The polka

Coupon in hand for $1 off the price of a box of Via sticks (good until July 31), I drove to our closest Starbucks (25 minutes away in Belleville) an hour and a half before the coupon would expire. Box of columbian in hand and a free upgrade 'americano' - offered after the barista said, "we're out of coffee; do you want to wait for a new pot to brew or have a cafe americano at the same price?" - I turned to exit the store.

On my way toward the door, a friendly middle-aged man fairly ran up to me, bluntly asking "What is that dance they do at Oktoberfest?". He demonstrated by gesticulating with one arm held above his head, the other rounded in front, while his body did a sort of shimmy. Pleasant fellow - kind of sweet! I replied "the polka?" which elicited an excited "YES!" as he ran back to his table of waiting friends, both male and female, repeating "polka!"

The Anto boys - my dad and his brothers, around 1936

I left happy to have been of help in some conversation point or perhaps game, and then wondered why I had answered with a question mark in my voice. I knew with certainty that it was the polka. If there's anything I know at all, it's the polka! I've danced more polka in my life than ballet.

I suppose the questioning tone to my reply had more to do with my incredulity that anyone would not know, or, as in this fellow's case, could not remember the most wonderful dance in the world, the polka!

As I sipped my fresh cup of brew in the car, I thought about all the polka in my life. It began before I was born, hearing my father and uncles play at family get-togethers on their accordions. My father taught me to dance the polka (as well as the waltz and all the other common dances of the day) and I became a folk dancer in my teens and a folk dance teacher at age 21.

Raimond Valgre skulptuur Pärnus

Doing the polka evokes all that is joyful in life, including the accordion, the instrument we danced it to. The sound of the accordion today takes me back to my childhood and my family and if I'm alone, or at home with my hubby and children, often makes me cry at the memory of what once was.

So it was that I sat sobbing in the car with my cafe americano (also apt since most of my polka days were in the States) thinking about my father, his brothers, the accordion, and dancing the polka. Back when I was young I could dance every dance all night long without breaking a sweat or being out of breath. These days I know about endorphins and their effect.

The polka releases endorphins you didn't know were in you! Were someone to ask what my favourite dance and/or music is, my answer, without hesitation or question, is an emphatic, unilateral: POLKA!
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Here is my post about our family and what the accordion meant to us - from my other blog, "Legwarmers and tiaras":

"My love affair with the accordion"

Stop 33 Grill

Stop 33 Grill on Carrying Place Road, just west of Dufferin Avenue

A diner that advertises itself (on its sign on the edge of the road) as having the best of everything ("best breakfasts", "killer lunches") and gut-busting portions, Stop 33 is a nice little place just around the bend from where Dufferin Avenue turns into Hwy. 33 (Carrying Place Rd.). It's only open 4 days a week (Thursday through Sunday) from 7am to 2pm.

The last time I ate at this diner, it was called something else, but the cook looks like the same guy. I ordered the home fries with gravy and onions "poutinized" and a (bottomless) cup of coffee. Although I went through 2½ cups of coffee with my meal, it was a mediocre brew, at best. I didn't have any expectations that it would be good (it was just as bad years ago), so I'm not going to complain about it.

If I've learned one thing living here, it's that no place knows how to make a good cup of coffee, no matter how it touts its java. McDonald's thinks its "gourmet" blend is fantastic, Tim Horton's believes its cuppa is the ideal coffee for the masses, and The Grind, for which I had such great hopes, makes as subpar a cup as the aforementioned, at a higher price.

I've taken to ordering a cup at the convenience store at the foot of Dufferin which has had a Country Style in it for several months now. Not bad when it's hot, but, again, nowhere near the delicious cup of coffee perfection that is Timothy's or Second Cup, which I doubt we'll see here ever.

Back to the breakfast. I was brought a huge plateful of potatoes covered in gravy, onions, and cheddar cheese curds. It looked like a portion for 4 people and I didn't think I could eat it all. The first thing I ate was a cheese curd and immediately a bad taste assaulted my mouth. The cheese had gone bad!

Disappointed, I tried the rest of the dish. Excellent! The potatoes, gravy and onions were all superbly flavourful. I gave the cheese curds another chance with the same woeful result. Yuk. An off taste, to say the least.

Still, I surprised myself by eating the whole plateful, pushing the cheese aside. Had it been fresh, the whole meal would have been so pleasant, including the price of it: $4.98 ($2.99 for the home fries, gravy & onions, an extra $1.99 for the "poutinizing".)

I left the lovely young waitress a hefty tip (having been a waitress myself, I always overtip) and went to pay the bill ($7.16) with my Mastercard. As I got to the cash register, I saw the sign "no credit cards will be accepted today". Oh, no!!

I was counting on using my card and didn't know if I had enough in change (all the cash I had with me was a bunch of quarters and loonies) to pay the bill! I asked why I hadn't been told about this by the waitress (the sign outside says they take both Visa and MC) before I ordered, and was told by the owner/cook that she - the waitress - didn't know. Seems like the machine was acting up - again - and wasn't charging people properly, or paying him properly, or something like that, and he was planning on not taking credit cards any more anyway.

As I counted out my carefully saved laundry money (I had just spent $15 at the Farmer's Market before deciding to finally try this diner and had no bills left at all), I felt disappointed that this Trenton adventure didn't quite pan out as well as I had hoped.

The best poutine I've ever eaten at TJ's

TJ's poutine

Indulge me while I wax ecstatic about poutine again. Pictured is the latest serving of poutine I ate.

Purchased at TJ's fry truck hours earlier in the day than I'm usually found ordering "Poutine, please", it was the freshest poutine I have ever gotten from there, the most crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside fries, perfect al dente cheese curds, out-of-this-world delicious gravy, and altogether hot-steaming-hot!

Perhaps it had something to do with the fries having fresher frying oil to cook in than they have just before 6pm (closing time), when I usually go.

Whatever it was, today's poutine was orgasmic! Wish I could have shared it with all of you.

July 24

Freshly picked garden beans

Zucchini bread to die for!

Our local farmers market has lots of delights to offer the residents of Trenton. One of the divine wares is this zucchini bread which I buy from my favourite bean vendor.

It is so moist, it's heavy to lift. You fall in love with the first delectable morsel you put in your mouth. Specks of zucchini and crunchy walnut pieces are dotted throughout and become sheer pleasure for the tongue.

At only five dollars a loaf, it's a bargain to boot. Serve this to your guests and just sit back and listen to their raves!


Our family can't stop eating it! It's one of those 'I'll just have another little piece'  phenoms.

Trenton farmers market

Here's my smiling egg guy.


My beans and zucchini bread lady ...



.... her tableful of farm fresh vegetables, preserves, blueberries, and zucchini loaves

...and my egg guy's bounty

Swan Lake revisited

I visited my swans today. The cygnets seem to have grown a little since I last photographed them! A car slowed down as if the occupants knew why I was at the edge of the marsh with my camera. We exchanged pleasantries about the swans.

The gentleman who was driving mentioned that there had originally been 3 more babies (he and his wife were counting theswans from their car window) but that snapping turtles had done a cull on the family.

The swans were, as usual, cleaning themselves. They spend most of their time with their necks wound into their bodies, their beaks buried in their feathers, cleaning away!

You have to have patience if you want good pictures. Fortunately, I am Zen-ishly adept at standing still. I waited and waited for the few seconds when the swans would raise their heads. I noticed that sometimes when a louder vehicle zoomed by behind me on the road, the daddy swan (at least the one I assumed was the dad) lifted his head to look and listen.

I thought if I made some sounds, they may lift their heads, too, so I began to chirp in a funny way, hoping they would stop cleaning for a moment to figure out what animal I was. And it worked!

I was far across the pond from them, but sound carries well over water.

I was happy with my snapshots, especially being so far away (thank you 10x zoom camera!) and I left the assiduous group to their grooming ritual.

The wisdom of Oz

I ordered a chicken wrap at McDonald's in Wal-Mart and asked for a cup for water. The sweet counter-girl plopped the cup upside-down on my tray. I immediately went into Dr. Oz mode and thought of all the germs zeroing in on the rim of the cup which was touching the tray that had been wiped down by a dirty rag that had wiped a few dozen other trays before it was applied to mine.

I asked for another cup. The sweet young thing complied and swiftly, before I could explain my request, put the now germy-rimmed cup inside the new one, leaving me to sip from the contaminated rim!

So, I told her the reason I wanted another and she took the two cups on my tray away (and, for all I know, replaced them in the cup holder for the next customer) and gave me a third, which I took from her hands.

Silly picayune story? I would've thought so - in the past! But, thanks to Dr. Oz making us so germ and bacteria vigilant (remember the fake fingernails in the bread bins episode?), I now see the potential for germ infestation everywhere.

(Having a compromised immune system, I should be more aware of possible microscopic hazards anyway.)

For a related post, jump to:

Oh, dear, Pizza Supreme...

Fun with Jeopardy

Answer:

Blog written by resident of Ontario town which is the home of one of the largest and busiest air force bases in Canada.

Question:
What is Trenton Stories?




Haha! Get your own screen pic with anything you want written on it at Jeopardy clue screen generator 


Here's another neat site for those days when you miss the show or want to check on an answer or question from any of the broadcasts:


Jeopardy archives

Dr. Seuss made a movie - in 1953!

I just finished watching "The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T." on TV. I have never seen nor heard of this movie, but watching it was somehow familiar. It came out in 1953 (I was 6 years old at the time) and starred Hans Conried, whom I remember from his years in TV as a character actor, and was a futuristic-in-a-friendly-way, very creative endeavour.

It takes place in a weird fortress of a mansion with stairs that went up to nowhere and holes in the floor from which people climbed in and out of rooms. We parents have seen that before! The furniture was strangely shaped and the boy wore a beanie with a hand perched on top of it (the fingers stuck up).

The guards wore two-tone outfits and the musicians in the dungeon had instruments which suggested the forms of trombones, trumpets, saxophones, and tubas. Pickle juice gave one power and clever inventions of all sorts were evident.

Looking it up on IMDB after it ended, I found out that the concept for it and the story from which came the screenplay was the brainchild of Dr. Seuss! That's why it was oddly familiar. Dr. Seuss also wrote the screenplay along with another writer.

It also starred Peter Lind Hayes and his wife Mary Healy, known to me from 50's TV, and Tommy Rettig as the boy, Bartholomew. Tommy Rettig I knew well from "Lassie". He was the original Timmy.

I learned that due to his short stature - he grew to be 5'4" just like Michael J. Fox - he had trouble landing adult roles. He also had an untimely death at age 55.

In the last part of his life he had become a respected and expert software developer. Earlier in his life, after the roles dried up, he suffered the fate of so many child actors: drugs and the troubles they bring.

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. refers to piano playing. The movie was a musical with long unmusical parts between long musical numbers, some of them incredibly good.

George Chakiris (West Side Story) was the lead dancer, so I looked him up, too. He's always stayed in my mind as a dynamic dancer with wonderful, precise technique. His last foray into entertainment was in 1997 and he's been a jewelry-making silversmith ever since! Who knew?

Chakiris had wonderful things to say about West Side Story, the movie which made him famous. He felt it was a privilege to be one of the cast and to work on it every day. He still cries when he sees the ending. Sounds like a sensitive, lovely person.

Even today, folks would find this movie innovative and very quirky and I can see it having a cult following (I don't know if it ever did) à la Monty Python.
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Wikipedia explains the reaction to the film - which did indeed develop a cult following:

Although he had written the original treatment and all the song lyrics, Geisel regarded the finished film as a "debaculous fiasco" and omitted any mention of it in his official biography with Random House.^[1] At the film's Hollywood premiere, it was reported that patrons walked out on the film after 15 minutes, and box office receipts were equally disappointing.^[2] Nevertheless, the film has gained a cult following over the years, and has been favorably compared to the live-action adaptations of Seuss's works made since his death.

Also interesting is the influence the characters' names had on The Simpsons TV show. Bart Simpson's nemesis is Sideshow Bob, whose last name "Terwilliger" is taken from this movie - Dr. T. is Dr. Tewilliker (with a "k"), the archenemy of Bart (Bartholomew Collins) in the film.

Bastille Day

La Marseillaise Allons ! Enfants de la Patrie ! Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! Contre nous de la tyrannie, L'étendard sanglant est levé ! (Bis) Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Mugir ces féroces soldats ? Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc. II Que veut cette horde d'esclaves, De traîtres, de rois conjurés ? Pour qui ces ignobles entraves, Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (Bis) Français ! Pour nous, ah ! Quel outrage ! Quels transports il doit exciter ; C'est nous qu'on ose méditer De rendre à l'antique esclavage ! Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc. III Quoi ! Des cohortes étrangères Feraient la loi dans nos foyers ! Quoi ! Des phalanges mercenaires Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (Bis) Dieu ! Nos mains seraient enchaînées ! Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient ! De vils despotes deviendraient Les maîtres de nos destinées ! Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc.

IV Tremblez, tyrans et vous, perfides, L'opprobre de tous les partis ! Tremblez ! Vos projets parricides Vont enfin recevoir leur prix. (Bis) Tout est soldat pour vous combattre. S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros, La terre en produira de nouveaux Contre vous tout prêt à se battre. Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc. V Français, en guerriers magnanimes Portons ou retenons nos coups ! Épargnons ces tristes victimes, A regret, s'armant contre nous ! (Bis) Mais ce despote sanguinaire ! Mais ces complices de Bouillé ! Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié, Déchirent le sein de leur mère ! Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc. VI Amour sacré de la Patrie Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs ! Liberté ! Liberté chérie, Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (Bis) Sous nos drapeaux que la Victoire Accoure à tes mâles accents ! Que tes ennemis expirants Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire ! Aux armes, citoyens ! Etc.

Swan Lake

A study in swans, perfect for prospective Odettes. Enlarge each picture to get a closer look. I took these shots from across the pond where this family of swans was swimming, returning to its nest, and cleaning themselves.

They inhabit a quiet enclave off a rural road just a couple of minutes from my house, but I felt like Jane Goodall observing them in their intimate natural habitat.

I caught them beautifully skimming across the water on the way back to their home, then spent half an hour crouched on the ground snapping them through the grass as they shook off the  water, groomed themselves, and settled into their nest.

It was a spiritual experience to be there quietly observing.

Look at the two box turtles (to the right of the swans' nest) in all the following pictures (enlarge them twice for best view). I didn't even know they were in my pictures until I uploaded and enlarged them!

Future Odettes - check out the way the swan curves its neck!