Oom Pa Pa - Oliver!

I love Broadway shows, especially musicals. The week before my injury Kathy and I spent a weekend in Chicago to see "The Phantom of the Opera." 



So this morning I awoke and did my menial chores, the ones I can do. I can make coffee, make my downstairs bed, send out the cat and the dog (neither are mine), and other tasks. I can even run the vacuum from the wheelchair.



My world has been just the downstairs of my house for one and a half moons now, and needless to say, I am getting restless. I decided I was in the need of oom pa pa. I often use that word with my students. They look up at me with that "huh" kind of face. Hmmm...I am an oom pa pa kind of person and it is hard to describe. 



So today with plummeting temperatures and the same routine with the same walls, I needed a refresher course in enthusiasm.



I love "Oliver" the book by Charles Dickens, of course, and the musical. Maybe this video will brighten your day as well.



Is it possible to dance in a wheelchair??



Enjoy and until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Downton Abby from my living room...

It is Sunday evening and Kathy comes over to make dinner with me. She works the oven while I set the table and get other things ready. We drink a great Pinot Noir as we work. It is amazing how many chores can be accomplished from a wheel chair. Earlier in the day I vacuumed and neatened up the house. 

I also cooked the chicken earlier in the day, baking it in orange olive oil from Queens Creek at the Olive Mill. Kathy cut up the left of the winter squash mixing it with onions and potatoes for baking. Salad was a mix of whatever was in my salad drawer.

It is almost 9:00 before dinner is ready so we carry our plates (and wine) to the living room and turn on the television. The music begins for Master Piece Theatre. We will be sharing dinner with Downton Abby.

I find my place on my downstairs bed to eat and watch. Kathy sits on the couch with a small kitchen stool as her table.

The show was splendid. We cheered and jeered, and applauded Mary for throwing away Mr. Bates' ticket. We clapped when Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson held hands in the water. 

So how is it these folks get into our lives? Facebook is full of conversation this morning about the characters who ARE NOT REAL!! But we love them.

Anyway, what a great way to end the season as compared to leaving us with Matthew's death last year. Hurray for the writers of Downton Abby. We will be waiting for January of 2015 to start all over again. 

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Olympics rekindle skating memories with friends...

Olympics rekindle skating memories with friends - KPCNews: Kpcnews



Here is the link to this week's column. I loved ice skating as a kid and knew I would be a famous skater one day! I hope this story brings some memories for you as you read!



Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

"I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose"...Emily Dickinson

Indiana sunrise by Bethany Hasselman

Indiana winter sunrises are spectacular. This photo was taken by Bethany Hasselman. Bethany and her husband, Curt, have taken to the land with their children. They raise chickens and beef...vegetables and fruits...and children, of course. Bethany cause much reflection in my own life remembering the farm days with my own children. It is much work to live off the land. I miss it every day. Until then, I keep a small farm in my own backyard...minus the chickens, of course.

This photo makes me think of the lovely poem, "I'll tell you how the Sun Rose," by Emily Dickinson. Enjoy.

M

I'll tell you how the sun rose

A ribbon at a time

The steeples swam in amethyst,

The news like squirrels ran.

The hills untied their bonnets,

The bobolinks begun.

Then I said softly to myself,

"That must have been the sun!"

But how he set, I know not.

There seemed a purple stile.

Which little yellow boys and girls

Were climbing all the while

Till when they reached the other side,

A dominie in gray

Put gently up the evening bars,

And led the flock away. 

Emily Dickinson

Farmer Jane by Temra Costa...

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Dear Friends,

This important book and talk has come to my attention and thought you should be aware of it. If you are in Indianapolis of Thursday, March 13th you should plan to attend. If not I think the book is definitely worthy of reading.

Tonight my own book club meets at my house to discuss Ann Patchett's, "State of Wonder." I am excited to see the smart women in my life and to discuss this wonderful novel. Have you read it? Or what are you reading during these cold winter months?

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

March Slow Food Indy Book Club

When: Thursday, March 13th at 6:30 PM

Location: Indianapolis Museum of Art Cafe

Cost: Free to attend. $5 parking fee. (Some free parking also available.)

Book Title: Farmer Jane by Temra Costa

Free online registration required. Sign up today!

Join us for a fun and friendly discussion of Farmer Jane by Temra Costa.

About the Book

Women are passionate advocates for sustainable food and farming and have been changing the way America eats and farms for decades. Farmer Jane tells 30 such stories of some exceptional women leaders that are working on this change by farming, educating, advocating, and/or transforming how we eat through their food businesses.

But it’s not just about being a woman. It’s about the impact that femininity has in changing businesses for the better. Women lean towards relationships and long-term strategies that prioritize future generations, and the good news is that this viewpoint is starting to become valued in the emerging green economy. It’s all about systems thinking and perspectives of what the new (triple) bottom line should be – that of environment, people, and prosperity (health, and economic). Beyond their role in shifting business, women are raising the next generation of leaders, of farmers, of gardeners, of aware human beings that will care for this place long after we’re gone.

Winter Piece by William Cullen Bryant

Photo courtesy of my neighbor, Rhon Van Erman

Winter is still deep in the Midwest. The nights are cold with either snow or wind or the stars of winter.

Because of my injury, my bed is downstairs by the windows. It is lovely in the day as it overlooks all my bird feeders and side yard. When darkness falls, I close the shades before the cold begins to seep back into the house.

It is cold sleeping under the windows, but on times I open the shades to let the night lull me to sleep. I pull the covers up and wait til morning.

One of my classes from Trine University was here this morning. They walked the five blocks with Brandy DePriest. She is teaching the English class in my absence. The students filled the house with their presence and their silence. Perhaps that is the first time they have visited a teacher while she holds court on her bed with her foot propped up in the air.

I started the class with poetry, as usual. Here is the poem I read to them:

from A Winter Piece

...Come when the rains

Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees with ice,

Into the bowers a flood of light.

...You might deem the spot

The spacious cavern of some virgin mine,

Deep in the womb of earth--where the gems grow,

And diamonds put forth radiant rods and bud

With amethyst and topaz--and the place

Lit up, most royally, with the pure beam

The dwells in them...

William Cullen Bryant

Make sure you read the poem out loud, it is best that way!

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Love has a way of weaving many stories -

Love has a way of weaving many stories - KPCNews: Kpcnews



Hello Everyone,



Here is the link to this week's column on love stories. Maybe you would like to add one of your own? Love to hear it...



Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Happy Valentine's Day...

This photo was taken in England last winter at my mom's wedding.

Happy Valentine's Day to my friends. I also want to wish Philip a Happy Valentine's Day even though he is on the road back home.

We have had a wonderful unexpected month together this winter here in Indiana. I told him it was almost worth breaking my ankle just to spend this time with him.

I know he is anxious to get back to his family and his island, but I loved him being here. Happy Valentine's Day.

Also, to all of you, I hope your day is great...maybe a surprise here or there.

I did find a card and chocolate in my studio this morning after he left. Those are the best kinds of gifts.

This photo was taken at my mom's wedding last year in England. It was such a happy day for all of us.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

One Little Cottage on Ocracoke

Philip's Cottage on Ocracoke

Salutations friends,

 

 

By now everyone knows about the snow on Ocracoke. It is always quite spectacular to have snow where it does not usually fall.

 

This is a photo of Philip's cottage on the island. His cousin, Dallie Turner, took this photo for me. I love how quiet and quaint it looks hidden away from the ocean's lashing tongue and winds howling off the water.

 

By the time Philip arrives back home it is sure to be melted and spring be on its way, but until then...

 

Lou Ann

 



Winter's Art

Salutations!

A few years ago I was attending one of my book club meetings. It was spring, and my good friend, Bert, was showing me her bowling ball garden. She had several balls on re-rod stacks holding up assorted bowling balls. I immediately loved the idea. I already had a blue bottle garden so why not add bowling balls?

I remembered that I had my own bowling bar in the attic of my house so I promptly found it and with some re-rod began my own garden. I, however, only have one work of art in my garden. I decorated it with lovely glitter and all kinds of art and glued all on with a hot glue gun.

This winter my bowling ball has been just as beautiful gleaming in the sunshine and letting the snow add a cap of art!

Hope you enjoy my winter's art. I would love to see what is "blooming" in your garden this winter!

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Maurice McClue

Photo with permission by Sally Schenkel

Dear Friends,

Every once in while I like to pull Maurice McClue's journal off my shelf. It is a lovely hard cover book that I received as a gift from Aaron and Karen. It is a compilation of 38 years of bird watching and nature in Angola. Terri Gorney did the transcribing.

Maurice kept detailed notes of nature including poetry and thoughts of wisdom for almost forty years. I guess he would be the Aldo Leopold of northern Indiana.

In 1991 eighty acres of his land was dedicated as a State Dedicated Nature Preserve by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

This land is open for hiking, writing, dreaming, picture taking, or just wandering about. 

I would love to quote from his journal entry of February 4, 1936:

"This winter up to this time has been one of the most severe I have any memory of, and it would seem that the birds had a premonition it was coming in that very few could be seen during the last few months. Cardinals that have been in town every winter for several years are not here this winter. Food supply largely determines whether birds stay in a country through a winter or not. The winter of 1911 and 1912 was a very long cold winter with much zero weather and yet robins, cardinals and other birds were here all winter..."

I have noticed only a couple of cardinals at my feeders this winter as well, although the sparrows eat all day long. Woodpeckers have also charmed me this winter!

I know there is a copy of this journal at the Angola Carnegie Library as well as in my library. Stop by some day and I will be happy to share it with you.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

The Beatles!!

When I found out my son, Adam, would be in New York this week end, I asked him to take a stroll over to CBS studios and take this photo for me.

During this 50 year anniversary week of The Beatles, CBS redid the marquee to look just like it did 50 years ago.

I was thrilled when Adam sent the photo! 

Some of us remember where we were when we first heard The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. I was with my family in our downstairs family room. We always watched the Ed Sullivan show on television!

How exciting it will be to watch them tonight as they redo the show on CBS.

So, where were you?

Til tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Ray and Rosa together again on Beech Mountain...

Here is a photo of my Mountain Dulcimer. I bought this from Stanley Hicks
when I spent the day at Ray and Rosa's.

Ray and Rosa together again on Beech Mountain...

 Dear Friends,

This week's column features a story on Ray and Rosa Hicks. It is my love story with them. I hope you enjoy it. Please click on the above link for the story first published in KPC today. 

As always, thank you for reading. 

Lou Ann

In the story I talk about Ray rolling his cigarettes on the porch
while we sat outside under his apple trees listening to his tales.
My friend, John Philips, sent me this photo this morning from his
mother's garden. Thanks John!

Mixed Vegetables and the Crescent Moon...

Compliments of EarthSky/Nasa

It is Friday afternoon, sunny and cold in Northern Indiana. On most Fridays I celebrate the weekend or I pack up to work at a festival or some wonderful event.

Today I sit with a bag of mixed frozen vegetables on my ankle while writing away with the sun dropping beams of sunlight upon my portable writing table. 

I still have four weeks to keep my ankle up and off my feet, and I must admit to a bit of fretting. And then...I find this lovely photo from Nasa. It puts things in perspective. 

Each day is like the next for me in this recuperating state. I am not sure of the day or even the month. I am most grateful for folks stopping by bringing conversation or dinner. But each day is different as well as the moon takes us back to full light and the sun will bring warmth in its pathway.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

Looking at snow like a child...

This photo was taken by Catherine Pritchard.

Dear Friends,

I don't know how many days we are into Winter, I think I have lost count. I am not even sure how many inches of snow have fallen in northern Indiana, but I do know this is the winter we will never forget.

I must confess that if I must have a broken ankle (and I do), then this was the year to do so. 

Philip has been my constant companion taking care of house details and me. His daily chores include shoveling and filling the bird feeders which are right outside my south windows. 

The landscape continues to be white, yet it is different every day. It is different the way the wind blows the small drifts around to other locations. The birds bring new friends each day and the deep blue shadows are beginning to find their way toward spring.

I sleep downstairs by the windows now; where the wind is stronger. I love lifting the deep red blind to check on the night from this viewpoint as well.

Rick Bass (author of "Winter) once wrote, "But if you remember to look at the snow like a child, or a Texan-gazing up, trying to see where it originates-then the slowness into which it falls, the paralysis of its journey, will drop you immediately into a lower, slower state, one where your're sure to live twice as long, and see twice as many things, and be two times as happy at the end. Snow's more wonderful than rain, than anything."

Today's photo is shared with permission by Catherine Pritchard. Catherine is a writer and a photographer. I loved this view of frost on the windowpane.

Until tomorrow,

Lou Ann

The scent of a book is amazingly delicious...

Just a few books from my studio.

This week's column does not focus on Phil or on the Superbowl, but on books. It does take us to the Fort Wayne library with my dad; to Dublin, Ireland with Ellen; and to the Remnant Trust at Trine University. Just click on the link below!

As always, thank you for reading! Enjoy.

Until tomorrow, 

Lou Ann

P.S. And go Broncos!

The scent of a book is amazingly delicious - KPCNews: Kpcnews