Thursday, December 15, 2011

Fondue and Frogs



We ate fondue from Trader Joe's last night (thank you, Jesus, for Trader Joe's!) with crusty bread and a green salad. I wish I could say the conversation was interesting, but it consisted of both boys telling some inane joke using the word sausage so many times in you can imagine gross ways, that I finally croaked out STOP! And I mean croaked, because my voice is completely gone. The webinar I moderated the other day took the last audible sound out of me, so now I croak. I'd say it sounds husky and sexy, but it doesn't. And I can't yell at my kids. I guess I'll have to start spanking them. :)



Here's a poem that my dear friend Tanya sent me the other day. It's a perfect one for the season:



In Dark December 
            ~ Ralph Murre

Whatever you believe,
whatever you do not,
there are sacred rites
you must perform
in dark December.
Do this for me:
Pull together
the kitchen table,
the folding table,
and that odd half-oval
usually covered
with bills and broken pencils
and red ink.
Pull together family and friends,
cool cats and stray dogs alike.
Turn off everything
except colored lights,
the roaster,
the toaster, the stove.
Cook.  Bake.  Eat.
Yes, even the fruitcake.
Eat, crowded around
those assembled tables
with mismatched chairs.
Reach so far
in your sharing
that you hold the sun
in one hand,
the stars in the other,
and no one between is hungry.
Now walk together,
talk together,
be together
on these darkest nights.
Give and forgive.
Light candles and ring bells.
Sing the old songs.
Tell the old stories
one more time,
leaving nothing out,
leaving no one out
in the long night,
leaving nothing wrong
that you can make right. 

15 comments:

  1. Oh, what beautiful children! My best friend used to have her little nieces and nephews sitting around the dinner table exchanges phrases with the word booger in them until they would all be falling off their chairs laughing...nothing like kids!!

    Great poem - exactly my sentiments for the perfect christmas, thank you :)

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  2. Might have to make a Trader Joe's run just for some Fondue.

    And?

    That poem kicks ass. Lots of ass.

    Thanks.

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  3. I love that poem.

    And I'm buying some of that TJ's fondue.

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  4. It continues to amaze me how it is that you are able to post at LEAST once a day with THREE children ( I have 2) and one with Special needs. Thank you for doing so, as I am sure there are days you would prefer not! I have a Trader Joes 1/4 mile away but had no idea they had fondue... Your eyes are always OPEN.. what a gift!

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  5. It's a long time since I've tried fondue. It must be fun. Pity about your voicelessness, but the poem is wonderful. thanks.

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  6. The poem made me cry.

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  7. "leaving nothing wrong
    that you can make right."

    Yes.
    And yes again.

    (And just for the record, my sons, at 25 and 23, STILL love to make me squirm when we are lucky enough to share a meal.)

    (And I love nothing more than for them to do that, again and again.)

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  8. Love the poem, the image it conjures up.
    My voice sounds just like yours :)

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  9. Yes, thank heaven for Trader Joe's and little boys (o.k., medium boys)!! One of our "kitchen/dining" rules was no one could utter the word "yuck". Both of the boys found good substitutes, however, to express themselves in many "yucky" ways. I miss it!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  10. oh, that poem!!!!!!
    thank you thank you again and again and again.

    and those photos and your oozing all over grace and brilliance.

    I do so love you . gah.

    and I'm afraid to peek at the previous post in case you are going to tell me you are opening a used bookstore or something. imagine? oh...

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  11. the poem is just right. i love the image of cobbling together a gathering. the make-shift table, the wobbly chairs, expanding like holiday calculus to include...everyone.
    may your gatherings in the weeks ahead be joyful, elizabeth; warm, filled with music and delicious, gooey cheesy fondues, lit by the deep glow within your beautiful children.

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  12. The picture at the table made me reminisce back to when no one ever liked the same meal I prepared. Funny how much energy we put into meal preparation and then the results...
    Loved the poem, though.
    Enjoy the turbulence, the excitement and the gross jokes now. They do grow up and out of your reach so fast.

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  13. I wish I had a couple of boys in the mix :)

    I love the image of the jerryrigging and cobbling families have to do at this time of year. Is it because we're all stuck indoors? Or we're just all stuck?

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