Neighbors Night

In Murder at the Bus Depot, neighborliness, of the lack of it, is one of the underlying themes. In fact, toward the end of the book, the mayor calls for a citywide “Celebration of Neighbors.” Well, in my neighborhood, there a small celebration of neighbors every Tuesday night. A group meets at the Old Neighborhood Grill for supper. Sometimes there’s no one, sometimes there are ten or twelve. The core group is about six people.

I used to go regularly and enjoyed it. In fact, when Jacob was younger and before he got too sophisticated, he used to go with me and became a favorite of some of the regulars. I always loved to go because Tuesday night was meatloaf night, and I love meatloaf. But I got out of the habit when I had hip surgery and mobility was difficult, and somehow, I’ve never gotten back into the routine, in spite of Mary Dulle’s frequent kind invitations. Nowadays she often walks, so I definitely can’t go with her.

But tonight, she and her husband, Joe, were driving, along with neighbor Garrett, and I happily joined them, ordered meatloaf, and enjoyed the comfort of old friends. The conversation was good, the food good, the whole thing a pleasant experience. I deliberately wore my T-shirt that says, “Ask Me about My Book,” and they did ask, which was fun. For a brief moment, I felt like a celebrity.

I ate all my dinner but half the meatloaf, deliberately saving it for a sandwich for lunch tomorrow. And I left it in Mary’s car!

Otherwise, a non-remarkable day. I worked on my cookbook and re-discovered a treasure trove of recipes in my now defunct Potluck with Judy blog. My longtime friend, Fred Erisman, brought Caesar salads and chocolate/caramel tarts for lunch, and we had a good visit.

Outside, the weather turned warm—in the eighties—but is expected to cool a bit again tomorrow. I suppose I take a kind of weird comfort in the fact that it’s not just Texas—the weather is strange all over the country and, I suspect, the globe.

And the drama in Washington goes on, actually a bit calmer today. It has gotten so convoluted that trying to figure it out makes my head hurt. But there are some downright funny quotes and things that come out of it. One I like proclaims that Hannity never used Cohen as his lawyer, but he wants to claim lawyer/client privilege; he has nothing to hide, but he wants Cohen not to reveal anything about him; he spent all last week defending Cohen and now calls him a liar. “And that’s why Hilary must be stopped.” Do these people realize how frantic and out of control they are?

The wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they are grinding.

On a sad note, the country has lost one of its shining lights with the death of Barbara Bush. She was the picture of elegant grace, a kind woman who carried herself well as the wife of a diplomat, vice-president, and president. She had her crusty side, which even she admitted, and she was fiercely loyal and protective of her family, but she was sort of everyone’s image of the perfect grandmother. Apparently, her faith was strong, and she believed that she and her husband of seventy-three years, will be reunited again. My she enjoy eternal rest, and may her wishes come true. We will miss her spirit.