Philadelphia Food III

There is one more meal I want to share from my eating my way through Philadelphia experience. 

Son-in-law David cooks! Yes, the helicopter pilot comes home from fire-fighting season and relaxes in the kitchen. When he asked what he might prepare for me, one of the options he gave me was prime rib with Yorkshire pudding. I didn't need to look at the other options!

Perfectly done ~ and much to my joy, served on my mother's china platter.

Makes me hungry again just looking at the picture!! 

I understand they had it again on Christmas day.

Christmas Day

It is Christmas! The Christ candle is lit. The waiting is over.

The Babe has arrived!

This nativity lives on the mantle in my house as a reminder.

I bought it in South Africa. I loved it immediately because everyone, 

including the Baby, is smiling with eye brows raised at this miraculous 

birth. Joy to the World!

Earlier this season, I was doing a puzzle on line and chose a nativity. 

I didn't think much about it until it was complete. There they were, 

even the animals, wide-eyed and smiling and So Happy over this 

miraculous birth. Most nativities picture Mary in what I would call

"solemn wonder". I like it when she and everyone else is just plain happy. 

Merry Christmas, friends ~ and a happy and blessed holiday

whatever you celebrate. The Light is back! 

The Fourth Sunday in Advent

Please forgive my missing last Sunday. I was traveling and wifi was sporadic and unavailable. On those long flights, I read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry”. Once again I discovered words that having nothing to do with Christmas had everything to do with Christmas. 

“When I track the orbits of asteroids comets, and planets, each one a pirouetting dancer in a cosmic ballet, choreographed by the forces of gravity, sometimes I forget that too many people act in wanton disregard for the delicate interplay of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land, with consequences that our children and our children’s children will witness and pay for the their health and well-being.

And sometimes I forget that powerful people rarely do all they can to help those who cannot help themselves.” 

Here is the Christmas story in the words of a 21st century wise man. Wise Men looked to the stars. Shepherds looked to the sky and saw angels and heard words of hope and anticipation. And they all gathered at a very down to earth event: the birth of baby. Too many people ignored that event. Powerful people, Herod for instance, did nothing to help but rather ordered the killing of children for no other reason than he felt threatened. Today is a day for sky gazing and earthly awareness. A day to feel ourselves pulled toward a higher, brighter power while at the same time finding the courage, the strength and the grace within ourselves to live out the down to earth work of the planet. ~ Blessings to you in this season of Hope

Philadelphia Food II

The second day of Food in Philadelphia started with lunch at The Dandelion. When Meredith first told me about the place, she indicated they loved it but we would go there for dessert having eaten lunch somewhere else because this was 'just a British pub'. As she said later, "The things you learn about your parents!" I love pub food and having had a look on line at this menu, I was ready to go. 

 We started with deviled eggs. So good. Not sure exactly what was in them

besides the good dry mustard but something to kick up the flavor just a bit. 

I also think the paprika was fresh ground.

David had a burger and their signature fries (sorry, chips ~ although 

the woman next to me had a sandwich with what we call chips and

they looked homemade too!)

Meredith and I had butternut squash and cheese soup and a side of chips.

Although full from his burger, David was glad to order Sticky Toffee Pudding 

a classic British dessert that I have never had. We all decided the ice cream

was superfluous. It was rich and full of cloves. The pudding was moist and spicy.

I liked my taste of Sticky Toffee Pudding.

My speciality was Mrs. Beeton's Snow Egg. 

If you don't know her, let me introduce you to Mrs. Beeton. 

She wrote her cookbooks in the mid-1800s for the housewives and

housekeepers of a new culture. First she wrote for Housekeepers who 

were managing staff that had no history of keeping a big house. They had

not started as a tweeny and grown to be a cook or Housekeeper. So Mrs. Beeton

wrote a house management and cookbook for them. 

By her later editions, the housewife had become the housekeeper and manager

of the household. Her cookbooks covered everything from laying the table 

to the food placed on it.

The Snow Egg is a poached meringue covered in custard. With a bow to the

season the custard was an egg nog. Light, airy, not too sweet and Delicious!

Philadelphia Food

It was a very short trip to Philadelphia to visit Meredith and David. Short as it was, it seemed as though I ate my way through the visit. 

We started the first day with High Tea at the Rittenhouse Hotel.

This is our sandwich and scone course. The sandwiches were traditional

except for the large slice of radish with humus on top. Had not had that before.

The scones were small and there were 9 of them, three each of savory, sweet,

and plain. There was Clotted Cream, Strawberry Jam, and Lemon Curd to

accompany them. 

Each of us had our own pot of tea. I chose a mixture of Earl Grey and Roiboos. 

It tasted more like a softened Roiboos. Delicious. 

Thinking we would never eat again, later in the evening David decided to make biscuits.

He was just in the mood for biscuits.

Of course Meredith and I had one! 

I have will power and I am not going to refuse a homemade biscuit. Oh yum!!

I think I will leave you there for now. More meals to come!

The Second Sunday in Advent

The lectionary this week deals with preparing the way of God and receiving comfort from that good news. As David Edwards points out in his commentary, “in Hebrew the word ‘comfort’ as used here means both consolation and bringing real help.”

This week in this country we have debated, railed for and against tax cut that some are applauding, others are decrying. Is this “real help”? One of the questions raised is how children will fare under the new laws and cuts of other provisions. Marian Wright Edelman in her book Guide My Feet, published in 1995, writes from the point of view of children. I would include LGTBQ children in the last line, otherwise, her words are very applicable today as we await real help at this Advent. 

God, is America’s dream big enough for me?

For the little Black boy born the wrong color in the wrong place

to the wrong parents in some folks’ sight/

God, is America’s justice fair enough for me?

For the little Brown or White girl labelled from birth as second best?

God, is America’s economy open to us?

For the many children who have to stay poor on the bottom so too few

can stay rich on the top/

God, does America have enough for me in the a land plenty for some,

but famine for others?

God, is America’s dream large enough for me?

I who am poor, average, disabled, girl, Black, Brown, Native American, White?

Is America for me?

The First Sunday of Advent

The Prophet Isaiah (64: 1 - 9) cries out for God to tear open the heavens and come to earth because we have all become unrighteous and there needs to be a return to justice and compassion lived out in our personal and national lives. We may be feeling as discouraged as Isaiah at this time in our history. If so, take hope from these words of Madeleine L’Engle as we await the coming of Love into the world. 

“God did not wait till the world was ready,

till. . . nations were at peace.

God came when the Heavens were unsteady, 

and prisoners cried out for release.

God did not wait for the perfect time.

God came when the need was deep and great.

God dined with sinners in all their grime,

turned water into wine.

God did not wait till hearts were pure.

In joy God came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.

To a world like ours, of anguished shame

God came,

and God’s Light would not go out.

God came to a world which did not mesh

to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.

In the mystery of the Word made Flesh

the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait the world is sane

to raise our songs with joyful voice,

for to share our grief, to touch our pain,

God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice! 

"Dreamers of the Day"

Once again I have discovered in a book I am reading, a passage that fits our American situation today. The book is Dreamers of the Day: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell. Her protagonist through whom the story is told is an American school teacher who, in 1921, inherits a little money and decides to travel to Egypt for a well-earned vacation. She arrives in Cairo just as Winston Churchill, T. E. Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell arrive there for the Cairo Conference of 1921 which divided (or united?) the Middle East into the countries we know today. 

The book is well researched and although fiction, Russell allows the real people to speak for themselves as she has them saying things that they wrote in later books or diaries. 

The story also sheds light on the condition of women following WWI, the beginnings of liberation and their struggle following the Great Depression. During her long and interesting telling of her life, Agnes Shanklin, our heroine, learns three things that she advises her readers which are very appropriate for today: 

“Read to children.

Vote.

And never by anything from a man who’s selling fear.” (Pg. 249)

The Morning After

First let me say for those of you who joined in the dressing recipe discussion: the cornbread half of my dressing was delicious. I made the cornbread with masa flour and left off the white bread - gluten free for Dean and a small portion for just the two of us. Otherwise the recipe was the same. I did add lots of broth to make sure it was very moist, which it was. And of course gravy. Very tasty!

One day before Thanksgiving I had been skimming the news on my phone and saw recipes for using Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast. The easiest was eggs in dressing. So this morning, I made it.

Very simple. Spray your muffin pan. Press dressing into the muffin cups. Add some cheese on the bottom. Break in a small egg. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 375*. The recipe suggests you can add bacon on the bottom but I just put it on the side. Delicious. 

Learnings: 1) a larger muffin cup might be better giving more room for the egg and whatever else you add (cheese, bacon, whatever)

2) Dean and I prefer the poached egg and I think you might use a beaten egg with the cheese and herbs and bacon scrambled in like a quiche

3) if your dressing is moist, you could add other breakfast ingredients as you mold it into the cup. 

I was surprised at how light it was. I had eaten a Lot of carbs yesterday - most of them good carbs but lots. I wasn't sure I could eat any more especially this early on the morning after. It was light and tasty and I do not feel overly full to start my day. If you have a houseful of people (or just the two of you) for the holiday and want an easy breakfast to help use up your leftovers, I highly recommend this one.

In Defense of Children

I do not usually post twice in one day and when I found this in a mystery I am reading and also saw another political post about "a child molester", I had to do it. 

from The Price of Murder (Sir John Fielding) by Bruce Alexander - pp 65,66

“ . . . the vicar quoted from Saint matthew, Chapter 18, verse 6. 

‘ But who so shall offend one of these little ones which believe, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’

Then, pausing but a moment to look each of us in the eye, he continued, signaling by some lightening of his tone that he no longer quoted scripture but spoke now as himself: ‘It should be understood that this the most frightening passage of any in the gospels. I know of no harsher words to come from the lips our Lord than these. Whey then did he save them for those who commit crimes against children? The answer should be plain to us all. Because such as they are quite unable to defend themselves. They must depend upon the generosity of others for their defense.”

Thanksgiving, 2017

Today I am thankful for simplicity. I love a big family gathering. I have been a guest and a host to numerous Thanksgiving dinners that included family and friends, a huge turkey, pans of dressings, bowls of gravy and enough food to feed us all for days. I loved it all. 

On the other hand, if you asked me what Thanksgiving is my most memorable, I will tell you of a time when both daughters were gone from home, I preached at the interfaith Thanksgiving service and then we came home to steak and Caesar salad. 

This will be another one of those years. We were invited and were unable to travel that far. We invited and they couldn’t travel that far or already had plans. And so tomorrow it is just us. Dean wanted to smoke a turkey so the meal will be rather traditional, just made in smaller portions than usual. I’m experimenting with dressing made with just the cornbread; one baked sweet potato shared between us; and no given time to indulge in our feast. We will eat when the food is ready. I may set an elaborate table. I may not. Dean may take his plate to the tv to watch football and I will enjoy a new book I have just now ordered on Kindle. 

Throughout it all, we will be grateful. Grateful for the love surrounding us from distant family and friends. Grateful for life and health and energy. Grateful for simplicity. 

May your Thanksgiving be as simple or as noisy and boisterous as you desire and may you be grateful for all your blessings. Thank you for stopping by and sharing time with me here. I am grateful for you too. 

Seventy-five and Forward

With Dean’s birthday and mine coming up soon, I have been reflecting on 75. Seventy-five is a rather impressive age. Three quarters of a century. An age when in the past people were old and feeble except of course for those who weren’t. Again I look at the books I read, noticing it first in my Agatha Christie’s when I was about 60. Old people, dying people are in their late 50’s or early 60’s. Seventy was out of the question. Today at 75, people are very physically active. The ski slopes opened yesterday and Dean was there. As a generation we hike, we travel, we do yoga, tai chi, play tennis ~ people our age are very active both physically and mentally. Friends who teach are just now retiring and of course my father was still practicing law when he died at the age of 85. 

With age comes wisdom too ~ at least for some of us. It manifests itself in ordinary and also deep ways. We are able to mentor in the ways of the world. Maybe it takes our grandchildren to help us with newer technology, but we are still learners at the same time we teach and offer insights. We still look forward although the aim doesn’t have to be a big event or project. We take classes. We read. And today we are more active politically than we have been because we want our grandchildren to enjoy the diversity and equality we fought so hard to obtain. 

Maybe we go to the doctor more often than we used to but on the whole we are doing well with continuing health and interests and wisdom in the world. We look back to all the stories we can tell and we also look forward to the good times, the fun times, the learning and the teaching as the future unfolds around us. Seventy-five is a good time to be alive. 

So Grateful for our Dog!

Well, it was a little bit disconcerting. Oso went on a barking jag about 2 this morning. By the time I woke up, he was in the living room moving across parallel to the deck. Back to the bathroom and finally one last bark and back to bed. There had to have been something on the deck. It wasn’t a bear because his bark was a grounded (all four feet on the ground) baritone. A bear would have elicited a tenor bark and levitation (all 4 feet off the ground). Must have been a raccoon. 

So he went back to sleep and as I was already awake, I decided to go to the bathroom. The bathroom felt chillier than usual. I looked at the door onto the deck and it was open about 9 inches. Something had tried to come in!!! oops. Time to repair that lock. I put a stick on the floor by the frame, kept there so animals won’t open the door but we rarely use it unless we go out of town. Thank you, Oso, Protector and Defender of the realm!!

Chocolate Perfection

Bought this at World Market the other day. Tried it for the first time last night. Oh My Goodness!

This is "drinking" or "sipping" chocolate. It is rich, thick and deserves to be served in a demitasse cup. Unfortunately I gave mine to my daughter several years ago. I'll wait until my Christmas china with smaller cups come out of storage on December first and enjoy it then. Meanwhile, if I make it again, I will just go with a regular cup. 

It calls for 3 Tbs (or more) of the chocolate mix to 1/2 cup of water. I started with 4 Tbs. It was Wonderful and my writing skills do not do it justice. I suggest if you like dark chocolate, go to your local World Market and purchase this extraordinary drink. Do your best to sit in front of a fire but if that is not possible, at least snuggle up with a really good book and enjoy the sensation. 

"He's the Man!"

I have been with the Little Man several times this summer and noticed that he really likes machines and working. I decided he needed a truck. When we came to his house this week, we discovered there was a pool being dug in his back yard. All the more reason for a truck. I found a good old fashioned Tonka dump truck. Simple, uncomplicated.

Big sister started him off, showing him how it all works.

And then the Little Man took over.

Strong boy!

Pile them up in the truck.

"I can do it!"

"I did it!!"

"I'm the Man!!"

A Halloween Coup

It was a great party!!!  Mandy had chili - someone brought mac ’n cheese (which was delicious under the chili), someone brought a cheese and meat platter, and Mandy and the girls had made chocolate chip cookies. Oh - and someone brought lemonade which I was the only one who drank. So grateful. Dave stayed home and gave out candy and I went with the girls and Mandy. The neighborhood was Full of kids and folks with fire pits burning in their driveways, and lots and lots of candy. 

So here was my coup of the evening. Mandy and Dave had set up a large screen with Looney Toons Halloween cartoons (Tom and Jerry) playing. They put out chairs and blankets and let people sit and watch. So I have finished my rotations with the kids and am standing outside when  a couple of teens arrive. I give them candy, they notice the cartoons, I tell them they are welcome to sit and watch. They thank me politely and leave - talk to three more of their friends who are waiting on the sidewalk and come back and take me up on it. They must have stayed for 30 minutes. At one point I took out popcorn, told them a movie needed popcorn but they had to share. They passed around the bowl, ate it all, had a great time and left, thanking us (Mandy was back by then) profusely. I think it made their evening. It certainly made mine.

I Have a Hat!

I have always enjoyed Halloween from dressing up and racing from house to house as a child to sharing that time with my own children. There were a few adult parties over the years for which I was able to throw together some sort of costume. I know I was in theatre and I scrupulously avoided the costume department so I really did improvise at Halloween.

When I moved to Tahoe 16 years ago, Dean told me there would be no children coming by. Hoping he was wrong, I had candy. He was right and we have had no spooky visitors in all that time. I did go to Carson City once with Michelle, Meredith and Trinity and we went out as our own family coven. 

This year I am going to be with grands in Southern California over Halloween and have learned that there is a block party with lots of kids and open houses and visiting neighbors. I have no idea if the adults dress up or not. I am going to. And I have already started planning. 

I have a hat! And it is purple - my color, so coordinating my outfit will be no problem. I am having such fun planning ~ and of course I have to have everything ready to take with us when we travel. You will see the whole outfit on the day but for now know that I am enjoying gathering my costume and becoming a purple witch because I have a hat! 

I Am Not a Fax

I am not a fax machine! There has been a company that for a long time has thought I was a fax machine. Irritating. Finally this morning, the third time the call came through, it dawned on me I could Google them and find out how to contact them. They are a very legitimate company as far as their website goes - and Bethany, the receptionist, was very helpful. She is going to do what she can to find the right person and stop faxes to my home phone. She was also rather amazed that I was not a client, had no account with them, and had never heard of them until the fax calls started coming. Lovely if it is finally over. Now I know what to do as their are several others like this — and why I haven’t though of it before, I have no idea. Phew.

October De'lish

The first frost was coming so I brought in the three tomato plants and lined them up in the bathroom. And haven't moved them since! I suppose we could have taken them back out to get more sun and brought them in again at night. We didn't though. They sat in their warm corner where steam from the shower would bless them and the heated floor gave them some protection from the cold. The result was little clusters of tiny sweet tomatoes. They ripened one at a time until today when there were enough to pick and picture. So good. And such a delight to have summer flavors in October.

“They want to call you?”

It is 25 years ago. Michelle is pregnant with Joshua, and yes, we know it is Joshua who is coming. My friend Anne comes late to dance rehearsal, apologizes and says, “Cory wanted to call and talk to his grandmother.” Cory was about 3. My immediate and excited response was, “They want to call you??”

Wow! Grandchildren might want to call their grandparents. I could hardly wait. And sure enough Joshua was born, grew up enough to want to call his Mama Susan, recognize the weekly postcard and finally find it amazing that when he came to our house, I was actually there.

Time passed. When he was in high school we lived close enough that we saw each other every week or so and therefore the need or desire for phone calls was not as great. 

College years passed quickly (for me - not so much for him) and we saw each other when I could make it to Ashland. He graduated on a Saturday and on Monday started a new job that he enjoys. Once in a while I would see a post of some kind on FaceBook and in the last week I saw him on my chat list. As happens a lot, as I was typing a message, he signed off. And then the other day, my phone rings. It was Joshua!

My excitement was just as great after 25 years, as that earlier anticipation of just the fact that they might want to call. I’m not sure grandchildren understand how much their grandparents love them until they themselves become grandparents. I find myself thinking of my grandmother and some of things I was told she said about me. Even after all these years, I wish I could call. 

Mama Dear and Susan in 1943; Joshua and Mama Susan at graduation in June. 

Random Observations

1) Oso loves to swim and retrieve.

2) I am tired of politics, disrespect for other human beings, ugly language and using the First Amendment to justify anything done or said without regard to consequences.

3) I am tired of people using the Second Amendment to justify civilians having assault weapons. Gun control may not stop what happened in Las Vegas and it would be a step in the right direction.

4) First frost killed all the flowers and the basil. The mint survived.

5) Aged Gouda is very different than plain Gouda or even smoked Gouda. Aged Gouda is very good and it just isn't Gouda. It's another taste and texture entirely.

6) Warm fall afternoons are good for the soul.

7) I am trying to age gracefully and sometimes I just have to complain.

8) A loving family is one of the greatest gifts we have. I am so grateful.

A Fall Afternoon at the Lake

Those of you who remember the draught pictures from last summer, will be pleased to see a full lake, rolling waters and even some waves curling against the shore. 

And in the middle if you look closely is Oso, making his way to a ball Dean threw.

He found it, and back he comes.

Success - several times over on this warm fall day.

Don't stand too close, mom. Here I go!

Shake it off and head home to sit on a warm deck to dry. 

Even in a Peaceful Place

The Wellness Center where I have my chiropractic and acupuncture sessions is a very peaceful place. Quiet music plays throughout the small building. Voices are usually kept low in order not to disturb massage or acupuncture. The energy is gentle and peaceful. 

This morning, just as I was called into a room for chiropractic, a man whom I have seen there before, burst in the door, saw the other man sitting there, and started venting his anger about the NFL players taking the knee during the National Anthem. His energy was all over the place, bouncing off the walls and swirling around the room. 

Being in another room, only one wall away though, I was away from the immediate impact of his energy and I still had to sit still, center myself, drop a fresh grounding cord and surround myself with silence. He was so angry and so loud. The other man’s ideas agreed with him but he was quiet and 

stated his position reasonably. Although I disagreed with them both, I could have had a conversation with the one man while the other was almost scary. His angry energy was incredible. I don’t think I have heard anyone that angry in a long time. 

Truthfully, I am grateful I had been placed in a treatment room. I do wish I had had an opportunity to thank the other man for being so quiet and rational and peaceful in his opposition to my opinions. We are not going to change the other’s mind and I would like to have heard his story. 

I Kneel

I have been trying to decide what is in my heart around this “kneeling during the national anthem” controversy. I had just about given up trying to find the right words when they were said for me. Representative Sheila Jackson (D-Texas) knelt in Congress with these words:

“I kneel in front of the flag and on this floor, I kneel in honor of the First Amendment, I kneel because the flag is a symbol for freedom, I kneel because I am going to stand against racism, I kneel because I will stand with those young men and I’ll stand with our soldiers and I’ll stand with America because I kneel.”

Thank you, Congresswoman Jackson! This 74 year old white woman kneels with you. 

The Old Dude and The Pilot

We have heard wonderful rescue stories from the hurricanes and floods. They are amazing and great. There are other rescue stories to be told from the fires in other parts of the country. This is one of them told by Meredith with a bit of editing by Susan.

I (Meredith) got to tour an airplane called an albatross. It's an old Indiana Jones/Casablanca-esque aircraft, oozing old school romance and adventure.

Why did I get to tour it, you ask? Good question; let me tell you. The 76-year old owner of the albatross is also the owner of a house that was in the line of a fire not too long ago. He was pretty much convinced he was going to lose everything, until a Chinook came over the ridge and doused the previously undousable fire, saving The

Old Dude's house and everything in it.

So Old Dude wanted to thank The Pilot, and figured, as a pilot, he must like aircraft. And brought him an albatross to look at. BUT! The other reason Old Dude wanted to give him a BIG thank you was because Old Dude had a favor to ask of said pilot, yes, even above and beyond the saving of the house. Turns out, as The Pilot had been saving Old Dude's house, Old Dude had been taking pictures of pilot saving old dude's house. And Old Dude has had those pictures printed up and enlarged to 11x17, to be framed and hung on the walls of the house that didn't burn to the ground ~ and Old Dude wanted said pilot's autograph on the pictures. Old Dude recognized that this was a big favor (??????) and so wanted to offer a big thank you, and did said pilot think a tour of an albatross was a big enough thanks? Spoiler ~ yes, yes the albatross was enough. The albatross was unnecessary in this context. 

Said pilot saved said house three days before said old dude's 76th birthday. "You gave me my home and all my memories for my birthday..."

It's a Mouse!

I don’t know if this is just me or if this demonstrates the difference between male and female brains. When they work on a car at Jiffy Lube, after you pay your bill they take you to your car, lift the hood and show you that all the little tops are tightened down. Great! I really appreciate that. 

So, I am checked out and Don has taken me to the car, opens the hood, I immediately back off and say, “Get rid of the mouse, please.” He had to look for a second to find the little dead body up in the corner. He gets a cloth, removes the mouse and comes back apologizing profusely that none of them had found it earlier. 

My take: they were all men concentrating on their mechanics. I am a woman and if you open anything that has a dead mouse inside it, I will notice it At Once! Whether that is just me or we can generalize to male and female brains, I have no idea. I just know, Don opened the hood and there was the mouse, seen for the first time all day. 

A Sign of the Times

Daughter Michelle works for the Ashland Oregon School District. Today they received an update:

"With no dissipation of smoke overnight the one-hour DEQ reading for Ashland remains very unhealthy and the 24-hour reading remains hazardous. The guidance of the Oregon Health Authority and DEQ have now clearly stated that we should us the 24-hour reading as our guide as there has been no outdoor fresh air to pull from to circulate within our buildings." ASD website

What does this mean?

DEQ is Dept of Environmental Quality. It means Michelle's kids don't go outside without their expensive masks; buses have to keep their windows closed in 103* heat; schools are providing masks for staff and students who want them and all outside activities and field trips have been cancelled. For Michelle's family - given Akira's having had that horrible bout of pneumonia two years ago and Trinity's having asthma - it means they will probably stay home from school now that Hazardous level has been reached and until the smoke dissipates.

These hang next to Michelle's front door.

When I asked if I could post the picture and the conditions, she said, "Yes, but please add how aware and thankful we are that we are merely inconvenienced. Neither fire nor flood has threatened us, and we are safe and sound in our home. Prayers for all for whom this is far more of a painful and tragic reality."