Pomp And Circumstance -- March 5, 2020

Wow, I'm in a great mood. 

Again, another great day.

Weather will turn warmer today; rain will go away. Should be a great weekend.

The other day I mentioned (again) how much I enjoy the Apple Pencil (and the iPad). This morning, I will mention (again) something else I really, really enjoy: Alexa.

Alexa is absolutely incredible. Why doesn't my "smart TV" respond to voice commands? At night I ask Alexa to play "jazz" -- I never knew "jazz" could be so good. Twenty-five bucks for an Alexa and no monthly subscription, unless one wants a bit extra. We pay $8/month for unlimited music.

Hey, speaking of music, I do a lot of Uber-granddaughter driving. The driving gets tedious, but the rewards are priceless. Last night was another example. Last night while waiting to pick up Olivia from indoor soccer (due to inclement weather), I was listening to my favorite classical music radio station, every weekday night at 7:00 p.m. on 101.1 in the local DFW area. I could not believe it. I heard the backstory to "Pomp and Circumstance."  Listening to Pomp and Circumstance 2 and then Pomp and Circumstance 1 was incredible. It brought back a lot of memories.

Normally, #1 is the lead-in and then #2 is the high "note" (no pun intended) of any 1-2 sequence. But not in this case. In this case, #1 is the "better" of the two. A smart conductor will play #2 first, and then follow with #1.

Here's #1:

Pomp and Circumstance, #1, Sir Edward Elgar
If this isn't just isn't amazing, I don't know what is. Tears come to my eyes thinking of all the venues I've attended where this has played. Over and over and over.

I think I mentioned this before. With my wife out of town, in addition to all driving responsibilities, I am responsible for dinner for the three granddaughters, Monday through Thursday. Wow, it's been a blast. As mentioned earlier, the hardest thing is figuring out what to have. The secret: a scheduled routine:

• Monday: salmon night
• Tuesday: meatless pasta night
• Wednesday: salad night
• Thursday: stir-fry

The entree stays the same each time, but how the entree is prepared, and the sides vary week-to-week. It would be easier if beef, chicken, and/or pork was/were allowed but meat (in general) with the exception of fish and octopus is verboten. [Sophia asks why she can have bacon at our house but not her house. LOL.]

The meal is prepared to the extent possible ahead of time, and then everything is placed on the island in the kitchen and photographed. The photograph is texted about 3:00 p.m. to granddaughters and parents so they know what to expect. What needs to be refrigerated/frozen goes back into fridge/freeze. A quick menu is sharpie-written on an 8 1/2 x 11-inch piece of paper -- a checklist so nothing is forgotten. Everything is left out on the island, and the two daughters, and their parents, can prepare what they want when they want.

For example, stir fry. The wok is left on the stove. The pot of water for the noodles is left on the stove. I put the ingredients on the island. I prepare the sauce (the best part of stir-fry) ahead of time and leave it on the island. I cut the vegetables ahead of time. And then Arianna, when she comes home from school, does the stir-fry, long after I'm gone. She loves to cook and loves it when everything is ready to go.

Once I have it on the island, I'm out of there. I have no interest in whether they eat it or not. It's there if they want it.

If I have pasta that needs to be boiled or ears of corn that need to be boiled, I place the pot of water on the stove (but don't heat the water) and all the utensils that will be needed on the island (the colander, the spaghetti spoon, etc).

The only follow-up I get is the next morning, asking each granddaughter (I drive them separately so I hear three different stores) what they would like differently the following week. The entrees stay the same but the preparation and sides will change.

Salad last night? This is what I learned. Knowing that salad might not be enough, I added a pasta for Arianna. She told me she liked 3-cheese tortellini. I couldn't find 3-cheese tortellini at the store last night so I substituted with a cheese-basil-tomato tortellini. Olivia told me that Arianna doesn't care much for tomators, so now I know. I will have to figure out an alternate to classic spaghetti sauce, and I think I have an idea. Alla carbonara. I'll add mussels just to get their attention. LOL.

I also stop by the best grocery store in town and buy various nuts for the salad (Wednesday night) and stir-fry (Thursday night) each week. The story has aisles of bulk nuts, etc, and you measure out in little zip-lock bags what you want. Incredibly inexpensive, and no waste. I buy about 50-cents worth of each of the following: pistachios (stir-free); cashews (stir-fry); peanuts (stir-fry); pumpkin seeds (salad); sunflower seeds (salad); and, walnuts (salad). 

But last night, the highlight of the night? A last minute impulse buy: crusty French loaf. You know, one of those three-feet long cylinders of bread. Wow. I never knew. Olivia loves that bread. She grabbed half the loaf and took it back up to her room. Fortunately I had already sawed off a quarter of the loaf for Sophia; one of her favorite snacks: butterbrot. Something we learned in Germany. It's not too hard to prepare. LOL.

Anyway, enough of this. You get the idea. The driving begins momentarily. Actually, it already started today. I had to drive Arianna to her school at 4:45 a.m. this morning: her theater club (or is it, troupe?) is participating in regional competition and they had a bus to catch. So this morning, only two more to drive: Olivia and Sophia.

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Backyard Patio

A bit out of focus, but my resources are limited. This appears to be a juvenile.