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.
