Last night it was all about pasta. Tuna casserole, tortellini, penne, noodles galore. We don't usually do a lot of pasta, but it's a good busy-day solution. Apparently yesterday we all had a busy day.
It's early in the month, so numbers were down a bit at Dinner.
Got me thinking about why people come each week. There are a few different reasons.
1. They're hungry. Which is why numbers swell near the end of the month near pay day. The cupboard is bare, and a meal is needed.
2. They have something to give. People cook and bring the meal and share it. Then sit down and eat it with those they're serving.
3. They're lonely. It's nice to sit down at a big table once in a while with lots of other people and chat or eavesdrop and to hear the background murmur of a group.
4. It's home-cooking. Food bank food tends to be canned and a lot of the residents are guys who never learned to cook from scratch. Some work really long hours and have no energy for cooking on the hot plate or in the microwave when they get home.
5. It's an event, a happening - an anchor to the week.
6. There's pie.
7. They have friends there. It's a chance to catch up or make plans or play euchre.
We've seen less lately of M & M. They come to Dinner faithfully every week when the weather is bad, but when it warms up and the sun's still shining after 7 pm, they'd rather sit outside their place with a few friends. They're very sociable and hospitable people.
The weather also plays a big part in how often we see K and R. They're a couple who live far enough away from the Motel to make traveling difficult. When there's no snow and it's not raining they wheel their way over for a visit, both on their motor chairs. The hiccup is that there's no ramp at the Motel. (The handyman built one a while back, out of scrap lumber and an old table top. The table top was slick when wet and K went off sideways. She wasn't hurt, but that was the end of that.) So they have a table set up outside the doors where they dine alfresco when the sun is shining. If it's not, they stay home.
We had a visit from SW, too. Good to see him in good spirits. Didn't come on the tractor, because he was wearing his plaid skirt and pageboy wig. He brought a guitar with him, a very pretty black Fender. He keeps buying them, because they keep getting stolen. H. played us a few songs. SW played and sang a couple and said he couldn't remember the words and smiled.
Music kept popping up last night, here and there.
A group standing in line for dessert started singing Happy Birthday to a guy who walked in just then.
We talked about busking and how annoying it is when you're playing at the farmers' market and somebody shows up with a sound system.
Little 18 month old B often bangs away at the piano for a while. Last night H. sat down on the bench beside him, told B's mom which notes to hit to make a rhythm and H. played some jazzy vamp for the boy sitting on his mom's lap.
Children are cherished at the Motel. So many of the residents have family they never get to see any more. E brought a bundle of pictures of her grandkids, age 1 to 11. She'd had a really good visit with them for the first time in quite a while. Some of the older ones had been given up for adoption years ago and she hadn't seen them since. At least now she has up to date photos.
It was a nice evening. Quiet, ordinary, relaxed. With music.
r
It's early in the month, so numbers were down a bit at Dinner.
Got me thinking about why people come each week. There are a few different reasons.
1. They're hungry. Which is why numbers swell near the end of the month near pay day. The cupboard is bare, and a meal is needed.
2. They have something to give. People cook and bring the meal and share it. Then sit down and eat it with those they're serving.
3. They're lonely. It's nice to sit down at a big table once in a while with lots of other people and chat or eavesdrop and to hear the background murmur of a group.
4. It's home-cooking. Food bank food tends to be canned and a lot of the residents are guys who never learned to cook from scratch. Some work really long hours and have no energy for cooking on the hot plate or in the microwave when they get home.
5. It's an event, a happening - an anchor to the week.
6. There's pie.
7. They have friends there. It's a chance to catch up or make plans or play euchre.
We've seen less lately of M & M. They come to Dinner faithfully every week when the weather is bad, but when it warms up and the sun's still shining after 7 pm, they'd rather sit outside their place with a few friends. They're very sociable and hospitable people.
The weather also plays a big part in how often we see K and R. They're a couple who live far enough away from the Motel to make traveling difficult. When there's no snow and it's not raining they wheel their way over for a visit, both on their motor chairs. The hiccup is that there's no ramp at the Motel. (The handyman built one a while back, out of scrap lumber and an old table top. The table top was slick when wet and K went off sideways. She wasn't hurt, but that was the end of that.) So they have a table set up outside the doors where they dine alfresco when the sun is shining. If it's not, they stay home.
We had a visit from SW, too. Good to see him in good spirits. Didn't come on the tractor, because he was wearing his plaid skirt and pageboy wig. He brought a guitar with him, a very pretty black Fender. He keeps buying them, because they keep getting stolen. H. played us a few songs. SW played and sang a couple and said he couldn't remember the words and smiled.
Music kept popping up last night, here and there.
A group standing in line for dessert started singing Happy Birthday to a guy who walked in just then.
We talked about busking and how annoying it is when you're playing at the farmers' market and somebody shows up with a sound system.
Little 18 month old B often bangs away at the piano for a while. Last night H. sat down on the bench beside him, told B's mom which notes to hit to make a rhythm and H. played some jazzy vamp for the boy sitting on his mom's lap.
Children are cherished at the Motel. So many of the residents have family they never get to see any more. E brought a bundle of pictures of her grandkids, age 1 to 11. She'd had a really good visit with them for the first time in quite a while. Some of the older ones had been given up for adoption years ago and she hadn't seen them since. At least now she has up to date photos.
It was a nice evening. Quiet, ordinary, relaxed. With music.
r
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