Category: Current Events

New Year’s Eve 2022 – Reflections

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It’s expected that we look back at the end of the year and try to draw some conclusions about what happened during the Earth’s last revolution around the Sun.  And I guess I see the value in that.  Some of the observations may not be very profound but there is value in reflecting on the various events and how they have or have not impacted our lives.  And we can look at trends and extrapolate on how those things will play out over the next year and beyond.  So, let’s say there’s value.

Looking back on the year, what stands out is the depths of the Republicans’ defeat by the Democrats.  I would say that there is no comparable example of an incumbent party in such a disastrous economy surviving a mid-term with so little damage to their ranks.  We are in a different place.  Whether it’s the ballot harvesting or a new majority of Americans out there, is hard for me to say.  Maybe it’s both.  But the importance of this new reality is impossible to overstate.

At the same time, I think we’ve reached the end of the awakening of the American population as to how their country is actually run.  Nobody believes in the myths of election fairness or unbiased behavior by the bureaucrats who really run this country.  Everyone has seen how the FBI and the courts treat Democrats and Republicans differently.  And this is the positive flip-side of the Democrats’ victory.  Everyone on the Right knows we’re being cheated and there will be no reconciliation.  The best the Left can expect is sullen resignation.  And if the opportunity ever arises, they can expect pay back.

On the economic front Biden’s war on hydrocarbons is having the expected results.  Almost every facet of the economy is suffering from very significant cost increases.  Food, energy, transportation and anything that has to be manufactured and shipped is more expensive.  Inflation is running between 10% and 20% depending on how you compute it.

The higher fuel costs are permanent.  And the current inflation is predicted to throw the economy into recession in 2023.  The layoffs that have already begun will reduce the inflation to some extent.  People will have to tighten their belts and save money where they can.  Those who lose their jobs are in for a really bad time.

Another trend that looks to be continuing is the migration from blue states like California and New York to red states like Texas and Florida.  Some is just economic reality because of the realities of blue state life; high taxes and bad business policy.  But some of it is people escaping the craziness.  And you can’t blame them.  The Blue cities have descended into chaos and the woke laws in these blue states cancel the freedoms we’re supposed to have under the Constitution.

As far as the Ukraine War, it’s very hard to say how all of that will end.  If the Russians have the wherewithal to crush the Ukraine, and I think they do, we’re going to be looking at a new international order.  If the Russians form a durable bloc with the Chinese the United States and Europe will be in a different environment.  Having abandoned industrial capacity in the United States and transferred it to China and more generally Asia, we are liable to lose the financial hegemony that we have enjoyed since the end of World War II.  Even the primacy of the US dollar is not assured.  And the ramifications of America’s descent from a global hegemon to just another competitor state will have very serious consequences for all of us.  We’ve been able to underwrite a defense budget, the size of which almost staggers the imagination.  When that is no longer possible, areas of our economy will contract radically and that will have a knock-on effect for the rest of the economy.  The United States is about to experience what every superpower from Spain to Britain experienced when it was knocked from the top perch of the global hierarchy.

And based on what happened in Afghanistan the people we have in charge of war and foreign policy are not very skilled at what they do.  There is a very real chance that they may botch a crisis.  They may even decide to interfere in the Ukraine war to such an extent that they panic or anger the Russians into a full nuclear exchange.  It’s hard to imagine that happening, but honestly, many people feel we are in a much worse place than we were back at the height of the Cold War.  And if that happens, we can stop thinking about extrapolations.  No one should pretend that they have any idea what the survivors of an all-out nuclear war will face or how things will evolve for humanity from that point.  All that is certain is that life will be infinitely worse than it is now.

But let’s assume for now that we avoid nuclear annihilation in the coming year.  It looks like we have some bad times coming.  The takeaway for me is to avoid incurring debt and build up any capability to earn money through enterprise.  Socially it makes sense to continue to reach out to friends, family and like-minded people to network and help each other any way we can.  And make a point of avoiding any entanglements with the Left at all costs.

So, there’s my review and extrapolation for 2022.  Happy New Year to all those out there.  Be happy and be safe.

Kevin McCarthy Struggling to Find Enough Votes to Become Speaker of the House

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Kevin McCarthy has so far been unable to assemble the 218 votes he needs to become Speaker of the House in January.  The usual suspects in the GOP establishment are wringing their hands and warning that to resist McCarthy’s accession to the Speaker’s gavel would be madness.  Some representatives who despise McCarthy have floated Steve Scalise’s name.

Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) said, “Steve Scalise is a good friend of mine, but he himself and many others have said they’re supporting McCarthy and will continue to support McCarthy. Again, there is no Plan B here. The plan is to get him elected as speaker. At the end of the day — we could be there two, three days — it doesn’t really matter. The majority of the conference understands that without him, we wouldn’t even be having this debate.”

That may be, but apparently McCarthy is worried and so he is making concessions to his opponents.

“The embattled California Republican is offering a congressional rule change that would make it easier to remove a House speaker in exchange for his ascension to the post. McCarthy’s offer would lower the threshold required for a motion to vacate the chair — a parliamentary gambit that forces a vote on retaining the speaker.

“Currently, because of rules change pushed through by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, only a member of the House leadership can offer a motion to vacate. Conservative House Republicans are pushing for that standard to be repealed, allowing any one member to force a vote on the speaker at any time.”

Well, well, well.  Some of the new congressmen don’t want the establishment hack to sell out their constituents.  If you ask me that’s pretty damn good.  It may not accomplish a thing but it restores faith that not every last politician in Washington is a fink.

Look, McCarthy will end up the Speaker and he will cut the usual deals with the Democrats that sell us out and make him a zillionaire.  But the fact that some of the reps are even trying to get some leverage over their future boss is a minor miracle from my point of view.

It at least shows that there’s an awareness of what the voters think of McCarthy and so these reps are at least trying to show that they’ll do more than just stand by and let the Uniparty sell us out according to standard operating procedure.

This is hardly a stunning victory.  It’s not even a feel-good story.  Let’s call this a tiny first step in the right direction.  But it’s a nice sequel to the ejection of Liz Cheney and most of the other Never-Trump impeachment traitors.  Let’s just call it a little creative schadenfreude.

The Litmus Test Going Forward

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For the last seven years we have been witness to an attempt to break this country loose from the power structure that controls almost every facet of our lives and inexorably drags the world further and further to the left.  We elected Donald Trump to be our savior.  He was going to close the border, restore the economy and free us from the mind control that the woke forces of Media and Industry had imposed.  He gave it a good try.  He was basically completely alone.  Almost all the people he appointed from the GOP establishment to work in his administration were working against him 24/7/52.  He did succeed in revealing to us just how corrupt and powerful were the bureaucrats who run the FBI, CIA, IRS and the other alphabet agencies that really run our government instead of the president.  And for that I am grateful to him.

But we now know that the Left permanently controls the federal election system.  Through ballot harvesting or whatever you want to call the voter fraud system they’ve enacted they appear to have a monopoly on control of the White House and the Senate going forward.  That’s the situation.

To my mind the only meaningful news from this point forward is when someone figures a way to gain ground on the Left.  What do I mean by gaining ground?  Well let me give an example.  Suppose one of the states decides to do something about illegal immigration.  For instance, suppose Texas legislates that anyone in the state found to be an  illegal alien was subject to arrest and incarceration until they agreed to voluntarily return to their country of origin permanently.  I would consider that gaining ground.  But it would only be a victory if that state manages to successfully defend such legislation from the legal onslaught that the federal government would surely bring to bear against it.  It would only count if they successfully implement the program and make it work.

So, you see what I mean.  At this point I’m only interested in results.  It’s been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and we’ve been going down that road for a very long time.  I’m only interested in something that gets us off that road.  That’s my criterion.  I’m too tired of trumpeting the advent of someone on the Right talking about doing something.  Talk, as has often been noted, is cheap.  Results are not.

So that’s my new policy.  If I read about something promising.  I’ll be interested but excitement will be reserved for results.  All of the talk about election fraud lawsuits have garnered not one reversal of an election loss.  All of the articles about lethal vaccine side-effects haven’t resulted in the FDA protecting the public from these experimental treatments.  We’ve read about how the FBI and CIA called the shots at Twitter but there hasn’t been anyone in the government fired because of it.  There’s been a lot of talk but nothing has happened so there’s really nothing to talk about.

From time to time, I’ll still comment on things in the news.  But when something really happens, I’ll say that someone has gained ground.  In fact, I’ll start a new web tag on the site called Real Progress Against the Left.  I’ll include this post under that tag because it provides my policy and its definition.  But I don’t expect to add any other posts any time soon.  But I can always hope.

Enough of Gloom and Doom for the Last Week of the Year

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So that post I had up for yesterday was certainly depressing.  Well, I had an antidote for that today.  After getting home from an errand this afternoon, I had all four grandsons over for a viewing of the extended version of the “Return of the King.”  This includes my personal favorite scene from the motion picture series, “The Ride of the Rohirrim.”

There’s nothing like hanging out with my young descendants to cheer me up.  This was the first viewing of this decisive completion to the trilogy for the two younger fellows.  And there was much excitement over the visually impressive Battle of Minas Tirth.  We cheered on the good guys and laughed when the various orcs and trolls were splatted by projectiles hurled from the battlements.

Camera Girl, always the gracious hostess, provided grilled cheeses sandwiches, mac and cheese and desserts.  There were several pies, various flavors of ice cream, cheesecake and cookies available.  And this being a vacation week we all ate way too much.

After the movie ended, we debated many important points of Tolkeiniana.  I expressed my opinion that regardless of the violence done to the plot Sam should have been allowed to liquidate Gollum.  In all honesty, in the movie version, I despise both Gollum and Frodo almost equally.  Frodo is such a hopeless basket case that it defies imagination that Sam was able to finally carry him over the finish line to Mount Doom at all.  If they had taken along a ten-year-old girl instead it couldn’t have been any more pathetic.  I think if Elrond had given the ring to Sam, he would have chucked it in Mount Doom a couple of months early and been back in the Shire in time for potato planting.

My younger relatives seemed to enjoy most the scenes where Gimli and Legolas compete to kill the most orcs.  I have to confess the liberties that the movie makers took with the dialog around Gimli borders on the farcical but I will admit that sometimes the lightheartedness is a welcome addition.  Although I do draw the line at the dwarf tossing and elf snowboarding scenes in “The Two Towers.”

Eventually some of the discussions spilled over into arguments about the actual text in Tolkien’s books.  I had to bring out my copy of the trilogy in order to provide authoritative answers to questions like which were older, the Oathbreakers on the Paths of the Dead or the dead soldiers in the Dead Marshes?  As it turned out they were both from the same time period, the Last Alliance of Men and Elves against Sauron at the end of the Second Age.

And so, we ended the get together and I brought them home in time to finish their chores and prepare for the next day of their Christmas vacation.  But if life in this confused world still includes time with such admirable characters as my grandsons, then it can’t be all bad.  We’ll have many good things to do in the days and weeks ahead.  And I’ll get to see them grow up to be fine young men.  As for problems, well, helping family with their problems is what family is all about.

We’ve Got a Ways to Go

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New Year’s is the time to prognosticate.  Everyone and his brother know the future.  It’s the favorite pastime of pundits.  Well, relax.  I have no clue what to expect in 2023.  All I know is that the bad guys won and the good guys are out of power in Washington.  In a few places like Florida, state government is in the hands of normal people.  That’s about all I know.

But what I tell myself is that we can expect more of the same and worse for the foreseeable future.  Biden and his handlers have been emboldened by the mid-terms and they will continue to loot the country by executive order and through the Congressional appropriations grift that both parties have perfected since the Obama administration abolished the budget process.

The famous statement that there is a lot of ruin in a nation is being demonstrated on a titanic scale with all the multi-trillion-dollar boondoggles being rammed through Congress right up to the last day of this Congress.  The pain that is being felt by the working and middle classes will continue and intensify as the policies this regime favors continue to distort the energy markets and discourage the generation of jobs in manufacturing.  The wreckage of the cities by runaway criminality will continue and accelerate as the police forces in these cities evaporate.  These are not predictions.  These are the conditions already in place playing out in real time.

So let me extrapolate what’s going on and describe what that is.  The Left will continue with their program of de-industrializing the United States, eliminating affordable energy sources and importing poor people to destroy the opportunities of the native population to make a decent living.  And this will go on for a good long time before it completely destabilizes the socio-economic foundations of this country.

Now it may be that some local leaders decide to pre-empt this intentional destruction of the United States.  And they may even succeed in saving areas of the country from this program.  And I’ve speculated in the past on how a state policy of nullification of unconstitutional federal laws that threaten the welfare of a state’s citizens might be a way to achieve this.  But that’s strictly speculation.  It implies that local leaders would be willing to risk their careers and maybe their lives by defying the United States government.  But speculation is all that is.  No one has defied the feds since the Civil War.  It ranges into fantasy imagining how it would happen

So, what that leaves is a landscape where the Left steadily and without any effective opposition “fundamentally transforms” this country into a police state under the control of a partnership of the intelligence agencies of the federal government and cooperative woke corporations.

Saying this is extremely depressing for me but at the same time pretending anything else is even worse.  Continuing to wait for a rescue by a “silent majority” that doesn’t exist is even more painful.  My plan is to do my best to insulate myself and my family from the damage caused by this regime.  Strategies for doing that will be my focus going forward.  And of course, that will only ever be partially successful.  But I think that’s a realistic approach.

And I will keep my eyes open to see if a miracle occurs.

What would a miracle look like?  Two things come to mind.  One would be for the regime to succeed in their demolition plan too thoroughly and cause a critical failure of the economy.  Something on the order of the Great Depression but worse.  That might galvanize the population to renounce the Left and demand a return to sanity.

Another miracle would be one of those state governments actually succeeding in a nullification program.  If it happened it would have a tremendous effect on the other states and would change the whole power dynamic between the federal government and the states.  And it would be like an emancipation proclamation for the normal people.

But these are indeed miracles and we haven’t seen any miracles in a very long time.  So, most of my time will be devoted to looking for ways to cope with a government that hates me and wants me to disappear.  So, there is my look forward into 2023.  Not very inspiring but realistic, I think.

December 26th 2022

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And just like that it’s over.  All of Camera Girl’s hard work has been expended and all the splendiferous foods have been eaten and all the children have gotten their gifts.  And we wake up on Monday morning and groan from the food we consumed and begin to straighten up the kitchen and the house and cart away the imperial ton of wrapping paper and boxes and put away the good china (of which one plate didn’t survive the exercise, requiescat in pace) and shake out the table cloths for the birds before they go in the washing machine (the tablecloths not the birds).

And we talk about all the moments we had with the kids and the grandkids.  And they are remarkable things these moments.  And we agree that it doesn’t get any better than this.  Spending time with the people you love and being relaxed and happy doing it is the pinnacle of life.  All of the hard work that went into the meal was repaid with interest by seeing the guests enjoy it.  Watching the young children playing together and sitting with the older children and talking about their lives and interests is the culmination of decades of work and is enormously gratifying to a parent and grandparent.

I was having a conversation with one of my sons-in-law.  We were talking about the uncertainty of conditions in the world for regular people and he said some things that told me he understands what’s important.  He said the only certain thing in the economy is that if you have a skill that people need, you’ll be able to survive.  And I said that’s true and I added, “No one is looking out for us anymore.  We have to depend on ourselves and each other.”  And he agreed.

And afterwards I thought about what I had said off-hand.  It’s true.  The government has abandoned us.  We’re looking out for each other or no one is.  If something happens to one of your family you may be the only thing between him and homelessness and death.  The government can’t be bothered.  The Canadian government, always ahead of us on the edge of progressivism, now uses the idea of assisted suicide for any situation where people feel abandoned by society.  If you can’t get help with a health problem, they’ll suggest, “Why not end it all with our convenient and economical assisted suicide kit.”  It comes with a YouTube video and on-line instructions to make sure everything goes smoothly.

I’m sure soon they’ll add it to all government FAQ pages as an option to all life’s difficulties.  Can’t get that rental house this summer?  Then end it all.  Can’t find that bargain on eBay you wanted?  Why not off yourself?  It’s fun and practical.  You won’t need to skimp on anything.  Just have a big weekend at a resort, run up an enormous hotel tab and then finish it off with an overdose of fentanyl.  Quick, painless and easy.

Well, excuse me if I don’t run for the exits.  Life is extremely precious.  Our overlords are working overtime to encourage people to give up.  Don’t get married, don’t have children, don’t buy a house, don’t work hard, just drop dead.

Well, too bad.  I won’t take the hint.  They’ve stopped pretending they’re our fellow countrymen.  The globalists say we’re all just one big world.  And it’s a world that has too many people in it.  Fine then.  We’re nothing to them and they’re nothing to us.  Less than nothing.  They’re our avowed enemies.

Let’s remember that and act accordingly.  We only have each other.  But the help of people that actually care about you is more valuable than anything else that you’ll find in this fake world of woke propaganda.  Recalibrate what you can and can’t depend on and decide what is worthwhile to do and what is a waste of precious time.  And you’ll be surprised how much less bleak things will appear.  Just find people you like and work together to make a little world around you that includes the things in life that actually matter.  That’s my thought on this day after Christmas.

Christmas Day 2022

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Christmas Eve with the grandsons at their home was great.  They were in epic high spirits and we talked of various things.  With the eldest it was nuclear fusion and robotics.  With the youngest it was, of course, dinosaurs but also his latest pet, a bearded dragon with an inexhaustible appetite for “super worms.”  With the others there was talk of soccer and what they would be doing on the Christmas holiday next week.  Much food was eaten and the younger kids were occupied with happy mayhem.  Something with plastic swords and shields.

 

But this morning, Camera Girl is at peak output with potatoes being mashed, lasagna, roast beast and ham cooking and side dishes being prepared.  I can tell her patience is exhausted so I have to tread carefully around the outskirts of her kitchen or a carving knife might end up under my ribs.  She does have Sicilian blood on her mother’s side.  But I can tell all is going well.  She’s in the zone.  All of the desserts are already prepared and the meat courses are right on schedule.  It will be a feast to remember.  And the leftovers will be glorious.  That ham will end up in at least a lentil soup and probably some breakfasts.

But after eating way too much food and way too much dessert I’ll spend the time with the grandkids.  Now that Princess Sack of Potatoes is a full four years old, she’ll be right in the thick of it with her older cousins.  I might even try to put on a showing of one of the “Christmas Carol” movies but Camera Girl frowns on television watching on the holidays.  She prefers more sociable pursuits like cards.  We’ll see.

The weather has cooperated.  Although bitterly cold, the roads are in mostly good shape.  Only a few curves of the hills have some large ice hazards but last night I noted that these had been treated with salt so my guests should be safe coming and going today.

Monday we can get back to the political nightmare our country has descended into but today will be “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”  So, all of you have a great day and night and in Tiny Tim’s immortal words, “God bless us every one.”

Update:

I ruined my own surprise by hanging around the kitchen.  Camera Girl had secretly bought me a boneless loin of lamb.  She hates lamb and vociferously refused making it when I mentioned it last week.  But after performing my duty of cutting an X on the raw chestnuts, I glanced over at the stove and there it was.  My discovery angered her but what could I do?  She should have hidden it.  I did thank her heartily but she is pretty mad for me spoiling the surprise.  Well, I’ll make it up to her later.  Christmas just got a whole lot merrier.  But, boy will I be groggy tonight.

24DEC2022 – OCF Update – Christmas Eve

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I’ll be heading out for a Christmas Eve dinner a little before 3 pm.  I intend to eat too much and spend as much time doing whatever the grandchildren want to do as circumstance allows.  Their parents are hosting the party so they’ll have to do all the work and I’ll get to hang out with the kids.

I haven’t written a political post lately other than the odd comment on the headlines.  It’s just too grim to do on the holiday.  The only rational option is to ignore the horror for a few days to allow some joy in our lives before we have to face the wreckage that is waiting for us up ahead.

And that’s reasonable.  Human beings require joy in their lives every once in a while just to survive.  And Christmas is the prime example of how we attempt to make a recurring ritual of joy in our lives.  So Biden and Pelosi and Schumer and the rest of the vampires will still be there when the holiday ends and we will still be up to our ears in dysfunction and depravity.  But we will have had a few days to feel a little happiness in our lives and remind ourselves that there is good in the world.

So I hope everyone has a good day.  And even if it’s just a day off, enjoy it and forget about the problems of the world for as long as you’re allowed.  I’ll post as time allows and as the spirit moves me.

Merry Christmas.

Scrooge Makes Amends to Bob Cratchit

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This scene shows us the day after Christmas and Scrooge putting his new found understanding of life into practice.  But he demonstrates that he hasn’t become a humorless convert and has a little fun with Bob Cratchit before remaking their relationship immeasurably for the better.  Happening as it does at the epicenter of Scrooge’s former evil life, his “money changing hole,” it convinces us that he is indeed a new man.

“But he was early at the office next morning. Oh, he was early there. If he could only be there first, and catch Bob Cratchit coming late! That was the thing he had set his heart upon.

And he did it; yes, he did! The clock struck nine. No Bob. A quarter past. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the Tank.

His hat was off, before he opened the door; his comforter too. He was on his stool in a jiffy; driving away with his pen, as if he were trying to overtake nine o’clock.

“Hallo!” growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. “What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?”

“I am very sorry, sir,” said Bob. “I am behind my time.”

“You are?” repeated Scrooge. “Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please.”

“It’s only once a year, sir,” pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. “It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.”

“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.

“A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!”

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

Wampanoag Lasagna

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It is reputed that at the Pilgrims’ first Christmas dinner the main course was lasagna.  Apparently, some of the Wampanoag Indians learned how to make this dish from Christopher Columbus or one of his friends back in the late 1400’s when they were on a Caribbean vacation and upon returning home it became traditional in the New England area.  Admittedly some scholars reject this time line.  These dissidents claim it came into vogue in the 1900’s with a later wave of Italian influence.

Regardless of which camp you find yourself in it’s obvious that lasagna is a very interesting choice for a Christmas menu.  Now Camera Girl had asked my opinion about the Christmas menu.  I had recommended a roast beast after the Italian wedding soup and she added a ham and then as an afterthought I asked about lasagna as a course.  Surprisingly there was resistance to this reasonable recommendation.  Something about not everyone liking lasagna.  I can’t remember if I pounded my fist on the table and shouted some strangled syllables that might have been, “Heresy!”  Later I calmed down and just swallowed my disappointment.

But Camera Girl is a mysterious creature and without my knowledge or permission she bought the ingredients for lasagna and today she is doing the assembly for later cooking.  There are fragments of sausage and meatball, sauce and various cheeses that go into the layers between the pasta layers.  Of course, I forgave her for her treacherous silence and subterfuge.  Just as Adam forgave Eve for that whole apple thing, I was the better person and put the whole treacherous story behind me and gave my blessing to this lasagna conspiracy.

But this does create an awkward situation for my meal.  I really like roast beef and I like ham.  But lasagna is enormously delicious and infrequently available.  How do I do justice to this dinner without ending up in the hospital emergency room?  Ah, heavy is the head that wears the crown.  Well, I’ll figure it out.  And of course, left over lasagna is a very pleasant situation and I’m sure Camera Girl will distribute it to the households that have children to feed.  Maybe the real concern is that some of it remains for me on December 26th and 27th.

Here is a photo of the intermediate stage of the lasagna assembly process.

And one of the end product.

And here’s one of the Italian cheesecake she’s also got going.

Well, I have to say, Christmas 2022 is shaping up to be pretty remarkable.  It seems that the crazier the world becomes the more special become the personal moments that we share with our friends and family.  In fact, that’s probably why they’re that way.  It’s a defense mechanism to keep our sanity and concentrate on the things within our control and keep the awfulness at arm’s length.  Well even if that’s so it doesn’t detract from the greatness of these special things we do.  Tomorrow we’ll be away at Christmas Eve most of the day so I’ll say Merry Christmas to everyone here.  May you enjoy your time and make the most of it.

Merry Christmas