Baloney Stew

This morning as I was browsing posts on Facebook, I happened to find a link to a blog by Jen Hatmaker. Many thanks to Kathleen McCarthy for posting the link, because I've just found some excellent reading material. Before reading further, please check out "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever" and laugh while you identify with Hatmaker's underwhelming mom skills.

Actually, she looks like a woman who has it all together.

School is out for the Remler family, but reading Hatmaker's post reminded me of our own end of school year project, one that didn't quite make it off the ground at home or in the classroom. It was the dreaded recipe assignment.

Note to teachers everywhere: Please do not assign your kids to cook. If you do that, what you're really doing is giving parents homework. Take note: We've passed grade school. Please don't make us relive it.

Actually, the recipe assignment is a chore for kids younger than fifth grade. Once they get to be Lawson's age, they can pretty much prepare the dishes on their own (depending on the recipe), but guess who gets to go to the grocery store? Guess who gets to buy all that food? Guess who gets to make sure the middle schooler doesn't destroy the kitchen with boiled over pots, broccoli stalks down the disposal, and milk spilled in the cracks between the cabinets where it can fester and make the kitchen smell like the bottom of a McDonald's dumpster?

Mom.

So this year, Lawson's social studies teacher gave out an assignment requiring students to 1) pick out a recipe that reflects their family culture and 2) prepare that dish and bring it to school for the class to sample. The recipe was due one day. Then the teacher was going to assign students certain days to bring their prepared dishes to the classroom.

Lawson could have made a Lebonese dish, but I don't know how to make tabbouleh. That's Stephen's side of the family, and I couldn't help noticing that he got really quiet as soon as Lawson brought up the recipe assignment. My side of the family is as white bread as they come. And I don't know how to make white bread either.

On top of that problem was the fact that this project came home close to the end of the school year. Like Jen Hatfield, I was done. Actually, I was done with being a school mom around October 15, 2006. So Lawson and I decided to tackle this recipe project from a different angle. We reconsidered the term family culture and defined it not as ethnicity or nationality, but what it means to be a Lawson. Then I pulled out the cookbook of the First United Methodist Church of Hawkinsville, Georgia and showed Lawson his grandfather's recipe for baloney stew.

"You can tell your teacher it's been in the family for generations," I said.

Here's the recipe Lawson took to school:

Baloney Stew

3 lb. balogna

2 med. onions

1 med. bell pepper

1 can LeSuer peas

Tobasco sauce

6 carrots

1 large can Niblet's corn

2 med. cans stewed tomatoes

2 large Idaho potatoes

Worcestershire sauce

1/2 stalk celery

Dice bologna into 1/2" blocks; symmetry is important and attention to this detail will enrich the flavor of the stew. Place bologna blocks into a large pan, cover with non-flouridated spring water and soak at low heat. Meanwhile, slice carrots into little round pieces about 3/8" thick; cut celery into little pieces (size not important); and reduce potatoes to bite-sized chunks. Stir carrots, celery, and potatoes into pot with meat. Cut onions (peel if desired) and place in pot. Cut bell pepper into 9 pieces and place on top of onions. Add corn, tomatoes, and peas. If you have any okra, put that in too. Fill pot with water; add some Wooster sauce and shake the bottle of Tobasco 2 or 3 times inside the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a while, stirring infrequently. Stew is done when it feels right. Serves 22 ladies, 8 men or a dozen small boys. Note:  If stew is too thin, throw in a couple handfuls of Cheerios and some grits. Cheerios will thicken it up faster, but grits will give it more body.

This one was obviously not too thin, because I see no Cheerios or grits.

 

As Lawson's teacher sorted through the students' recipes, she found Lawson's and gave it a quick read. She said that his dish would be "very interesting" to try out on the day he brought it to school. I can't help noticing that Lawson's recipe sampling day never came. I think his teacher was done with school too.

So, Jen Hatmaker, you're not alone. Mothers of the world unite, not only at the end of the school year, but sometimes at the beginning and middle too. If your kids ever have to cook something for school, you're welcome to borrow the Baloney Stew recipe.

Puddified

As mentioned in a previous post, Sabra and I have been cooking recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook, written by Cheryl and Griffith Day and edited by my friend Amy Paige Condon.

I first bought this book a year ago when it came out because 1) I just love the star brownies in that store (unfortunately, the recipe is not in the book), and 2) I knew Amy had edited it, so I wanted to lend my support not only to local business owners but my friend as well. I have enjoyed the recipes in this book so much that over time I have purchased several copies to give as gifts. The most recent copy went to Sabra.

Before I gave it to her, I flipped through the pages and inserted Post-It notes on the recipes I'd baked, making note of some of the alterations I'd made to appeal to Lawson's tastes and my odd electric oven. Upon receiving the book, Sabra immediately began flipping through the recipes, and because she had a bottle of Grand Marnier at home (as well as all the other ingredients), she decided to start with the rice pudding recipe.

She did not know that I had recently made Grif and Cheryl's 'nana pudding the previous weekend for Mother's Day. Once we started discussing our pudding coincidence, we decided to write posts about our Back in the Day experiences and post about them. These posts are for readers who have the cook book or plan to get it. I will not reproduce the recipes because I don't want to infringe on Grif and Cheryl's copyright. I also want them to sell many more copies of their book. So readers who don't have the book can get it on Amazon, at Back in the Day Bakery, Shaver's Bookseller, Barnes and Noble, and many other fine book sellers.

Read on.

'Nana Pudding as prepared by Nancy Remler

First, I'll start with my experience making banana pudding. I wish I had taken a photo. But at the time I made it, I didn't realize I'd be blogging about it. Stephen and Lawson were delighted that I was making it because it's their favorite dessert when they eat lunch at Hawkinsville's Steak House restaurant. They're accustomed to the kind with vanilla wafers.

Grif and Cheryl's recipe calls for shortbread cookies, which, of course, I made myself.

I wish I'd taken photos of those too. I never really cared much for shortbread, but I'd only had the store bought kind. You know the ones--they come in those round tins and people give them out at Christmas. They'd always struck me as kind of bland.

But not Cheryl and Grif's! They're a pan of buttery goodness. The only two things I'll mention about making the short bread is that 1) next time I'll make the cookies a little thinner so that it's easier to break through them with a spoon while eating the pudding and 2) the recipe makes more than enough for the pudding, so I can save the left overs in the freezer and eat them with jam on another occasion.

The shortbread is especially easy to make, and I'd recommend that recipe to anyone who needs to make a nice, summery dessert pretty quickly. These cookies will go perfectly with fruit. The pudding, on the other hand, takes more time and is a little more complicated. It's not difficult. Anyone can make it. But the timing is different from what Cheryl and Grif specify in the cook book, so if you plan to make this pudding, make sure you have plenty of time to do it. I started this project on Saturday afternoon, and I finished it Sunday morning.

One of the reasons it's so time consuming is that Grif and Cheryl's estimations of timing are much shorter than my reality (Read on for Sabra's similar experience). For instance, when  I tempered my eggs and then added them to my cream mixture, I whisked them in a double boiler as the cookbook directed. The recipe says the thickening process will take "five to seven minutes." Actually, my custard thickened in about 35-47 minutes. I didn't think I'd ever have pudding!

I thought about adding corn starch to the mixture, but it already had five tablespoons. How much cornstarch should a pudding need?

Finally, the pudding thickened--not as stiff as I'd hoped, but stiff enough. My feet had begun to hurt from standing over that stove. And I also thought the refrigeration process would help thicken the dessert as well. So when the recipe told me to put the pudding in the fridge for "three hours or overnight," I opted for overnight, just to be sure.

Fortunately, the pudding turned out well, as did the whipped cream and the shortbread. It made  a splendid dessert to take to my friends' party. The only drawback to it was that once all those people started dipping into it, the pudding got a little soupy. But it was still delicious!

Rice Pudding as prepared by Sabra Lawson

I read Cheryl's introduction and followed her suggestion of preparing all of my ingredients first.  

Nancy's note:  How studious of Sabra to read the introduction first! I skipped right over that part. Maybe if I had read more carefully my banana pudding would not have been so soupy. I've got some reading to do.

 

I measured everything out and put most ingredients in their own little dish, unless they were going into the pudding all at the same time.  For example, I measured the raisins then sprinkled the 1/8 tsp of freshly shaken out of the bottle nutmeg on top of them.  I also combined the vanilla, orange zest, and the  tablespoon of Grand Ma.  I used Kroger brand basmati rice.  Oh!  I did not have any normal sugar, so I made the recipe with light brown sugar.  

I realized about half way through the recipe, that the 2 quart sauce pan I was using was going to be too small, so I had to transfer the pudding to a dutch oven.  I followed the times in the recipe very carefully, using the kitchen timer on my new microwave.  

Having never made rice pudding before, I was not sure how thick it should be when I poured it into a heat proof bowl to cool.  (I used a rectangular baking dish)  The pudding did seem a bit soupy, but I'd been stirring constantly for 5 to 7 minutes over low heat, so I poured it on into my baking dish, placed plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin form forming, and began cleaning my mess, as good cooks do, while waiting for the pudding to cool.

About 2 hours later, I was all set for a serving of delectable rice pudding, but alas, my pudding had not puddified at all!  It was the same soupy consistency that it had been on the stove, but now it was cold!  I dumped it back into the dutch oven, added some corn starch, and heated that stuff up!  Medium heat!  And stirred constantly until it was, indeed, thickened.

That did the trick!  After dinner, the rice pudding was still warm, but puddified and delicious!  Just like Mom used to make!  Martin loved it and asked if I would make it again.  Of couse, I will.  I had to buy 2 pounds of basmati rice!

Nancy's note:  Many thanks to Sabra for coining a new cooking term:  puddified. It's better than Stephen Colbert's term truthiness. I think puddified should go in the urban dictionary. 

Chocolate Pudding as prepared by Nancy Remler

I've got more photos for this one. I highly recommend this recipe because 1) chocolate should be its own food group and 2) it does not require thickening pudding over a double boiler and therefore does not take the better part of an hour. It's not complicated at all. I realized at the last minute that I had only four ramekins, but my Fiestaware tea cups served well in a pinch.   

I used Ghirardelli chocolate, which I chopped up with a regular kitchen knife. I did not have to switch my creamy mixture to a Dutch oven as Sabra had to. My four quart sauce pan served well.

 My only challenge was adding the eggs. The recipe instructed me to whisk six egg yolks lightly in a medium bowl and then pour them "in a slow, steady stream into the chocolate-cream mixture, whisking constantly." Okay, Cheryl and Grif, two things had me stumped. First of all, egg yolks do not pour in a steady stream. Slow, yes. Steady, anything but. They're sticky and lumpy. Secondly, if I'm going to pour all the egg yolks into the chocolately-cream mixture, whisking the entire time, I'm going to need three hands: one to hold the egg bowl, one to whisk the cream mixture, and one to use a rubber spatula to guide those egg yolks out of the bowl and into the sauce pan. Readers, if you decide to make this recipe (and I hope you will) figure out this three-handed trick first. It'll save you some stress. 

Fortunately, I managed. Because there was no double boiler involved, the mixture thickened well before I added it to the ramekins. Then I got to give those little dishes a hot water bath before putting them in the oven. I had no idea pudding baked! But it did, and when it came out, it was just as Cheryl and Grif had described it. I chilled it for several hours before serving it. 

This dessert is a chocolatey cup of heaven. The consistency might be unusual to those who have never had home made pudding. This is not the Bill Cosby pitched Jello pudding. This is thicker, denser, more chocolatey. Fresh whipped cream on top enhances the flavor. Because of its consistency and rich flavor, the servings shown above are actually a little large. This afternoon, I ate half of one and got full. So be prepared for that. But if you make this pudding and serve it to friends, you'll be the most popular cook on your street.

So now Sabra and I are puddified! 

Our next blogging/baking venture:  bars. Stay tuned! 

Roukos Live: Lawson Graduates

Tuesday night was Lawson's big night: graduation. And for that, Lawson and his buddies decided to break out the bow ties. Who knew the event would be such a fashion statement for the boys? But in order to appreciate the significance of Lawson's new outfit, one must know how he came to get it.

Back in October, when Lawson was confirmed, I had planned for him to wear the same thing Davis wore: a jacket I'd purchased at the Goodwill for fifteen bucks and one of Davis's shirts. Unfortunately, I didn't get Lawson to try on those clothes ahead of time, so when he was getting dressed for the ceremony, nothing fit. Thank goodness Stephen stepped up to the plate:  "Go get a shirt and jacket from my closet."

And that was when we realized Lawson might be the youngest person in our house, but he's also the biggest, because he filled out that jacket more than Stephen did.

Fast forward four months, when we got a contract on our house and had to move out in thirty days. We did a major purge of closets and book cases. One weekend, Lawson and I sorted through the abundance of clothes supplied by cousins, friends, and other relatives. Lawson was supposed to grow into them, but while we weren't looking, he had actually grown past them. Lawson's friend Brennan had stayed the night that weekend, so as we purged, we said, "Brennan, could you wear this?" He ended up taking home three laundry bags of clothes, and we're so glad he could use them!

I took Stephen's sport coat and put it in his closet. Later that night, Stephen emerged from said closet, holding said coat and asked, "What's this?"

"It's your jacket," I said. "It's been in Lawson's closet."

"This isn't my jacket," Stephen said.

Oops. I'd given Stephen's jacket to Brennan and put the Goodwill jacket in Stephen's closet.

So when it came time for Lawson's graduation, we spend one day during spring break at the Men's Wearhouse, where we bought some sport coats--one for Lawson and one for Stephen. Lawson got a nice navy one, and for Stephen we got a tan one similar to the one we'd purged. We also got a great sale price!

And while we were shopping, Lawson said that he wanted to wear a bow tie, so he bought two of them.

When Lawson returned to school, he came home bearing a set of instructions saying that the boys had to wear a shirt and tie but no jacket was required. Great. We considered returning the jackets, but then we decided Lawson and Stephen could wear them on other occasions, and then Lawson decided he was going to wear his jacket to graduation anyway. And he looked so handsome!

My favorite line here: "I always look good."

So Brennan Jones, enjoy that dinner jacket! Sometime soon, you and Lawson can go on a double date to a nice restaurant and wear your fancy clothes.

As it turned out Mills and Drew also wore bow ties, and all those guys looked so dapper!

Graduation began with a Mass followed by the distribution of the diplomas. I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat on the side Lawson and Mills sat on, so I got lots of good video for this installment of Roukos Live: 

The students did the readings, and I think they did quite well, considering they'd had about five minutes to practice and someone had put about fourteen volumes of scripture on the lectern for the readers to sort through. Drew and Mills came through like cool professionals. And Claire was brilliant!
Pardon the shaky video. It's kind of hard to sit still in church.

Then Mrs. Newton, Mrs. Butler, and Monsignor Costigan awarded all the diplomas:

Of course, a graduation ceremony would not be complete without a cluster of family photos taken at the front of the church! Lawson was roasting in that cap and gown, and he was starving. But he patiently allowed us all to pose with him on his big night. 

And now Lawson and his friends are officially in high school! Congratulations! Stay tuned for more Roukos live installments as we watch Lawson Roukos Remler progress through ninth grade.

SACURRITY!

In Remlerville, everything happens at the same time. Before anything else, I want to shout out congratulations to two high school graduates, Courtney and Carson. Have a great summer, and enjoy your journey to LSU and Ole Miss (respectively)!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Four Remlers went four separate ways over the weekend:

• The Empire State finally departed Montauk, so Davis is now on his way to New Orleans. When we heard from him this afternoon, the ship was just off the Bahamas.
• Stephen played a golf tournament at Crosswinds golf club with Brother Bob, nephew Ben Bob, and other nephew Justin.
• Lawson went to Charolotte, NC to the famous Carowinds, thrill capital of the Southeast with the eighth grade of St. Peter the Apostle School. 
• I went to Atlanta to visit Sabra and Martin in their new house and also got to see a great comedy show and a strange woman's minimized breasts. Yes.  Read on.

I can't tell you much about Davis's journey because our access to him is so limited. In fact, I've told you everything I know in the first bullet above.

The golf tournament was rained out, but we still hope it raised a lot of money for the Calvary Day School scholarship fund.

Lawson returned home from Carowinds at about midnight last night. Because Stephen had taken Lawson and Mills Thompson to the drop off at six o'clock Saturday morning, Mills's mother picked them up last night. Lawson spent the night with Mills, and he still has not come home, so I haven't gotten a report from him. All I know of Carowinds at this point is what I can gather from the following photo:

 Photo courtesy of Kristi Lowenthal

Lawson's wearing his favorite camouflage visor, which makes him a little hard to see. He's also hiding behind a stuffed dinosaur, but you can probably make him out if you look at the back row, second from the right, between Mills Thompson and Anna Price. What do you think, devoted readers? Looks to me like he had a good time. I'll get a full report from Lawson if he ever comes home. He seems to like life at the Thompson household. 

And then there was my trip--my first road trip in my new Honda CRV:

I just love it! It's roomy, and it gets good mileage, and it's a comfortable drive. 

Once I made it above the gnat line, I took a side trip to Indian Springs because I had to do a little research for a story I'm writing. I thought I knew how to get there, but just in case, I turned on the GPS in my trusty iPhone 5, which took me around my behind to get to my elbow, and it took me the back way into the Indian Springs park, which had me driving on a red dirt and gravel road, which kicked up orange dust all over the back of my new car! 

Next time, I'm reading a map. 

Upon arrival at Indian Springs, I visited the spring itself as well as the visitor center and picnic area. I would like to have visited the museum, but it was closed. Boo.

The stone building constructed as a WPA project. 

The spring

The visitors' center, historic home Idlewild, which is on the 

National Register of Historic Places.

  I don't know why this wedding dress was in the visitors' center, 

but I thought it was pretty.

 After my side trip, I found my way back to the interstate by driving through Jackson, Georgia, and even though I was tempted to stop at the Fresh Air Barbecue, I resisted the urge because I knew Sabra was expecting me. 

Sabra has a new house! And it's lovely. She has a fabulous kitchen with granite counter tops and beautiful cabinets. And I envy her gas stove. I haven't cooked on gas in almost ten years and I miss it. 

Her breakfast room looks out into a forest of beautiful hardwoods, and she has a new dining room table that matches Auntma's old break front.

She and Martin are so happy in their new home, and I am looking forward to coming up again for another visit.

We would have been content to sit around and admire their new home, but Sabra and I had shopping to do, so we spent part of Saturday afternoon at Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville. We browsed Dillards, and while we were in the lingerie department checking out the SPANX, another lady was shopping for Wacoal bras. She disappeared into the fitting room and a few minutes later reappeared, hands on hips, chest out. "I don't know if you noticed my boobs earlier," she said to me, "but do these look smaller to you?" 

I've put that question on my list of things I'd never thought I'd have said to me. I replied with a definite "Uhhh..."

She continued. "This is supposed to be a minimizer bra. It has the underwires on the outside instead of the inside. Do you think it's working?"

Really. She was asking me about her bosoms. I'd never met this woman before.

"Well," I replied. "As you said, I have no point of comparison, but I do think that bra is a good fit for you." I thought that was a pretty good reply. Apparently she did too, because she went back into her dressing room, at which point I found Sabra and said, "Quick! Let's go look at shoes!"

 After our shopping trip, we went home to get Martin because he had bought me and Sabra a mother's day present: tickets to see comedienne Anjelah Johnson. Devoted readers might recognize her by her alter ego, Bon Qui Qui:

Not famil? The take a look at the following video before reading further:

The show took place at the lovely Cobb Energy Center, which I had never heard of, even though it's been around for the last several years. That just goes to show that I don't get around Atlanta much when I'm up there. But I'll be sure to check out more shows at that venue because it's mighty nice.
Our seats looked right out over the stage, and we enjoyed Anjelah Johnson very much until SACURRITY showed up and said we were in the wrong seats.

Rude.

Martin tried to talk some sense into him, but he said we had to get up and move to the complete opposite side of the auditorium. Sabra told him, "I will cut you," but he made us move anyway.

Fortunately, just as we were out of our seats, he looked at our tickets again and said, "Oh, no. My bad. I was so wrong. You are in the right seats."

Thought so.

We sat back down and had a great time.

Sabra and Martin

Thanks, Martin, for a wonderful Mother's Day gift! 

And now, I want to alert devoted readers to upcoming special themed posts for Remlerville: 

• Roukos Live

• Back in the Day with Nancy and Sabes  

Roukos Live:  Last spring, Sabra and I came up with the brilliant idea of shooting a series of videos starring Lawson Roukos Remler. We named the show Roukos Live, and we thought said videos would become YouTube sensations, much in the same way that Bon Qui Qui has been. Unfortunately, the life of an upper middle schooler has made it difficult for Lawson to produce the videos with the frequency that Sabra and I had planned. So I think it's going to be up to me to make such episodes happen. First, I'll have to learn how to edit video. Please be patient with that, but while I'm learning, I'll put my amateur Roukos Live short videos and posts on Remlerville, starting with Roukos Live: Lawson Graduates. Stay tuned.

Back in the Day with Nancy and Sabes: Lately I have thoroughly enjoyed preparing several recipes from the Back in the Day Bakery cookbook by Savannahians Cheryl and Griffith Day. I think I've bought about six copies of that cook book to give as gifts. The recipes are just yummy! But they also take practice. When I went up to Atlanta, I gave Sabra a copy, and she's already started trying some recipes out. So we decided to share our experiences on Remlerville. Of course, we won't publish the recipes, as we think Cheryl and Grif deserve to sell more copies, but we will write about our successes and challenges as we try to reproduce what Cheryl and Grif have mastered and sell repeatedly in their Starland District store. So some upcoming posts will be co-authored by the postess with the mostess, Sabra Lawson. Check back soon for our first post:  pudding!

 

 

 

Turning Points

The Remlers have had such a busy spring that I've spent little time on the Remlerville site. In fact, it feels like I haven't written a post since 1973. But this week, both Remler boys hit turning points in their lives, and they warrant a post.

We'll start with Lawson, who is finishing up eighth grade. Today (Thursday, May 16th) is his last day of school, and true to Catholic school fashion, it's a half day. The eighth graders at St. Peter the Apostle School are enjoying several days of festivities, including an opportunity yesterday to carve their names in stone (well, cement) in a slab behind the school.

For the record, that's not a cigarette in Lawson's mouth. It's a popsicle stick. Also, for the record, Lawson is wearing a hoodie in the middle of May. That's because he was supposed to wear his gray St. Peter's tee shirt to school. But in his six a.m. stupor yesterday morning, he grabbed the wrong shirt, and didn't notice until he got to school that he was advertising Seagram's Crown Royal. He knew his teacher would have kittens if she saw him promoting alcohol on school grounds, so he went straight to the lost and found and retrieved a sweatshirt to cover his mistake. He said he roasted all day. I notice that today he made sure he was appropriately dressed.

Tonight the eighth graders will celebrate class night, which is an occasion for these fourteen year-olds to celebrate moving on to high school by eating hot dogs and hamburgers, singing a few songs they haven't learned all the lyrics to, doing a dance they haven't learned all the steps to, and conveying their best wishes to the St. Peter's seventh graders. 

Friday is a "skip day" party at Coach's corner. Saturday, they will all climb on a chartered bus and take an exciting trip to Carowinds in Charlotte, NC for a full day of thrills and possibly a few upset tummies.

If I were going on that trip, this is the ride I'd choose:

 

Monday they will have another party at the Starcastle arcade. What I've learned after sending two boys through St. Peter's is that the celebration of eighth grade graduation is more extensive than graduation from high school. So I want to throw a shout out to Holly Price, the eighth grade class mom, who almost pulled her hair out planning these events and making sure our kids had a memorable last year at St. Peter's. 

Oh! I almost forgot. Then they get to actually graduate. That will happen Tuesday night with a ceremony in the church followed by a dinner in the parish center. Many thanks go out to Kathleen McCarthy, who has organized the dinner portion of that occasion. And finally, many thanks and sympathies go out to the eighth grade teachers and the principal of St. Peter the Apostle School for tolerating our kids' adolescent senioritis. After Tuesday is over, they should all gather at Spanky's on Tybee for a hard-earned margarita.

More photos will appear as Lawson's graduation activities take place, but for now, we'll send him good wishes for this turning point from grammar school to high school. BC, here he comes!

And then there's Davis, who set off Monday for a five-week cruise on the Empire State, the training vessel of the SUNY Maritime College. All week I've been telling friends and acquaintances that Davis is gone on his cruise, and they've all replied with "Oh, how lucky. He will certainly have a lot of fun!"

                                                  That's Davis right there.

 Well, I think he will have fun, but not in the way most people assume. He's not on a pleasure cruise. This excursion is a requirement of his curriculum as he works toward his degree in marine transportation. He will spend five weeks on the crew of this cargo vessel, which will take him to ports in New Orleans; St. John's, Newfoundland; and Dublin, Ireland. He'll have time to explore each location, but his purpose is to gain experience operating this ship. Pretty cool. 

Right now, he's anchored off the coast of Montauk while the crew does a series of drills before sailing south. Davis said he had watch yesterday morning, for which he had to get up at 4:30 a.m. He performed his duties and then went back to his bunk for a short nap until he had to report for formation at noon. Unfortunately, he slept through formation. 

Oops.

When I talked to Davis, he was still wondering about the consequences of his oversight. We were both surprised those repercussions weren't immediate. Let's hope that they're not severe. Typically when a crew member fails to report to formation, someone must go find him. All members on the ship must be accounted for to ensure no one has gone overboard. However, in this instance, no one came looking for Davis. Could it be that Davis's error will be overlooked because whoever was in charge goofed up even more? We'll find out soon enough. 

I bet that's the last time Davis sleeps through formation. 

I'll watch out for Davis's occasional emails, but meanwhile, I'll watch the progress of the Empire State on MarineTraffic.com. I hope he takes photos of the places he's been. I've been documenting his life through photos for the last nineteen years, and now that he's sailing around the world, I hope he will continue to do so himself. 

This past year has been quite a turning point for Davis, as well as for his mama. He's all grown up now, and it's hard for me to absorb the fact that this little boy...

(Even then he loved the water)

Has grown up into this young man:

 

Now, in the next four years, we'll see where life leads Lawson.