QUARANTINE BLOG # 632

December 22, 2021

Down East Dickering was an interesting show that ran on the History Channel for 2 years (although what it had to do with history, is a mystery, but then TLC used to be called The Learning Channel and there’s not much learning happening there these days).  

Down East Dickering revolves around Uncle Henry’s, a magazine that comes out every Thursday.  Think I Wanna with a thick Maine accent.  Ayup.  The show follows some colorful locals – known as dickerers – who use the periodical to live on their own terms, without such hassles as bosses and rules getting in the way.  They look through its pages to find odd jobs, crazy trades and unique ways to make a quick buck.  If Tony, Codfish, Yummy and the rest of the group are short on cash, they use items like a bucket of hubcaps or a bushel of pears as currency to barter with someone to get what they want. 

Well, that leads to the story of another sort of dickering.  Amy told me about Demi Skipper who traded a bobby pin for a house.  Not all at once, to be sure, but using TikTok and amassing hundreds of followers, Demi was able to trade up and keep trading until she traded her last item for a house.  She traded a bobby pin for a pair of earrings, then the earrings for margarita glasses, and the glasses for a vacuum cleaner.  Other trades were a snow board for an Apple TV, a camera for a MacBook, and so it goes.  

There were some trades that went bad.  Perhaps the worst was trading a Mini Cooper convertible for what she thought was a $20,000 diamond necklace.  Sadly, a local jeweler said it was worth maybe $2,000, not $20,000.  But after 28 trades, she owned a house in Nashville – she will move in in January.  Oh, the last trade was a solar-powered trailer for the house.

👉  A pair of Blackouts:

👉  Thedelite.com is a website I stumbled on – as per usual – looking for something else, and it has stuff interesting enough to become blog articles.  Today I’m starting with “Kitchen Hacks,” but if that doesn’t float your boat (and they may have a piece on boat floating) surf over there and check out the most expensive body guards, unusual dog sleeping habits, the 50 states ranked from worst to first for places to retire (I’ll have to look up Georgia, but I’m not moving), and the ranking of brands of bottled water.  And more.  But for now, here are some Kitchen Hacks.

We’ll start with bananas.  There’s a lot of conflicting info out there about the best way to keep bananas from ripening too quickly.  But one way to slow down your banana browning is to not separate your bananas from the bunch.  Instead, keep them together to slow down the rate of ripening.  If you want to know more about bananas, check out QB 292 and QB 299.

Microwaves are great for heating up food, but oftentimes they reheat unevenly. If the food you’re trying to heat up can be shaped, form it into a ring with a hole in the middle.  It’ll reheat faster and more evenly so you’re not left with hot and cold spots.  This does not work for soup.

A shower caddy attached to an over-the-door hook is a great space saver in small pantries.  Load it up with whatever you like, but spices are one great use for it.  You can also attach a caddy to the inside of a cabinet or pantry door with strong sticky hooks.  

Oh, Georgia ranks #30 (to determine their rankings, each state’s cost of living, health care quality, and general quality of life were taken into account).  The article says, “Its health care quality is a little bit higher than the average southern state,  although, it’s still not great. Georgia also has a pretty below average life expectancy for seniors as far as US states go.”  I’m still not moving.

👉  A trio of Smilies:

👉  I have a confession to make (which reminds me of another story – see below).  At age 74, I recently finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time.  I don’t remember it ever being on a reading list, either high school or college.  I watched the movie with Gregory Peck as Atticus and Mary Badham as Scout, and enjoyed it, but until I borrowed a copy from another bibliophile, Jennifer, about a month ago, I had never read it.  And when I finished, bought my own.  Great story, well told.  So with that introduction enjoy this new feature: Book Toons.

👉  The phrase above – I have a confession to make – reminded me of the only time I have been to a confessional.  On a transatlantic cruise, the Pacific Princess stopped at Cadiz and Bonnie and I took an excursion into Seville where we visited the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See.  There were several confessionals along one wall, and each had a sign on its front telling what language or languages the priest spoke.  Because we were on a self-guided tour there was no one to whom I could pose a question, so I walked up to a booth that indicated the clergyman spoke English.  Excusing myself for such an unusual approach, I introduced myself as a retired clergyman and asked my question (I have no memory of what it was), and we struck up a conversation.  His name was Father Miguel.  We chatted for a while and as I started to leave he said, “When you pray tonight, pray for me please.”  I said, “Can we pray now?”  He said, “Of course,” and I took his hands and we prayed.  My only time to a confessional.

👉  Signs for the Times:

👉  Today’s close “An Intrusive Absence,” is from Celebrating Abundance, by Walter Brueggemann.

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

These two verses are not at the end of the Jewish Bible, which is organized differently, but our Christian arrangement accepts that in this text we are at the brink of newness that cannot quite be seen. The text has God say it this way: “I will send you Elijah before the day of the Lord.” So, in a way, we are in the Elijah season.

That means that you cannot understand what time it is, unless you know about Elijah, a key character in the Old Testament whom we mostly neglect. He appeared in an ancient time, not unlike our own, when the public scene was falling apart and the leadership failed. He did amazing things in that ancient time, ferocious, uncompromising, healing things that most people thought were impossible. He had uncommon powers, and he used them to the full.

He upset everything, healed things, made a difference. And they kept remembering him; they kept thinking about him; they kept wishing for him.

The more they thought about this Elijah who had marked their past so decisively, they were sure this same Elijah would mark their futures. They knew a big upheaval was coming, because things could not go on this way. And they had heard God say: I will send Elijah before the great day. He will be back to finish what he started. And then there is this amazing anticipation: He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. He will reconcile the generations. He will heal our families of old and young, poor and rich, of have-nots and haves.

Everybody knows the world is at an edge. Everybody knows about the violence and abuse and exploitation. Everybody knows the world in our very moment is sick to death. But we are the ones who know he will come, called Elijah, called John, called Advent, called newness, a massive change. Because we believe that quite specifically, we celebrate Advent, which is the sense of being at the edge of newness. We are the only ones who believe that. Ancient Greeks did not believe it. And contemporary cynics do not believe it. That is what makes so many of us so resigned, so filled with despair, so selfish, so greedy, so anxious . . . because the world is hopeless.

But we are not hopeless. We are at the break of God’s future. The Lord will come in power and in grace, to turn the hearts of the children and to turn the hearts of the parents, to turn us from despair and anger and brutality and greed and fear. We celebrate because we expect and await the turn.

God of newness, turn us from despair, anger, brutality, greed, and fear. Bring healing to our families and communities. Bring healing to our own hearts that we may hold fast to the hope that the world is about to turn. Amen.

-30-