Rusty Wheelhouse

@Andrzej Oh, Andrzej! Some of us are having lunch! I tried to post a perfectly anodine message yesterday, which was repeatedly refused. Since these posts are what I do when I should be doing something else, I decided the universe was trying to tell me something. I don’t want to bow out without saying goodbye, Thanks everyone, its been fun.

@Mean Old Lady Hello there. We get a real treat on Thanksgiving, when we celebrate it, which is not a regular thing, but just occasional fun. This takes the form of a Dinde de Bresse, a specially raised, smaller bird from the Bresse region of France, and which does fit in our oven. The Bressans also do capons for Christmas and the famous Poulet de Bresse. All are gastronomical treats. Ce qui est rare est cher - I know you know what that means, but for the others, it means what is rare is costly. We have a lot of Thanksgiving-esque celebrations in Switzerland, depending on the geographical area, ranging from a chestnut festival (from the times when it was a dietary staple), to dried prune pie (Geneva), to the widest-ranging, the Jeune Fédéral, and here, jeune means fasting, and not young. Officially called the Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer. It is interfaith. And makes an American Thanksgiving look positively like an orgy. Enjoy your feast.

@Mean Old Lady This post brings back childhood memories of years spent with an ink-stained hand. I was born well after Mean Old Lady’s dad in 1912 but still had to keep the paper in the same direction as the righties. Ignatz, aka Sister Mary Ignatius, insisted on this scholastic nicety. So I learned to write crab-style, forming the letters upside down and writing in almost vertical columns. Writing isn’t even the half of it. Lefties watch the clock go round the wrong way, the door usually opens on the wrong hinge - and let’s not get into can openers, scissors, or ironing the iron cord - in fact I’ll stop right here. Maybe I should move to the southern hemisphere, where at least the water circles the drain in the proper direction. Is that why we’re called southpaws, I wonder?

@john ezra Yes, it was ‘cringily’ - but that sounds so cringe.

@Andrzej Thanks! How did you know?

@MExpat Those are my thoughts, too. Like reading a book too fast. Maybe we can add Slow Crossword to other pleasures, like Slow Cooking?

@Mean Old Lady Yes, I thought it must needs take the double ‘s’. A quick Google brought up busing - but in connection with the civil rights movement. Then I tried the OED, but what do they know about true American usage? They give the two variants, so have to trust them, I guess. And the emu and I will be heading out soon - Tahiti (sic). But not until the 15th. So TTYL, as they say.

@Hardroch That is so kind, thank you. What really got me laughing was your ‘someone who is good at making Dahu sounds’. Gave me a recurring chuckle throughout the day.

@Hardroch An oldie but a goodie. Couldn’t resist.

@Hardroch Hope you enjoyed yours today. Always good to hear from you, not easy to keep up with replies from our different time zones. I don’t know how Andrez does it!

@RozzieGrandma Still haven’t lived it down.

@Helen Wright Thanks Helen, very kind.

@Barry Ancona Aïe ! And it’s a sport I don’t even know how to play. Well, it does give us an advantage in epée (the lovely crossword word). And could I interest you in a lovely set of lefty golf clubs, barely used? Thanks for the précision.