A LOOK AT THE SITUATION

I walked into the garage this morning and happened to look in the corner and saw it. A bag holding a bunch of useless metal and graphite sticks. Why useless? Well if you were here with me when I opened the overhead you would know why…….piles of snow, the results of a typical 12” New England storm….yuck. Yah I know, it’s pretty and soooo New England, but its times like this when even this warm blooded Pollack would prefer a swaying palm tree and lush green fairways. Why the hell did my grandparents settle in New England? Didn’t they know about the Carolinas in Poland? And how come my parents didn’t have enough adventuresome spirit to get the hell out of here?

I take another good look outside with the hope that the pretty winter scene will make up for the wind and 15 degree weather, but looking at the abandoned swimming pool the dried up flowers and the birds and squirrels struggling for a few seeds in the feeder bring me back to reality. I think it’s time to become one of those “Snowbirds” and go down south somewhere for a few weeks until Mother Nature comes to her senses. Guess it’s time to convince my wife that the four kids, spouses and eight grandchildren will survive without our company for a little while.

On the bright side, in a couple of days we’ll all be getting together to celebrate what the Polish call “Wigilia” or Christmas Eve. This day along with Thanksgiving and Easter were my big cooking days. Over the last few years my daughters, evidently feeling compassionate, have taken over these holidays leaving me only an occasional dish to prepare. For Wigilia it will be a pot of mushroom soup which has been a family tradition. I’ve created a few different recipes over the years, but this year I’m doing it the way my mother used to make it. For many years I would make a few excursions to the woods and pick mushrooms which my mother, wife and I would string and let dry in the furnace room. My mother would reconstitute them and use them in our Christmas mushroom soup. It was usually a great tasting soup, although we occasionally ran into some mushrooms that had a very strong laxative effect……lol. Not deadly, but the methane they created might be called deadly by those who were in the same room after dinner. Well enough potty talk. I’m really looking forward to enjoying our Polish Wigilia customs and food.

It’s too bad we can’t have some sort of Christmas type holiday each month. That way we would think about our friends and family and wish them well every month instead of only in December. My thanks to all who make the effort to read my Blogs……I extend to you my best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy 2009.