Right now it is raining in my city, but we are officially under a winter weather warning. Dangerous weather has been popping up all around us for months now, by way of deadly tornadoes, below zero temperatures, and piles of … Continue reading
The cicada invasion was interesting and distracting, at first…, but the fascination is waning rapidly. I’m done with their clumsy flying, constant buzzing, and (now) decaying bodies all over the ground. Going for a walk in the neighborhood has … Continue reading
Back in the day, Mimi used to take the Megabus from Cincinnati all the way to Minneapolis. Not just once, but TWICE, I was able to get 2 round-trip rides from Cincy to Minne & back. They had that advertised $1 ticket price (and I needed 4 total tickets for my entire round trip). With the 4 tickets and a service fee, the price was $5 for both long rides! Even when I had to pay a little more, the price was still amazingly cheap. It was a sad day when the Megabus changed its downtown Chicago stop too far south to hang out at the train station during my “layover,” and nowhere else nearby to hang out while waiting, and also changed their schedule so that I would get dropped off on some random sidewalk at about 1:00 AM. Hmmmmm….1:00 AM on a downtown Chicago street, with nowhere to take shelter. Bye-bye Megabus! It was the end of a daring adventure. Here’s one of my old, Megabus posts:
https://grandmascoffeesoup.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/59/
From there, I turned to Southwest Airlines. The price was okay, but ALWAYS included a layover at Midway. After several flights with Southwest (which I always enjoyed, except for that layover), Delta suddenly came up with a non-stop flight to MSP. If I fly the Basic Economy option, the price is about the same as a layover flight with Southwest. I have to pack light (a carry-on and one “personal bag” only.) Non-stop flying is a dream come true! I’ve been slowly building up my all-season wardrobe at my daughter’s house in Minnesota, and although it’s not quite perfect yet, I can get by okay with what I have stored there and what I can borrow from my daughter. With a few more thrift store trips while I’m up there, I’ll be good to go, any time, any weather! (I even have a pair of barn boots, for when I go take care of the chickens!)
This last visit was one of the best I’ve ever had with “the northern contingent” (as I call them). I planned a two week stay, because…why not max it out, right? It started out chilly but quickly warmed, just in time for my oldest granddaughter’s First Communion. I felt so good while I was up there. I often struggle with fatigue, chronic dizziness, and insomnia, but I had none of that during my stay. In addition to stepping back into my role as chicken care manager, Coco and I did a decoupage project, making a box for her to put her First Communion gifts and cards in. I took on many cleaning and organizing projects, because it’s what I like to do when I have the energy (Coco said she likes how I always have such good ideas, and make things look nicer!). I took the girls thrift store shopping for summer clothes, and helped them change out their dressers for the new season and pack the old items away. I drove them to swim lessons, went to dance and horse-riding lessons with them, visited the neighbor and met his horses, and pushed my first grandson in his stroller, up and down their steep driveway so many times that I had to have regained muscle power in my thighs!
We planted flower pots together, and hiked the trails on their property, gathered eggs daily (and, sadly, lost 2 chickens to a coyote while I was visiting…). One day I came out of the barn with just one egg, and an Insta-Cart delivery driver was at the house. He was very nice and friendly, waving and wishing me a nice day, so I said, “Would you like a super fresh chicken egg?” He got so excited about that egg. I kept thinking later that I should have thought to go in the house and get him a couple more eggs, but he acted like that one, little egg was the best tip he ever got!
After one of the cleaning jobs I had done, which provided a nicer view for my son-in-law, I asked him if I could drive his John Deer tractor as a reward. On my last Saturday there, I did it, and s-i-l attached the trailer so I could give the girls a ride. I never heard such hoopin’ and hollerin’ and giggling! They love to be bounced around, and the holes that the big dogs dig in their yard offer plenty of bouncing opportunity. I must have driven them around the yard 10 times before we finally gave it a rest. It was a grand adventure! A few days later I crammed all I could back into my carry-on and headed to the airport. I left behind three sleeping girls who had offered sad good-byes as they headed off to bed the night before. I had an early flight, but I took time to write them each a special letter for breakfast reading. The letters were a big hit, cheered them up!
It is SOOOOO fun being a “Mimi, and a helper for all of my daughters and s-i-l’s. I’m truly blessed, and am considering retiring in Minnesota someday, with horses and chickens and grandkids galore! (I’ve always told my kids that, with me being a stay-at-home mom, plus their homeschool teacher, THEY are my retirement plan!) My husband, on the other hand (who hates cold weather), will be somewhere south, with his faithful dog, both of them warming their old bones in the year-round swelter of the southern states. And if I can’t get me a cheap ride on a Megabus without a midnight drop-off in downtown Chicago, then we’ll just have to video chat until I get cold enough to head south again!
I remember well our city’s last two exposures to the Brood X cicadas. It’s one of my favorite “old person” stories to tell. “Gather round kiddies. Mimi’s got a story to tell you, that began way back in NINETEEN-EIGHTY-SEVEN (i.e., … Continue reading
I have a friend who tells THE BEST stories. In addition to that, she always has the most unusual encounters and experiences. Put those ingredients together, and she’ll have you on the edge of your seat and/or laughing so hard you’ll cry. Sometimes I ask her, like a kid who loves a book so much that they never grow tired of it, to retell old favorites again. She told this particular story as several friends were gathered around someone’s dining room table (with an, older, mother-in-law in attendance).
She had gone to a local shopping mall one day with her kids (and this was an upscale, ritzy mall, in the wealthy part of town!). They were in the food court, when her older children pointed out to her a sinister “buzz” building in the atmosphere. She decided they better clear out….QUICKLY! This was before riots and radical vandalism had become routine and rampant, but still, she already had good instincts!
She and her kids planned to head to an exit, but the crowd began to trail after them, rapidly gaining speed and fever pitch, and her two older children got separated from them. She scurried along with her younger daughter, trying not to alarm the little one too much and hoping for the best. At some point, she looked back and realized that the crowd had all funneled into a Victoria’s Secret store, and there was a now a hullabaloo taking place in there. She made it to her car, and waited nervously for ten or fifteen minutes for her other kids to show up (which they did). In the meantime, cop cars were streaming into the parking lot.
She sat for a while. Allowing her trembling hands and beating heart to calm so that she could drive safely, and they headed back to their rowdy, west-side neighborhood (where such events are expected!).
We all sat there at the table, amazed by this story (and wondering why she’d never told us this before), and then I said, “Wait a minute…., there was a brawl…at VICTORIA’S SECRET? Was there an announcement on the mall’s PA system just prior to that, announcing ‘Attention shoppers, there’s a sale on “brawls” taking place right now at Victoria’s Secret?!’” Everyone laughed and laughed, and then I remembered we had an older woman at the table, and I looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, are you okay.” And she got a big smile on her face and said impishly, “I’ve never been better!” (I’ve simply adored that woman ever since that moment!)
My theory is, this is EXACTLY what we all need right now, good story tellers equipped with a sharp-witted comedian standing by (along with the ability to laugh at ourselves and smile at others, whenever possible). The world would be a much better place, if we all surrounded ourselves with such friends!
Last night I checked the weather forecast. Yikes, it’s not looking pretty. I made up a quick grocery list so that I could head to the store early this morning and have all I needed for a full week of meal prep and snow survival. Heaven forbid that I should have to survive (possibly more than seven days….GASP) without wine and chocolate, yogurt and eggs, butter and strawberry jam!
That brought to mind all of those books I read a few years ago, by Bess S. Aldrich. She was a fairly prolific author, writing mostly about the early pioneers who settled the plains states. Man, did they suffer through some rough winters! I highly recommend Aldrich’s books. In particular, A Lantern in Her Hand is an excellent story of the settlers resilience and determination.
Back then, folks started preparing for the winter in the spring, by way of crops planted (mainly corn). The women had their “kitchen gardens,” and wild berries and nuts were gathered as they ripened. Some produce was stored (using very precise, tested methods) in the fruit cellar. Other produce was made into preserves, or canned using fermentation techniques. Dried goods (such as grains) were tied up in sacks and suspended from the rafters. Some grains were stored whole, while others were ground into flours. Beans were dried and stored likewise to protect them from rodent “squatters” in the house! In the fall, after the fruits of their labors and wild gatherings were properly packed away, the butchering began. Slaughtered beef and pork was dried into jerky, sometimes smoked or salted, all to help protect it from rotting. If necessary, the men of the family went hunting to increase their stores. All of this was done with very little waste of their resources, and with the whole family chipping in on the work, from the oldest grandparents down to the youngest, teachable children. Just when the first snowflakes began to threaten, they hunkered down and worked their way through the hardships of a harsh winter with their never-give-up (and never complaining about “cornbread and beans for supper again”) attitudes.
And, speaking of snow, after I checked our snowy forecast, I researched a couple of the historical “biggies,” just to put my week in context…. Back in 1888, a blizzard hit the Great Plains with somewhat of a surprise, even though it had actually been forecasted. On Jan 12th, the noontime sun became so warm that snow from previous storms began to rapidly melt. Carl was a teenager whose family had emigrated from Norway, ending up in southern Minnesota, in the town of Fortier. Carl had this to say, “Later in the afternoon, after 3:00, a dark and heavy wall builded up in the northwest, coming our way fast, like a shot! In a matter of minutes, we had the severest snowstorm I ever saw in my life, with a terrible hard wind, like a hurricane, snow so thick we could not see more than three steps ahead!”
The storm, which earned the name “The Children’s Blizzard of 1888,” turned out to be deadly because many people were fooled by the midday sun and warmup. Many teachers in those plains states, who would normally hunker down with the children in the schoolhouse when a snowstorm sprung up, had sent the kids on home, and suddenly, the fast approaching storm came upon them, with treacherous snow and rapidly falling temperatures. Thousands of people were caught in the blizzard, and 235 people died from exposure (the majority of them school-aged children). You can read a book of poems by Ted Kooser about that fateful day.
Two months later, in March, the Great Blizzard of 1888 struck the East Coast, from Chesapeake Bay to Maine, with winds of 45+ mph, and drifts as high as 52 feet. There were 400 deaths blamed on that storm, as well as several devastating fires, which firemen were unable to get to because of the deep snow covering all the streets. More than 200 ships were either grounded or shipwrecked, with 100 of the storm’s death attributed to seamen who had perished.
There’s nothing like a little history to help us all take things in stride. Blizzards (and other natural disasters) have ravaged the earth, and mankind, since the beginning of time. Same too with plagues, and civil unrest, and war, and toilet paper shortages…….OKAY, you’re right, that is definitely a 21st century thing. Modern man can claim that bizarre catastrophe all for himself, only because of a strange and inexplicable desire to hoard such things in amounts that will last for YEARS! In the days of the settlers, they solved their own problems (in that regard) by way of corncobs, leaves, or (once newspapers, farmer’s almanacs, & Sears catalogs came along), read a page, tore it out, and wiped! And that’s the real reason we’ve developed a habit of reading in the bathroom!
At any rate, I bought only what we’ll need for the week (and absolutely NO toilet paper; if all else fails, there are always rags, buckets, bleach, and the washing machine!) If bad weather settles in for a longer period of time, we’ve got whole chickens in the freezer, packages of dried beans, various flours, and some canned items hiding in the basement pantry. So, shop wisely, and instead of hoarding (which only subjects others to needless suffering), employ some pioneer ingenuity, while lending a helping hand (or a few rolls of hoarded TP) to your neighbors in need. And, SAVE THOSE MAGAZINES (just in case…). Winter’s not over yet, people, and the way things have been going, we’d better be prepared for anything.
(Sharing with you today an oldie-but-goodie rerun!) Making the choice, and the concentrated effort, to eat healthier has many obvious good effects. However, some of you may be wondering, “What are the negative consequences of eating healthier?” I am here … Continue reading
I recently found myself wondering what all of these beautiful, one of a kind snowflakes in my front yard would say, if they were little microorganisms with brains, instead of just frozen crystals of water? (Strange, yes, but when you’re cooped up in the house for too long, your thoughts begin to wander in strange directions!) I decided they would say this, “Why all this creativity and amazing design to make each of us wonderfully unique, and then pile us all up together when we fall to earth so that no one can see us?!” Yep, for sure, that’s what they’d say, until they melted away and went silent.
I think that God, with His attention to beauty and design in the lowly snowflake, is “speaking” to us (by way of analogy) regarding the uniqueness of each individual, and each one-of-a-kind snowflake. For thousands of years, mankind likely noticed little about snowflakes, except that they were really cold, and the more you saw, the harder it was to travel and to stay warm. But, on occasion, a single snowflake would fall on the shoulder of a dark colored horse, or on someone’s moccasins, or on a tree branch, and someone (i.e., someone who pays attention to the world around them, someone who is always open to wonder and beauty) would notice the beautiful shape and design of snowflakes.
It probably wasn’t until 1885 when snowflakes found just the right guy to share their well-hidden secret with the world – an American farmer by the name of Wilson Bentley. Here was one of those rare humans (rare, at least, in our “modern times”) who was paying attention to the little things in life, the gifts that nature shares with the observant and patient ones. After attaching a camera to his boyhood microscope, it took Bentley two years of experimenting with just the right conditions for getting a clear image of snowflakes on a microscope slide (learning to hold his breath for a long time while he worked with the snowflakes was one of those “conditions!). He also had to perfect the lighting, exposure, and depth of field setting, in order to capture his images.
Bentley saw in these individual beauties the story of a God who creates purely from His extreme love, Who provides unique properties to the animate and inanimate as a herald of Who He is, and a sign that all of creation is tenderly made by the touch of His hand. All of the natural world, from the biggest star to the tiniest organism, fulfills its purpose in God’s intricate design. Apparently, Bentley was encouraged by his faith as he pursued his goal of catching these fragile, frozen formations on film.
Wilson was divinely inspired to share his secret with the world. He said, “snowflakes are miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design; and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind. I became possessed with a great desire to show people something of this wonderful loveliness, an ambition to become, in some measure, its preserver.” Bentley also had an ambition to share how God speaks great and deep convictions to our souls through the intricacies of His creation. Many of the thousands of snowflake images he captured were originally sold for 5¢ each.
In 1904, The Christian Herald ran an article called, The Wonders and beauties of snow, for which Wilson Bentley penned the following words, “The snow crystals … come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in nature but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade away. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.”
Mr. Bentley got it right, that’s for sure. That’s why you’ll find me giddy with excitement when snow is forecasted. This year, I even had to put my Christmas lights up earlier than I usually do, because we had a forecast for our first, significant snowfall. Even though I prefer to keep the liturgical seasons in their proper place (and we are now in the season of Advent; Christmas doesn’t “officially” begin until Christmas Eve!). Even though I was tired the day after Thanksgiving, my “child’s heart” managed to inspire me sufficiently to get my slow self moving and set up my modest outdoor light display. When I was a kid, I always begged my dad to put up Christmas lights outside, but he never would. I had to make do with the lights I installed myself on the inside of our windows (using lots of tape!), and a few fake candelabras added to the windowsills. The first year that my husband and I moved into our house, I started an outdoor Christmas display. The hubsters has no interest whatsoever in decorating, either, so I keep it pretty simple. One year I did get carried away and tried to string lights across the gutter in the front. I used those trendy “chaser lights” (remember those?). It was a cusser of a job, and the lights quit working less than a week later. I’m over 60 now, so these days I toss light “nets” on our sorely outdated landscaping shrubbery, and wrap string lights in a few other locations, polished off by two lighted, spiral trees.
Yesterday we woke to 2 ½ inches of snow coating my lights and transforming my yard into (what I see as) a child’s winter wonderland. I just decided to add another item, a wreath that I ordered as a splurge, but it needs more lights. I’ll finish that up today, get that installed, and start praying for more snow in southern Ohio. In the meantime, I wish you a happy, holy, and healthy Advent. May this time of reflection leading to Christmas draw you closer to the The Light that brings joy, redemption, and meaning to our own, unique lives
I hear the wheels spinning in your heads. “What the heck is this story gonna be about?” you’re wondering. Well, I am not taking a train ride to an historical Indian village, nor am I in a tent in the … Continue reading
I like to do funny stuff on my blog, but it’s hard to laugh right now. I mean, I certainly am capable of laughing, especially with all of those comedy videos that Facebook has been alerting me to. They’ve all been good, “clean” comics so far, the ones Facebook “chooses” for me (not that I watch all of them – I’ve only watched three, but I was LOL’ing through those selections, without being offended by raunchy humor and foul language. That’s the hallmark of a true comedian – someone who can make you laugh with regular, everyday, unoffensive stuff (most often by laughing at yourself, which is a wonderful gift to acquire – being able to laugh at oneself!). And, just so ya know, I’m not including flatulence in with offensive stuff, either. As one of the comics I watched actually said, “Farts are funny! If you don’t think they’re funny, we can’t be friends!” So I’m not a prude, just an enthusiastic fan of “family comedy!”
At any rate, there are so many things to worry about right now, like the Covid virus still running amuck, and the organized rioting & destruction in cities around the world, and forest fires, and a heated political campaign playing out all around us. On top of all of that, it’s the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our country. I just can’t come up with a comedy piece right now.
What bothers me the most is that people have gotten themselves so riled up with anger, it’s hard to interact in a joyful and friendly way these days. The other day, I was at the grocery store, employing my usual, “everyone is my friend, greet everyone wth a smile and kind words” style, and some guy walks towards me with a t-shirt that says, “F…” That, “F…” You. Of course the “F” word was completely spelled out. I was speechless. Really, buddy, this is what you think of the world at large, so much so that you have to walk around in a grocery store confronting EVERYONE you meet with that hate-filled message?! I was afraid to say anything to him. It looked like a lose-lose situation for me, and I wasn’t in the mood to get punched in the face (even if it would make me an internet sensation!).
Is that really the avenue for ushering in peace and justice to the world, by using in-your-face hateful words and unkind, destructive measures? I don’t believe that this is the way to go, and no one can make me believe it. And I’ve got news for all these angry people. If you accost me, start yelling and screaming at me to raise my fist or fall to my knees, here’s exactly what I will do. I will look you in the eye and tell you that I love you, because I do. You may be broken and confused and going about this the wrong way, but you have been hurt, and I acknowledge that. I can still love you – the very core of you that is unique and beautiful and gifted in your own particular way. I would say those words to you, sincerely believing every word of it.
You have promise, you have potential, and you (whether you know it or not) have love to share with those around you. You were formed in your mother’s womb, known well by God long before you were born, but you have misplaced the truth and the virtues that God imprinted on your heart; you have given up your true dignity for a ravenous and brutal venting of your anger that will not bring about a change of hearts from those you are trying to influence. What we must ALL do, to affect real and lasting change, is take a step back and practice empathy, imagine what it’s like to walk in one another’s shoes, and speak openly and peacefully with one another about this. Fruitful transformation always comes about from a groundswell of the “common folk,” not from politicians and legislators. Their efforts have only served to separate us, their “social service” walls built higher and higher through the years, tearing down bridges, keeping true dialogue from taking place. If you want peace, you must practice peace. If you spread hostility, then hostility will come back to you a hundredfold. Let us walk together and work together, in peace, and solve this in the only possible way – we must lay down our lives for one another, and love each other as Christ loves us, and only then will the path ahead of us become brightened with the light of unity, and we can follow it safely and harmoniously to a place of understanding and cooperation, where, in unity, we will all find the lost beauty of our souls, and live according to that beauty!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
And enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created
And You shall renew the face of the earth! Amen
grandma's coffee soup 