I am proud of our dinner and the food I brought home; it was a hit. In addition to the Lobster Tail meat, we had roasted potatoes and crispy Kale from our garden. The candlelight meal (with Gracie Abrams singing in the background) had a harvest feel. I’m glad I got two bags of lobster meat and tail. It was devoured quickly with the help of melted butter in a bowl and a nutcracker.
Maria and I have been through an intense month or so. I had my concussion and collapse; she has been selling yarn, potholders, and quilts steadily. We both wanted a day together, centering on the now, on our excellent life and love together. We succeeded. We had one of the sweetest holidays either of us can recall.
We sat in the chairs out back, walked all over the farm, meditated, read together, talked, and laughed talked. My Edgar Allen Poe statue arrived just in time for dinner. I am a Poe fan and identify with his torment and occasional darkness. He was also a genius. It was nice having him to dinner.
We had a great discussion about how to gauge one another’s creativity.
It was also lovely having Zip around yesterday; he and I chatted several times and exchanged world views. He is a beautiful addition to the farm and to my life.
America being America, I was amazed (still naive, I guess) that my dinner managed to be controversial and sparked the only nasty messages of the day. I will never understand why people want to tell me what I am eating and spend their time and energy fighting about it. I can’t imagine doing that. We are becoming a nation of complainers and correctors.
Two people told me my food was lobster meat, not lobster tail. Belinda Betz called me a “know-it-all asshole” for saying my lobster was tail, not meat. (The fish store tells me it was lobster tail that they cracked and put into bags to sell. That’s good enough for me.)
“Your picture is of lobster meat,” Belinda wrote in her angry message, “not lobster tails. Both are good and expensive, but they are not the same thing. If you want to argue with you otherwise, don’t put up a picture. Read your label and stop being such a know-it-all asshole.”
Am I supposed to care about this, I wondered? I’m not taking the bait.
As I often do, I felt saddened at the idea that Belinda has nothing to worry about other than what kind of lobster I am eating and what I call it or was told it is. Sorry, but I’ll pass on the chance to study the label as closely as she did. To be truthful, I don’t care. I deleted her message.
Not that she cares, Larry, who has worked on lobster boats and lives in Maine, injected some rationality:
“I grew up on the coast of Maine, and I’m living here still. I’ve worked on lobster boats. I’ve eaten a ton of lobster in my 74 years. I know a little something about lobsters. I know you don’t need me to confirm what you’ve already said, but I’m seeing two pieces of lobster tail on that plate. The Belindas of the world have way too much time on their hands.”
Thanks, Larry, truth is still important to some people, it makes me hopeful.
Maria summed up these messages well as she often does: “how dumb, and what a waste of time.” Well put.
When I think of what is happening in much of the world, I can’t get into a fight about what I’m calling my lobster or what I was told it is.
I’m sorry this makes me a know-it-all asshole, Belinda; it was a great meal, and I am very proud of it, and we had a day of feeling gratitude for one another and our lives together. Maria said it was the best Thanksgiving meal she had ever had. That is what is essential to me.
I’m sorry that was not worthy of her notice.
I did have an interesting thought after reading her message. I felt gratitude that my tough and brilliant daughter Emma would never write a letter like that to anyone, stranger or not. Neither would I.
We did a good job with Emma in that way. I admire her decency, among other things.
Maria and I found a good way for us to celebrate Thanksgiving. We devoted the day to one another and the opportunity to reconnect after a grueling month or two that was distracting and draining. We discussed always remembering what is good in life, not just what is bad.
Yesterday, we were in the best place, and sorry, Belinda, Lobstergate will not deter us in any way. Have a good time fighting about it; it won’t be with me.
There are worse things than being a know-it-all asshole. I hope you decide not to be one of them.
Thanksgiving left a glow both of us felt. We hope to work for half a day this morning and then resume our holiday over the weekend. We don’t want to lose that feeling so soon. And I have even more lobster tail in the freezer (yes, I freeze it).
I’ve decided to go to that fish store once a month to enrich our diet. Poe is going into my office. He inspires me. Life goes on.
