Heather spent hours and hours preparing a day-after-Christmas feast. She made traditional fixings, as well as special vegetarian dishes for herself, and gluten-and-everything-else free dishes for me. (I got a food allergy test done December 6, and the results have been a real downer for my Christmas meals.)
Here’s to memories of giving Thanks long, long ago.
In the photo below my dad, my younger/only sister Heather, and I were admiring the glory of a wise, old, wild turkey. Heather couldn’t bear to eat fellows like him, and became vegetarian by the age of 15. See the genuine respect she has for him? Remarkable, really!
She posted this photo on Facebook last night — to celebrate Thanksgiving — and I thought I’d pass it along so you can see a fall day in Virginia in the late 70s with two young kids in awe of the natural world.
Shannon and Don and Heather Massie admiring a fine wild turkey.
Getting moved into an apartment hasn’t been the smoothest process. The size and location of the one I’ve selected are great. The price is reasonable for the market ($1200/month furnished). But the landlord is difficult. He believes the apartment was already “professionally cleaned,” but the carpet hasn’t been vacuumed let alone steam cleaned (which it needs even by my not-so-high standards). In any case, I’ll be taking on a fairly dirty apartment and cleaning it myself.
The good news is that I should be able to move in tomorrow. Dave and I will haul all our bags across town… somehow. I’m hoping to arrange a large taxi.
Fortunately, most everything else about this move has gone much more smoothly than securing the apartment. The people at the Kildare Street Hotel (most notably, Peter and Mark) have been absolutely the best!!!! They are full of helpful information and insight. They’ve helped step me through this move.
Vegetarian, gluten-free lunch.
My iPhone now has calling capacity and roaming Internet connection. Today, the apartment management company and I were both paid. That means I was able to apply for a bank account, since I can now claim to have a home address.
By Friday, I’ll have access to Euros instead of having to spend US Dollars. That means I can buy things and pay in Euros. I’ll be able to avoid paying the fees associated with buying Euros (due to exchange rates and international transaction charges).
Something else that has made all this easier: delicious food is readily available!
Lest you think all the meals here are laden with calories, I’ve attached a photo of the lunch I had at 4 pm today (after many meetings). It was vegetarian and gluten-free. There are many gluten-free options in the restaurants here. That’s because, unfortunately, Ireland has the highest number of people, per capita, who are celiac and can’t eat wheat proteins. Many can’t even eat from a kitchen where wheat has been used. I fear that we’ll see a rise of gluten intolerance in the States, because our standard American diet today is so high in gluten. I think people are likely to reach their thresholds at some point — like I did with formaldehyde.
In any case, the open air market here is full of summer vegetables at amazingly low prices (5 red bell peppers for €1).
Restaurant food nation-wide is quite expensive, however. My lunch (as pictured) cost about $12. Looks like I’ll be eating at home a lot!
Ireland by Chance 