As The World Turns

In our last episode our heroine and her trusty sidekick were appalled and horrified that the US of A had elected the most incompetent aberration imaginable as President. Was this a dream, nightmare actually? A bad movie, an April Fool's prank in November, an episode from practical jokers, were we on candid camera? Answer is: None of the above. This reality show is horrifyingly real.

What to do?

First of all let it sink in, this big fat whale could take a while...the Titanic sunk faster.Sign every single petition that comes your way wondering if they will ever make any difference, air your grievances on facebook, clinging to those who are in such disbelief and horror as you while trying to avoid going whole hog postal on those that are gloating in the angriest way possible - just what is wrong with these people? they're so angry! At the same time withholding your shock at the way some of your friends actually feel. Whaaaat?????? Who are you people? Why are you so angry? Read every single editorial in The New York Times, the "real" news, and then try not to because the horror gets worse. Hope for a miracle. Live your life. Live to tell. Breathe.

Despite that Tuesday's outcome November gave us hope as it continued to roll beautifully on,

with a lingering show of spectacular foliage and near perfect temperatures. That Friday we went to the theatre for a revival of Irving Berlin's "Holiday Inn",

the perfect feel good antidote to bring our spirits up. On Saturday we went antiquing 

to start our quest for new dining room furniture; we had decided to replace our Queen Anne table and chairs with mid century modern---a new leaf, and figured it would take a while to find what we wanted. We found it in the first place we walked into.

We decided that Thanksgiving this year would be just us, perfect. That Monday I lost an old friend, unexpectedly but I suppose somewhat expected since she was up there in age. She had an infectious laugh which was constantly on display and was the worst joke teller imaginable which made us laugh even more. One less person to share joy with. Less light in the world.

Our dinner was not traditional,

duck

pumpkin flan

That Friday I lost an enemy. Fidel Castro finally left us all alone. Nothing changed, the damage had been done.

I had an email from artsy.net asking if I would place a link on my blog referring to their William Wegman page. Me? Sure, I'm flattered. It now sits above my blog reading list, take a look.

I finally joined Instagram after much goading from Jennifer and Jane who have all but abandoned blogging and I miss terribly. I found some other missing friends there as well.

Kept cooking...

Kale fried rice and olive quickbread

Brioche

if only to keep my sanity.

Said goodbye to the Supermoon.

Kept going through the motions...started getting ready for Christmas,

and suddenly I pulled out this little ornament and squealed like a child, I had forgotten;

it took me back to Florence,

and made the tree glow just so. Just like Max,

when he finds that perfect ray of sunshine.

There's hope yet.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

America has just gone down the rabbit hole and it is not wonderland.

I sit here in utter disbelief and saddened at what this nation has become when we have allowed this disastrous abomination of a man to be elected president. I feel helpless and don't know what to do.

And I'm afraid.

Autumn in New York...OK New Jersey...

...is lasting forever!!!!!!! And Max and I are taking as much advantage as we can...

...never thought being unemployed could be so pleasant. I am holding on to this as hard as I possibly can.

A Walk in the Woods

Our Presidential election is completely out of control. The finger pointing, name calling, hateful rhetoric is mind numbing. I'm sure I am not alone in being appalled and horrified at what we've become. It is surreal and unreal at the same time. What happened to my beautiful sane decent country? How on earth did we ever get to this? I guess social media and the anonymity it provides has something to do with it. People can say anything they want regardless of how hate filled, racist, homophobic bile it is, after all they can hide under some nickname and just spew venom. Then some people just do it as publicly as they want to, because obviously, it is accepted. I guess we weren't so beautiful or sane and definitely not decent at all, just hiding until the Pandora's box was opened. And what a sad eye opener that has turned out to be.

I don't want to turn on the TV, don't want to turn on my computer, don't want to read my newspaper, don't want to go anywhere near facebook. I just want to run away and hide.

A mere five minutes from my house is a nature preserve, The South Mountain Reservation. An idyllic 2100 plus acres of woodland trails, a dog park, a zoo...the perfect place to get lost in. And it's Autumn. Max and I have been hiding there recently,

in quiet solitude. Just the two of us.

But one turn, and reality sets in.

No place to hide. God help us all.

Ordinary

I remember a line from that great sage Christopher Moltisanti in the first season of "The Sopranos" where he complains to Tony how he is "bored with the ordinariness of life". Ironic coming from a mobster but I guess everything can become routine regardless of who you are and what you do.

We returned from vacation to find some extraordinary events. The NJ Department of Labor had stopped my benefits because I was in Italy. How Big Brother is this? How in the world...??? Well, it turns out I have to file every week or they stop the claim so I filed twice from Italy and they can tell. They scheduled a hearing for the first week of November and after a slew of phone calls I ran around faxing, mailing...whatever they asked...showing when I left the country and when I re-entered while frantically answering every ad for a job that seemed remotely feasible. Continued to file, as instructed, even though I kept being rejected and fretted constantly wondering what the outcome would be. Frank was starting a new job on October 24th and had to run around being fingerprinted, drug tested, background checked...all in two days before going back to work and resigning to a very angry boss.

Life continued.

We went to the ballet,

marvelling at the beauty of Lincoln Center.

I was delighted at the fact that the Montauk Daisies which were full of buds about to burst when we left waited to bloom until the day after we came home.

I watched the trees start to turn,

and was giddily surprised when cleaning out my Summer flower pots and pulling out the potato vines that I had become an accidental farmer!

I baked apple and cheddar scones,

watched Max take over our bed on a daily basis once we returned from our morning walk,

all while holding my breath.

Then last week I filed and was approved, I received a letter saying they wouldn't pay those two weeks because I was on vacation. My hearing seems to have been cancelled. Frank started his new job this week which cuts his commute to a half hour from one and a half hours, we won't be paying NYC taxes or NYC commuting costs.

We went to dinner and the theater.

I was overjoyed to look at the remaining flower garden to find a giant Dahlia had bloomed,

brought Fall to the front porch with mums and pumpkins,

made chicken Marbella for Frank and his wine making friends.

Took care of Max's tummy troubles.

Had three interviews for jobs I'm not going to get. Cleaned the house, did the laundry, went grocery shopping, planned meals.

Just living my ordinary life, and breathing.