As I gaze around my castle
realizing all my power
I don’t have many cares
But some concerns
The peasants are restless
My wife is frigid
My children can’t wait
Until I die
However, my loyal knights
Will kill everyone
I order them to
It is good to be the king
2020 By David Jacobi
Jimmy and I went to school and scouts together for a few years, and lived just one block apart. I remember thinking he was an okay kid, we would hang out sometimes, and go fishing down at the river in the summer and sled the neighborhood hills in the winter. The biggest difference between us was I was average looking while he was beautiful. He had golden curly locks, a turned up pixie nose, and sharp jawbones that made him look like a hero. The girls in elementary school liked him just fine. One day during gym class we ended up facing off in an arm wrestling contest, laying on the floor, with a crowd gathering around us. I don’t know why it became such a big event, but it did. There ended up being thirty or more kids gathered around us as we began our contest. Jimmy and I locked hands, arms tensed, and began. Nothing happened as we started the contest, both of our arms standing straight up. I pulled, he pulled, one of us would lean a bit, then the other, but the battle remained a stalemate. I began to notice the kids getting louder and cheering…all for Jimmy. I began to glance around at our (his) cheering audience, then back at Jimmy, our faces grimacing and our arms straining. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy! They wouldn’t be happy if their hero lost, so I gave them what they wanted. Down my arm went, up went the whooping and cheering, with the kids gathering around Jimmy while I stood back and watched. A few kids gave me their condolences, and that was that. I felt like I did the right thing for a while, until the “what-ifs” kicked in, and I began to feel worse than a looser. I was a quitter. Jimmy and I drifted apart and as the years went by there would be, for fun, many more arm wrestling matches with lots of other people, most of which I won. I learned that it felt much better to try and fail than to quit. Ignore the crowd and do your best.
After the cold spell we experienced earlier this spring a heat wave moved through for several days, with some highs in the nineties, causing us to water the flowers and garden daily. We had to replant part of the garden as the rabbits ate some of our tender little plants and the birds dug up some of our green bean seeds. We made cages and grouped our garden crops together in them, which is keeping the rabbits out for now. I know we have at least three rabbits because I have seen them all together at the same time. Both our dogs Marley and Steve love to chase the rabbits, while Steve has become fixated on them, stalking in front of the machine shed, waiting for them to come out from underneath. I have considered live-trapping them and driving them a few miles away to set them free, but then they could become someone elses problem. Another solution is just to shoot them on the acreage, but so far I am resisting that urge, so as of now we are trying to live with them. We have a robin with four chicks in a nest built on top of one of our outside lights. A thrasher can be heard daily singing its ever changing song, and it is nesting in one of our big ash trees. Recently Shelly took the dogs for a walk along our road and they were flushing pheasants out of the ditch. The birds were so startled they forgot to fly away for a moment and instead ran into to a cornfield, scooting along the rows as they made their escape.
Indeed is a searchable help wanted site that aggregates listings from thousands of websites. From their about page: “Indeed is the #1 job site in the world with over 250 million unique visitors every month. Indeed strives to put job seekers first, giving them free access to search for jobs, post resumes, and research companies. Every day, we connect millions of people to new opportunities.” If you are in the market for a job you might as well try searching with the number one site.
This is the keto friendly recipe my wife came up with for homemade pizza. I was skeptical at first but now it has (mostly) replaced take out and frozen pizza in our home.
Ingredients:
Lavash bread, brushed on both sides with olive oil. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes at 425 degrees until brown and crispy.
Avocado Sauce: One ripe avocado mixed with at least three tablespoons salsa of your choice and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.
Toppings of your choice (Canadian bacon, cooked Italian sausage or ground beef, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, etc.)
Mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Spread sauce over the crispy bread, add toppings and then sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 7 – 10 minutes.
Once a month I highlight a piece of art I have created and posted on my Fine Art America site. This one is titled Abandoned from the Photos Collection.
“Let all of life be an unfettered howl. Like the crowd greeting the gladiator. Don’t stop to think, don’t interrupt the scream, exhale, release life’s rapture.”
Vladimir Nabokov
Have you ever looked around in your pantry and wondered what you could make with those various ingredients? Check out SuperCook, where you can search for recipes by entering the ingredients you have on hand. From their About page: “Supercook wants to make life easier for everyone who cooks at home! Our mission is to enable smarter, quicker decisions about what recipes to make and what ingredients to use using advanced technology and all the recipe content on the web. Based in New York, Supercook has a distinct focus on solving the practical problems of modern home cooks: how to waste less food, how to use up perishable or seasonal ingredients and how to keep track of everything in the kitchen.”
It seems I am always making lists of subjects I want to learn more about and included on these lists are usually some movies and shows I want to check out. For the last few months I have been using JustWatch to find where they are streaming on the internet. A handy tool.
Prologue magazine “brings readers stories based on the rich holdings and programs of the National Archives across the nation—from Washington, DC, to the regional archives and the Presidential libraries. Prologue was published quarterly by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for nearly 50 years. The Winter 2017–18 issue was the last printed edition.” A treasure trove of history.
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) “leads and facilitates collaboration among administrators in their efforts to reunite unclaimed property with the rightful owner.” Perform a free search to find out if you have some unclaimed money floating around.
When you are born
It begins
Welcome to the cycle
That includes your death
If you consider
The in between
What can you make of it?
Is there beauty?
Could there be wonder
And joy
With the others
You are with?
There is a window to look through
And a wall to die against
Time well spent
And wasted
Eons came before
And eternity will follow
The time of you
The In Between
2020 By David Jacobi
One of my early teachers in elementary school was a short, round and very nice lady named Mrs. Smith. She wore thick glasses that made her eyes always look to be smiling. She seemed almost ancient to me, but as a little kid most people are older than you, some much older. She was very helpful if you had a problem with the schoolwork, and would bend over your desk very close so as to guide you through your trouble. And that is when it became apparent that the only thing wrong with this wonderful, devoted teacher was…her breath. It was horrible, burning your nose and leaving a terrible taste in your mouth, or so it seemed. When she was helping other students up close you could see the different methods deployed by them to avoid it: leaning back, nonchalantly holding a hand over the nose, holding breath. I felt sort of sorry for her, and I wondered if she did not know or maybe didn’t care, but it was just something to put up with because none of us would dare tell a teacher her breath was stinky enough to “gag a maggot” as the saying went. It was not uncommon back then for students to give teachers little gifts, and one day Mrs. Smith had one sitting on her desk, wrapped in pretty paper with her name written on it. She announced she would open the anonymous gift in front us. With a smile she unwrapped the gift and there in her hands was a giant bottle of Listerine. There was some snickering and guffaws as she held it up proudly for all to see, and then gently set it back down on the front of her desk, making sure the label faced the class. She thanked us for a wonderful gift, and started in on the lessons for the day. As the days then weeks went on the bottle continued to sit on her desk where she had placed it, her breath no better, her cheerful attitude unchanged.
Off The Back Porch 