SHALOM

     "and even when you say good-bye, you say good-bye with shalom"…

       My vacation is happening again. It was HARD to leave today. Bad-Ass-Tats was in full form and totally lovable. He wanted chicken and dumplings (after I figured out he was calling dumplings "pasta"). He gave me the verbal recipe and demonstrated the rolling out and cutting of the "pasta." I promised him that if he is still there when I get back, I'll make that for him. Everyone was happy. There were donated pans of rice and chicken (some sort of oriental dish). I took a picture of it with my new phone, but I'm too stupid to work the damn thing. I live for the day I get back from vacation and stuff this fancy piece of frou-frou in a dark drawer!

      So we served the oriental foods and leftover plates from yesterday. I put some applesauce and blueberry pie filling on the side. Doug asked me to make a small pot of soup, just in case. As it turned out, the food was nearly all consumed; nobody left hungry, and many stopped by the counter to say thank you.

       The wee children were there again, and again they enjoyed their gum, toys, and durt-de-durs. The games were on! When I told them I'll be going on vacation this week, and I hope they have a lovely home of their own by the time I return, they were sad. They're young enough to think they're already AT home. Sweet.

       Doug squeezed me to death, loves me dearly, will miss me greatly. He'll email. Ho boy, this is hard. In so many ways, I don't want to go, but I must go.

       So please wait for me. You can sign up for email alerts when there is a new blog, and when my journey is over later in the fall, God willing, I'll be back in my kitchen with my people. The email signup box is BELOW the "followers" box--and it's MUCH easier than being a Follower—takes 10 seconds and doesn't ask that you remember your password (WHO remembers THOSE?).

     Too, on the off chance that I find a service opportunity while I am on vacation, I will consider posting it here—hungry people are hungry people are hungry people. — Shalom