Intro:

…for in January we diet! Happy December! We actually made it—only a few more days to go and it will be 2021! We’ve made it this far; we can make it to next year. Honest. Trust me.

Most of us will overindulge during the holidays—we’ll eat too many rich foods, too many calories, but, what the heck, come January, we’ll diet and be miserable together.

And, since I’m talking food, I want to share a link with you. It’s from Emergence Magazine, a free online magazine, by the way. The article is Seasons of the Monastic Table. It begins with a quote from Joy Harjo, “Remember the earth whose skin you are,” and goes on to give us seasonal menus focused on plant-based ingredients and the recipes to which animal protein may be added if so desired. Monastic meals across the planet are simple, made with fresh (or fermented) ingredients, often grown and raised on the grounds. I became enthralled with the photography, then got to reading the article and recipes. If you like to cook, please, check it out. If you like to eat, well, Bon Apetit! And if food just isn’t your thing, check it out for the photography. It will feed your soul, if not your belly.

Since we’re now in December, and most of us will celebrate the Holidays according to our own Traditions, let me tell you what I would like to find under my tree this year. Yes, Virginia, I have a tree, complete with lights! It takes me hours to haul it out, decorate it, put it up every year, just so you can enjoy it. OK, it takes me a couple minutes to haul it out of storage, wipe it down, and plug it in. It doesn’t smell as good as a live tree, but it also doesn’t take up as much room in my wee apartment, nor is it as messy. And wee dog isn’t at all interested in marking it as his! 😉 (but it is made from wood)

What do I want under my tree on Solstice/Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Whatever morning? You. Not the physical you, not right now, but you—safe, healthy, and alive. Friends are too valuable to fritter away.

Speaking of fritters, I like apple best, followed by cherry. Odd, now that I think on it, that’s the only way I like cherries! When I was a kid, I liked cherries, until the Powers of the Day started putting cherry flavoring in medicine. Ruined a perfectly good fruit as far as I’m concerned. Not to mention the medicine. Hmmm, wonder what cranberry fritters would taste like?

I really don’t need anything beyond friends and family and all those (virtual) hugs. Speaking of hugs, take your right hand and grasp your left shoulder, at the same time use your left hand and grasp your right shoulder. Now, squeeze. Gently but firmly. And there you have it, a virtual hug from your Auntie Lenora. Repeat as often as wanted. Please, stay safe and healthy. Make Auntie Lenora happy, otherwise she’s wont to whine and cry. Not a pretty sight. Or a melodious sound. 

Entertainment:

Netflix & Amazon: I haven’t been watching so much Netflix. Or Amazon. Do you have any recommendations? I need something to put on my list to watch. Please leave a comment and recommend some shows and give me a few words as to why you think I’ll like it/them. Many thanks.

Peacock: Still enjoying Columbo. I know they have other shows, but haven’t a clue what they are 😉

Books: I’m reading two poetry books at the same time. They complement each other nicely. The first is Another America by Barbara Kingsolver. This is a bi-lingual book—the left page is in Spanish; the right page is in English. I read this many years ago, and just pulled it down to read again. I read one or two, think about them, then pick up my copy of Songs Older Than Any Known Singer by John Phillip Santos, also read earlier. Those are my reads before turning off the light for the night. I have enjoyed the prose of both authors and am enjoying their poetry (again) and together. Be sure to check Rainy Day Reads for the latest book reviews.

Outro:

I’m pretty religious about wearing my mask when I go out, even just to walk the wee beastie. I don’t socialize except electronically, if I meet someone while out with dog, we maintain proper distancing. I keep shopping to a minimum and for essentials and only where everyone wears masks. So how did I catch a freaking cold? Beats me. But it is a cold, not Covid19. But it could have been the novel coronavirus. And I’m being extra careful not to share.

We can see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, but please, just because vaccines are coming, full speed ahead, or half-speed, or even quarter-speed, but they are coming so in the meantime wear your mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, yadda, yadda, yadda until everyone is vaccinated with BOTH shots and this thing is licked!

Remember, you are an important component in Auntie Lenora’s life 😉

Be sure to come by again for another Coffee Break Escape!

Auntie Lenora

Intro:

Indeed, I did have a quiet and alone Thanksgiving. Note, I said, “alone”—not “lonely.” At some point in my life, I realized I was probably going to be alone more than with someone, and I’d best learn to like myself. It took a while, but I succeeded, and although I dearly love company, I also have no problem being alone. Well, I do have a dog, but let’s face it, as cute as he is, he really isn’t a stimulating conversationalist.

Yes, I had beans for supper. Actually, black bean salsa, except I’ve modified the recipe so much, I’m not sure what to call it anymore. Someday, I hope to find the recipe again, in the meantime, there are several recipes online for black bean salsas with corn. Except for the canned beans (drained, any color) and the canned corn (drained, any color), I add all sorts of fresh veggies—tomatoes, onion, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, bell pepper (any color), salt, pepper, and anything else that sounds good—like some chipotle powder. It’s quick, easy, very forgiving, and yummmmm. I had a helping of that, and a boneless pork chop.

My neighbor brought me a plate of white and dark turkey he roasted and some homemade-from-scratch dressing. The turkey is very good (still working on it) but the dressing. Oh, em, gee! that dressing was to die for! Actually, I think I have one or two bites left. I’ve been parsing it out to make it last longer 😉

Alas, I did not make, or eat, any kimchi. sigh.

Sammy had salmon kibble with a fresh (cooked) baby carrot mixed in with it. He loves his carrots.

I received a text from a friend who has had some serious health issues the last couple three years and has spent way more time in a wheelchair than she can enjoy. Well, she spent the day at her brother’s, and negotiated the whole visit sans wheelchair. She now sees the light at the end of the tunnel as sunshine, not the headlamp of an on-coming train! And her dog, who has been staying with her brother, was ecstatic his mommy came to see him. She, needless to say, was equally happy to see him. Let’s hear it for perseverance and physical therapy!!!

As if that wasn’t enough good news for my day, and believe me, it was terrifically good news, the last thing I did before turning off the light was check Amazon. Yes! My book, Marking the Hours, A Collection of Poems, was listed and is available. And the new page is posted in My Books, above. 

And then, yes, there’s more, the books I ordered from the publisher arrived Saturday morning! It was cheaper for them to print and ship by air from India than to have it printed and shipped in the States

So, today is Cyber Monday. Order books. Books for you, books for gifts, books, books, books. And be sure that whatever books you read, to write and post a review. Reviews help sell books. Reviews are virtual hugs to writers. Writers are lonely people. Writers like hugs.

Indeed, 2020 has been a year of sucking bilgewater, but there are good times within that year, sometimes you must look for them, sometimes they arrive on a platinum platter! I admit, it helps to keep the eyes open and look for those wonderful bits of goodness, but they are there!

Entertainment:

Peacock: If you don’t know about this channel, check it out. It’s from NBC and is free. I’ve been watching Columbostarting from S1, E1. I think I’ve seen every episode at least 3 times, probably more like 6. Shucks, I even know half the dialog before it’s spoken. Oh, one more thing…

Netflix: Still watching The Good Detective, but, frankly, it’s getting darker than I want right now. Must see if they’ve uploaded the rest of season 5 of Lucifer yet. 

Books: Got about half-way through Stzrok’s book. Am lending it to a friend. Too depressing. Read 200 or so pages of poetry by Shirley Kaufman, Roots in the Air, New & Selected Poems. Some great poems in the book. She lived for several years in Jerusalem, and many of the poems in this book are from that time. Check Rainy Day Reads for latest reviews.

Outro:

Have a great Cyber Week. Let your fingers do the shopping. Have I mentioned I have two new books of poetry out? /snark/ 😉 If you’d like a signed copy of either or both, please contact me.

And please, stay safe, stay healthy, and wear your mask. Please, wear your mask. It helps stop the spread of Covid19, it also helps prevent the wearer from picking it up!

If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe, and share with your friends. Be sure to come again for another coffee break escape with

Auntie Lenora

PSA: THANK YOU for voting. I don’t care for whom you voted, only that you did. Remember, if you didn’t vote, you are not entitled to voice an opinion on anything that happens until the next election at which time you will vote. Won’t you?

Intro:

First the Sad news—Alex Trebek died yesterday (8 Nov 20). My very first Sister of Choice (SOC) Val, and I used to watch Jeopardy! together and win and lose fortunes every time. Of course, we were in the safety of her living room or mine. And the money was never collected – or paid. Not only did we learn a lot of interesting facts; we had fun, and it was all due to Alex Trebek. Several years ago, I took a 5-day seminar taught by a woman who had worked as a writer on Jeopardy! and she had only wonderful things to say about him. He was friendly, professional, smart, nice, caring — pick your positive descriptor, and I’m sure it would fit. The world was a brighter place, a kinder place, a more fun place because Alex Trebek was here for eighty years. He will be missed. As Uncle George (Takei) said on his Twitter account, “The heavens have all the answers now.”

Now for the Good news. Really — I put together a collection of poetry and had it edited by a professional editor, who made some very good suggestions both in content and order of presentation. She then suggested a publisher, who had done her last book, so I sent the updated ms off to the publisher. They acknowledged receipt immediately, and I settled in to wait for their decision, guessing sometime after the new year.

While at the computer Saturday morning, at 8.20, I received an email from the publisher, with my proof copies attached!!! While sitting and trying to catch my breath, just seconds later, I was staring, pretty much unseeing, at the tv in my office, just as NBC called Pennsylvania, and the election, for Biden.

Now, as most of you know, that is very good news to me. I realize some of you probably feel like I felt four years ago, but I think we’ll find Biden will be a peacemaker, if we all pitch in and help. I survived the previous four years, and I’m more than willing to try to help you survive the coming four if you’d like. That’s what friends do.

Wait. Wait. There’s more! I’m in a poetry group in the Tri-Cities, The Tarweed Poets, and three of us are putting out a book of our poetry. We hope to have it available before Thanksgiving. You’ll be among the very first to know when you can order it, and how.

Was looking for some weather specific photos, and came across these from a few months ago, when it was somewhat warmer. I do enjoy watching the Great Blues and Great Egrets over on the island. This handsome guy is a Great Blue Heron.

Entertainment:

Sigh, no movies/tv shows beyond news this week. But, I did read a book 😉

Books: 

See Rainy Day Reads for reviews and mayhaps a bit of snark. Who? Me? Snark?

I’m still reading Peter Strok’s book, Compromised. I had to put it down for a bit, as it was getting to be too much politics. I did, however buy a copy of The Man She Married: A gripping psychological thriller with a heart-pounding twist, by Alison James. I bought it on Friday and finished it on Friday. By the time you read this, my review will be posted.

A friend put me wise to a new (to me) site, Freebooksy. You can sign up for a newsletter every morning containing a list of free books for several forms of eReaders. You choose your e-reading format when you join. You choose the genres which interest you the most. If you’re a bookworm, check them out. You can also sign up for heavily discounted books.

And remember, if you like a book, please write and post a review. It doesn’t have to be a college-level critical review, just something as to why you liked it. Reviews are virtual hugs for the authors. They mean a lot!  

Outro:

We are now having over 100,000+  Covid19-positive cases per day. It should be a no-brainer; masks help stop the spread. Combined with social distancing, hand-washing, and common sense, we can slow the spread down quickly, and keep it down. This virus is a painful killer, of small children to old farts and fartesses and everyone in between. Young, old, healthy, not so healthy. Please, be a patriot and wear your mask.

Go forth and have a great week. Do good, get into good trouble if you need to, read a new book, better yet, write the book you really want to read. Remember, Santa will be here too soon (as well as the bills), and I hope to have two options for your want list soon. You do want one or both of the books, don’t you?

If you enjoy this blog, please share with friends. 

Auntie Lenora

a flash fiction of about 940 words

by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

It was a beautiful, crisp October morning, the houses in the village were decorated with ghosts and witches and hand carved Jack O-Lanterns. All but The Manse, reputed by many to be truly haunted, which stood currently vacant of tenants and looked dark and lonely on top of the hill. I had just opened my door to walk to work when the phone rang, “Jan, Marcus here, can you come down to my office tomorrow at three o’clock? Mrs. Gooch died, and she wanted you present when I read the will.”

“Me? Sure, I’ll be there.” Mrs. Gooch died? She’d been around forever, and it never dawned on me she’d die. She was too much an institution in the village. She was, well, she was just too damn ornery to die. But die she did. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why she wanted me at the reading of her will. We weren’t really friends. I just worked for her off and on as she needed help.

The phone call raised memories of how we met. I smiled at the comparison of those memories to specters and Halloween. I was a kid, with my first paper route. Mrs. Gooch was known to dislike people, especially children. “Too noisy,” she said. “No manners.” The boy who had the route before me said she was a real witch and he rode his bike by her place as fast as he could and just threw the paper – if she wanted it, she could find it. My mom told me to deliver the papers to the front doors of my customers. Mom was right. I got big tips at the end of the year, especially from Mrs. Gooch.

One summer day, she saw me pushing my lawn mower over to one of the neighbors. “Jan,” she called out, “would you be interested in mowing my lawn? I’m very particular about how I want it done.” She was, too. She wanted it mowed first in this direction, then in that direction. And she tipped well at the end of the season.

We always smiled and waved at each other, and she wanted to know all about my classes when I came home on breaks. She seemed genuinely interested, but not overly friendly. While I was away at Veterinary school, she decided she’d had enough of the stairs of The Manse, and bought a new, modern, one-storey ranch. She used The Manse, as she called the old Victorian Painted Lady, as a rental. She had a handyman-chauffeur who did nothing but drive her around. I spent quite a bit of my spare time fixing and painting the old place. Vet school was expensive, and her generous pay and tips certainly helped. It didn’t matter, as no one wanted to stay in it. “Haunted,” they said. “Strange noises. Things go thump in the night.” Hogwash! I thought, but kept my comments to myself, after all, there are only so many animals for a Veterinarian to see in our village.

That old house was well over a hundred years old. I’m sure it had its share of creaks and groans, but ghosts? I think the tenants were city folk who had never lived in an old house and had no idea of the sounds made when it heated and cooled. I looked up at the old house, imposing at the top of the hill, and couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to live there. I hoped whoever got the house would keep it, and not tear it down for apartments or condos. Then, again, Mrs. Gooch was enough of a grouch she might come back and haunt it. I smiled at the thought as I walked toward Marcus’ office the next day.

By the time I arrived at the law office of Marcus Whitworth, two others waited—Sally, Mrs. Gooch’s housekeeper and Bill, her chauffeur. They wore expectant smiles and faux tears and were positively giddy with anticipation at their expected new riches. After all, Mrs. Gooch had no known family, only her two servants of several years. They openly questioned my presence, sure that I wanted to rob them of their anticipated inheritance. Marcus cleared his throat, glanced at each of us, and then proceeded with the business at hand. “Mrs. Anabella Theodora Metz Gooch specifically asked the three of you to be present when her will was read. Since you are all here, we’ll get started. Sally, Mrs. Gooch said you are to receive $1,000.00. There would have been more, she said, but she knew you regularly dipped into the change bowl. And Bill, you get $1,000.00. She said that if you hadn’t used the house gas card for your vehicle, there would have been more. My secretary has your checks ready; you may sign for them on the way out. Jan, you inherit the rest of her estate. The home in which she lived at the time of her death, all her belongings, her investments, The Manse – well, we’ll go over it later, in detail. She said you were the only person in the village who treated her as if you liked her, even though she wasn’t likable. You, my friend, are very, very rich.”

Sally and Bill stood, glowered at me, and huffed out of the office; I sat, too stunned to move.

“Oh, one more thing.” A twinkle appeared in Marcus’s eye. “In the attic of The Manse, is an old record player set to a timer. Mrs. Gooch suggests you remove them before you move in—or rent it out. Here’s the key to the padlock on the attic door.”

Happy Belated Halloween, y’all!

Entertainment:

Did you notice this is my Halloween issue? Ya know, it written before Halloween, but not posted before. Still, in this time of Covid19, we can stretch a holiday a bit. Can’t we? So, being surfeited on news (i.e., politics and covid, covid, covid, covid), I turned over to Hallmark Movies and Mysteries the other night, needing a nice cozy murder. Uh, no. What I got were Christmas love stories. They couldn’t wait until Black Friday, let alone Halloween, even. Oh, well. Predictable, and no politics, no covid, no serious angst beyond will the star-crossed lovers realize their mistrake and turn to each other in the last two minutes???  (Spoiler: Yes! Yes, they will.)

Books:

See Rainy Day Reads for reviews and mayhaps a bit of snark. Who? Me? Snark?

Have started Compromised by Peter Stzrok. The Introduction was fascinating, as is the first part of the book. He’s a very good writer, at least at the beginning. And so far, I’m learning things I didn’t already know, or having things I suspicioned verified.

Quill and Parchment isn’t a book, but a beautiful online magazine. They have published three of my poems this November. Please feel free to check out mine and read all the others at http://quillandparchment.com/members/memberink.html No politics, no covid, just nice poetry.

Outro:

Masks save lives. That’s proven fact. Remember, the lives you save may be your very own ghosts, goblins, zombies, or vampyres — wear your fracking mask!!! Get a cloth one, it won’t cut down on your oxygen level one whit! Neither will the KN95s. It may actually make breathing in the super cold and or polluted air easier. Wear the same ones that surgeons wear—they certainly aren’t going to wear something to cut down their oxygen. Besides, they’re cute and sexy. The masks. And, well, some surgeons 😉

If you missed the Disney video last week, here it is for an encore performance:

Show your love, wear a mask! (Thanks, Bill for the video! 😉

THOU SHALT NOT COVID THY NEIGHBOR’S LIFE–WEAR THY MASK! (Swiped from the www.)

If you enjoy this blog, please feel free to share.

Auntie Lenora