to enjoy the beach.  Does that make our house a beachhead?  Or better yet, does that make us beachheads?

But I digress.

Took Beau for a walk today and tuckered him out.  Walked around the golf course.  The county has closed the road to Black Mountain, so we can walk in the middle of the road without fear of getting squashed by a motorist.  The sounds of silence were terrific.  The birds are breeding and their vocals are fabulous.  Wish I knew each kind of bird and it’s particular song so that I could report back what I heard.  The birds are out doing it.   Leaves rustling, breeze chiming in…I wonder if the birds notice any difference with the lack of human activity?  

 

We were gone for more than an hour because the Beauzer needs to sniff.  Toward the apex of the walk, I was practically dragging him…it was warm and he was hot and apparently tired.  Probably wondering why I had to take him so far from home.  

This staying home thing is for the birds now that I am thinking about birds.   A ride is in order.  Maybe this afternoon we will jump in the car and go somewhere.  Wine has been shipped and it is scheduled to arrive today and we must be home to sign.  Dragsville.

There is still plenty to do around here but what’s the hurry?   So sleeping in is our big new thing.  8:15 this a.m.  Really.  Unheard of by the Rayman.  He must have been exhausted from playing sudoku.  

My chicken soup was a bust.  No one can believe it.  It was bland and boring and I won’t be sharing that recipe.   Tonight we will kick it up a notch with ribs on the barbie.  Yams.  Tossed salad.  Garlic toast.

The saddest part of my existence right now is the lack of chocolate in the house.  I have some on order so it won’t be forever…but man, do I miss the chocolate.  Chocolate and port is my usual sweet ending for the evening and it never fails to fulfill me!!

So there you have it.  A blog that is somewhat boring but at the same time informative in the age of Corona.