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 |  I've maxed out. Closed this blog. |
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This is a way of making myself write something coherent and grammatically correct almost every day. I'm opinionated and need an outlet. I'm also prone to flights of fancy. Thanks for stopping by. |
| We all know to recycle plastic, glass, newspaper/magazines and aluminum. But there's another kind of recycling that came up before the "green" movement. My mother was born at the end of the great depression. So I guess these habits I have come from my grandmother. Nothing was wasted. If a garment was stained or torn, before you threw it out, you removed the zippers and all the buttons. You would reuse them someday. I still want to do that, but zippers don't have the same enduring quality any more, so I skip those. I won't let myself do it any more, but you use to save the fabric if you could for doll clothes or patches or quilts. In the sixties and seventies, you cut up old jeans to make rag rugs or piece together in art projects or even make purses. Jars get washed and used for storage. My dad still keeps peanut butter jars in the garage for screws and nails and whatever. He always seems to need one more. When my youngest brother was a baby, Dad took the empty baby food jars and nailed the lids to a board. He hung the board in the ceiling of his workshop, and used the jars to hold miscellaneous items like picture hooks or fishing wire and just screwed them into the board when he was done. It was a low ceiling, and he was six feet tall. It was too high for us kids to raid his supplies without a ladder. When I go to senior homes for visits, their kitchens look like my parents'. The cupboards are full of recycled cottage cheese cups and butter cups. I throw some away when Dad's not looking. More will appear later on. They've been "green" since they were babies, because they had to be. Now we're so wasteful. And we've accumulated too much. It's been a big deal to me to throw papers away at work. They accumulate quickly. But at least we have a recycling box, so I can throw them out without trashing or wasting paper. Some things just have to be on paper and not a computer screen. Meanwhile, I hate to throw away dish cloths even when they're tattered, or bath towels. Shoes are the easiest to throw out, because once they're worn, you can't use them. TV's and things like that are much harder to throw out. But it does seem we've gone from one extreme to the other. |
| We've all read one or two biographies or autobiographies of celebrities. Some were worth reading, and some were of a little value, like some pop trivia or just entertainment. Some weren't interesting enough to pick up.A lot of them, we were too embarrassed to confess we had read. For instance, I read the story of Cary Grant and thought it was fascinating. He was a sensational actor and had a lot of influences in his life. By reading about him, I learned about Randolph Scott, a "man's man". It gave new meaning to the phrase. But I admired him more and learned some Hollywood history. Elizabeth Taylor always captured my imagination. Reading about her young life and many romances was easy and was great entertainment. To this day I love her movies and think she was extremely talented. I loved her elegance and her larger than life presence. And there was the philanthropic side, too. There always seemed to be something sad about her, despite her warm heart and generosity. She made a wonderful icon. I haven't seen a book about Hugh O'Brien, and I doubt I'd read one unless there were lots of pictures without his shirt. But a short booklet might be interesting. The story of why he got married for the first time at 81, and did so in a cemetery in a "wedding to die for" to a woman with whom he had been living for 20 years might be a curiosity. We've seen enough articles and bit pieces on John Wayne and Clint Eastwood over the years that a book about one of them would have to promise an awful lot to get us to pick it up. There is such a thing as overkill. There are many I would like to see because they would be unusual, different, but maybe never will see it. The bottom line is that most celebrities are shallow and self-centered, and we don't want to be known for reading something that only furthers their egos more. Actors and directors are, after all, just ordinary people doing their jobs. Why must we keep piling on the adulation? Yet, if their story is different, their struggle is real or universal, let's read them and be inspired, like we would for any other ordinary citizen with an unusual story. |
| I guess we can connect food to almost anything, but the seasons affect us, too. We don't care as much for hot food in the summer or icy beverages in winter. Am I being obvious here? We don't think picnic food in the middle of January. In the fall, we want sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cranberries, apples, and stews.And the spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger. We don't want them in just dessert and baked goods, but in our vegetables, our tea, and our coffee. The more fragrant the air with spices, the more comfort we feel; the more excitement and memories we stir up. At our house, when fall nips the air, we start soaking dried beans, so full of fiber and filling. Serve plain with chopped onions or pickled beets. And, of course, spoon bread or corn bread. Greens are best this time of year. When the frost threatens to hit, the flavor of collards and mustard greens are at their finest. You can eat the small young leaves raw in a salad. But the long ones have to be cooked. They shrink. But cook with a little fat back, not too much, and some spices. We're talking good food. Vinegar is optional on the table. Cress (or creasy) salad is good in the spring if planted before the last frost. Then let the short stems survive the summer for a fall harvest again. They cook as well as collards or mustard or kale. We actually prefer spinach in raw salads, but if cooking, we mix with other greens.(Note; I've found that dirt clings to cress more than the other greens. You really have to wash well to avoid feeling sand in your teeth.) I'm not even talking holidays. That's a separate food topic. This is the time of year for butternut squash, acorn and spaghetti squash. With the right recipe, you have a low fat, high fiber meal, especially with those pumpkin pie spices! Nothing to do with fall, but I've been experimenting with turmeric. I've put it on roasted zucchini slices. rice, and even chicken salad. The family seems to like it. It's supposed to have healthful properties for you. It's colorful and has a little like mustard flavor, but milder. |
| Someone told me recently that it was a shock to her to read a romance about senior citizens. Since when was there an age limit on love and romance? Do you have to be under 30 or good looking to be in love? To flirt? To fall for someone new? Clint Eastwood is 87 and seems to have a revolving door into his bedroom for attractive women.Love seems to be one thing for which people never stop looking, until they find it.Marriages still take place for people in their 80's and even 90's. One of the sweetest love stories I've heard is about Helen Steiner Rice. You've probably read her sentimental or inspirational verse in a greeting card or two. Her first husband, who was a good man, had died. He was a good provider, a decent person, and a good father. Their life together was not bad. But he was not a demonstrative person. He didn't show emotions. He was all business. So he was not the romantic type. Satisfied to be a widow and alone, Helen never expected to meet another man and didn't look for one. But she found one, a widower who turned out to be Prince Charming. He was attentive and charming. His affection was something Helen longed for and accepted readily. She was so excited one evening while getting ready for a date with him, that she fell and broke her ankle. She thought it was a sign from God, and became depressed. But her daughter encouraged her, and both families were supportive. In the end, they got together. Near the end of her life, Helen found the love and romance that she had never known her whole life. She felt overwhelmed with joy and happiness. Looking back, she had no regrets. He was worth the wait. I want to see more stories, more movies about romance in older folks. I'd like to think it never dies, that we never outgrow it. |
| These 9 hours or more of work without breaks are so tiring. And it's stressful, with too many things going on at once competing for priority, time, and the bosses' whims.Then when the printer breaks down and a virus hit the terminals, it just seems like the roof is caving in, but no one is making allowances or getting time extensions. So tonight, I'm exhausted. I can't concentrate. I can't exercise. I can hardly move. But tomorrow, I will go in and slap on a smile, because I have to deal with a lot of people. It's not their fault my mosses get hysterical every time someone from another branch or contracting business ask a simple question. It's not their fault we have an unreasonable deadline with fewer people to reach it this year for even more employees than ever. Let's see. . . some of my own medicine. Well, I'm glad to have income. I'm glad I have a roof over my head. I have a warm bed in which to sleep. And it is autumn with all its colors. And I can hold out hope that maybe one of the bosses will eventually say, "We really appreciate all your diligence in getting the job done right and on time!" Ha, ha, ha. Not! I just wanted to think of something funny. Okay, I'm good. |
| Thanksgiving should be more than just one day. Oh, the feast should be just once. We don't need the excess that often. But it could be just the culmination of a month of gratitude emphasis. An attitude of gratitude is so essential to happy living. It's essential to any 12-step help program like Alcoholics Anonymous. Without gratitude, we wallow in self-pity. We don't look at our progress, but instead focus on the struggle. Gratitude not only helps us get along with other members of society, but makes us mentally and spiritually healthier. Every day in November we should list things for which we are grateful. Like the Karate Kid, maybe we start out, and all we can say is "the sky is blue. The grass is green." Or something close to that. Be thankful for the obvious, then the other things will become clearer. Our list will grow longer.Before long we have a nice list of blessings. That will help us survive the bad times. It will make the good times even happier. Joy is not something that comes from without. No one can give us that. Frequently, we choose whether something is going to be a blessing or not. Whenever possible, see the blessing. Give thanks, to others, to God, to someone special. Thanksgiving needs to be in our hearts always. November is a good time to practice. |
| Good silver requires a lot of care. But how much do we use the good silverware these days? Do we really need separate ice cream spoons? Do coffee spoons and tea spoons have to be different? And why doesn't the cream soup spoon work in non-cream soups? And why do we need a separate serving spoon for mayonnaise? Shrimp forks, pickle forks, iced tea spoons, grapefruit spoons, etc. A properly set table has a long line of silver on the left and one on the right, depending on what's being served, and how many courses. The answer is two-fold. It was good business for the silversmith to convince you that you had to buy an 8 or 12 place setting of all these extra pieces. But for the one doing the buying or handing down to the next generation, it was a symbol of your wealth. The more you had in your bank accounts, the more silver you displayed for your guests on the table. Today's generations hardly know how to set a table. They really don't want to inherit Grandma's silver any more. They want the money instead. A lot of older women that I know are going through their belongings so that they can downsize, or move into senior communities because their husbands can't climb stairs anymore. Silverware is one of the things they're discovering their children just don't want. So some of them are selling it now. It's probably going to be melted down. But a few good pieces are bringing them some big bucks. I hadn't considered that before. Why leave them something they don't want or can't use? This culture doesn't have the same values as the generation before me, or before them. I always wanted the nice stuff but never had it. I've lived this long without it, and have no one to impress. So I guess I'm glad I never put the money into it. I didn't come from a rich family. We certainly didn't have any pretensions. I probably wanted more formality and good manners than my family used. But I have noticed that even women of my generation don't know what to do with their napkins, or their knives, even with just the basic service setting. Just a sign of the changing times. There are more important things in life than your mannerisms at the diner table. Not throwing your food or swearing while at the table may just be a good enough. |
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