Tarte Tatin

My son Brendan and his mate Megan are going to cook me Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow. My only job is to provide Tart Tatin, an old Quebec recipe for an upside down buttery caramel apple pie. This something my mother's family have cooked for generations I think. I don't really like Thanksgiving or other prescribed holidays. I often feel resentful and obligated. This attitude developed at a time I was overburdened with children and finances. I was working in the anti-poverty community as an activist and surrounded by genuine hunger that other people only thought about during prescribed holidays. Then they typically thought about their own luck and tossed a few stale groceries to the food bank. The radio and T.V. would take time to exploit the lonely and hungry among us for a few "poornographic shots" of less. Canada votes for a new government on Tuesday. I hope each one of us takes time to think about poverty in the longer term and institute policies that really help poor people. Things like livable wages, affordable housing development, and supports for neighbourhoods effected long term by generational poverty and racism. Once Canada had a more just society. We didn't think so much about charity but about what was really just and fair. (Reading John Ralston Saul and listening to Margaret Atwood talking about debt) I would feel really grateful if people considered good social policies when they went out to vote on October 14. After that I will tell you about all the stuff I have been doing with the studio and how my new eyes work. For now I have to nag everyone I know to go out and vote.