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You Never Sausage a Thing...

...

I have a few questions.

  • Are there any actual lyrics to "Turkey in the Straw?" The ice cream trucks that drive around our neighborhood play this song incessantly, and I'm pretty sure that the lyrics that run through my head are from some weird song I learned at summer camp. I have a hard time imagining anyone actually writing a song about pouring hot water up and down a little chickie's leg. But what do I know? (And what the hell were my completely not religious parents thinking when they sent me to a summer Hungarian religion camp, housed in an orphanage? The very first day of camp, the people running the place told us how much our parents had spent to send us there, and that all that money was non-refundable. So, we all lied, and told our families that we were having a great time. It was a truly horrible experience.)
  • How will we know when our Green Sausage Tomatoes are ripe? Since they're green when mature, how will we know when to pick them?
  • Why, since I'm on vacation from my job as a theatrical scenic painter, was I up at 7:30, painting our front steps. It looks terrible at the moment, because it needs a second coat. Either the UPS delivery dude stepped right over the "wet paint" barrier, or else he lobbed my new camera gear onto the porch. Thankfully this was not fragile gear, just new batteries.
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Stefaneener said…
Never, ever boring, is it?
Why don't you come over and spin?
8:00 PM
wassamatta_u said…
*sniff*
That title brought tears of joy to my eyes... beautiful!
8:13 PM
Debbie said…
I've been wondering about my "Fried Green" tomato plant, too. How do you know?
By the way, I've been absolutly facinated with you bee keeping posts. Keep up the good work. I don't comment much, but I read every new post.
6:31 AM
Kristen said…
Six or seven years ago I worked for a YMCA summer camp in the south--it was a pretty cool place, with canoeing and sailing and nature trails and arts and crafts and so on. And honestly, though the kids sang silly blessings before meals and had a bedtime prayer, I really didn't find the religiosity of the place threatening or even noticeable. So I was surprised when one day my boss asked me to speak with an atheist mum who was upset that her preschool-aged kid had been taught "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in our day camp. As the official heathen on staff I was probably the best person to reassure her (and keep her from pulling her kids and demanding a refund.) I explained that the kindergarten staff were trying to convey a message of racial and ethnic equality, and in spite of the theist slant of the piece, it was one of the best songs available for the job. Moreover, the kids have so much fun throughout the rest of the day that they can easily forget the religious box-ticking of the morning. Plenty of kids from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds come to this camp and, with a little bit of preparation from their parents and counsellors they could easily recognize any of the camp's mildly Christian-ized themes from their own culture or philosophy. The camp's real goal was not to push their religion, but to encourage equality, respect, and ethics among future leaders. (and when I was sure no one else was listening, I reminded her that if her kid did come home from camp asking just who was this Jesus fella and what he was doing liking kids so much, the opportunities for explanation were endless.)
6:47 AM
Lisa said…
To clarify -- my camp was a full day of theology classes, much of it taught in Hungarian, which is a language I don't speak.
7:12 AM
Christine said…
Lisa? Seriously?! I am endlessly fascinated by the idea of being sent to Hungarian religious camp housed in an orphanage. The Bronte sisters would have been all over that one!
As for the tomato, just pick one to harvest early and one to leave on the plant until it just about is too late. Then you'll have your extremes to gauge the others from.
And for goodness sake, sleep in, would ya? If you're off we should do tea and garden tours!
9:02 AM
Gothknits said…
Lyrics:

http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/turkeyinthestraw.htm
10:35 AM
Nichole Campbell said…
From my green tomato experience (Green Zebra-my favorite and Aunt ??? German Green) they will start to take on a bit of a yellow hue when ready. And a gentle squeeze will confirm if you're not sure!
11:10 AM
Anonymous said…
I used to teach art classes at a summer "Nature Camps" in Monkton, Maryland (which was fabulous!) The kids were a mix of "scholarship kids" and super rich kids of DC politicos. Basically, we were there to have fun. If, at the end of the day the kids were filthy and happy, it was Mission Accomplished, in my mind. And no art class was ever so much fun in my life as doing mudsliding down a hill on a rainy summer day (that started with complaints) and then hosing the kids off. This was very theraputic for the kids whose controlling parents were germophobes! It was about making good memories as well as any art type project. And of course the years we built with the kids, a giant wooden "fling" from forest logs and tossed a pumpkin an unnaturally long way into an empty field, smashing it to peices, along with watermelons we also grew, which the kids then devoured. It was more like feral camp, and it was the best job I ever had. Those kids had the best time, and returned repeatedly.
3:27 PM
Anonymous said…
Nichole is right on the money with recognizing ripening green tomatoes.

Larva lady-ZZ
5:57 AM
patricia said…
Turkey in the Straw? Of course there are lyrics and they go on and on just like the ice cream man's music. I think there are 7 or 8 stanzas plus the refrain. You are just too young (read lucky) to know! http://www.songsforteaching.com/
folk/turkeyinthestraw.htm
8:43 AM
Donna said…
When I read this title, I immediately thought of the "South of Border" billboards on I-95. Pedro's weather report: chili today, hot tamale! ;)

Donna
3:59 PM
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