A Song for Our Time (Again?)

Pie in the Sky

Song by Joe Hill, 1911, Industrial Workers of the World

Long-haired preachers come out every night

To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right

They will answer in voices so sweet

But when asked about something to eat

"You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
'Til they get all your coin on the drum
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum

"You're gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, and live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die", dirty lie

Holy rollers and jumpers come out
And they holler, they jump, Lord, they shout
"Give your money to Jesus", they say
"He will cure all your troubles today"

"And you will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, boy, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

If you fight hard for children and wife
Try to get something good from this life
"You're a sinner and bad man", they tell
"When you die, you will sure go to Hell"

"You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die"

Working men of all countries unite
Side by side for freedom we will fight
When this world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters, we'll sing this refrain

"Well, you will eat, bye and bye
When you've learned how to cook and to fry
Chop some wood, it'll do you good
You will eat in that sweet bye and bye"

"Yes, you'll eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land up in the sky, way up high
Work and pray, and live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die", that's a lie.

What is Pumpkin?

An edible pumpkin about to be cooked in my kitchen a few years ago.

Thanksgiving is coming, and thus pumpkins have turned from a decorative/scary item into a food. Pumpkins that are grown for jack-o-lanterns generally have flesh that is stringy and watery — including, both big and small decorative pumpkins.  Small edible pumpkins are the ones you buy if you want to cook them — the stores label them as “pie pumpkins.” They would also make good pumpkin soup, roast pumpkin, or pumpkin stew. I assume that canned pumpkin also comes from this cultivar, though certain other types of squash are also used (legally) in canned pumpkin.

Decorative pumpkins wouldn’t poison you, but just wouldn’t make good food. After the holiday, the giant pumpkins in our neighborhood (as far as I know) are picked up by the same truck that brought them. I have no idea how the disposal is done, but I assume they go to some composting center.

Canned pumpkin or pie filling can legally be either
actual pumpkin or one of a few kinds of orange squash.

Pumpkin Decorations

The pumpkin wall on Halloween night. It goes on much longer than this. (Alice’s photo)

The pumpkin wall on Sunday. Some pumpkins remain, others are gone.

Cooking pumpkin and squash

A pumpkin pie web image search.

An old spice container with pumpkin pie spice that my mother always used.

Some people confuse the “pumpkin spice” blend (allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cloves. and cinnamon) with actual pumpkin. The spice is used in many beverages and dishes at this time of year, sometimes with actual pumpkin, sometimes not.

Making soup in my kitchen this week: a squash that’s equivalent to pumpkin.

 

Stereotyped Thanksgiving image with pumpkins.

Our Leaders Enjoy A Meal?

Presidential banquet, starving masses. (Image from the Guardian)
Thinking about Thanksgiving forces me to consider how some Americans are being abused,
deprived of ways to buy food, and kicked around by our leaders.

Blog post © 2025 mae sander

Starving his Enemies

 

Books old and new

Looking Forward to a New Book

To be published later this week: Margaret Atwood’s memoir.
I have been reading her novels since the very first one, The Edible Woman.

From the publisher’s blurb:

“How does one of the greatest storytellers of our time write her own life? The long-awaited memoir from the author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, one of our most lauded and influential cultural figures.

“‘Every writer is at least two beings: the one who lives, and the one who writes. Though everything written must have passed through their minds, or mind, they are not the same.’”

Looking at Our History

I’ve read around half of Joseph Ellis’s Founding Brothers.

I am learning a lot of history!

Looking at a Hobbit — Again

This is the cover of the book I just reread.
I enjoyed it as much as ever. It was published in 1937.

This is the cover of the edition that I read decades ago.
We wore it out by reading it often. In good condition, it’s worth quite a bit.

This is the cover I like the best (but I’ve never seen one).

There are dozens of editions of The Hobbit! It’s an inspiring and influential book.

Blog post © 2025 mae sander