Today’s poem in The Writer’s Almanac is by our own Ted Kooser. What a treat. It’s called “Applesauce.”

I liked how the starry blue lid
of that saucepan lifted and puffed,
then settled back on a thin
hotpad of steam, and the way
her kitchen filled with the warm,
wet breath of apples, as if all
the apples were talking at once,
as if they’d come cold and sour
from chores in the orchard,
and were trying to shoulder in
close to the fire. She was too busy
to put in her two cents’ worth
talking to apples. Squeezing
her dentures with wrinkly lips,
she had to jingle and stack
the bright brass coins of the lids
and thoughtfully count out
the red rubber rings, then hold
each jar, to see if it was clean,
to a window that looked out
through her back yard into Iowa.
And with every third or fourth jar
she wiped steam from her glasses,
using the hem of her apron,
printed with tiny red sailboats
that dipped along with leaf-green
banners snapping, under puffs
of pale applesauce clouds
scented with cinnamon and cloves,
the only boats under sail
for at least two thousand miles.

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I told you the Hegseth appointment is a gift that just keeps on giving. Gaetz looks like Mother Teresa next to this guy. This is from the newsletter of historian Heather Cox Richardson on reporting by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker.

Hegseth was forced to leave leadership positions at the advocacy groups Veterans for Freedom (VF) and Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) because of “financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.” Under his direction, huge debts were incurred by VF for inappropriate expenses; the group’s donors squeezed Hegseth out of his job and then shuttered the organization. He moved to CVA. [Tee hee — Next!]

A whistleblower for CVA reported that Hegseth was repeatedly so drunk at events that he had to be carried out, and that he once tried to join dancers on stage at a strip club to which he brought his work team. Hegseth and other members of his team divided the female staffers into “party girls” and “not party girls” and pursued them, leading to allegations of sexual assault. Another complaint said that at a bar in the early hours of May 29, 2015, Hegseth began to chant drunkenly: “Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!”

An email from one of the whistleblowers to Hegseth’s successor at CVA said that “[a]mong the staff, the disgust for Pete was pretty high.” The letter detailed Hegseth’s “history of alcohol abuse” and said he had “treated the organization funds like they were a personal expense account—for partying, drinking, and using CVA events as little more than opportunities to ‘hook up’ with women on the road.”

By 2016, Hegseth was out at CVA [Next!] and joined Fox News as a contributor. It was during this period that he spoke at the California Federation of Republican Women’s convention, where he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.

Whew — slow down buddy — it’s hard to keep up. Hey, speak of the devil — here are Pete and (current) wife Jen right now!

Welcome to Owl Chatter kids! Georgie!! Company!! Get Pete a couple of cold Iron City Lights. Jen — what’ll it be? Diet Coke? Ever have Shasta? Clear that crap off the sofa — we were just talking about you. How are the kids?

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A gritter in England is a truck that spreads grit or salt when the roads get icy. Martin Goodhew posted the following for the Dull Men’s Club (UK), with the photo:

I can at least console myself that I didn’t spend any time at all over the last 12 months knitting a Christmas sweater for a gritter lorry.

Paul Hare: I was once commissioned to photograph gritting crews and lorries in North London. Their role often required time away from family sleeping on camp beds at the depot overnight on standby.. awaiting weather forecasts, frustration of being stood down, regular verbal abuse from car drivers when on duty. They were all incredibly dedicated to and passionate about their role to keep drivers safe over winter..and as result of spending weeks with them witnessing this.. I totally get the knitted contribution!

Sandra Davies: I love the names of our gritters in Shropshire: Snow Be Gone Kenobi, Gritter Thunberg, Gritty Gritty Bang Bang, Grit the Road Jack, Usain Salt.. There’s also Slush the Magic Wagon, Snow Patrol, Spreddie Flintoff and David Plowie. 

[David Plowie! — took me a sec to get that one.]

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Alan Davis of the club just wanted to share some good feelings and a nice photo:

I’m enjoying a quiet lovely pint of homebrew. From grain and hops, no tins involved. Happy days.

Too lovely. Can’t top it. See you tomorrow!