Actually, if you read enough history of that time, you might come to the conclusion that Richard Nixon was terribly played by those he trusted implicitly: Handlesman, Erlichman and that Nazi who served as Secretary of State. Nixon was a decent man. And a hard worker. If he weren’t, President Eisenhower would not have kept him as Vice President for eight years. Eisenhower never suffered fools. Winston Churchill can attest to that.
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Thanks for the history review.
“Nixon ran on a campaign that promised to restore law and order to the nation’s cities and provide new leadership in the Vietnam War. A year later, he would popularize the term “silent majority” to describe those he viewed as being his target voters.”
As far as the sticker on the Impala goes ~ I like it.
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I had to laugh.
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Or scream?
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yes, I have heard the same. Too bad.
Hey, tomatotomato, where is the Portuguese bakery in your area? Those custard tarts are one of my older son’s favorite foods and we usually only get them when we are on Cape Cod or SE Mass.
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Hi @bear! The bakery is the Lowell Portuguese Bakery, located not too far from the end of the connector that takes you into Lowell center. I didn’t even know the bakery existed until I spotted it riding the commuter rail from Boston two years ago!
Not a big place—this is only the second time I have tried their pasteis de nata—but I prefer them to ones I have sampled at The Azorean in Gloucester. I like these pastries custardy and not sweet, and the ones in Lowell fit the custardy profile. Also late Tuesday afternoon probably isn’t optimal, which is when I happened by.
I can’t say this spot is destination-worthy on its own, but this is in my orbit. (In a couple weeks I hope to start a thread about socially distanced food and goodies up in Lowell. Right now we’re rich in veggies and it’s all I can do to keep up!)
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Dave story warning.
I haven’t been to The Azorean but I sure do love the Azores. First, its beautiful. There is a non-politically correct statement that people all across Europe hire Portuguese gardeners and that the Portuguese hire gardeners from the Azores (a Portuguese territory).
There is a restaurant in Horta on the island of Faial. From the waterfront you head up to Peter’s Cafe Sport, turn left, and walk up hill to the first intersection after the harbor. I don’t remember the name. We call it the hot rock place. You order food off the menu and they bring it to you raw in bowls. Then they bring you 600F flat rocks on which you cook your own food. It’s outstanding. OSHA in the US would have kittens over the concept but it is great fun. Chicken, beef, lamb, and fish and of course the veg are local.
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^ How did you know the Azores and this are on our future travel list? We hoped for an adventure this summer but—spoiler alert—2020 had other plans.
We have friends and acquaintances originally from the Azores. They’ve long been recommending a visit to us. You’ve built more intrigue!
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Hell, that’s just a rather short hop-skip-jump for me!
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Ha, my husband’s grandfather came from Sao Miguel when he was in his early 20’s with a 16 year-old sister in tow and $20 in his pocket. He taught himself English, starting with children’s book, and worked his way up to head-groundskeeper at a Newport RI mansion. He ended up owning a wonderful nursery and being quite a horticultural resource for lots of people. We do hope to get to the Azores one day soon.
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Great intel, Denise. Thanks so much! We have a dear friend who recently moved to Lowell and has been wanting us to do a socially-distanced beer and cheese visit. I see a field trip coming on.
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Jeepers. Who knew there was an Azores (properly Açores) subculture here on HO? I’ve done crew changes there. At the time cheapest way to get there from the US was to fly to Portugal and then from Portugal back to the Azores.
Now about Martinique… grin
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And now we have (or did, pre-pandemic) direct flights from Boston to the Azores. There is a big Azorean influence in Eastern MA/RI. This Irish kid grew up eating linguiça, chouriço, sweet bread, malasadas, and lots of other deliciousness. And then I married a Portuguese/Irish boy and learned to make his grandmother’s Portuguese kale soup from his titia.
And yes, I could stand a trip to Martinique right about now.
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I’m liking these Azores stories, as it’s on my travel list also. My dad, being a career A/F pilot, used to refuel there, sometimes spending a day or two. He frequently brought back stuff from his travels everywhere. He brought back bread from the Azores. It was unleavened and baked in a wood fired oven. To this day, I’ve never tasted better bread. So, it’s on the eating list when I get there.
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6 hummingbirds settled in late this afternoon and were peacefully sipping away at my sugar water feeder. Almost unheard of. They’re usually very territorial. Then four more hovered and ran them off. Guess the words gone out and I need to put up another one. Sorry no pics. Hummingbirds are an absolute joy to just sit there and watch.
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Some tiny bits of good news:
The price of nitrile gloves has dropped from triple to merely double ‘normal’ 
And chocolate is on sale! The European imports destined for cruise ships and hotels this summer are now priced to move. Any little extra bit of profit margin is good news going into an uncertain holiday season. 
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Like many, I’ve really hated 2020 so far, but I’ve had an epiphany; this happens to be our time on earth, and we’re not going to be getting a bonus year because 2020 was bad. So we have to adapt, and grab whatever joy we can, even if it’s not in our preferred way. Develop new hobbies, or use our time learning something new. I realize many people are busier than ever, especially those with young children - hopefully it’s brought some people closer.
As humans, we think we have control over everything, but of course we don’t - it’s an illusion for the most part. So, I’ll bow down to Covid, until we get vaccines or better remedies - both are looking promising!
I’m sure of one thing though; at least the first 9 months of 2020 will go down in infamy…
Will post on my newly discovered hobby soon.
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Two of the things I’m grateful for in this Age of CoronaVirus:
The HO Community. A group of welcoming and encouraging correspondents from around the world.
Discovering during this prolonged house detention how much I enjoy my food prep efforts. Most relaxing tasks I do during any day.
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I too am most grateful for HO - extremely gracious and helpful people on here @RedJim.
Also feel fortunate that H, our two daughters and SIL are all able to work from home. Also, we know no one who has caught the virus either. So, many, many aspects of life are still good, simply different. I’ve stopped being Covid paranoid, but am still Covid very careful. This has led to a few more safe outings, which help to feel a little bit normal in our strange new world.
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