Good Morning.
I was awake for at least half of a six-hour thunderstorm a couple of nights ago, a particularly noisy event that compelled my dog to wedge herself between the bed and the bedside table, place her head three inches from my face, and pant a hundred beats a minute in her distress. To offset the dynamics of the situation, I thought about all the things I enjoy or have enjoyed to the hilt, some inspired and healthy, others quite the opposite.
We begin, of course, with food. I love chocolate. I love chocolate mousse, a chocolate eclair, chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, French silk pie with whipped cream, and the chocolate truffles created by the angels among us.
I love seafood. At the top of the list is lobster with drawn butter but scallops, shrimp, and crab are also sublime. Not oysters. I can't even be in the same room with them. I love tomatoes fresh from a summer garden, sweet corn on the cob during August, and cheese - extra sharp cheddar that brings tears to the eyes, Gouda but not smoked, and any form of blue from any country that makes it. My best cheese experience was at a restaurant that served a Brie soup beyond description.
Next we move on to the music that feeds my soul, apologies for the cliche but it is what it is. I like big classical works like the symphonies of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff and the much more delicate but equally uplifting Mozart piano concertos. I like Tony Bennett, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, and James Taylor. Because I have teenage grandchildren, I've heard of a few of the current pop singers like Adele and Bruno somebody or other, but I have no idea what they look like or how they sound. This is a generational thing; a Medicare recipient is not likely to attend a concert with Justin Bieber and a fifteen-year-old will not sit around listening to Frank Sinatra.
Apart from the food and music that I try to combine whenever possible, I like wicker furniture, the real stuff, not the manufactured product that thinks it looks like wicker but does not. I like handcrafted tiles, not the items kicked out by a machine. I like barns and old barn wood, copper more than brass, and pottery more than china. I like maple trees, particularly the ones that turn red in the fall, and irises of any color. I like rainy days, maybe one a week. I like The Muppets and one of my favorite songs of all time is It's Not Easy Being Green. Ray Charles does a wonderful version.
I love a big front porch for my real stuff wicker even though I don't currently have one, gray, weathered beach cottages even though I've never owned one, lighthouses, chattering seagulls, and obviously the ocean. Lakes are okay too, but you don't get the sounds or the smells that you get at the ocean. I like windmills, the old-fashioned kind that dot the landscape from coast to coast. I like dogs, cats, and horses even though I haven't ridden one since fifth grade. I love horsey movies which brings me to the subject of movies.
I will watch absolutely anything with Judi Dench. I have watched every single James Bond movie just to see her as the crusty M and I really don't care which one of several handsome gentlemen plays 007. I loved her as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and as the fabulous Armande in Chocolat. I also loved Downton Abbey with the wonderful Maggie Smith. Clearly my choice of these venerable women as my favorite actors says something once again about my age and so be it. Robert Redford is looking pretty beat up these days, but Judi and Maggie are like well-aged wine, red I think, and utterly divine.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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