Good people

GOOD PEOPLE
 I was lucky to grow up in the company of all four of my grand parents. With my father absent, they became, along with my mother and brothers, my immediate family. All four were born around 1900, give or take a few years. They married and had children in the 1920's, lived through the Great Depression in the 30's and sent their sons to the World War in the 1940's.  The Depression and the War had a deep and lasting influence and by the 1950's they were old by the standard of the times. My mother's parents lived in the country and fared somewhat better than my father's parents who live in the city. It was a good time to have a small farm. Although I didn't realize it at the time, we were all rather poor. For all of their problems I don't ever recall any anger or unhappy times with the grandparents. They were the most consistently positive people I have ever known. They along with a large group of aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors lived their lives and were for the most part generous and warm and happy. They were the best people I was ever to know. They were good people.

There is no hope

There is no hope

The other day I was in line at the market and as always I read the covers of the magazines. I have over time lost all comprehension of what most of the stories are about. On several covers the headline was "Two Kardashian marriages on the rocks". Believing that anything about the Kardashians is a joke, I made a comment to the clerk and bagger. To my surprise they both knew all about the Kardashians marital problems and were very well informed about many other details of their lives.

There is no hope

Figs

Figs

Yesterday was a record day for fig production. I collected 10 big ripe figs from our Brown turkey tree, from which I produced the most lovely jam.

10 large ripe figs

 half a cup of sugar

pinch of salt

chop figs; simmer with sugar for 30 minutes (stir )

add off heat  1 tbls lemon juice and 1 tbls port wine

cool and eat

Enjoy

Music Man Murry

Murry Gershenz

Murry Gershenz died this week in LA. He was 91. At 80 he started an acting career. His credits include several dozen movies and TV shows. His most well know role was his nude scene in "The Hangover".

But most of his life was devoted to music. He loved good music, and collected 3 or 4 hundred thousand records. He was a singer and a cantor. Earlier this year he sold his collection.

There is a 22-minute movie "Music Man Murry"that you can connect to on the internet. It is well worth watching. He does a rendition of "Brother can you spare a dime?" that will make you weep. 

The LA Times obit has a link to the movie.

RIP Murry

garden in summer

The garden in summer

tiger lilly

cooking

The Lamb Shawarma
The ingredients

And the meal

lotus

The Lotus pond