Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
It is Friday!
After last night’s high-stakes wildlife drama — also known as “successfully trapping the wrong cat” — I completely forgot today was trash pickup day.
By the time I remembered, I was already burrito-wrapped in my blankie, and my brain made the executive decision: “Future Me can handle this.” So I planned to take the trash out when I got up.
Then, at exactly 5:56 am, my eyes snapped open like I’d been activated by a government satellite. TRASH DAY.
I launched out of bed, wrestled myself into jeans with the grace of a panicked raccoon, and crept toward the back door, trying to move silently so as not to disturb the sleeping lioness from her royal beauty sleep.
Because nothing says”good morning” like sprinting outside half-awake, dressed like a hostage negotiator, dragging trash cans to the curb before the garbage truck decides your household is on vacation or that we have become hoarders!
I am required to wear this shirt anytime I go outside!
Mission accomplished, with six fully loaded trash cans on the street ready for rescue by the BIG TRUCK!
Mary hit the office bright and early, paying her bills like she actually had money. Very impressive. Meanwhile, my bills are stacked neatly in a tray, where they will remain until tomorrow, because I believe in giving my bank account one more day of emotional preparation before the big evacuation.
Bye Bye… It was nice knowing you!!
After all that exhausting financial responsibility—mostly Mary’s—we decided that staying home another day didn’t feel right. So we jumped in the car and headed to the Orange Elks for lunch, because their turkey sandwiches are so good they should come with a warning label: May cause happiness and sudden nap attacks.
The Orange Elks is just off the Orange Circle, about a block away, which is perfect because in 90-degree weather, nobody wants to walk far unless there’s a sandwich at the end of the journey. By the time we arrived, the temperature was in the low 90s, which is Southern California’s gentle way of saying, “Welcome outside—now start melting.”
The building used to be the Odd Fellows Temple in 1925, but the Elks procured the building in 1935. The Orange Elks Lodge 1475 was established in 1923, featuring 53 charter members and an initial induction of 75 members in Santa Ana. The lodge later moved into its permanent four-story home at 211 East Chapman Avenue in 1935, a historic building originally constructed for the Odd Fellows. You can read about their history here.
Third Floor, here we come!
After returning home, we stayed inside except for a quick visit to the garden, which is doing well! The corn is getting ready to produce its fruit!
The tassels on the corn are showing, meaning it will be mating season very soon. The tassels on a corn plant are the male flowering part of the plant. Their main purpose is to produce and release pollen.
That pollen falls or blows onto the silks of the ears, which are the female parts. Each silk connects to a potential corn kernel, so when pollen lands on a silk, it can fertilize it and allow a kernel to develop.
In short: tassels make pollen so the corn plant can produce kernels.
Yeah corn!
We have a load of bitter melons. Bitter melons can be used in several tasty and practical ways, especially if you balance their bitterness.
Common ways to use bitter melon
• Stir-fry it with garlic, onions, eggs, pork, beef, shrimp, or tofu.
• Add it to soups and stews, where the bitterness mellows as it cooks.
• Stuff it with ground meat, rice, mushrooms, or vegetables, then steam or simmer it.
• Make pickles with vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices.
• Use it in curries with coconut milk, spices, or tomatoes.
• Juice it in small amounts, often mixed with cucumber, apple, lemon, or ginger.
• Dry it for tea, a common traditional use.
How to reduce the bitterness
1 Slice it open and remove the seeds and white pith.
2 Slice thinly.
3 Sprinkle with salt and let it sit for 15–30 minutes.
4 Rinse and squeeze out excess liquid.
5 Cook with strong flavors like garlic, soy sauce, chili, coconut milk, tomato, or fermented black beans.
Simple idea: bitter melon with egg! Slice bitter melon thinly, salt and rinse it, then stir-fry with garlic. Add beaten eggs, a little soy sauce, and pepper. Cook until the eggs are set.
Bitter melons on the vine
We know Halloween is on its way because the pumpkins are forming. This is the start of a Giant Pumpkin, which will eventually come in at about 30 pounds and provide for us to make pumpkin pie.
Last year, Mary made pumpkin pie from scratch! WOW! Best pumpkin pie I ever had (except perhaps for the ones Aunt Edit made 50 years ago). No cans from the store. Just removing the seeds, baking the cut-up pieces, and making the filling. The filling was “lumpy,” which was much better than the store-bought puree!
Soon to be a full-sized pumpkin!!
I am a truly blessed man to have such an amazing partner to share life with. Mary can open the refrigerator, stare into what appears to be three olives, half a lemon, and a suspicious container from last Tuesday, and somehow produce a three-course meal with all the trimming. I’m starting to think Mary and Elizabeth Montgomery may have something in common—except Mary doesn’t wiggle her nose; she opens the fridge and dinner magically appears.
We called our good friend Dru and invited her over for dinner and a drink in the pool. Dru came by, and we spent several wonderful hours catching up, solving world problems, and pretending we were going to remember all the details later. Mary served homemade flatbread, and we rounded out the feast with popcorn and cheese slices—because nothing says”fine dining” quite like floating in a pool with a drink in one hand and cheddar in the other.
Splish-Splash
After swimming, Dru departed for home, and we watched “Bass Reeves: Lawman” on TV (an eight-episode miniseries), but we both fell sound asleep, so we will have to watch it again. Bass Reeves was a legendary African American deputy U.S. marshal who escaped enslavement, spoke multiple Native American languages, and arrested over 3,000 outlaws in the Wild West. His life inspired the biographical TV miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Read about him; he had an amazing life!
A real American hero!!!
We did a kitty-check before going to bed at 11:30 pm. No kitty, and the food was still there! Maybe tomorrow! We do NOT give up easily!
