Best wishes to everyone celebrating Christmas. We are celebrating in Chicago this year with our four children, extended Turley clan, and, of course, Luna. It has been incredibly cold here, reaching -30 with wind chill. (It was just around 0 when I took Luna out this morning).
This Christmas has been a series of unfortunate events.
We have previously faced adversity on the holidays but this has been a test of holiday cheer.
Just before we drove to Chicago, Luna discovered the huge bag of chocolate and candy for the Christmas stockings that we hid in Leslie’s closet.
Since she was a puppy, Luna has had a fetish for chocolate, which is, of course, terrible for dogs. Luna never steals food or begs. Her one irresistible temptation is chocolate. Some dogs can sniff out drugs, contraband, or even bodies. My dog can locate chocolate faster than a congressman can find a lobbyist.
True to fashion, Luna found our bag of Christmas stuffers and shredded every chocolate Santa and candy. There was foil and wrapping everywhere in what was clearly a moment of canine ecstasy.
It was like looking at the Helter Skelter crime scene of a psychotic elf from “CIS – North Pole.” It took a few hours but Luna then tossed up the chocolate as her own little seasonal gift to us.
She then went looking for more chocolate. It seems like a suicide-by-chocolate impulse that we cannot break.
Just to keep things exciting, my Mom’s refrigerator then died the day we arrived. My brother Chris had a second fridge so after driving 11 hours we disassembled his fridge and brought it to the house. We then reassembled it and carried out the old fridge to the garage as the arctic front hit the city. We finished at midnight.
That is when the furnace pump at the house died.
At -30, the snow tracked in from the outside did not even melt in the kitchen. This is an old drafty house built in 1800 that gets wind off the lake. Central heating is a very very good thing. Indeed, had we known, we could have saved the trouble of replacing the fridge. We have all the cold storage that we needed.
We ran to get space heaters and, fortunately, my 95-year-old mother’s bedroom is the warmest. We cannot get a new pump for a couple days. (Of course, it will be likely be installed the day that we leave when the weather is expected to turn unseasonably warm). In the interim, we are being cryogenically stored to be thawed out for next Christmas.
Yet, despite literally being colder than Mars, we are having fun in my hometown.After all, I asked the kids how much they would pay Elon Musk to let them live on Mars for a few days. Just think how much more comfortable the old family house is to those spartan living pods on Mars. We are so much better off . . . if we can just keep Luna out of the chocolate.
Last night, I made our traditional Cioppino soup — a tradition started by my late father, Jack Turley. It is a spicy mix of mussels, shrimp, sea bass, clams, crab meat, and other ingredients. I have previously written how I grew up hating the soup but the tradition fell to me when my father became ill. I am now as addicted to the soup as my father was. We gave a toast to my dad (who was also my best friend) as we enjoyed his favorite soup with warm bread, good wine, and family.
We spent this morning trying to keep Luna out of the stockings.
We will have 33 tonight at my Mom’s house off the lakeshore on the Northside. I will be making the beef, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, and fresh grounded horseradish sauce. We also have a great Bûche de Noël (or yule log cake) and other delights for dessert .
The Turley family wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday. I will be toasting our blog family tonight and giving thanks for the wonderful community we have created at this site.
For our part, this will certainly be a Christmas that we will not soon forget.
So stay warm (if possible) and safe.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Turley
Addendum: After we got a handle on the heating emergency, a pipe burst on the 26th flooding the kitchen.
Signs of Submission
I have been to school
of white lessons
I learned
from the weather report
It has been snowing
for 18 hours
Yes, it is Autumn
December 1st in fact
but the premature snow
holds up
the image of winter
as if to teach
Lake Michigan that winter
is a frozen permanent
it should never forget
Along Chicago’s buildings
ledges and roofs
snow traces
their thick geometry
Today reflects change
of an actual season
the sun is a dim spot
out of place
I know these
signs of submission
Steve Heins
Steve Heins, very nice.
Meteorologists treat winter quarter as the 3 months beginning Dec. 1.
“It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you – yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand.” ~Mother Teresa
“We have previously faced adversity on the holidays but this has been a test of holiday cheer.”
– Professor Turley
______________
Carpe diem!
God has given you a glorious opportunity to prove your mettle – the best one yet.
Am I right?
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, everyone!!! Here is a wonderful Christmas story from WWII:
https://technofog.substack.com/p/christmas-eve-1944
Oh goodness! Merry Christmas Professor Turley, Darren, and the whole Res Ipsa community. Wishing you all the blessings of the season – good food, family, and celebrating God’s great love for us. 🎄
Merry Christmas to everyone.
A very merry, yet cold, Christmas to you and your fine family.
Trudy Taylor, an old email groupie🎄🎅🏼🎁
I hope the rest of your Christmas is blessed, Professor Turley 🙂
Darren, thanks for all you do to support all of us 🙂
Merry Christmas to my Christian friends, happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends, and a happy New Year’s to my Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist brothers and sisters!
And then there are another eleven days of Christmas to go!
Happy Holidays!
That was my doing.
Also hoping for a Happy New Year.
IN my earlier comment, I forgot to mention how your experience this Christmas reminded me of A Christmas Story, one of my favorite holiday movies-and it takes place in our home town.
Really appreciated today’s column from the Turley household. Having been born and raised in Chicago in the 50’s and 60’s I can relate to some of the climatic conditions. Also, being dog lover for 70+ years understand the comical disruptions and the ultimate joy that a dog brings to a family. Mostly, I enjoyed a glimpse into the Turley family. I read your columns every day and now I’ll have a better sense of your family life-which sounds so much like my own,
Thank God for Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all.
Sounds like a personal, Perfect storm to match the Perfect Storm the Nation as a whole is experienceing.
Things break, life is interesting at times. The “furnace pump” I assume is a heat pump? Not really a thing for the shores of Lake Michigan. Unless a gas heating system backup is in place. Heat pumps are for Arkansas, not Chicago. No matter what the scam artists for ACGCC tell you… we still need gas for somethings.
Cioppino soup — a tradition started by my late father, Jack Turley. It is a spicy mix of mussels, shrimp, sea bass, clams, crab meat, and other ingredients.
That strikes me as delicious. I’ll have to try making it at home. When I was a kid I hated paella because of all of the seafood that it required:
Squid
Mussels
Clams
Shrimp
Scallops
Cockles
Prawns
Today it is my favorite Spanish entree. Since we are celebrating Cuban traditions this year (last year was Southern country), it fell on me to cook Cuban Roast Pork and black beans from scratch. Everyone was satisfied. As is our family custom, I started the meal by reading the account from the Gospel of Saint Luke on the Announcement of the Birth of Jesus
… for nothing will be impossible for God.
Wishing all commenters and lurkers many Christmas blessings. Wise men still seek Him
RE:”Since we are celebrating Cuban traditions…” Prior to my retirement, the contributions to my hospital service’s Christmas celebration from the varied ethnicities represented there were highlighted by those of the several Hispanic communities in NYC. That combined with those in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where we wintered for several seasons, made these festivities special. I shall miss them, the roast pork in particular. One of the ladies would make a blackened chicken that was to die for, and the recipe was a secret guarded more closely than those of the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos. Feliz Navidad, Feliz año nuevo, esté bien y seguro.
¡Felicidades!
varied ethnicities represented there were highlighted by those of the several Hispanic communities in NYC
Most North Americans do not realize that Latin America is comprised of more than 25 countries from 3 different regions: Caribbean, Central America and South America. Our cultural traditions are very unique from each other. It never surprises me when an American attends a Hispanic cultural festival or event, and later tells me how they did not realize how different Hispanics are from each other. It is all good and wonderful IMHO
¡Disfruta! (Enjoy)
RE: “It never surprises me when an American attends a Hispanic cultural festival or event, and later tells me how they did not realize how different Hispanics are from each other.” I became aware of that decades ago, and even though my reading and conversational Spanish serves, I also became aware that one had to be sensitive to the local ‘lingo’. There was a social club locally named ‘La Concha’, and one of my staff, una Dominicana, made it quite clear “THAT” word was prohibido where she came from. The same was for us in Puerto Vallarta. There is actually a conversational guide to the town available to touristas. Claro??
Estovir,
We like Paella too.
But the wife is not a seafood fan, so we use pork and chicken, and I get to add shrimp.
Yours looks fantastic!
Being landlocked in Richmond, acquiring fresh seafood to cook paella is not realistic. I would if I could.
Here is my favorite shrimp dish:
Camarones al ajillo Delicious. The more garlic the better in my book.
Send firewood! 7° F degrees this morning. The water in our outdoor bird bath froze, and I caught a squirrel dancing on it, trying to drink water. Reminded me of some of the trolls on here.
😉
Estovir,
I think you just gave me an idea for what to make for dinner tonight: Garlic soup with shrimp and crusty french bread! Salad on the side.
Thank you my friend!
Merry Christmas y’all and a happy new year!!
Dear Prof Turley,
The only reason Luna doesn’t lie, cheat or steal food is because she doesn’t have to. Clearly. I’m convinced, when Elon colonizes Mars, one day dogs will rule the earth. .. if they don’t already.
It’s a nice enough blog, I guess .. . but you’re still too nice for this dirty business.
*I’m fortunate to be here at all. After surviving the War on Poverty (America’s oldest war) in the dark heart of Appalachia .. . everyday is like pure gravy.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hannaka to all
C’mon Turley…
You have a credit card and there are hotels.
If your mom’s house has no heat… get out!
Yes, its been cold.
But this is Chicago.
As I look out my window… there is no ice on the river.
When it was -11 plus wind chill, it was beautiful watching the water vapor over the river getting blown away by the 30mph winds.
The other bright side to the cold… gun violence goes down along w violent crime.
Unless you’re some guy named Juicy Smollett. [sic]
Oh and on the chocolate thing… They make these things called containers that are airtight.
-G
Thank you for sharing this with us. I am glad you got to be with your family and I am sorry for all of the mechanical issues you are having. Be safe and warm.
Sounds similar to my month from Hell.
Only a week to go in this accursed month.
So far:
My mom passed away unexpectedly
My wife’s mom has been hospitalized and we’ve been told to prepare for the worst.
Our bank account got emptied by a fraudulent charge we didn’t make.
Our hot water on demand system catastrophically failed
We woke up this morning to frozen pipes and I cant seem to be able to get them thawed and I can’t really call someone on Christmas.
Part of me just wants to go back to bed with instructions to wake me on New Year’s Day.
currentsitguy…..so sorry for your loss.
Hope help comes to you soon.
CurrentSitGuy,
I am sorry to hear of your loss and all your troubles.
In the past I have used space heaters to thaw out pipes and covered with blankets to keep the heat in, cold out.
Just a suggestion if you have space heaters. I have read about people using hair dryers.
Thoughts to you and yours.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I really appreciate you for this daily blog and your voice of reason! Thank you!