Riotous Thanksgiving Cactus . . .

I impress myself. I've kept my Christmas Cactus going for quite a few years. Such a marvel to behold. It survives because I just forget about the poor thing. It goes out on the porch in the Spring and is put upstairs in the Fall where somehow it prepares itself for the glorious, riotous blossoms of Thanksgiving! Ooouuuuuiiiiiii!

 Puppy's Pop and I made the trek to Mount St. Mary's Abbey yesterday. It was a very beautiful ride on Diamond Hill Road in Massachusetts. I'd forgotten how long it has been since I had driven to see the nuns. The last time there I may have gone with my older sister. Previous to that I remember driving Ma Tante Rose to the Abbey in the Corvair. I'm startled by the passage of the years. The nun's have a thriving candy business and a brand spanking new gift shop. Sister Peter, with a sweet Scottish accent, decided to test a Christmas perfume of frankincense and myrrh. It was all I could no to with hold a smile as she patted some on Puppy's Pop's hand. The gift shop is loaded with books, CD's, icons and Catholic/Christian bits and pieces. The Sisters seem to be working hard and having a blast. You can find them on line at www.trappistinecandy.com. I was amazed on the ride to find out that Wrentham has many religious organizations in the confines of the town. We also ended up at the Premium Outlets to get some Reebok's for Puppy's Pop. Ended the afternoon with dinner at the Roadside Diner in Central Village. I had homemade pirogi and Grampa had fish and chips. All very nicely prepared and delicious. Met a retired Killingly High teacher and his wife who is still teaching 1st Grade in Brooklyn. She has been teaching there for 52 years! Of course the powers that be are trying to push her out the door but she will not go gently into retirement. The kids have asked her to start Christmas projects but one parent is upset by Christmas so Joyce has had to remove the angels pages from her counting sheets and the cover of her Christmas workbook for kiddos. We're talking about Brooklyn, Connecticut. I think if it were up to me I would remove all holidays from the calendar and revert to classes in posture, etiquette, reading the classics, writing, English grammar, penmanship, real, honest to goodness mathematics, civics, geography, and history all taught in a factual manner without social commentary. Just think  - our schools could supply Connecticut with sharp, clear minded, acute, sensible workers who could reason, think and write succinctly. Such a dreamer am I.

Quote:  Desultory studies are erased from the mind as easily as pencil marks; classified studies are retained like durable ink.  __Cooper