dangerously close...

...to the end of the year, here. I've been thinking about what we will eat tomorrow. Have had several conversations with customers at work, discussing what I have always thought somewhat bizarre habits of people born and raised in other places. The other person who lives here was brought up on what I've come to call 'Yankee food'. His idea of traditional New Year's fare is pork roast, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. I've eaten plenty of that since my association with him began, but you can be assured there will always be a side dish of peas, and cornbread as well.

Having lived in the south all my life, I grew up eating black eye peas over rice. That's just what you do. Along with some form of pork and greens. I've never cooked or fed anyone limp, saturated greens, and have no plans to start now, since I don't care for them myself. And now that I have mostly eliminated meat consumption from my diet, I'm not sure how I will season the peas, but There Will Be Peas. And some of the Award Winning Cornbread muffins I don't think I have produced since the first day of 2015.

I'm thinking I will buy a little pork loin when I go in to work, and since I am being so agreeable with that, I might as well get the 'kraut and potatoes as well. I won't be cooking it, so the man who eats it will be doing the seasoning and prep. for going in the crock pot overnight. Relenting enough to purchase the food and prepare the potatoes is about the extent of my participation in this near-religious tradition. But rest assured: There Will Be Peas. Considering the generational history of literally hundreds of years of born and bred in the south, how could there not Be Peas???

Admission: it has taken me many years to learn you don't have to cook the whole package at one time. When I first cooked black eye peas, I bought the little cellophane or plastic bag of peas, probably weighing a pound. And would soak them overnight, to be ready to put in the pot and simmer for hours. So you can imagine what the dish was like reheated a time or two as I was constantly attempting to tempt family to eat the remaining portion, consume leftover peas that had slowly turned into mush. Several years ago, I realized it is possible to only cook what you know you will consume. What a surprise! So we won't be eating mushy peas for a week, but cannot comment on the pork and 'kraut other than to say after a week or so, I will toss it.

volunteer driving...

.... to take someone I do not know to an appointment at the Cancer treatment center here. The patient is supposed to be at the center at 10 a.m., so I will plan on getting him there in ample time this morning. I've been doing this for several months, providing transportation to people who have to be at the Amos Cancer Center for treatment. Took a little 'training' course with the American Cancer Society, called something like Reach to Recovery, where potential drivers were provided guidance, advice, instructions as how we can assist patients in getting to treatment appointments.

With a random work schedule I cannot commit much in advance when I get frequent notices by email. There is a group of volunteer workers who send out the notices as appointments are made for different patients who need help with transport. So when I get the notices, more often than not, I have to delete, knowing that some other volunteer driver will come forward and take the opportunity.

I think I must have committed to this little project the middle of last week, when I knew I would not be going in to work until three o'clock today. I'm thinking I remember that he does not need a return ride to get home afterward, so when I get him downtown at ten, I am free to go about my merry way. If you ever run out of something to be thankful for: consider your health. I do, and even with a few creaks and aches, am daily thankful for the ability to get up and get going. Maybe a bit slower lately, but still on the go.

walking out...

...of another crummy movie. I was apparently mistaken when I thought it would be entertaining. It was not. Maze Runner, part 2 was not at all what I expected. Even though I had seen the first one, and thought it was pretty good, this second one did not seem to have anything even remotely related to the same story - and they threw in a bunch of walking dead. I was surprised it was rated as fairly kid friendly: PG-13. I saw little people there and can't imagine what they are permitted to view at home on tv, or why their parents would allow them to sit there and have the pee scared out of them. It was not suitable for this adult and most certainly not appropriate for small children.

There are folks I know who are thoroughly intrigued by the idea of an impending zombie swarm, and doing various things to be prepared for the inevitable attack. But I am not one, and not at all interested in seeing or knowing anything about the habits or behavior of the undead. So when the good guys found themselves running at top speed hoping to escape the garish, shredded, eternally hungry stalkers for the third time, I knew it was time to leave.

Due to the fact that the Scorch Trials was showing at the 'cheap seats' I did not even bother to go ask for a refund. I just went home and into my nice warm bed. Thankfully the zombies did not follow me, the rest of the night was peaceful with nothing creeping around to haunt my dreams.

not the least bit...

...guilty over that yummy soft pretzel from the mall, or the marinara sauce it was dipped in. Due to the fact that I have plans to change my eating habits on January 2. It's pretty drastic, but I am optimistic. Hoping to be successful, and willing to start over as often as necessary if/when I fall off the wagon.

I accidently looked at a Utube video a couple of months ago that was so interesting and thought provoking, it sounds like something we all need to attempt. It can't hurt, and could likely make a big difference in lifestyle if successful long term. So - jump in, let's give it a try.

This guy - some where in Europe, I think Austria or Germany - decided to go for a month without eating any sugar. I don't recall the details, but he spent four weeks reading labels and deliberately avoiding stuff with refined sugar as an ingredient. He reported drinking a lot of water that replaced some of the other things he was drinking, and claimed to loose a bit of weight. But the most interesting part was that it changed the way he eats, and sort of retrained his taste buds/appetite to not crave so much sweet stuff. We all consume far too much of sugar, especially those people who are chugging the energy drinks and living on caffeine. And kids consuming way to much of the stuff that is replacing real nutrition.

I've been paying a bit more attention in recent weeks, looking at labels. Reading the fine print for ingredients that come in a variety of disguised forms but all mean: sugar. And thinking about what I will have to eliminate to be sugar free for a month. It's not impossible, just requires being aware and conscientious. We all put things in our mouth without conscious thought, snacking on stuff we sometimes don't really even like.

For instance: me leaving work yesterday, going to the employee break room before walking out and seeing a huge cake someone ordered and failed to pick up, observing co-workers eating big hunks of tasty cake with gobs of butter cream icing. I scraped the icing off, and ate a slice of yummy cake, that I really did not even want. If someone had said: 'you have to eat the icing too', I would have refused the whole thing. But instead, without another thought, cut and consumed a good sized piece of cake that should have been left in the box. It was really good. I tell people all the time that we make the best cakes in town. Better than any catering service.

Of course, I knew better than to even think I could start something like this in December. With all the opportunities to eat stuff we should not, I knew it would not work to attempt cutting out sugar over the holidays. But now that I have finally had my slice of fluffy pumpkin pie, I think I am ready to give it a try. No sugar for a month? I'll let you know....

an itch that needed scratching...

... is the way to describe my interest in the Chattahoochee River at flood stage. It is still very high, many feets above what is considered normal. And if we should get more rain, it will continue to expand out of the banks. I read someplace recently that six inches is enough to knock you off your feet, and twelve inches can move a vehicle. When it is flooding and out of control, gushing in places it does not normally run, it can be Very Dangerous. Heard on the news about someone who was 'missing', and finally discovered in a vehicle, underwater.

I was just curious, interested, possibly to the point of being the sort of person who has to slow down and gawk at a train wreck or any man-made disaster that does not include me. I wanted to see it again, even though we had sort of glanced at it when we got back from TN on Friday afternoon. It's such an unusual out-of-the-ordinary happening, it was worth a trip to drive down south of town to get another look.

I thought we were going to a state park down below Ft. Benning, but did not get that far south, turning off at a sign that directed us to 'River Bend Park'.  And found a boat ramp, some picnic tables and composting toilets. That is the extent of the park, possibly vaguely maintained by the Corp of Engineers or the local county government. Posted signs instructed:  No swimming, or parking off the pavement. There are, I am pretty sure, alligators in the water, hanging around in the sloughs, waiting for whatever might be thrown out by people taking fishing boats out of the water. Before we started the return trip, there were several other vehicles, people we passed as we started out for home. Making me think I was not the only one with an itch in need of scratching - other people who were just curious, and wanted to see how much that much water looks like. It looks like A Lot.

We saw lots of low-lying areas with standing water, as well as running water headed towards the river, and Gulf. But not sure how high above normal the water level is, though there was A Lot. I'm pretty sure I will not run out of things to be thankful for, but today I am thankful for a warm dry place to sleep. And the bright sunshine I enjoyed this afternoon, following days and days of drenching rains.

the wash out is a wash out...

...ha, ha, ha. I have been getting up in the dark and going to work for the past two days, taking the route that goes around both elbows. And pretty anxious about leaving plenty early to get to work on time, so allowing more than enough extra. Then finding myself 'way too early, and unwilling to stand around twiddling my thumbs will waiting.

It normally takes about ten minutes, depending on traffic and if I might accidently catch all the traffic lights between here and there green. It does happen occasionally: all green, just often enough for me to think it remarkable when it happens, but not frequently enough for feeling like it is routine. Hitting a series of consistently green lights is quite a novelty - they are not sequenced here, so the idea of not having to stop is a really big deal. No way to predict.

When I started home today, I thought: I'll just take a chance. Surprise! Not only is the road no longer MIA, it is passable. There is still a Lot of Water. So much that the golf course is closed, as the cart paths are still swamped. I am guessing it might be clear tomorrow, with the standing water gradually draining off into the watershed lakes, and on down into the Chattahoochee for the golfing addicts to get their fix.

It really was not all that surprising to find that the asphalt was still intact. When my curiosity got the best of me and I went to look on Saturday afternoon I surmised the road was still there. The goofballs who have been working on that drainage area for weeks had some big orange barrels set along the edge of the street, providing an extra measure of caution/warning for people (me!) who drive too fast along there. And noticing the plastic barrels still in place when I got nosy on Saturday, lead me to believe the right of way and street would eventually surface as the water recedes.

So - the warning from the CPD telling us that our street washed away was bogus. Thankfully so, as the detour to get to work added about five miles onto my route. Not really problematic just yet, but if it had realty disappeared, it would be a huge mess when schools start back on Jan. 4. There are two in the neighborhood, that would create a major snarl with only one way in and out had the street really gone down to the Gulf of Mexico.

wash out...

... is what we found when we got back to town. Left Chattanooga around noon on Friday, riding in the pounding rain most of the way to Atlanta, about a two hour drive, when the weather finally cleared up. And itty bitty glimpses of blue showing through patchy clouds gave hope that we might eventuallyget past the steady slap of windshield wipers. It was actually sunny by the time we made a quick stop in Decatur and got back on the road - happy to see blue and sunshine.

Uneventful drive down I-85, and back into middle GA. Just out of curiosity I asked to drive down to the 'west coast' to see how high the Chattahoochee River really is from all the rains of recent days. The Riverwalk is flooded, to the point that the water is about a foot or eighteen inches below the glass fixtures on the light poles along the edge of the walkway. So at least fifteen feet above normal.

I asked to drive across the river, so we went over into Alabama, and back, across two different bridges, just looking at all the voluminous water everywhere, far out of the bounds of the riverbank. There were places along the highway north of Atlanta it was gushing out of culverts under the road, and since it all runs downhill, headed towards the Gulf of Mexico, gravity is still in effect. It will eventually all return to where it started in the oceans.

When we turned on to our street, finally getting home about 6, after driving for 8 of the past twenty four hours: it is barricaded. Cannot get a half mile down the street to go home. So we went around the long way - at least five miles out of the routine route. I was so curious, wondering how early I will need to leave home in the morning to get to work at 6:00, I moseyed down the street to see if it is still flooded. And yes, it is. Not as badly as some years ago, when it flooded the shed and tractor of the neighbor who lived closest to the creek that runs under the road. But looks far too deep to traverse.

And now - with my computer plugged in, I see a notice from the Police Department saying the Road is Missing. Washed Out. Gone. So, yes, I will have to get up and going the morning, and leave early enough to take the circuitous route around both elbows to get to work on time.