Sunday, February 24, 2019
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
The Ice Man Cometh...
The storm started in the night. I could hear the droplets of ice pelting on my roof and on my windows.
Upon waking, I realized the world was encased in such beauty...but beauty always comes with a bit of danger, does it not?
Frozen sidewalks, cars, trees. Limbs and branches tumbling to earth. Walkers tumbling to earth.
This is my best photo from this day of quiet. Day of ice. Day of dreaming.
Upon waking, I realized the world was encased in such beauty...but beauty always comes with a bit of danger, does it not?
Frozen sidewalks, cars, trees. Limbs and branches tumbling to earth. Walkers tumbling to earth.
This is my best photo from this day of quiet. Day of ice. Day of dreaming.
I took this photo of my crabapple tree in my front yard. |
Monday, February 11, 2019
Grandma's Winter Garden (and Nannie's)
Jonah's Photo of my Winter Garden |
It was a cold winter’s day in February. The drive to my
grandparent’s house in Dunfee was a short drive, but nothing is short when you
are six and four. Scraping the frost off the backseat windows was our only
occupation unless we wanted to sing a dozen more verses to “She’ll be coming
round the mountain…”
Arriving at the farm house on that day, the first thing we
saw was the snowman on the front porch. With much laughter and glee, we climbed
out of the backseat knowing full well (even at our young ages) that the snowman
was our grandpa standing at attention with an old hat on his head and a broom
in his gloved hand. We brushed off the snow and followed him into the house.
Our grandma was waiting attired in her apron and hair held back in a small
hairnet…the two signs of a good cook. She had to “tsk, tsk” our grandpa as we
took off our winter coats and old rubber boots and set them on the heater.
Dinner was soon served in the dining room. The dining room
was adorned with heavy long curtains to keep out the cold. Jessie sat on the
huge phone book so she could reach the table…I was good on my knees. My
grandmother was the best cook. There were always pot roasts and mashed potatoes
and the typical meat, bread, and potatoes dinners that we were all accustomed
to at the time. Sometimes meatloaf would show up full of green and red peppers
which we picked out piece by piece.
Desserts were our favorites, especially on those cold
winter nights. Everything was homemade…no mixes for our grandma. Brownies.
Apple Pie. Oatmeal Cake. I can’t remember my favorite. Maybe there wasn’t one?
After dinner I put on my own apron to help wash and the dry
the dishes. There was a small wooden stool in the corner of the kitchen on
which to stand so I could reach the sink. Jessie was too little and played
around at the back windowsill rearranging the African violets which my grandma
called her Winter Garden. I didn’t mind helping with the dishes. The water was
warm and full of bubbles and grandma kept my mind busy with stories. When the
dishes were dried and put back into the cupboard until morning, I always
admired the blue ribbons strung across the garden window. Each ribbon
represented her win at the Airstream rally for her baked goods. I knew each
ribbon, and I definitely knew each dessert!
After dinner we were allowed to build tents out of blankets
in the living room, eat apples in the parlor, read our little white Bibles, or
just climb up on the horsehair couch to watch it snow out the window.
Passing on these memories and stories is what is most
important to me. Aaron brings his family over for dinner on this cold winter’s
night. I make chicken and dumplings, which is one of their favorites. I light
candles. I play music. I bring out my own Winter Garden which consists of
flowering narcissus paper whites. These I started the first week of January and
now they bloom and fill the house with the scent of spring. Jonah takes photos,
and they are as beautiful as the blooms itself. The evening is filled with
homemade apple pie (my signature dessert), games and a farewell as they all
wrap back up in the clothes of winter for a quick walk home.
As I turn back to my kitchen, I see my grandma smiling at
me holding out my worn apron. I tidy up, blow out the candles, and go upstairs.
Before sleep I pull back the curtains to watch it snow upon my own world.
Grandma
Luella’s Prize Winning Oatmeal Cake
(Exactly
as she wrote it to me!)
Pour 1
¼ boiling water over 1 c. quick Quaker rolled oats
Let
stand covered for two minutes.
Cream
together 1 stick oleo with 1 c. sugar
and 1 c. Br. Sugar
Add 2
whole eggs, 1 t. cinn. And 1 t. vanilla.
Add
oat mixture.
Then
add 1 1/3 c. flour and 1 t. soda.
Bake for
30 minutes at 350.
When
nearly done top with the following:
2/3 c.
Br. Sugar, 3 t. oleo, 5 T. cream and 2 egg yolks.
Bring
this to a boil first and add chopped pecans and cocoanut.
Spread
evening and bake another 15 minutes.
“Prize
Winning” (she wrote that!)
Note: This was first published in KPC.
Friday, February 08, 2019
Snow Days make the best memories...
It was quite the week for those of us in northern Indiana.
How will we remember it? Cars didn’t start, kids didn’t go to school, and
hardships were aplenty! I was one of the lucky ones. I shopped early for the
necessities…coffee, milk, good wine. (I did forget the chocolate though!) And I
prepared for frozen pipes and drains. When this old house was built, there was,
of course, no running water. With all of that added later, it is a bit fragile
to the environment and often I lose water or even drains. This year I added a
small heater, dripped all the faucets and got up in the dark and dead of night
to check everything.
With the house holding up, and everything canceled, what
was there to do? I baked bread. I cleaned closets. I wrote stories. I played
the ukulele. I did play around with science experiments by tossing boiling
water into the air to make clouds and blowing bubbles outside to watch them
freeze. I tried to film it, but that was impossible to film and blow bubbles.
(I am sure Larry and Cheri wondered about my sanity in the cold as I tried
these experiments every few hours!) But
I needed a big project to prove I didn’t sit around and let the cold win.
Come take a journey with me. Come on in. Let’s take a walk
down the hallway in the kitchen. This wall became a litany of stories and cards
beginning with the day I moved in which was 17 years ago. But the wall was
full. The cards were dusty, and it was time for a face lift. I bought a quart
of gold paint from Sherman Williams to motivate me. (Okay I bought the paint
two months ago, but stay with me now!) With the temperature way below zero and
no one to talk to, I decided it was time to take down the cards.
The truth is, I didn’t expect it to take all day, and I
didn’t expect to let memories and stories flood my soul, but that is exactly
what happened. I pulled down card after card, letter by letter. All were
attached by thumb tacks or staples so I had to tug quite hard for some of them!
I held each card in my hand, dusted it off and remembered the person, the
story, or the event. There were letters from friends and family who have passed
on. Letters and funny stories from my dad in his handwriting. My friends, Fred
and Midge Munds in Indianapolis who encouraged my work and always laughed at my
stories, left me stories and letters.
There were love letters from long ago boyfriends. There
were letters from friends who wished me happy birthday, or a welcome card to my
new house. Aaron had the most letters to me. Mother’s day cards. Birthday cards
and even a postcard from his single days in Alaska. There were notes from my
other sons too and their girlfriends and wives. Underneath all of the cards was
a card from Randy and Shannon Wallace welcoming me to my new house. I remember
coming into this house the day I got the keys. Shannon left this card along
with scented soap and a bottle of wine.
As I held each card, I had to decide which ones I should
keep and the ones I should toss away. It was an easy choice. Each card which
included a note or a letter was put into a large empty box. Those cards with
just signatures had to find their way out. By the end of the day, the box was
full.
In the afternoon Lee came over to begin the painting. There
was a lovely letter from his daughter, Mackenzie. She must have been six or
seven. We could not read her words and laughed trying to decipher what she was
saying! This year Mackenzie will graduate with her PhD. Time moves on for all
of us.
The best part of that day was to remember folks, even
though it was only 17 years in the making.
I put a note in the box for my children to find some day.
“Please read every card. You will know me a little better when you are
finished.” And I put the box away.
Hand-written letters. Let’s not forget how important they
are in a world of technology!
Yes, it was quite the week for folks in northern Indiana.
Monday, February 04, 2019
Don't forget to look up tonight!
Tonight's sky is featuring the constellation Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia was an Ethiopian queen in ancient Greek mythology. She boasted of her beauty! (Ha! That will get you every time!) Poseidon became angry so he tied up her daughter, Andromeda, to a rock by the sea, of course! (Play hero music in the background here.) Perseus rescued her and they became stars and lived happily ever after. Tonight. Free. Out your back door. See you there!
Friday, February 01, 2019
Let's Be Known for our Generosity!
I know what it is like to have $1.16 to my name. It was
often due to choice (I don’t need money as I am living off the land), but not
always. I can remember nights on the farm, after tucking in those three little
boys of mine, and heading out to the cornfield and having a good cry. Yet, even
on those nights, we had the house and wood to keep us warm, wool from the sheep
for mittens and sweaters, milk from the cow, eggs from the chickens, and well,
the list goes on.
One time in Pennsylvania, before children, before jobs, we
searched our car to find a few coins to make a phone call to Indiana. The coin
was found. The call was made. That was a long time ago.
What I want to say is that even if I think I only had
$1.16, there was always family, there were always possibilities, even then.
The other night Kathy and I were talking about the
government shut down. We are all talking about it. The feeling of helplessness
fell over us. We are pretty isolated here in this small bubble of utopia in
northern Indiana. But while my refrigerator is full, and my bed is warm, the
guilt spreads over me. Have I really ever gone without in a hopeless kind of
way? Except for those few nights crying in the cornfield, I have not had that
experience.
So how about you? If you are reading this column, then I
would guess life is pretty good to you. You either get the paper delivered to
your doorstep, as I do, or you are on-line reading this. Either way, you
probably have coffee and heat. At least I am assuming that is true.
I made several calls this week seeking out ways to help in
our county just because it is January and it is cold outside. I had a long chat with Josh Hawkins who is the
case manager at Turning Point and the pastor of the Fremont Community Church.
My question was simple, “How can we help?” I am, of course, interested in
helping families who are in need because of the government shutdown, but it
appears we do not have a great need here, but let’s talk about giving in
January.
As Josh and I discussed, during November and December we
are all givers. We give freely to Project Help or Turning Point or food banks
or families with names on Christmas trees, but what about now in mid-January?
Donations are down, but needs are not.
So, how can we help? I have actually put a short list
together for us. None of this is complicated or expensive, and every little bit
will help. My list is just a beginning. You can make your own list and give
where you see the need.
At this time Turning Point needs donations of consumables
such as laundry detergent, diapers, feminine products, toilet paper, soap, etc.
I suggest we each buy something extra at the grocery this week, maybe just one
or two items and then drop them off anytime Monday-Friday from 9-5. Think what
we could do if we all bring a couple of items. Add your own to the
list…toothpaste, toothbrushes???
Don’t forget food donations to Project Help. Send your
clothes off too! Josh also said his church in Fremont has a food bank which
helps over 200 families a month.
I asked Josh how we could help in this cold weather. He
sadly told me about folks trying to stay warm in cars at night. I am naïve and
saddened, but there are places to call. If you, or someone you know needs help,
please call 211 or even on-line at 211.org. They will direct you to help in
your own town with a list of programs and shelters. Let me just say the phone
wait is long, so please be patient.
I am so proud of all of us in the ways we take care of one
another. We just need to know there are great needs out there and that
Christmas is not the only time to give.
The moments of giving are still upon us. Donations of cash
are always welcome too.
We are known for our beauty of lakes and parks. We are
known for our university and hospital. We are known for the sweetness of this
town. Let’s also be known for our generous hearts.
I thank you all.
Note: First published in KPC newspapers, January 26, 2019.
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