Hey, it's Francis Lamb, host of the splendid table.

And you know, I just want to tell you that our show is a great place to come to for some holiday sanity.

We're getting cooking help from amazing people this holiday season,

including Chef Kristen Kish, Errik Prepare, Aberber-book authors, Jocelyn Jelk Adams, Dan Pelosi, and Amy Felon.

We have cooking, eating, and gifting ideas for anyone you're going to have at your table.

But listen to the splendid table wherever you get your podcast.

Talk to you soon. I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown.

I'm Major Jackson and this is the slowdown.

It was one of those days. My lower back ate from a poor night's sleep.

The kitchen sink clogged just before my morning commute.

I'd left a pen in one of my shirts and thus destroyed several garments in the watching machine.

A tense exchange with a coworker about open carry gun laws left me wondering about our friendship. On top of that, I received a notice of

rejection from a dream literary journal for Shefa Poems that I submitted a year ago. I was in a surly mood.

Though outside, it was wet and overcast from the days earlier rainstorm. I decided to go for a walk.

At an intersection awaiting the signal, a father checked his device

while absent-mindedly holding his daughter's hand.

As if to test her little duck shoes,

she jumped up and down in a puddle of water and splashed his pants legs.

He put away his cell phone, then must her hair.

It appeared she was a kindergartner and he was picking her up from nearby

Orchard Elementary School. Her backpack was a Ghostbusters Proton Pack that was as big as she was.

I passed them and gave a broad smile to her.

...