In Praise of Giving

Now you might think this post will be about the coming season of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. And you would only be half correct. Yes, this is the season of giving, but my thoughts are directed toward giving in other ways than gift exchanging.

For several years, I have been an active participant in Freecycling. As its website explains, this voluntary network, which now extends all around the world, is made up entirely of " people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills."

I first began Freecycling when I headed into my somewhat involuntary retirement from full time work. I was raring to tackle several projects--including that ever popular CLEAN OUT THE BASEMENT. For fun (?), I began keeping a list of items I have given away. You see--I have only ever offered items on Freecycle--I have never asked for or taken anything. That list has now grown to over 140 items I have given away.

One would think some of the items I have listed would get no takers. But, you'd be surprised how many people want--

• old sleeping bags


• coin holders
  
• a kerosene heater


• an electric typewriter


• old books (I mean OLD)


• children's battery operated games


• Penn State mugs


• stuffed animals


• no longer working used computers


• paper doll books


• a Polaroid camera (!)


• a non-working leaf blower


• a non-working electric heater


• a big Panasonic TV


• too many paper bags

And the list goes on.

Most touching is when I list something, and the eventual taker overflows with gratitude. I gave the bedspread from the single bed that had been in our daughter's bedroom (now the guest room) to a woman who was decorating her daughter's bedroom. She was THRILLED with the bedspread and matching curtains. And there was the man who took our defunct gas grill, saying he had never HAD a gas grill. There was the woman who took an old manual typewriter saying she wanted to write a novel, and thought the typewriter would provide her with just the inspiration she needed. And one unforgettable recipient was a father who got an old Palm that I had--he wanted it to keep track of his children's diabetic medications.

Just yesterday, I listed a vase I had received as a gift many years ago. I never displayed it anywhere in the house, because it simply didn't match my color or decor style. The woman who took it sent me a thank you note, remarking how beautiful it is and how generous I am.

Well, no, I don't feel generous. I just feel as though this kind of sharing makes sense. Why would I keep "stuff" that is really no longer functional for me, when so many people can use these items and use them gratefully? It takes a bit of time for me to list items, and then pick who will get them. Actually, that is the one time I struggle--sometimes so many people have such incredible need.

I am not alone in my giving. There is one man on the local Freecycle list who gets old computers that no longer work. He then refurbishes them, cobbling systems together out of what he has received. He then loads the rebuilt computers with operating software, and puts them on Freecycle for people who have no computers. I have given him an old computer I had that no longer worked.

What a great feeling--giving just for its own sake. Why not check out the Freecycle group in your area. And get that giving feeling.

Job Description for Cats

I cannot claim to be the author of the entry below. It came to me via an email from my husband--no doubt he got it as one of those many humorous emails that float around the Internet and get sent from person to person in an office.

As we have two cats now, and have had a half a dozen cats over the past 30 years, I can attest to the accuracy of the information.

--------------------
BATHROOMS - Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything. Just sit & stare.


DOORS - Do not allow any closed doors...in any room. To get the door opened, stand on hind legs & hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened,it's not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an outside door opened, stand half-way in & out & think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season.


CHAIRS AND RUGS - If you have to throw up get to a white chair quickly.If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up while barfing so it's as long as a human's bare foot.


HAMPERING - If one of your humans is engaged in any activity, and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called helping, otherwise known as hampering. Following are the rules for hampering: When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book--unless you can lie across the book itself. When human is working at computer, jump up on desk, walk across keyboard, bat at mouse pointer onscreen, and then lay in human's lap across arms, hampering typing in progress.


WALKING - As often as possible, dart quickly & as close as possible in front of the human, especially on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark & when they first get up in the morning. This will help them practice their co-ordination skills.


BEDTIME - Always sleep on the human at night so he/she cannot move around.

LITTER BOX - When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes.


HIDING - Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you and do NOT come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will cause the humans to panic (which they love) thinking that you have run away or are lost. Once you do come out. . .the humans will cover you with love & kisses, and you probably will get a treat.



ONE LAST THOUGHT - Whenever possible, get close to a human, especially their face, then turn around and present your butt to them. . . .humans love this, so do it often !

Saturday Soups-- # 5 Fall, 2008

Thanksgiving is over--did you notice it was just about the latest it could be? Since Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November (here in the U.S.), only one day could be later--November 27. So if you feel as though Christmas is rushing toward you --assuming you observe Christmas--you would be right.

Thanksgiving is such an enjoyable holiday. The emphasis is on food, fellowship, family and friends. Oh, yes, and football.

On the off chance you eat meat--not everyone does (as Delia's thoughtful post reminds us)--and also on the off chance you aren't sick to death of turkey, here's a turkey soup recipe. Sadly, it does NOT feature using left-over turkey, which many of you may have in your refrigerators. Maybe you can adapt the recipe to use some.

TURKEY CHILI W/ BLACK BEANS & CUMIN YOGURT
Serves 12

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2-1/2 lbs. ground turkey breast
1-1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon each of: ground cinnamon, dried basil, chili powder, freshly ground pepper,
and ground sage
2 cans (19-3/4 oz. each) black beans, rinsed, drained and divided
2 cans (13-3/4 oz. each) fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies, drained
2 cups frozen white shoepeg corn kernels

Cumin Yogurt garnish (see recipe below)

1. In large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot, heat 2 Tablespoons of oil. Add ground turkey in batches and brown. Drain fat from pan and set turkey aside.

2. Add remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil to the pan. Stir in onion and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and the spices; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. In a blender, puree 1 can of beans with 1 can of chicken broth until smooth. Add to the pot with the remaining beans, the chilies, and the corn.

4. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Return turkey to the pot and heat through 2 minutes. Add up to one additional can of chicken broth if chili seems too thick.

Garnish each serving with cumin yogurt.

Cumin Yogurt Garnish:

1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Place 1 Tablespoon on each chili serving.

In honor of non-meat eaters, next week--a vegetarian recipe.

That is so '90s

One of the reasons I love teaching is that I am constantly learning from my students.

In English 101, I emphasize teaching rhetoric and formal writing. I also try to help the students increase their critical thinking skills. To accomplish this latter goal, I use a reader full of contemporary essays that the students are assigned to read. Then each day, I give them an in class exercise--a writing assignment to respond in a paragraph or so to a prompt I give.

A recent prompt was this question--Who has an iconic status today equal to Elvis’? Why?

I have always encouraged my students to answer in whatever way they will, as long as they back up their responses. This particular question has been the instigator of my learning. Several years ago a student responded to this prompt by saying--50 cents. Only, I heard --FITTY cent. So, I said--what? And eventually learned the name of a rapper. Let me be the first to say--I don't know rap; I don't like rap; I don't think rap is "music"--but the students like rap.

So I went home and looked up 50 cent and learned a bit about contemporary culture. I still don't like rap.

Using this same prompt, I have also learned about Lil Wayne and will.i.am--not sure that I am necessarily better off knowing about these people, but at least I am not totally hopelessly befuddled standing in front of my class.

So, it was with great humor--and an actual guffaw--that I read a student response to yet another prompt. In an essay unit on "Entertainment" (which is also where the Elvis question gets asked), I posed this writing prompt-- Do you think children watch too much television? How much did you watch as a child? Did you have rules limiting how much to watch?

Having collected the students' response, I was reading along in one young man's answers when I read this opening sentence--That is so '90s.

I re-read it, and then burst out laughing. His point was, I think, that someone of my generation would focus only on television and the excesses of watching it. His generation, however, has multiple electronic diversions. There is the internet, there are video games, there is X-box games or Wii.

In some ways, my question would be like someone asking me, when I was a student--do you think the radio is harming our young people.

Well, I got his point. Next year, the question will be rephrased--probably I will say--do children today spend too much time on the Internet or too much time playing electronic games?

Heaven forbid that I should be so '90s.

Saturday Soups-- # 4 Fall, 2008

How about a nice seafood chowder for this week? Apropos of nothing in particular, unless you think that the first Thanksgiving meal had a seafood chowder. It may very well have--given the location on Cape Cod, no doubt seafood featured prominently in the diet of the early Pilgrims.

Here's a History channel site that suggest what might have been on that first meal. I don't know--it's not a Thanksgiving meal without cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie.

Enjoy the chowder.

New England Seafood Chowder
Makes 12 servings.

8 bacon slices, chopped
2 large yellow onions, chopped (about 3 cups)
1 T. curry powder
4 8-oz. bottles clam juice
4 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled white potatoes (about 3 lbs.)
4 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled butternut squash (about 3 lbs.)
2 bay leaves
2 cups chopped kale leaves
5 cups milk
1 cup half and half
2 tsp. dried, crumbled thyme (or 2 T. minced fresh thyme)
3 lbs. mixed fresh fish (cod, halibut, haddock, and/or scrod) cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1) In a large heavy-bottomed pot, place bacon and saute over medium heat until thoroughly
cooked. Drain approximately 1/2 of the fat from the pan (leave 1-2 T.) in the pan along with the bacon. Add chopped onions and saute for two minutes. Add curry powder and cook mixture until very fragrant (about 5 minutes).

2) Stir clam juice into the pot and bring to a boil. Add potatoes, butternut squash, bay leaves, and chopped kale. Cook for 15 minutes until all vegetables are just soft.

3) Add milk, half and half, and thyme to the pot. Warm gently, being careful not to boil after
adding the dairy products.

4) Add the fish pieces and cook for 3-5 minutes, until fish is just cooked through.

From Light to Light

When my husband took a recent business trip, that meant that all the dog walking duties fell to me. Of course, that's what happens any time either of us goes out of town.

Since Thursday is a class day, I set the alarm for 5:45 a.m. (I know, I know--some of you think that's sleeping in). Anyway, I bounded out of bed--really--and very soon set about walking the dog around the block. At that time of the morning, now in November, it is still quite dark. I found myself walking along, going from light to light.

Our neighborhood only has a few street lights--and none of those is on our actual street. We have a pole light, and leave it on all night every night. It is one of the few spots of light on our street. The trip around the block can be marked by watching for each light, and then the final destination light of our pole light.

This morning's walk struck me as a kind of metaphor for life. In some ways, we all proceed from light to light. Of course, we pass through dark times--we have all had them. And even in the middle of that darkness, we are looking, hoping for the light.

I suspect my affinity for light just now is heightened by some minor eye surgery I recently had. While not major surgery, it did require that for a day, I have my damaged eye sheathed by an eye patch. What an inconvenience. I really minded my sudden monocular vision. It is nearly impossible to read for any extent with only one eye. And, of course, anything requiring depth perception is out of the question. I couldn't wait to get that patch off--to reclaim full light.

One of my favorite hymns celebrates the power of light. Written by John Henry Cardinal Newman, the words were inspired by his being unable to get home in an age of sailing when his ship was becalmed. He was frustrated and sat down and wrote out the first verse.

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet;
I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

Occasionally, our church choir sings this hymn as its benedictory piece. It is a lovely quiet plea for the light.

No wonder that light symbolizes guidance and safe-keeping. Go from light to light.

Hello, My Name is. . .

As each new semester approaches, I speculate what names will be the double-up names. You see, each semester that I have taught at my community college, I always have two students who share a first name. And almost always, this occurs among the young women in class. From this doubling up on first names, I can tell what were the trendy names the year they were born.

• Megan


• Jessica


• Desiree


• Ashley


• Karen


• Brittany


• Amber

These are but some of the double up names I have had. So, I peeked at the advance registration for the spring semester—and, sure enough, I have a double up name: Amanda.

This business of naming does fascinate me. I wrote about it a while back, here. At that time, I looked at the Social Security Administration’s listing of most popular first names over the decades. I found another spiffy site that shows the same thing, with a bit more pizzazz.

A year ago, I read the highly interesting book Freakonomics. The authors suggest that some first names that are super-trendy or super-ethnic may not serve their charges well. You can see some of what they have to say here. It would certainly be interesting to hear their take, now that we have elected our first African-American president with a decidedly un-presidential first name of Barack.

To this point in our history, we have had 2 presidents first named Andrew, 2 named Franklin; 3 named George; 4 named John; 4 named William; and the most popular first name with 6—James. Prior to Barack, probably the previous most unusual first name was Ulysses.

I wonder how long it will be until we have a U.S. President with a first name of Amanda, or Ashley, or Karen, or Kristen, or. . .?

Maybe part of the mental block that Americans have for envisioning a woman as president has to do with the lack of strength too many first names for women hold these days. When our daughter was born, and we pondered a strong first name for her, we naturally turned to family first names. While I dearly love the women in my family life, I was not prepared to give our daughter some of the old-fashioned names. So I eschewed names like Dorcas, Mary, Ada, Kathryn, Leoda, Emma, Cora, Lillian and Ida. Even though we didn't pick a family name, I like the strong name my husband and I agreed on for our daughter’s name.

Several years ago, I remember that Garrison Keillor read a poem about strong women names—so I went looking for it. Here it is: what a wonderful way to celebrate the strong names of women.

Mourning the Dying of American Female Names

By Hunt Hawkins

In the Altha Diner in the Florida panhandle
a stocky white-haired woman
with a plastic nameplate “Mildred”
gently turns my burger, and I fall into grief.
I remember the long, hot drives to North Carolina
to visit Aunt Alma, who puts up quarts of peaches,
and my grandmother Gladys with her pieced quilts
Many names are almost gone: Gertrude, Myrtle,
Agnes, Bernice, Hortense, Edna, Doris, and Hilda.
They were wide women, cotton-clothed, early rising.
You have to move your mouth to say their names,
and they meant strength, spear, battle, and victory.
When did women stop being Saxons and Goths?
What fate frog turned them into Alison, Melissa,
Valeria, Natalie, Adrienne, and Lucinda,
diminished them to Wendy, Cindy, Susy, and Vicky?
I look at these young women and hope
they are headed for the Presidency,
but I fear America has other plans in mind,
that they be no longer at war
but subdued instead in amorphous corporate work,
somebody’s assistant, something in a bank,
single parent with word processing skills.
They must have been made French
so they could be cheap foreign labor.
Well, all I can say is
good luck to you
Kimberly, Darlene, Cheryl, Heather, and Amy.
Good luck April, Melanie, Becky, and Kelly.
I hope it goes well for you.
But for a moment let us mourn.
Now it is time to say goodbye
to Florence, Muriel, Ethel, and Thelma.
Goodbye Minnie, Ada, Bertha, and Edith.

Published in The Domestic Life, 1994.

Saturday Soups -- # 3, Fall 2008

It occurs to me that as I start into a fall season of soups, I need to give credit where it is due. These recipes are NOT my invention in any way, shape or form. But, they have all been vetted. The recipes come from the annual fund raiser that my church has--we call it our soup Bistro.

On the first Sunday of Advent, my church hosts two seatings at Bistro. All the soups are made by members (and friends) of the congregation. In addition, people make breads, muffins, cookies and other Christmas goodies. For the seatings, we sell tickets. Everything is donated, and all the proceeds go to a local inter-church group that provides assistance to people in need.

The source of the recipes is a woman in our church, Alice Anne--she has professional training in cooking, and has worked in various food endeavors. So, all the portions have been carefully assessed for accuracy. She makes all the soups before she decides to include them in our soup offering.

Anyone have any requests for a particular kind of soup? Let me know, and I will search to see if we have ever made it.

Next up in rotation--a chicken soup. Perfect for fall evenings, and hearty too with the barley.

Chicken Soup with Barley
Makes 12 servings.

8 cups water
48 oz. canned low-fat chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
3 pounds chicken pieces, skinned
1 bay leaf
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup potato, peeled and diced
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley

1) Combine water, broth, salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, chicken pieces and bay leaf in a large stock pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Adjust heat to medium and cook 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove chicken and cool slightly. Remove chicken from bones and shred with two forks. Reserve shredded chicken. Skim all visible fat from the top of the broth.

2) Stir vegetables and barley into broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add shredded chicken to the pot. Discard bay leaf. If not serving immediately, cool and refrigerate.

And You Thought Squirrels Were Entertaining?

It's a rainy day here in central PA--and so it was with gratitude that I received an email from someone special that had a link in it. . .I followed the link and then I just smiled and smiled.

If you need a smile, watch this.

cat n box

Squirrel - 2/ KGMom - 0

Remember my match with the squirrel on Valentine's Day? I tossed a small snowball at a squirrel, trying to dissuade him from stealing all my bird seeds--and he CAUGHT it?


Well, today was a rematch.

The bird feeders have gotten a bit fancier and diverse; we now have 4 feeders out offering niger, safflower, a seed mix, and sunflower seeds. The sunflower seeds have got to go. The squirrels find them way too tempting.

We have filled the peanut wreath and hung it out--but the squirrels empty that in one day. Then they turn to the feeder with sunflowers.

All day, it seemed, I kept shooing them away. They are such piggies; no birds can get in while the squirrels are raiding.

Finally, I got a water bottle, and began trying to squirt the offending squirrels. The first several times it genuinely surprised them--off they ran. After several squirts, though, one particular squirrel caught on. He hopped back to the tree trunk, then just edge behind the trunk, out of range from my squirt bottle.

As I said--squirrel - 2/ KGMom - 0.

This, Too, Shall Pass

Quite a few years ago (before the birth of my son), I needed to have a medical test that involved inserting a needle into my abdomen, pumping me full of a gas that allowed my internal organs to "float" so they could be x-rayed. I had no anesthesia for the procedure--none was needed--but to steel myself for whatever discomfort I would experience, I kept saying--this, too, shall pass. For a while, that little expression was a personal mantra--and, perhaps, still is.

Now, the expression takes on a slightly different cast. While I said it then to help me know I could withstand temporary pain, I say it now in recognition of the fleeting aspects of life.

News comes today that Miriam Makeba has died. She was a great South African singer, who I loved to hear as she sang sometimes in Zulu, with all its wonderful clicks. Upon learning the news of her death, a friend of mine sent me an email--wherein she recalled sitting in my office 20 years ago as I explained and pronounced Zulu clicks to her. Zulu, and its offspring language of Sindebele, makes a clicking sound on the Q, X, and C. Put your tongue to the roof of your mouth and make a pop, or make a noise as though to move a horse, or suck your tongue against your teeth in a sound of tsk tsk--and you have the approximate sounds of clicks.

Anyway, Miriam Makeba died. I heard her sing years ago when Paul Simon had his Graceland tour. My husband, son, and I went to Philadelphia and heard Paul Simon sing with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, along with Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. If you want to hear a bit of Miriam's wonderful singing, watch the rendition of "Under African Skies" with Paul Simon.




Since I don't always get up in time to hear Garrison Keillor's "The Daily Almanac" I have it sent to me by email. That's how I learned that today is the birthday of Padraic Pearse, an Irish poet who took part in the failed Irish Easter uprising of 1916 and for his troubles was shot dead by the British.

Pearse wrote a sweet poem that matches my thoughts today.

The Wayfarer

by Padraic Pearse

The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy
To see a leaping squirrel in a tree,
Or a red lady-bird upon a stalk,
Or little rabbits in a field at evening,
Lit by a slanting sun,
Or some green hill where shadows drifted by
Some quiet hill where mountainy man hath sown
And soon would reap; near to the gate of Heaven;
Or children with bare feet upon the sands
Of some ebbed sea, or playing on the streets
Of little towns in Connacht,
Things young and happy.
And then my heart hath told me:
These will pass,
Will pass and change, will die and be no more,
Things bright and green, things young and happy;
And I have gone upon my way
Sorrowful.

Ah, perhaps it is an autumn day with stormy skies that inspires these thoughts of ephemerality in me. Who knows--or perhaps it is the death of a lovely lady.

Saturday Soups -- # 2 Fall 2008

I will try to remember this fall, as I post soup recipes, that I need to be mindful of rotating the soup type. Last week was a vegetable soup (and an orange one at that!). So this week, I will feature a meat based soup.

I hear tell that some places on the North American continent are having snow. Lucky. This hearty soup would go great on a snowy evening. And it has enough "other stuff" in it, should you not fancy meat too much. Oh, and it is mmm mmm good.

SAUSAGE & BEAN FLORENTINE SOUP
Serves 12

¾ lb. loose sweet Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 10 oz. packages chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 large can chicken broth (approx. 49 oz.)
1 15 or 16 oz. can Cannellini Beans
1 15 or 16 oz. can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 15 or 16 oz. can Dark Red Kidney Beans
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Salt to taste, if you wish

1) Brown sausage in large stockpot, breaking into fine pieces. Sausage should be completely cooked through. Drain all but one Tbsp. fat off sausage. Add garlic and onion to pot and sauté 6 minutes.

2) Add thawed, drained spinach to pot and sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, dried basil and pepper flakes to pot and simmer 10 minutes.

3) After thoroughly draining and rinsing each of the cans of beans, add beans to soup and remove from heat.

Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired.

ENJOY!

Yes, We can!

So, we watched election returns beginning at 7 p.m.

We watched to see how Pennsylvania voted.

We talked with our daughter who was having an election returns party in London, with her fiance and some American friends.

We were awake at 11 p.m. when all the networks announced the results--President Elect Obama.

And we watched at midnight when President Elect Obama challenged us all to remember that we can overcome the problems that face us, that we can work together, that we can change history.
"Yes, we can."

VOTE!

Tomorrow is the big day. . .unless you live in a state that has early voting (I don't). . .or unless you voted by absentee ballot (lucky).

Why vote?

Why vote?

Why vote?

Why vote?

Because all around the world there are people who, when first given the opportunity to vote, take that opportunity seriously.

the lines for voting in South Africa during first nationwide vote

I will be at my precinct voting--as I have for 42 years--in every election, both primary and general! I have voted for losers and I have voted for winners. I much prefer the latter, but the former has never dissuaded me from voting.

Saturday Soups -- # 1 Fall 2008

Yes, friends, it's time for me to start up the Saturday Soups blogs again. If you haven't seen any of these recipes before, all you need to do is click on the link for Soups and you may find a recipe or two to your suiting.

Since we just passed Hallowe'en, I had best begin the fall season of Saturday Soups with a pumpkin recipe. Herewith Pumpkin soup with cranberry puree. Laura had several interesting blogs about cranberries a couple of weeks ago--maybe you will find some of the cranberries she pictured for your puree.

PUMPKIN SOUP with Cranberry Puree
Serves 12

PUMPKIN SOUP:

1-1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
2 tsp. ground ginger (dried)
1 tsp. ground cardamom (or nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground pepper
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total)
7 cups pumpkin puree (fresh crookneck is best)
10 cups chicken stock (vary according to texture of soup)

CRANBERRY PUREE:
12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. brandy (optional)

1) For the soup, bake sweet potatoes at 400 degrees until they are very soft. When cooled, peel and chop roughly. (NOTE: You can do this a few hours ahead of time, if you wish.)

2) Sauté onions in butter until just soft. Add ginger, cardamom, allspice and ground pepper. Stir.

3) Add sweet potatoes, pumpkin puree and chicken stock. Simmer for 1/2 hour to combine flavors. Let soup mixture cool slightly. Puree the soup in batches until it is all smooth. The texture is important, so be sure to cook all ingredients until very soft, then puree in food processor to velvety smoothness.

4) For the Cranberry Puree, place all ingredients together in a medium covered saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until cranberries pop and start to thicken. Cook 5 minutes more. Cool slightly before pureeing cranberry mixture in food processor or blender. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer; reserve cranberry puree in an airtight container. This may be made several days in advance.

ENJOY!

Hallowe'en

Last night, the township where we live had the annual Hallowe'en . . .well, what exactly does one call it? The annual gathering of the candy? The annual emptying out of nearby apartments with parents slowly driving through our neighborhood and children maniacally running from house to house getting as much candy loot as they can?

Of course, there are the dozen or so children who live near us, and it is always fun to see them.

When our children were small, we made costumes for them as they joined the roving bands of children. I still have several costumes I made for our daughter stored in a drawer somewhere--let's see--there is the gypsy dancer costume, the Little House on the Prairie pioneer girl, and (my best ever, if I do say so) the Spanish dancer dress in black brocade complete with a red mantilla!

But, how exactly did we arrive at the place that this "holiday" is now one of the most popular, in terms of decorating, and in items sold--costumes, decorations, and candy?

There should be no surprise that the original concept of Hallowe'en (my daughter points out to me that I am the only one she knows who insists on the apostrophe--but, it does after all stand for the missing V) came from the ancients--in this case the Celtic Druids. Their celebration corresponded with the end of the year, as they counted it. October 31 was when the final harvest was gathered, the fires of the old year extinguished, and the marking of winter began. They called their festival Samhain (pronounced Sow-in). Understandably, the beginning of the long dark winter signified death to them. The ancients believed this time between life and death gave rise to a blurring of the two worlds--the dead could roam on this night.

The ancients built huge bonfires, and wore costumes, frequently from animal skins. Upon the conclusion of their celebrating the passing of the old year and the start of the new, they took embers from the dying bonfire, and relit their own hearth fires.

The Romans get into this history as well, because having conquered Celtic lands in the expansion of the Roman empire, the Romans appropriated much of the Celtic Druid traditions. The Romans also had a day for remembering the dead, so they elided that holiday with the Celtic Samhain.

With the rise of Christianity, which was greatly aided by the degree to which the Roman empire had expanded, the orthodoxy of the church sought to co-opt previously "heathen" celebrations. Pope Boniface decreed that the celebration of All Saints, which had been on May 13, would now be November 1. That in turn made October 31 All Hallow's Eve, or Halloweven--Hallowe'en.

Of course, we have long ago forgotten any religious association--whether Druid, Roman or Christian. Children dress in costumes because. . .everyone does. The costumes tend sometimes toward the gruesome, which is entirely in keeping with the Celtic Druid tradition of trying to fool the ghosts who come back to haunt the earth. The bonfires, and even carved pumpkins--also trying to fool the ghosts--all fit into an ancient tradition.

So, how was your participation in the ancient ritual--saying goodbye to the old year, welcoming the new year?

Caveat creditor*

*My loose translation. . .let the lender beware (using caveat emptor as my guide).

Herewith the text of an email I received today:

Hi,
How are you doing? hope all is well with you ,i am sorry that i did not inform you about my traveling to England for a program called empowering youth to fight racism,Hiv/Aids,and lack of education.

I need a favor from you as soon as you receive this e-mail because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money, and other valuable things were kept i will like you to assist me with a soft loan of $2,500 US Dollars urgently to sort-out my hotel bills and get myself back home.

I will appreciate whatever you can afford to loan me now, i'll pay you back as soon as i return,Kindly let me know if you can be of help? so that i will send you the details to use when sending the money through western union.

I await to read from you.

Best of regards,
Louisa.

Since the title of the email was I NEED YOUR HELP ASAP, I was immediately on alert. My friend Louisa Mae (please note that while I have changed my friend's name to protect her, she always used her given first and middle name) was in trouble? She needed money? From me?

Wait. . .a. . .minute. First, what about her somewhat well-to-do mother? Would she not have helped her daughter?

Second, what about all those grammatical errors--my friend is meticulous to a fault. She would never have sent such a sloppily written email. She even capitalizes all her initial letters, always. No lower case "i" for her. And "I await to read from you"?

Third, "Best of regards"? Who signs anything that way?

And fourth, Louisa? She always goes by Louisa Mae. So, just who was Louisa really?

I picked up the phone, and called the office where my friend works. A pleasant voice answered--is Louisa Mae there, I asked? Well, she is, but she's on the other line. Oh, I said, she's not out of the country? Not in England? No, came the answer, but I can put you into her voice mail.

I sensed an old email scam--maybe even originating in Nigeria. So I hit "reply all" and sent out a cautionary note--DO NOT ANSWER THAT EMAIL. It's a scam.

So, let the lender (would-be, of course) beware.

A Vast Wasteland

In 1961, Newton Minow, who was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission at the time, delivered one of the most famous speeches on the state of television. The speech was entitled “Television and the Public Interest” and it included the famous verdict on the state of television at the time, that it could be “a vast wasteland.”

Here’s the entire section in which that pronouncement occurs:

When television is good, nothing -- not the theater, not the magazines or
newspapers -- nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally
unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder,
western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and
cartoons. And endlessly commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending.
And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they
will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try
it.

WOW! Can you imagine what Newton Minow would say were he to return to his day-long sit in front of a television. Perhaps he would be astounded at the sheer variety of all the offerings, through cable and satellite. But I seriously doubt that he would find more quality programming than what was available when he decried the state of television broadcasting.

What would he think?

In the 1960s television had shows such as—Playhouse 90 and Studio One. They had hard-hitting news shows such as CBS Reports. They had variety shows such as “The Fred Astaire Show,” and “The Bing Crosby Special.”

What didn’t they have? Well, they didn’t have the umpteenth iteration of the Survivor series. Instead of hard-hitting news shows, now we have Dateline NBC, wherein NBC entraps men who are seeking sex with underage girls (or sometimes boys). I find such shows down-right creepy. Please understand, I don’t condone the behavior of the men caught, but there is something so off-putting at how the show goes about its “catches.” We have truly informative (ahem, not) shows such as Wife Swap, which is not what you might think. And, we have all of these great show offerings on many many many more channels than you could ever watch.

There was a time when I thought of history as linear—that things progressed, and in general improved over time. Well, television show offerings help me to adopt a more realistic approach. History is not linear; it is circular, or even spiral, and the direction is downward.

Ring of Fire

If ever there were a woman who steps right out of the proverbial Garrison Keillor place "where all the women are strong" it was this woman. Her name is Kristen, an attestation to her Swedish background.


Her place was the last stop in our fire "tour." When we arrived at her place, we were greeted by the resident small herd of goats. They came ambling out, all full of curiosity.

We gathered in the shade of a large tree, and sat down to hear Kristen's story. She lives near Ramona, CA, with her husband, who is completely an invalid, having been rendered wheel-chair bound by severe arthritis.

She began to recount the events of a year ago--the fires struck their place on a Sunday. Her husband had wanted to go to church, but Kristen was uneasy, so they stayed home. As the fires pressed closer to their place--surrounding them in a ring of fire--she first got her husband into the van, along with their dogs and cats. Once she had driven him to safety, she returned to their place. She let the goats out, and they scattered. Then she released a pot-belly pig they had. She returned to her house, trying to get two remaining cats out.

She saw the wind driven embers fall on a wooden deck on the back of the house. Frantically, she tried to beat the flames back with a shovel.

All the while she recounted her story, she was somewhat matter of fact. But when Kristen got to part of the story about beating back the flames, her voice caught. She stood there for a moment, and then apologized.

She continued--she went down to the main road, close by, to try to hail some passing motorist to help her. A van came by with county prisoners who had shovels to help beat out the small fires flaring up. She persuaded the county official with them to let them come help her. As they pulled into her driveway, her house went up in flames.

Too late, the county official said. There's nothing we can do.

After hearing this heart-rending story, we sat quiet--what is there to say.

Once the fires had burned out, the goats returned. One of them had severe burns on her face and ears, but they all survived. Now, a year later, the goats continue their main task--eating the brush around Kristen's place.

Kristen and her husband have had a new house built--this time they were able to have it constructed to be handicapped accessible. Amazingly, Kristen said--that's a blessing.

As with Tom and Diane, Kristen also said--I just didn't think the fires would get us. Their place had been cleared of brush--thanks to the goats. But once the Santa Ana winds begin to blow, pieces of burning ember are picked up and can strike with great ferocity, even impaling glass windows. A house built with non-combustible materials can still burn once a burning ember comes flying through a window.

Her story told, Kristen went to her house and got her husband, bringing him down to see us--driving him in the van. We lingered a bit in this lovely spot--eating our box lunches. We even had brought several box lunches along for Kristen and her husband. The goats offered to help us with our lunches!

At each of the places we went to, we brought a small gift for the people who told us their stories. We had a silk scarf for each family--the scarves were made by survivors of the December 2004 tsunami. There is something wonderfully symbolic about these silk scarves--they embody the possibility of recovery. Life does go on, people who survive such great tragedy can regain their lives. It takes time--but with the help of work done by PDA (and many other fine organizations) the recovery will happen.

Smile When Your Heart is Aching

It has been my experience that some people in life are just determined to be miserable no matter what. And some people are upbeat even in the face of the worst adversity.



The second family that we met, as we surveyed recovery work being done by Presbyterian churches in the San Diego area, consisted of Diane, her son Mark and the dog Max. Diane's place is called Leaning Oak Ranch--it is really an 11 acre enclosed area. The leaning oak was a once tall lovely tree that burned to the ground in the fires.


As with the other people whose stories we heard, Diane said she was watching the fires as they raged around where she lived. Her house was down in a somewhat sheltered ravine, so she thought the fires would pass her by. Her neighbor whose house was a quarter of a mile away had external propane tanks. When the fires hit the neighbor's house, the tanks exploded, spewing burning fuel everywhere. Diane's house caught fire, and everything went.


Diane exuded a life affirming aura. Even though her place was gone, and the recovery efforts treated her as though she were a human pinball, she bubbled with affirmation. She immediately set up hummingbird feeders. She also planted flowers, and vegetables. Even the burned down oak is beginning to sprout new leaves.





To help her, the church built her a shed. She lives on the property, in a small motor home. She is afraid to leave the place, because looters have hit her place, stealing the few possessions she has left. As if life had not already dealt her a bad hand, her mother is in a hospital miles away


It is amazing that someone who has gone through the fires around San Diego last year could still be smiling after having lost everything, but Diane is still smiling.

Where There's Smoke. . .

One of the advantages of my being a member of the national advisory committee for PDA is that I get to see various parts of the country. True, where we tend to go are those places where disaster has struck.

I have spent the last several days in San Diego, California. Exactly this time last year, they suffered devastating fires, and we were here to see the recovery efforts that have been taken by local Presbyterian churches. It is truly heartening to see how many just plain good folk there are out and about.

Just as with my visit to New Orleans last October, I was not on a trip to be a tourist. So, I by-passed many of the sights to see in San Diego. Oh, sure--we traveled around the area, but in each case we were going to see people whose lives had been devastated by the fires.

Today I will tell you Tom's story. He was born in Japan, but came to the U.S. decades ago. Just 2 years ago, his daughter and her family came to live with him. Last year's fire destroyed Tom's American dream. He lives in the environs of Ramona, CA. When the fires started, he kept watching and thinking--it won't come here, it won't come here. His house had a commanding view overlooking a valley.

With his daughter and her family safely away, he watched to see where the fires would go. Just as with each of the people we went to see, Tom said--suddenly the fire was there, virtually all around. He jumped in his vehicle and drove for safety. When he was able to return, everything was gone.

In helping him recover, the local church built a garage for him. Tom works as a handy-man repairing various machines. So, he not only needed a place to continue his work, but also to store his tools. The church also built him a tool shed--in fact, a shed is the first thing they build anywhere. A shed is small enough it doesn't require a building permit; it can be locked, and thus provides a place to store property. Sadly, looting is a post-fire problem.

Tom was so moved by the help of the church that he now goes along with them, volunteering and rebuilding other people's lives.

Tom's house has not yet been rebuilt--he hopes that will happen soon. Meanwhile, he has been living in this RV home, while his daughter and her family live elsewhere.

More stories in future posts.

Red Sequin Sneakers

Every year, the local news does the predictable story on college openings, and all the parents moving their student children into residence dorms. I must say I have no regrets about leaving those years behind, but occasionally I do have a flash of memory.

I like strong women—I have celebrated them here before. In fact, I descend from a line of strong women. And, if there’s one thing that really bugs me it’s a woman who flutters and flits about helpless in the face of a task to be done.

The minute I saw the red sequin sneakers, I should have known. My husband and I had just taken our son to college for his freshman year—that leap into the great unknown. For many young people, attending a college represents a time to test living semi-independently from parents.

Part of the unknown is who a student will room with. The college our son attended did the roommate matching by means of a questionnaire. When it came to the question about neatness, we mistakenly pushed our son to respond that he was not that neat. BIG MISTAKE. Maybe by our home standards he wasn’t neat, but by male college freshmen standards, he was meticulous.

His roommate was a young man from New England whose dad was a doctor and whose mother was. . .the wearer of the red sequin sneakers.

Upon arriving at the college, we went into our son’s assigned room, and began to help him decide how to arrange it. The furniture was stackable, so pieces could be moved around, and even elevated. That required some heavy lifting. Our son pitched in, my husband pitched in, I pitched in. The new roommate and his father pitched in, and the roommate’s mother stood there—fluttering and flitting.

I do confess to being annoyed. As I recall, the only thing she did was say to her son—here’s your pillow from home. A pillow? That’s all she could carry? A pillow? Oh please.

Perhaps the red sequin sneakers should have been seen as a harbinger of the roommate arrangement not working out. When we went to see our son on Parent’s weekend, about two months into the fall semester, the dorm room was somehow different. There was a clear line of demarcation down the center of the room. Our son’s side was remarkably neat; the other side was a disaster zone. And it smelled.

When our daughter began to look at a soft drink can sitting there, our son practically yelled at her—DON’T TOUCH IT! Turns out, the roommate chewed tobacco and any can sitting around was used for. . .—you can figure it out! That partly accounted for the smell. The other contributor to the smell?—used gym clothes dropped haphazardly wherever.

Our poor son! He survived the first year—even exercising grace in the face of such a mismatched roommate environment. Oh, there were other fiascos along the way which do not bear repeating.

Let’s just say that if I ever see red sequin sneakers again—I will turn about face and head the other direction, but fast!