Sunday

There is a lot of fingerpointing about the shutdown. One woman I know is afraid for her grandchildren. "We can't let them go without food!" And I understood her anguish. I did. She wants the shutdown resolved. 

(So do I, don't get me wrong.)

But, you know, I am encouraged by churches stepping up to the plate, offering food. Free meals. Not every church is full of MAGA evangelical crazy pants, though it easy to forget that fact.

Ordinary people are stepping up too.

Here in my town, people post their address on Facebook, telling people that they have food on their porch for anyone who needs it. Offers to deliver it if needed. 

The local Aldi has an offer up for a $40 Thanksgiving that will feed 10 people. 

Everywhere you look, you see people and organizations stepping into the breach. It is beautiful to see. Hopeful.

How long will this shutdown last? I don't know. But I think that we need to hold the line. We can feed each other. We cannot provide health care for each other. Simple statement of fact. 

So.

That's my thoughts on it. 

Our friend came back for cheesy cream of potato soup. I cooked up his squash for him, and another batch of cornbread. My daughter and new son in law and William were coming, so I did up a batch of rolls to go with as well. 

No time to whip up a dessert today. I overslept. Tim has a cold and once again it has settled in his chest. He was coughing so hard that he could not sleep. He got up, grumpy and cross, yelling at cats and generally making it impossible for me to sleep. 

This coughing stuff always makes me feel sickish inside. It was a stubborn cough that started the chain of events which led to Tim's stroke a couple years ago. Even worse, that cold happened about this time of the year, too. So his coughing makes me anxious. Not a lot of sleeping by anybody last night.

But I had the soup going in the crock pot before I went to bed. All I needed to do this morning was make and add the cheese sauce. I had also made the bread dough last night, so all I needed to do with that was pull the bowl out of the fridge and punch the dough down and let it come to room temperature. I roasted squash, grabbed a shower, and slapped the cornbread together. While the breads baked, I skinned the squash, added butter, brown sugar and a bit of cream and let the mixer do its magic. 

Lunch was on the table right on time, and it was a nice afternoon of visiting.

Of course, the big news was the weather. First snow of the season. Maybe. No accumulations expected until suddenly things changed and there was talk of lake effect snow. What was going to happen? The answer varied depending on who you listened to.

(The unattractive thing in the foreground is my small tarped off 'pumpkin patch', set apart from everything because pumpkin vines tend to grow at such an amazing rate.)