Friday, February 18, 2022

rice, a wreck, and SHARE


Apropos of nothing, my favorite rice is short grain brown rice. It used to be the only rice we ate and was available at several different stores when we lived in the city but apparently it didn't prove to be very popular as eventually the only place I could buy it was in the bulk section of Whole Foods. It was a pain having to go into the city just for rice after we moved and then we found 12 pound bags at Costco but Costco doesn't seem to get it anymore. So after two or three years of eating white rice (don't really care for long grain brown rice) I finally searched online for the short grain brown and the 12 pound bag arrived.

Yesterday morning there was a three vehicle accident including an 18-wheeler on I-59S just past the bridge over the Colorado River in Wharton. When the police and emergency personnel got there all three vehicles were engulfed in flame. The truck driver died. They closed the highway in both directions. I don't know where they funneled the traffic going north but when I had to pass under I-59 to get Robin to work at 9 AM they were diverting and directing the traffic going south right through town to the other bridge over the river. That road eventually joins up to 59 past where the accident was. Traffic was bumper to bumper through town, probably 85% trucks of varying size.

Usually it takes 5 minutes or less to get from the Walmart to SHARE. Yesterday it took nearly 20 minutes so I was late. Of course it turned out to be our busiest day yet, over 30, maybe 32, and there was already a mountain of baskets at my station to be filled and they kept coming. I don't think I finally caught up til about 12:30 (we close at 1 PM) and two of the guys had to do my restocking for me when they were in between filling carts with other food. Their station had 5 volunteers, mine, just me. These are the baskets I fill.


A is one person, B 2, C 3, D 4 or 5, E 6 and up. A and B families get one basket each, C – E families, two baskets.

This is my station. I just do the canned goods and some packaged food like mac and cheese, juice, laundry detergent, and (when we have them) hygiene items.

They also get meat, bread, milk, flour, sugar, peanut butter, cereal, eggs, butter, dried fruit, nuts, hamburger helper, assorted sauces, whatever fresh is available, desserts, etc. What they get depends on what we get either from donations (individuals, food drives, the grocery store, Walmart) or from the Food Bank in Victoria from which Jan places an order every month or direct purchases. SHARE also provides clothing, blankets, sheets, diapers, some household goods/appliances, financial help and temporary housing at motels if needed.

This week has been so busy. This is what my day yesterday was like...pick Robin up and take her to work, SHARE, drop the cardboard from SHARE at the recycling container, lunch, an estate sale with Pam, walk the dog, pick Robin up and take her home, yoga class. Today though, there is nothing on my agenda and I plan to sit and read. Because it turned cold againMaybe vacuum the floors. Maybe. 



21 comments:

  1. You deserve to sit and read today!
    I'm just doing many loads of laundry today and have made a base for ice cream. I'm trying to psych myself up to sweep and mop a bathroom and the kitchen. Lord knows it needs it.
    Warm here today. I am already dreading summer.

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    1. I did just sit and read, finished my book, even dozed off for a bit. So it was a nice lazy day though I did have to fix dinner.

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  2. My word! You are a saint!. Yes, you do deserve to take it easy today.
    David got me a 20lb bag of brown rice a few years ago. I divied it up into plastic and glass gars with a bay leaf to keep bugs out. I still have two 8oz. jars left. I need to go hunting for brown rice because the HEB here is iffy most times with brow rice. I can make due with white short grain but I really go crazy for my brown rice and beans.

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    1. Bay leaf to keep the bugs out, never heard of that. Maybe I'll put a bay leaf in my jars. Our HEB in this little podunk town has long grain brown.

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  3. That's way too busy a day for someone who is theoretically retired! I vacuumed last week so I don't have to this weekend. I DO have to clean the bathrooms if I don't want sentient life to take form in there...

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    1. They say most dust is shed human skin cells. If that's true, I'm surprised I still have a body.

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  4. It was interesting to see behind the scenes at SHARE. You definitely had a wildly busy day, one way and another. Definitely just sit now. Read. Doze off.

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  5. That is quite an elaborate operation you work for (with?) and you have earned a break. For many other reasons too.

    For many years I was a brown rice person/hippie and then when we lived in the tropics it was any rice as long as it's without maggots and/or weevils etc. and then one late summer, we cycled through the Po valley in Italy and met a family of rice farmers who spent a day explaining to us about the local varieties of risotto rice (white short fat grain) with tasting sessions in the evening and I have found the rice of my life, only it's seasonal and expensive and hard to get.

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    1. Why is it our favorites are the ones hard to get? One of my neighbors is a retired rice farmer but nothing exotic. I'll have to ask him what kind of rice he grew.

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  6. You are truly an inspiration. I love what you do at SHARE. It is so kind of you.

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    1. Well, thanks. My mother, as a doctor's wife, did volunteer work now and then but it was mostly because it was expected of her I think. Now that I'm retired and have the time it gives me something to do, some structure. It's only half a day once a week.

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  7. Interesting about the lack of availability of short grain brown rice where you live. Here at our food co-op it's the least expensive of the wide variety of rices that are stocked in bulk. For that reason, I always buy it. Recently I've been making biryani using short grain brown rice.

    That's shocking about the 18-wheeler accident, with three vehicles engulfed in flame.

    Thank you for the photos and description of your volunteer work at SHARE. There are so many people throughout the U.S. who need the kind of help that SHARE and other volunteer organizations offer. I've been one of them and couldn't be more grateful for that help when I needed it.

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    1. It may be more readily available in the city now but I never go into Houston if I can help it. It's not about the price for me but it's wonderful nutty flavor.

      It's a shame that in the richest country in the world we have so many people barely making it.

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  8. That was a lot of day yesterday, exacerbated by the accident. So I wondered, are state roads, or better, even numbered for east/west and odd numbered for north/south?

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    1. I believe so. Odd numbers for N/S, even for E/W.

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  9. That's a busy day! Too bad about the accident. Of course I have no idea what happened but my impression of driving in the USA is that people go way too fast, particularly around big trucks. Are long grain and short grain brown rice really that different?

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    1. Apparently the truck driver hit a vehicle being towed. How that occured I have no idea. And yes, I think short grain brown rice does taste that much different. It has a wonderful nutty flavor...a little butter, salt and pepper, nothing better.

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  10. Days with nothing on the agenda are especially enjoyable after a day or stretch of days such as you had!

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  11. I prefer brown rice myself. It was not readily available in my last home. I am still exploring here. We found a wonderful Cuban restaurant yesterday on a side street, out of the way. We shared a big sandwich on the way home, but they have a "piggy bowl" that looks like my next meal to try there. Since this area caters to tourists, we have ore eateries at our disposal. Soon as we settle in and I get my gardens on an even keel I will explore possibilities of volunteering somewhere. There is such a big need!

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  12. I just got up and checked the pantry. I prefer brown rice, too, but mine is long grain. I'll have to see if I can find the short grain and give it a try. Your description sounds good. When I lived in Liberia, rice was the staple crop; even our pets ate rice. The standard offering was a big pot of rice mixed with canned mackerel, since there wasn't anything resembling "pet food" in the country. Everything seemed to thrive on the rice-and-fish mix.

    I heard about that accident on the Houston traffic reports. We've had more than the usual number of big rig accidents, and I've wondered whether part of the issue might be more inexperienced drivers on the road as the companies have to hire new drivers to make up for pandemic driver shortages. On the other hand, there are a lot of drivers on the road I'd like to sit down and lecture; the amount of too fast, erratic, and aggressive driving has really increased. It's like people are taking their online aggressiveness to the road.

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