lemon butter or mayo
This morning the FedEx text came saying the package, congratulatory birthday gift from me to myself, the lobster purchase from Maine, was "out for delivery." It left the lobster house last evening at 5:57 PM and was delivered to 7H door at 11:52 this morning. If your order is $X or more, shipping is free. I'd added a couple pounds of fresh haddock so as to push the order over the free shipping threshold. Maine to Florida, eighteen hours door to door. And I'd ordered it cooked, so we had lobster rolls for noon dinner. Won't wonders never cease!
Breakfast: 12 oz mug of piping hot, made lovingly from scratch, fresh tomato vegetable soup. Extraordinary. Hearty. Elegant. Warms the soul of me.
Couple of things from the lectionary's Propers for the upcoming Sunday:
Isaiah 50:4-9a
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens -- wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
The Psalm: Psalm 116:1-8
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, * because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took hold of me; * I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord: * "O Lord, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous; * our God is full of compassion.
5 The Lord watches over the innocent; * I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul, * for the Lord has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death, * my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord * in the land of the living.
The Epistle: James 3:1-12
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.
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What comes to mind? Obviously, the "teacher" theme. The call to teach, especially to teach children, is civilization's greatest vocation. It is also the most sacrificial because it is not appreciated: society compensates in accordance with its values and, all things considered, teachers are not compensated commensurate with the value we place on our children. In today's sociological climate, so many teachers are leaving the calling in discouragement.
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How does a Florida native make a lobster roll? I never even heard of lobster roll until my summer 1957, at US Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Several in my Charlie-Four Company were from there in New England, discussing how they liked lobster best. They agreed lobster rolls were the best way to enjoy lobster - - made on a long bun like a hotdog bun, and talking about whether they loved the lobster warm with melted butter, or cold lobster with mayonnaise. I didn't order the bread, so we used hotdog buns. Linda had hers warm with lemon butter, I had mine cold with mayo. About a quarter pound of lobster meat, Linda prefers the lobster tail meat, I don't care, so mine was claw and knuckle meat.
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Birthday Week, coming up on 89 this Saturday, September 14th.
New York Times headlines on the day I was born, Saturday, September 14, 1935, French premier Pierre Laval puts France with Britain, isolating Italy in their intent to wage war in Ethiopia. Italy may leave the League of Nations.
In other news, WPA workers are stoned by skilled labor union strikers, over the WPA wage scale. Remember, the Great Depression was on in full.
NYT headlines on my fifth birthday, five years later, Sunday, September 14, 1940, FIVE GERMAN BOMBS HIT BUCKINGHAM PALACE IN DAY AND NIGHT OF TERROR; LORDS ALSO HIT; R.A.F. POUNDS NAZI BASES; ITALY MASSES TROOPS
Front page top column The New York Times, Monday, September 14, 1942, "Fathers Face Call To Army Next Year, General Hershey Says"
NYT front page Wednesday, September 14, 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon says that the nation should accept without further questioning Senator John F Kennedy's statement that his religion would not influence his conduct of the presidency.
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Pic: I had already taken several sips of soup before deciding it merited a photo.
and so forth and so on.
T88&c