Houston BBQ

While at the CiRCE conference this summer, my gal pals and I wanted to be sure to taste some Texas BBQ.  Of course we really had no idea where to go…The hotel staff was very, very unhelpful in this area.  They kept recommending regular chains, old stuff that we have here in CA.  Do they not eat BBQ?  Doesn’t everyone in Texas eat BBQ all the time?!?

So we just did what any wise traveler would do-we turned to Google, and Google gave us a gem!  Now I must admit that with a name like Pizzitola’s BBQ, I was a bit wary of the whole idea.  Then the Google directions steered us wrong and we had no idea where we were.  Thanks to some very nice Houstonians sitting outside a store in their rocking chairs, we found our way.  The Pizzitola building is old and very non-descript, but once the server came…

This place became wonderful!   We all loved the wait staff and they loved us.  They were utterly delighted to host 5 gals from CA and hoped that their BBQ would meet our expectations.  It did.   We all chose different meat samplers, but I had the ribs and brisket (each you heart out Giselle!)  Wonderful, wonderful smoked meats. 

The manager stopped by frequently to check on us and chat a bit about the restaurant.  The charm factor only increased when we found out it has been there smoking these tender meats since 1935. 

The staff was only happy to jump into our picture; they gave us the best times to return for more BBQ before we left, and they lamented the fact that these really fun ladies live so far away…our waitress would miss us.  

Oh, but the one surprise of the night was the bread plate we were served.  When a stack of 5 slices of Wonder Bread (well, it might have been Texas style WB since the slices seemed a bit thick…) hit the table, we were in shock.  None of us had seen this before nor could we even imagine that people really ate this at a restaurant. 

But they do.  I was served Wonder Bread the next night at another BBQ joint…

Wordless Wednesday

Another Thought on Teaching…

not nearly so thought provoking…

Thinking about teaching…

One of the thoughts raised this week on teaching…

The child in my classroom is eternal.  He will last longer than America, longer than the earth.  He matters-how and what will I teach him?

 

Charlotte, NC

I am in Charlotte a couple times each year for the CiRCE Apprenticeship meetings, and while our meetings themselves are rich with ideas, full of great fellowship and laughs, and utterly exhausting and invigorating at the same time, I am coming to know just a little bit about the Charlotte area.

Now that I really think about it, most of our time is spent in Concord, but we’ll imagine that it is just all one place.

Things I enjoy in Charlotte:

meeting up with friends and colleagues who all love thinking about classical Christian education

seeing the massive mural of Psalm 98 in the hall of the Charlotte airport

sitting in a white wooden rocking chair in the airport

listening the live piano music from the grand piano in the Charlotte airport

finding great, local Mexican and Italian restaurants

constantly seeing reminders that this is Nascar country (this amuses me to no end)

all the green grass and green trees

the accent

seeing guys in white shorts, button-down shirts, navy blue blazers and penny loafers with no socks

888Book Review-Mistress of the Elgin Marbles

I have so many reviews to catch up on!

This is the latest 888 reaching challenge book that I have finished.  This book caught my eye when I first saw the title as had just been to Greece.  Standing up on the Acropolis in Athens is a singular experience, and so much about it is stunning and incredible.  I loved just about everything in Greece and can’t wait to go back soon, but I am also interested in learning more about its history.  I find it so intriguing that this little country has so much history and so much turmoil.

The Elgin Marbles are of course a key part of both the history and the turmoil.  While the buildings on the Acropolis are breathtaking even in their current state, I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to see them complete-the height, the design, the reliefs, the metal work, the colors, the detail.  Even seeing what I can see know, I can imagine how a visitor would love to preserve what is left from further destruction.  I can see how someone with the means might want to take some of this amazing art and move it from such a volatile, unprotected area of the world.  I think that Elgin was motivated in part by this when he decided to take very large pieces of marble art from Athens and move them to England.

The thing about this book is that it really didn’t address the marbles themselves as much as I would like.  I think Elgin wanted to preserve this part of history and art, but I sure think he wanted to make money and make a name for himself as well.  And I have no idea what the Mistress really thought about it all.

So I enjoyed the book as an interesting look at the life of an ambassador’s family in the late 1700’s-early 1800’s.  The Countess of Elgin was a remarkable woman, able to adapt to many challenging situations, meet the needs of many demanding people, and manage a vast amount of resources.  The book also provides an look into the world of a Brit living in the land of the Turks, during the time of Napoleon-it brings many places and people together.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I will still have to find something else to shed more light on the Elgin Marble controversy.  Elgin did move this art to England and then he sold it to the British Museum.  I understand why England loves these pieces (and I have seen them in the British Museum, too) and wants to keep them.  But I understand why the Greeks want the real marbles back in their country too.

Trying, trying…

To get back to blogging!  I don’t even know why it is so hard-I have things to say, I always have something to say.  I have pictures I could post…I.just.have.to.get.back.to.it…

One of the big reasons for the blogging break was a bad internet connection and then no internet connection, and now the internet is fine.

I have been reading a lot during this break, so that is good.

I have picked up a new, expensive hobby during the break.  That is good and not good.

But, I am determined-I am back to the blog.