Citizen Dog by Mark O'Hare for March 19, 2011

With a dog like that - who needs electricity anyway?

Oh how true, how true, how true! Bring out the oil lamps, the candles, scrabble, checkers, bask in front of the wood fire to keep warm, actually have meaningful, unhurried conversations, hug the dogs brush the cats, read some of the “stuff” you have wanted to read but didn’t have time to peruse, Take some deep breaths and decompress.

Having the power go off once in a while is like a mini vacation from the stress and unrelenting demands of everyday life in our modern world.

I’m a country girl and when I was a kid we still had an “outhouse” and had to pump our own water with a hand pump. Even in the middle of winter, we had to get out there and pump to get water for the house. We had an old fashioned kitchen wood stove that mom used for heat, cooking and baking. Oh well, you get the idea.

Being without power for a while is like a bit of nostalgia and feels :down home”.

Notice I said, “for a while”. Not too long of a while or my frozen food will thaw out. I want the best of both worlds.

Howdy there StelBel, Lonewolf, Cleokaya, Grog, Dry, Supersurfer, Sugie, Chikuku and to everyone who loves CD.

For Fergus & Mel, that may be the case. I’d get bored with having no power and go to bed early. Then be PO’d about having to change all the clocks when I woke up.

Good morning, cleo, sugie, Fellow Baby & all the rest of the CD followers.

puppybreath, in the singular form you drop the “e” for both tomato & potato.

Puppybreath: What great memories of a simpler and more peaceful life! Usually, for us, we’re caught unprepared and spend most of our time during the rare outage searching for candles, flashlights, batteries…and each other (LOL) before we finally give up and go to bed early, then, like Grog, grumble about all the re-setting of the clocks!

Good Morning, Lonewolf, Puppybreath, Grog, Dry, Sugie, Cleokaya and CD world!

Where I live the power goes off to often to make it fun.

Good Morning Grog, Dry, sugie, puppybreath & StelBel.

A power outage was fun back east when the kids were young. We would build a fire in the fireplace, sit near it, play games and just talk. Our dog Tara (a 75 lb collie) wold lay by us just being happy to be with us and not alone in the dark.

Good Morning Grog, Dry, Cleo, Lonewolf & all you CDers.

Enjoy your weekend.

I wonder who won the Scrabble game? Probably Fergus!

Good morning Fellow Baby, cleo and sugie!

Howdy StelBel and puppybreath!

Fellow Baby you are correct about cherry tomatoes. That picture to me looked like little cherry tomatoes. And now I still have no idea what a rose tomato is! Must be a Canadian expression, maybe?

Okay I googled it Came up with “Rose Heirloom Tomato”. It is an Heirloom tomato similar to Brandywine, with a rosy color. And now I want to order some tomato seeds! :-D

And now I’m getting a craving for a BLT. Just great.

Yummmm!!!!

Thank you Grog for clearing up my question about the final “e” that is often atttached to the end of tomato and potato.

I remember that in grade school our teacher used to tell us “There are no “toes” in those words….”toes” are on your feet.” But I have so often seen the “e” attached to those words that I was in doubt.

Thank you again Grog, you have no doubt rendered a valuable service not only to me but to many others as well.

Fellow Baby you had to mention BLT didn’t you? I don’t have any bacon, :-( I could run to the store and get some, but then I would come back with more than that. I usually can’t go to the grocery store for just one thing!

Power outages are fun until you realize the pump won’t work without it!

Fellow Baby, I have none of the ingredients. It’s a good way not to be too tempted to eat something I’ll be sorry for.

What’s to be sorry for? Use a whole grain bread, dark greens and turkey bacon, reduced fat mayo, and your tomato. See that’s healthy! ;-) I read an article the other day that Hormel bacon is actually healthier than turkey bacon, healthier than most bacon they claim.

Fellow Baby, when I buy bacon I like to buy pepper bacon. It’s also an ingredient in my Irish stew with lamb. When I fall of the deep end, I really go all out.

No turkey anything for me unless its TurDucHen!

I’m generally pretty good except for during the Holidays.

To answer your question, acid reflux. Even when I’m being bad, I tend to stay away from the acidic foods. Though every once in a while I will have a grapefruit juice.

Ever try a vodka grapefruit drink? Very refreshing in the summer.

Fellow Baby Yes I have, and they are very good. Thank you for the reminder, I haven’t had a Vodka Grapefruit drink in years, I like the Red Grapefruit juice the best. And I had forgotten, you told me somewhere, here I think, that you couldn’t eat acidic foods. What a shame you can’t eat summer tomatoes. That to me is one of life’s little pleasures. That and hot hot peppers. Watch me have that problem some day. That would just about break my heart! :-( I have a severe allergic reaction to tree nuts, thank goodness almonds and peanuts aren’t nuts!

That is too bad, Fellow Baby

Fortunately, I don’t have those restrictions, because I like cashews, pistachios & pecans but not almonds or regular peanUts. In general they are a good source of the good fats. I have no doubt they help me to maintain a good cholesterol balance.

So does avacados, Fellow Baby. Loaded with fat, but the good fat. I have a few a month either in a salad or homemade guacamole. We have an Aldi’s here, and they have nice fresh ones at a really good price.

I used to be able to eat pistachios, but I had a piece of pistachio pie once when I was around 16, had to go to the emergency room! That quickly my system changed! I’ve often wondered if I could eat macadamia nuts, but figure it’s not worth testing it!

I was late today. Been working a lot lately.

Hi, all CD Enthusiasts!

Hi, Stelbel!

Hi, Puppybreath!

Hi, SS!

By the way, Fellow Baby, I prefer the regular unsweatened, but will drink ruby red in restaurants if that’s what they’ve got. Never did like OJ (no not the football player. That’s another can of worms).

Yes, I like the real juices, no sweeteners, and LOL, Fellow Baby, Yeah OJ is another can of worms, and that’s another subject I shouldn’t get started on! :0

Hi, Thevenbede & Comicgos, Cleo & Grog, too!

How true this is.