SANTA MONICA, VENICE BEACH

Lá galanta i Santa Monica agus Venice. Bhí an aimsir go hálainn ar an tráth. Chuamar go moch ar maidin agus bhí an bricfeasta i Santa Monica again.
D’fhágamar an gluastán ann agus thugamar an bus go Venice Beach. Chuamar ag siúl ar an tráth agus tríd an chathair.
Thangamar ar n-ais go Santa Monica ar an mbus in ionad siúl toisc go raibh mo chos ag cur isteach orm. Ach freisin, is maith liom dul ar an mbus nuair atá rogha ann.
D’fhánamar roinnt áma i Santa Monica. Bhí gloinne fínne agus cocktail againn in áit ar an tráth ag amharc ar luí na gréinne. Lá iontach mhaith!

AMACH AG SIUL

Táim amach ag siúl í Los Angeles liom fhéin inniú. Ní raibh neal codlata agam areir toisc an leaba is crua ar domhain.
Ar aon nós chuaigh mé amach ag siúl trí Little Tokyo agus lárchraoí na cathrachadh. Chuaigh mé suas go dtí an ard-eaglais nua, foirgneamh nach maith liom ar chur ar bith agus síos an sliabh go dtí an Amharclann Disney nua, foirgneamh cumatha ag Frank Gehry. Anois táim ag tógáil sos caife beag roimh dul trasna na sráide go dtí an Leabharlann Lárach. “Puro Muerto” an taspántais atá ar siúl ansin.

LITTLE TOKYO

Táimid anseo i Los Angeles toisc gur thugamar siob abhaile do Ricardo Reyes. Nílimid ag fanacht in a theach toisc nach bhfuil spás aige dúinn. Ta fear, Cubánach, sa teach leis ina gconaí ann is seomra ar cíos aige. Dá bhrí sin táimid ag stadadh in ostáin sa cheanntar Seapánach i lár Los Angeles. Is craobh í do sleabhna Seapánach – tá an príomh-ionad i dTokyo agus táimid anseo i Little Tokyo.
Chuamar amach ag siúl thar timpeall an cheantar chun áit a fháil le haghaidh an dinnear. Tá an ostán i gceartlár Los Angeles. Ta roinnt mhaith do na “sights” is fearr i los Angeles congaireach dúinn – Union Station, Olivera Street, Disney Concert Hall, Ard-eaglais na cathrach – is feidir siúl cuig na háiteanna uilig sin go léir.
Os rud é go bhfuilimid anseo i Little Tokyo freastalamar ar bialann Seapánach “East”. Bhí dinnear an-mhaith again – rogha sashimi, anraith miso, ostashi, calamari, tempura. Fiú saki te le n-ól againn chun ár laethanta saoire a céiliúradh.

LA FHEILE NAOMH STIOFAIN

Tháinig Moises cuig an teach istoíche. Thug sé leis na huazontles
a rinne dúinn Chayo (céile Moises). Bhí siad ar fheabhas. Ní raibh Moises i ndán fannacht le haghaidh an dinnéar ach bhí Richard Maggi inár gcuideachta.
Cén ceangail atá idir an dreoilín agus Naomh Stiofáin?

NOLLAIG SHONA DHAOIBH GO LEIR

Bhí orainn dul ag siúl tar éis bricfeasta na Nollaig a bhí againn le clann Moises. Tá Ricardo Reyes linn ar chúirt. Chuamar go léir go dtí teach na deJesus.

CÓIR ÁINGLÍ

Táimid ag teacht le chéile mar chóir.
Tá ceolchoirm socraithe le haghaidh an 9ú lá de Mí na Nollaig san oíche i Santa Cruz.
Tá sé ar intinn ag Anne Marie Grace teach a fháil ar chíos dúinn ar feadh an deireadh seachtainne go leir sa dtreo go mbeidh laethanta saoire beag againn roimh an cheolchoirm.

HURRICANE HAZEL

The book I'm reading right now, have been reading for four months, has a reference to yesterday's date in 1954. Apparently, Hurricane Hazel struck the Toronto area on October 15 of that year, causing widespread destruction.
Something else about this book, "Fugitive Pieces": I have taken to buying the Saturday edition of the New York Times, the edition with the obituaries. I have read the fascinationg lives of so many people who I would never have known except that they died. Today, at the library, I took a break from the book by catching up on the NYT I didn't have time to read on Sunday. I was struck by the life of Norman Salsitz, a Polish survivor of the Holocaust. He pretended to be a Christian to escape the deathcamps. As a partisan he turned his gun on fellow Poles in the Resistance who were just as racist as the Nazis they were fighting.
I guess I needed to hear a different side of the Holocaust from what I am reading in this book. I already know the ending even though it is still a ways away: look in vain for the meaning of madness but find inspiration in the simple heroism of an individual life lived with meaning.
I still haven't figured out who the narrator of the last part of the book is. Anyone from bookclub like to comment?

SWEET JAM

Subh Mhilis
Séamas Ó Néill

Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d'éirigh,

Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.

AR AIS I SANTA CRUZ

Chuaigh mé ar ais go Santa Cruz inniú le Stephan tar éis seachtann saor againn ón chóir. An tseachtann seo cáite bhí mé ag freastal ar an fleadh i Sebastopol. Ní raibh an méid céinne daoine ann toisc sochradh chara a bhí ar siúl ach bhí spiorad maith sa cheol.
Chleachtamar na trí chinn a bhí foghlamtha cheanna agus d'fhoghlamar ceann nua fosta, sé sin "Bí thusa mo shúile" nó "Be Thou My Vision". I ndáirire ní amhráin Nollaig an ceann seo ach tá fonn an-deas ag gabhail leis agus is dóigh go bhfuil sé ar eolas ag a lán daoine ón leagan Bearla.
Chaith mé treimhse beag áma le Máire tar éis an rang. Bhí ar Stephan cuairt a thabhairt ar a mhac atá mar macléinn ina chead bhlian i UC Santa Cruz, dá bhrí sin bhí ám le breis againn chun comhrá a dhéanamh. Chuamar síos go dtí an Peets i lár na cathrach agus ghlacamr cupán caife fhad is a bhíomar ag cainnt. Bhí comhrá spéisiúl againn faoin fleadh cheol Sebastopol agus an Deireadh Seachtainne Gaeltachta ina freastal Máire an seachtainn seo chaite. Is docha go raibh Liam agus Éamon ó Oideas Gael mar múinteoirí i rith an deireadh seachtainne.

FRUIT OF THE HARVEST

Evan gave me a 5-gallon bucket of pinot noir grapes to make grape jelly with. I stripped the grapes off the stems, crushing them between my hands as I worked. I boiled the must for 10 minutes then strained off the juice. The first time I tried I had 6 cups of juice to work with.
I heated the juice and slowly added the package of No Sugar pectin as I stirred vigorously. When it reached a rolling boil I let it boil for 1 minute making sure it didn't boil over.
Then I filled and processed the jars for 7 minutes in boiling water.
The result was a little disappointing. It seemed very runny. I reread the directions and noticed that it said it could take up to two weeks to set fully. And refrigeration might help. So now my cooled jars are in the fridge for two weeks and if they don't set I will have a wonderful syrup for waffles and icecream and even cocktails.
Another thing I noticed in the instructions (probably should have read all the instructions before I started) was that a little acid such as lemon juice could help to set the jelly. I decided to try a batch with lemon juice since I still had half a bucket of grapes. I made 7 half pint jars of jelly using 6 cups of juice, a package of pectin and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I'm going to wait two weeks to see if that turned out any better.