Delivering the Compass - Uncle Bernie's Kitchen - Uneven Pavement

It's always fun having recipes in the Compass. In the section "Uncle Bernie's Kitchen," my friend Bernie Samuels has three recipes.

I called them up this morning and asked if I could personally deliver several Compasses and then stay for lunch and conversation.

I really had to hurry b/c I often stay in bed reading until about 10 am and just enjoying the feeling of being alive, safe and snug under my covers. And in no pain whatsoever.

Yesterday I mailed out a huge batch at the Abington PO, telling the postmistress, 'the cheapest way possible, they're stapled magazines," thinking you get a special rate.

I was wrong! The special rate is for the PO to make a mint!

Stacy was measuring each envelope with a measuring tape and the cost was unbelievable! Shipping half a dozen Compass mags to Ian Cook, MD, at UCLA cost over $15.
Total mail bill was $133.

Learning from my mistake, I went to a different PO today.... the Willow Grove PO.

"Cheapest way possible," I said.

"What's inside?" asked Tracy?

"Documents," I answered.

Scuse me a moment while I refill my huge teacup with

I brought two packets for Freda and Bernie. They do have caffeine, so Bernie couldn't drink it. Makes him manicky.

I told them I can drink caffeine and fall asleep ten minutes later.

 Here's Freda. "You look different," I said. "Why is that?"
She decided to be natural and let her hair be white, instead of blond.
"It looks great," I said. She agreed.

 I forgot my camera so I borrowed Freda's new Canon she just bot at NY Camera Shop nearby. It was similar to my own Canon, which I bought at Staples, so I knew how to work it.

I'd taken a photo of their beautiful standard poodle Lucy, a cancer survivor, but didn't realize she hates having her pic taken.

She ran away and hid from me the rest of the afternoon. Darn!

Did manage to snap this shot. She's as big as a pony.

Here's a photo Freda took recently of Lucy in the living room.

Here's me in my totally French outfit - blouse and earrings - since it was in the 60s today.

 Smile, Bernie. The food you made was delicious! I had seconds.

 Like a dunce, I forgot my insulin pen. The delicious healthy food he served - brown rice and beans seasoned only with garlic - fantastic! - caused my sugar to go off the charts. I mentioned this and told them I'd work out after lunch in their mirrored basement.

At table also was a veggie burger, not bad, but I told them that Dr Praeger's are more delicious. Bernie wrote down the name.

For dessert, we had fresh fruit, a diabetic's nightmare.

I ate

a slice of mango, my favorite fruit.

When I went to Puerto Rico many years ago with Louisa Yurdin, a friend from Goddard College, before she transferred to Barnard, we sampled them in the outdoor marketplace under the hot sun.

They were so delicious and refreshing.



and



a slice of juicy succulent honeydew melon.

Oh, my poor aching pancreas.

Then we had pistachios. Tried to get a pic of Bernie opening one of those hard-to-open shells, utilizing another shell as a tool.

See how intelligent these people are? I never thought of that.

They're 88 years old.

We always have great talks when I go there. Freda wants to move into Ann's Choice "just in case" but Bernie doesn't. I sided with Bernie and said, Look, if you can't manage, you'll get someone to come in and help you.

"The food at Ann's Choice stinks," said Bernie.

Food connoisseurs like the Samuels should enjoy themselves up to the very end and not eat slop.

 Here I am on the recumbent bicycle.

It takes about 25 minutes to get from Willow Grove to Warrington, PA, where they live in Legacy Oaks. On the drive home I saw a sign that read

UNEVEN  PAVEMENT.

That gave me an idea for a poem I'll write for Saturday's Writing Group.

When I got home my sugar was a whopping 242. I quickly injected 10, the most I ever inject, but was too tired to go on my own bike.

Then I was feeling hungry, so ate my beloved