This was a different Thanksgiving and I knew it was different after everybody sat down and I got ready for my toast by doing silent, elocutionary scales. This toast opens the gates of the Thanksgiving celebration and I give it because of my unassailable standing in the family.
As I opened my mouth, drawing in enough air to feed the pearls of wisdom soon to come, Sue began speaking and when she finished somebody else picked up the Thanksgiving thread and I was left silent, mouth open, trying to decide whether a third toast was superfluous and would render the hot food lukewarm.
“We are still standing,” I lobbed in apropos of nothing, even though at that moment we were sitting and eating.
“Still standing,” made sense in terms of a larger toast but was now more emblematic of a man who had lost his standing.
Loss of speech did not translate into loss of appetite nor loss of the pleasure of eating a good meal with people for whom you care.
It is a good day when Betsy Kinney calls, this time to say that she and Wendall recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Betsy remembered their honeymoon in New York where they went to the 21 Club, danced to Tommy Dorsey and listened to Frank Sinatra.
Betsy, 97 and Wendall, 102, live at Rosewood.
“Wendall is good,” she said. “He has no aches or pains.”
Betsy is good too.
It has been months since many of us have heard live music and over Thanksgiving our oldest son, Herbie, played a 40-minute concert with Nina Porter, daughter of Claire Uricchio, owner of Uricchio’s, and Gordon Porter on the back deck.
What a pleasure to hear live music again, under the beautiful clear skies, with the red and gold leaves falling to their own cadence.
We dragged out the white bistro chairs and hosed off the summer dust. Two chairs here, two chairs there. A baby adding his own spin on the chorus. A dog nosing the turf, hoping to find something he hadn’t found before.
If I’m in charge, musicians and restaurateurs get special dispensation and our wholehearted support through and beyond this.
Life is richer with both.
Speaking of richness, Susan Wolfe responded to the column about always having a bag of chocolate chips available if all other dessert options disappear. Susan upped the ante with some espresso chocolate chips:
“As I got the package down for a small handful, I thought I should ask: Have you tried these?? I think they are better for munching than regular!”
Espresso chocolate chips. Talk about something that will make your brain do jumping jacks.
Another COVID silver lining. These were the sweetest pomegranates in years. Could it be that pomegranates are like grapes, which often respond to adversity (steep, rocky slopes, sparse water) by producing the best wines?
Probably not, but it sounds good and in the quest for the upbeat, why not just make stuff up?
I don’t consider myself a royal watcher but this caught my eye:
“In Opinion: Meghan Markle reveals that she had a miscarriage in July, and suggests a question to ask loved ones in this year of loss: 'Are you OK?'”
Good question. Do we ask that enough. If we don’t, we could start.
No doubt by now, you have heard about or watched “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix, but if you haven’t, do. You don’t have to play chess to appreciate this seven-part story about an orphan chess prodigy who becomes a champion. It’s got a happy ending and this is no time to turn down a happy ending.
Musical recommendation of the week (if I haven’t mentioned it before): Seldom Scene’s song “By the Side of the Road.” Great bluegrass group from about 30 years ago. The album is “Baptizing.” Every song is full of life.
November 30, 2020 at 11:34PM
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HERB BENHAM: Good food, live music and recommendations worth celebrating - The Bakersfield Californian
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Herb
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