Because We Can - Fulltime RV'ing

Journal Archive 1/1 - 1/10 2011

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January 11 Tuesday

Let me be brief

The Escapee park we are staying at was where it all began, and the name reflects the joy the founders, Joe and Kay Peterson felt at that time, Rainbow's End. I've been remiss in neglecting to describe what it looks like, and since it is 25 degrees outside as I write this, 65 inside, but more on that tomorrow when I write today's Journal, which is confusing to say the least, but back to the original subject, here's a photo.

That's not the row we are in, we are in the the row to the left behind the line of RVs. To the right are the pull thru sites and further to the right, again out of sight, is the RV park office. There is also an upper section that is basically in the area between the Escapees headquarters and the CARE center, but that is for another day.

I guess I really should have captioned that photo: When you're down in the dumps, this is what you see. The reason being that it was taken standing beside the dumpster just after I had missed three straight jump shots, trying to put the trash bag in the dumpster. Fortunately there was no glass in the trash, so no damage was done, other than my bruised ego. I guess I could have used the excuse that it was so light that the wind blew it off target, but unfortunately, it wasn't. I guess it just goes to prove that the coaches accurately assessed my talent when I didn't make the cut for the basketball team in high school. Then again, maybe I had a lopsided ball when I was shooting those shots for them.

I wasn't the only one having troubles today. When we were in Canada this summer we bought the niftiest tea pot at a Canadian Tire store, and have used it almost on a daily basis ever since. It has a basket you place the tea in, then lower and raise the basket in and out of the tea without having to take the lid off. After all those years of using a Chatsford Teapot and removing the lid and taking the basket out when the steep was done and worrying whether the lid was going roll off the counter and break, this is much easier.

Simple to use, remove the basket, measure the tea, attach it to the moving part of the lid, boil the water, add to the pot, lower the basket, steep, raise the basket, enjoy. Like I said, simple. One slight problem is that the air in the top of the basket will expand when it is lowered into the hot water, causing the basket to float upward.

The solution is simple, gently swirl the basket using the handle, then raise it and lower once or twice causing the hot air to bubble up and out of the basket. The problem is that teaching this to a simple country girl, the one that has been my wife for these many decades, isn't so simple. The way she dashes that basket up and down, you'd think she was still stirring the corn into the mash up in the hills by the still. Dear, this isn't a barrel of rot gut moonshine for some city slicker, this is a tender tea, meant to be delicately nurtured and caressed in hopes of bringing out the best it has to offer.

Unfortunately, all her dashing caused the basket to come loose and settle to the bottom of the pot. Even more unfortunate was that during its rapid descent, it spewed tea leaves everywhere in the pot. What the little woman is doing is filtering those leaves out of her tea so she doesn't have them plastered all over her teeth when she takes a sip.

I said I would be brief, so this is where it ends, realizing that if carried this any further, the least that would probably happen to me would be to get a frying pan to the side of the head. Remember, that you often have to get wet before you see the rainbow, or put another way, sometimes you need to strain the tea before you can really enjoy it.

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