Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring, Movement 1

Joyful spring returns with its unending message of new life:

And yet, in the midst of life we are in death.  The Guardian reports:

Pope Leo on Sunday said death and suffering caused by the war in the Middle East are a “scandal to the whole human family”, as he once again pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.

As the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its fourth week, the first U.S. pope said that he continues to follow with “dismay” the situation in the Middle East and in other regions torn apart by war and violence.

“We cannot remain silent in the face of the suffering of so many people, the defenceless victims of these conflicts. What hurts them hurts the whole of humanity,” Leo said at his weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

“I strongly renew my appeal for us to persevere in prayer, so that hostilities may cease and the way may finally be paved for peace,” he added.

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Todd and Rob Do Spring Planting

Another day in the life of two husbands in the North Georgia mountains.  Nothing exciting, but it's pleasant to see another gay couple living life openly and happily - impossible in my youth, but a commonplace now, even in Georgia.  (I hope it stays that way.)

I envy their strength and stamina.  My get-up-and-go got up and went a long while back.

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Todd and Rob Do Homo Depot

See more mountain home videos at ToddandRob.com.

Special Report:  Just how do those crazy, wild-eyed, radical homosexuals go about destroying the American family, bringing down the wrath of God, and ruining everything for everybody?  See the facts for yourself in this Blue Truck report  . . . 

In spring, teh gayz get all misty-eyed at the thought of a rainbow of blooming flowers in the yard.  So these boys went a-huntin' for plants and bulbs this past weekend, and added some new ones to their cabin garden, up in the scenic North Georgia mountains.  They also did a bit of renovation work in the upstairs bathroom.  A sweet couple - I admire their manual skills and home-loving hard work.  

M.P. and I used to go plant shopping in the spring, but we're older and tireder now, and once we get down on the ground, we can't get back up again!  We really need to find a studly sturdy young man to help with the lawn and garden this year - can't pay much, but we'd feed him well. 

 Anybody know someone? 

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The Pork Boys Do Spring

Well, spring has sprung down here in Texas, and with the return of (mostly) sunny days and (mostly) warm weather, M.P. was inspired to cook up a spring feast for Sunday dinner (which we ate on Monday because Sunday was cold and dreary).  

Spring table setting with Ukrainian Easter egg centerpiece.

The rotisserie chicken with lemon and rosemary was a sensation!

M.P. uses a portable countertop electric rotisserie for such things.

English peas with that new-fangled argeyola lettuce, or whatever you call it.  Tastes like spinach to me.

Corn Balls - something like hushpuppies full of corn kernels - were a new invention of M.P.'s, but alas - they came out tough and chewy, so back to the drawing board.

The soup course was Egg-Drop Soup, delicious.

M.P. found a recipe online for Melting Potatoes roasted in chicken broth - mighty good flavor, but they don't melt, so it's a strange name.

Hot Cross Biscuits, another invention of M.P.'s, were fluffy and tasty, brushed with honey butter.

From the noon position:  corn balls, peas, potatoes, chicken leg quarter, biscuit.

Dessert was a plate of luscious banana-creme cupcakes.  Fabulous!

A gardening note:  M.P. has started work on the yard this week, and there's a lot of clean-up to do first.  He reports that the yard is covered with little wild violets like these.

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Sunday Drive: Strauss, Voices of Spring

A few minutes of springtime joy with one of Strauss's greatest hits, as performed by Andre Rieu and his orchestra in 2011:

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The Pork Boys Do Spring

In recent weeks, we have celebrated my birthday and M.P.'s retirement from his retirement job, and just spring in general.  Here are some pics - click to enlarge.  

The first gladiola from our garden made a lovely centerpiece with a few tiny yellow mums.

Chilled cucumber soup and a bit of avocado toast on the side was just right for a springtime dinner.

At my request, for my birthday M.P. made Julia Child's coq au vin, served over rice, along with homemade croissants, fried eggplant, wilted spinach leaves and bacon, and gratin dauphinoise, a la Mme. Pepin (Jacque's maman).  That was damn good eatin', boys, I tell you what.

May was an uncommonly rainy month, so all our outdoor plants and the herb garden are doing very nicely indeed.  Here are some colorful kalanchoes and pansies by the kitchen steps.

Believe it or not, M.P. has grown this lemon tree from a single seed he planted several years ago.  No fruit yet, but it's over three feet tall now.

Gladiola and periwinkles from the garden are lovely in candlelight, along with some seashells from Florida.

One night, M.P. surprised me with a pair of luscious cheese souffles - a tricky bit of cookery he has been working on for years, and now has perfected, as you can see.

Believe me when I tell you that Philly steak sandwiches made on French bread with a spread of mashed avocado and ranch dressing are dee-licious.

M.P. deep-fried what he calls some golden nuggets made from Yukon Gold potatoes - scrumptious with a little Cajun seasoning sprinkled over them.

Plain old green beans sauteed with a bit of onion and tomato are very tasty too.

M.P. spent several days making this cardboard cut-out for the birthday party of one of his granddaughters - made for little girls to stand behind and have a "mermaid picture" taken - it was a big hit at the party.  M.P. showed off his fine artistic skills here - he painted all of this freehand, out of his imagination, no tracing or copying.

More glads, magenta and orange this time, with some sale-priced poseys from the grocery store.  Also check out the marble plates M.P. found - very chic, I think.  (I hate to admit they are not really marble, or even porcelain.)

One day while cleaning out the deep freeze, M.P. made the happy discovery of a long-forgotten duck sitting at the bottom of the box.  So he soon had it butterflied and roasted low and slow in wine and herbs - it came out so tender it was falling off the bone, and had a magnificent flavor.

Accompaniments included, right to left, duck gravy made from the drippings, lemon-butter rice, and carrots and peas in a wine and cream sauce.  So good.

M.P. made his wonderfully yummy Schoolhouse Rolls, too.

The piece de resistance was M.P.'s homemade coffee cheesecake, flavored with Kahlua, which marbled up beautifully as you can see.

A delightful end to a delightful meal.

And that's the way it goes for these two old shitkickers, now both retired and fancy free.  I hope all my truckbuddies are enjoying life and eating well too.

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Sunday Drive: Vivaldi, Spring, 1st Movement

Redbud and dogwood are blooming here in Texas.  Spring has sprung!  At last. 

 

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Sunday Drive: El Baile

For the first time this year, it's 80 degrees outside as I write, hooray!  Therefore, your Head Trucker is happy to report that winter is over and spring has sprung, and isn't that wonderful news?  As it always is, year after year--the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees turn our minds from the sordid and vulgar to the lambent and sublime.  As Emily Dickinson wrote:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,—
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.

And this:

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown,
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole experiment of green,
As if it were his own!

And finally, this:

Spring is the Period
Express from God.
Among the other seasons
Himself abide,

But during March and April
None stir abroad
Without a cordial interview
With God.

And so, let us tend our gardens and take delight in the perpetual miracle of renewal and grace that is the divine gift of this glorious season.  Rejoice--lift up your hearts--drink deep of inward refreshment while you may--and dance with the bees who toil so happily upon the pretty flowers, though they last but a day.

For as someone else has said, There are just so many summers, babe, and just so many springs.

To put you in a terpsichorean mood, here is Juan Carlos Quintero with "El Baile"--The Dance:

Catching Up with the Pork Boys: Spring 2018

In this episode, we find M.P. rapidly returning to full culinary strength for a scrumptious Easter dinner; with the coming of spring, he renews his interest in the lawn and garden; and finally, we celebrate my birthday in full festive style.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

Our Easter hors d'oeuvres began with rainbow-hued Easter-egg cookies - M.P.'s gay improvisation  on "melting moment" cookies, a kind of shortbread.

But that was not all - he made our old favorite deviled eggs in all the colors of the rainbow, too!  And at left, you see a platter of finger sandwiches (homemade pimiento cheese filling), while at top right is a bowl of tasty tandoori meatballs.

Continued below the jump . . .

Jump-start for Spring

A charming little segment from yesterday's CBS Sunday Morning show, featuring cardinals and woodpeckers in York County, Pennsylvania.  I hope they succeed - I'm really tired of the cold weather now.

Sunday Drive: Beethoven, Spring Sonata

Sonata No. 5 for violin and piano, Opus 24, Movement I, Allegro:

Spring Thing

The first iris:

My Garden

So yesterday I got outside on my knees in the dirt, and dug and planted and cursed at the weeds and old roots that kept getting in my way.  Okay, okay, I admit it don't look like anything to write home about, even after spending fifty bucks on the flowers.  But it's the best this old garden-ignorant shitkicker could do. 

Still, it adds a little cheerful color to the place, and that helps my feelings.  Here, take a look:

WTF: Snow?!

On the first day of spring, no less.

Tonight and tomorrow too, they say.  That sucks.  Cold and rainy here at the house today, and 34 degrees as I type, but hoping this is winter's very last gasp before a warm sunny spring like we had all this week, till now.

Update:  Midnight and cold as fuck here, wind chill is 22 degrees.  And yesterday afternoon it was 70 degrees.  That's TX weather for you.  When I went out for liquor about 8:30, it was snowing so hard I had to run the windshield wipers the whole time.  Now we got a couple inches of white stuff on the ground, and more coming very steady.  This was fun at Christmas, but . . . I'm over it now, let's get on with spring.

It's lovely to stand on the front porch and watch the big, fluffy flakes blowing across the sky, big as quarters or more.  The haze around the street light in these following pics is actually hundreds of flakes swirling around the lamp just like bugs in summertime.

From the kitchen window, 3 a.m.:

Spring Fever

This week, I just don't feel like writing much.  The Bradford pear trees are all bloomed out in snowy glory, and the redbud trees are just about to pop.  Texas is awash in golden sunshine, and spring is quivering to be born any minute now.  It's a time of hushed expectation, a pause before joy:  listening for the horn of jubilee.

A languor has sunk into my bones.  All the usual news of the world's folly seems utterly irrelevant in view of nature's advent.  Let the mad pageant of the world roll on by; in spring, even an old man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, and lust.  And who can blame me, when all around the birds and bees, fish and fowl, trees and plants are trembling with the resurgence of life, the vital Yes of creation?

Or to put it more simply:  this week, I'd rather dream than write.  And here's something worth dreaming about on a lovely afternoon in almost-spring, don't you think?

Spring is Sprung

It's a gloomy, rainy day here on the prairie, a good time to tune the harsh world out and gently contemplate the perennial miracle of earth's rebirth. You'll want to use the full-screen feature on these. Enjoy.

Belgium:


Japan:


And beautiful Texas:

Catching Up to Speed

Just a note to let you guys know I'm still alive and well; just been a bit overloaded lately with one thing and another. But now spring is here, the sun is shining, birds are singing, and looks like I'll be getting back up to speed with this blog before too long.

Appreciate all your good thoughts and wishes, you guys are the best.

So many good things have been happening since I last posted; got to send a shout out to Iowa and Vermont, who both legalized queer love in recent weeks. And say, how 'bout them Navy SEALS who rescued our sea captain from the pirates last week? Way to go, men.

And 'course I'm proud as punch of our President and First Lady who wowwed the crowds all over Europe; even the Queen seemed impressed, and broke protocol a tiny bit to put a motherly arm around the First Lady. And hey, that surpise visit to the troops in Baghdad was a very cool idea. So are the beginnings of reform in healthcare, education, taxation, and the economy.

Yup, the 21st century is finally off to a good start. But here's two of today's news items that show how some folks just don't get it: while Obama unveiled a grand "Vision for High Speed Rail in America" - waaaaaaaaay long overdue in this country - the dumbshit, butthead Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, mentally stuck on some 19th century woodburner, is stoking the flames of secessionist talk. Which is waaaaaaaaay out of date. Can you say Appomatox? He's just pissed because him and his money-grubbing Republican friends are getting turned out to pasture, no more feeding at the public trough while they send the working class down the chute to the slaughterhouse.

Meanwhile, even more out of date are the "Tea Party" tax protests that just took place around the country. Oh man, that is like sooooo 18th-century, ya know what I mean? And WTF are they hollering about, anyway? I just filed my tax return, and come to find out my taxes went down this year about 500 bucks or so. And besides, just where the hell were all these brilliant patriots when Dubya and his economic-royalist cronies were screwing up the economy royally and running this country straight into the ground, huh?


One news article I just saw quoted a protester at one of these tea parties, carrying a sign: "Welcome to Sweden." I nearly fell out of my chair laughing, we're not even close. And like, would that really be so effin' bad, pal? Sweden's way ahead of us in lots of good things, has been for years.

Although I have to say I kinda lean more towards the French model in a lot of ways - healthcare for everyone, the most energy-independent country in Europe, a 35-hour workweek - and the President made a point of praising the French high-speed rail system in his announcement today.

One final note: this doglover thinks Bo looks like a great pick for First Dog. Gotta love the rainbow lei, too. Haha.


That's all for now, guys. I'm not ready to start daily posting again just yet, but maybe soon. Meanwhile, good vibes to all y'all. Get out and have some fun, enjoy the beautiful weather and mild temps. I'll have to get you some pics of the garden the roommate and I been working on. Later guys . . . .