When it hurts, it's good to be reminded we're all capable of treason

[sovay]

I have just finished eating a bowl of homemade corn pudding (Indian pudding, make a hasty pudding with cornmeal and molasses and in my case goat's milk and then bake until either it sets in the middle or you can't stand waiting any longer) with pumpkin ice cream, which is probably the most autumnal, New England thing I am going to eat this season unless someone lets me near a cranberry bog. It was very satisfying and just as I was feeling pleased that neither cat had come to investigate, Autolycus woke up with his little detective hat on. The mystery is why, if a fresh carton of goat's milk was opened in this house, none of it was given to him. I have been feeding him kippers all day from my personal store, so his moral high ground has less guilt-weight than it might otherwise.

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the things I have not done this month, both in the sense of desire as well as obligation. Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it, which I know is not a fair reading of the situation: I am not exactly suffering from a surfeit of unused free time which I am simply failing to make profitable use of, or whatever the latest version of the Protestant work ethic is supposed to sound like. It's wearisome; it's not new. I may be mourning the loss of autumn even more than summer. Summer we were braced for; autumn is a theft. Not enough ocean. Not enough trees. Not enough walking in the wind.

In case you have not seen that Tom Lehrer has placed all of his lyrics in the public domain, he has and I think it's cool. There are songs on that site I've never even heard.

Comments

[selkie]

You always pick very relevant song lyrics. If you need me, I’ll be in Georgian England, but as always, do wake me if there are coups or zombies or something.

The way you starve and neglect those house panthers. He hasn’t eaten since Shavuos and you withhold sustenance. There ought to be a hotline; there ought to be a law.

[gwynnega]

The corn pudding with pumpkin ice cream sounds delicious. I suppose Autolycus wanted a goat's milk digestif after those kippers.

[cmcmck]

Pumpkin ice cream sounds so good!

[moon_custafer]

Is Autolycus’ detective hat a little deerstalker or a little fedora? Also I’m reminded of this: https://www.thebeaverton.com/2017/07/glowing-red-dot-still-large-warn-cat-detectives/

The decorated cat law enforcement official spoke frankly to an assembly of cat journalists, many of who wore small fedoras with tiny press passes, as he recounted the “red dot” investigation.

[asakiyume]

I remember taking a visitor from Japan to a cranberry bog at harvesting time--it was cool. Pinker than I imagined it would be.

Wakanomori shared with me about Tom Lehrer doing that. I love it. Thank you, Tom Lehrer.

[phi]

I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the things I have not done this month, both in the sense of desire as well as obligation. Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it

*hugs* If it helps any, you are definitely not alone in feeling that way. You are under an enormous amount of external stressors, and I hope you can find a way to be gentle to yourself.

[troisoiseaux]

Time seems to be moving faster than I can do anything with it

Time is DEFINITELY moving in bizarre ways this year.

[oracne]

That sounds yummy. I have never been to a cranberry bog, but I love getting bags of frozen cranberries and tossing them into fruit crumble.

[minoanmiss]

That hasty pudding sounds incredible! IS there a more specific recipe or is that basically the method?

Oh, cats. I have been reading about cat domestication, specifically, how cats domesticated us. ahahaha.

[pameladean]

I am so sorry about autumn. It's so unfair. We too are feeling deprived. In addition to a blizzard on October 20 (hardly unprecedented but never ever welcomed; the Norway maples, deliberate things that they are, hadn't even finished turning gold), there are supposed to be three autumnal hikes. The first is full of darners,both gathering for migration and hastily mating before it's too late. The second is full of meadowhawks. Hasty trees and shrubs like sumac are turning; oaks and most elms and birches look on indulgently in their green mantles. There are lots of mushrooms. The third has some bare trees and the rest brilliant; there are confusing fall warblers but seldom any more dragonflies. We got the last this year but not the others. I am grateful for the last. And yet.

Raphael calls the provision of a share of certain foods to the cats their customary vails. The cats think there are more than there are.

P.