Monday, October 31, 2016

It was a dark and stormy Halloween (or the Tell Tale Trump)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! To celebrate all of these things that go bump in the night, I am sharing a creative writing exercise with you. It will be a basic premise for a horror story. And, because this year's presidential election has been quite horrifying, the main characters in this year's horror story will be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton!
The first step will be to make a list of ten frightening words, all of which will be used in the creative writing exercise.
blood, guts, gore, sharpened teeth, vampires, howling, screaming, red moon, terror, ghoul
OK, now your next step will be to decide what form you want to use for your horror story. Would you like to write prose or poetry or, perhaps, a play? Would you like to write a pastiche? A pastiche is an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.

OK, for this demonstration, I will do a pastiche. The story that I will base my story on will be "The Tell Tale Heart," by Edgar Allen Poe. The story will be written from the perspective of Donald Trump, in the first person. The premise is that the main character is trying to make everyone, including himself, believe that he is not a crazed lunatic, yet he is quite delusional and he kills...

OK, well,here goes:

My name is Donald Trump, and I am running for president. I am a sane, normal man, and I want to make America great again. On the night of the last debate, the most horrific thing happened to me. After my supporters left, I grew quite weary because I had actually prepared for the debate. I sat down on one of the softer seats in the green room, and I fell sound asleep. When I woke up, I heard a terrible howling, and I felt fear. I feared that Illegal Aliens had snuck into the room and were prepared to kidnap me and eat me for dinner. I know that all illegal aliens are cannibals,not to mention ghouls, which is why I want to build a big, expensive wall between the United States and Mexico. It's to save our patriotic Americans from being turned into the main course at a Mexican fiesta.

I felt the urge to scream come on, but I bravely fought it off. All of my campaign staff was gone. How long had I slept. I tried the doors, but they were locked. There was no escape. No one to make speeches to. It was dark, and my cell phone needed to be recharged, and my handlers had forgotten the recharger. I'll have to fire the handlers, when and if I see them again.

I looked out the window, and I saw the red moon, shining like blood in the sky. It was a beautiful moon. A magnificent moon. I understand about beautiful and magnificent because those are two words that will be applied to me when I am elected president.

And then, on a couch, I saw the thing that made my blood run cold. It was my opponent. She had a picture of Al Gore clutched in her horrible looking claws. She had a terrible expression on her face. She grimaced and she said words under her breath. I couldn't understand what she said. She was truly a nasty woman. One of her eyes was open. It was a terrible thing. Pale blue and bloodshot it was in appearance. Although she seemed to be asleep, that eye kept following me where ever I went.

I was good to her during the debate. I was very kind. I tried my best to be kind to such a nasty woman. But now she was having her revenge. Although asleep, she was determined to spill my guts. Her mouth opened and closed, revealing her terrible sharpened teeth. That eye never stopped staring at me.

Stop!!! Now!!! Stop staring at me!

The eye never shut. It was the eye of doom. My doom. No. I can't let her laser eye kill me.

I knew that my life was in peril. This woman, who was supposedly my opponent, was actually my assassin. She had killed before, and she would kill again. The doors were locked, and the walls were closing in on me. I could sense myself going mad, slowly. I had to get rid of this danger, this horrible woman. I tried to avoid looking at that monstrous eye,but I could see, just by looking at those sharpened teeth that the terrifying Hillary was not even human. She was a vampire. A vampire, in league with ghouls and zombies. She would have my blood and she would have my soul. I had to act, and I had to act while the menace was asleep.

I wandered the building fearfully, afraid that other ghouls, zombies, and vampires had hidden where I could least expect them. How could I die in such an ignominious... hey, that's a big word for me!!! Um. horrifying way? I am, after all, the Donald. I have an empire to maintain. I must survive.

I must survive.

I must survive.

I must survive.

Aha! The kitchen. Search the drawers and the cupboards until I find it. The right knife. I went back to the green room,and... 
There was nowhere I could go. I was trapped in this building. Trapped with the knowledge that I had to nullify the threat to me by Killing the Hillary. I approached the Hillary with my knife. She sat bolt upright and howled briefly. Then she screamed, a shrill, terrible scream. She asked, "Who is there?" over and over again. I did not respond. She slumped over, and I killed her. I killed the Hillary.I cut out her heart. The heart of a Nasty woman. No more could she make any sounds. Had she just died or was she already one of the Undead?


I buried her heart under the floor boards.

I don't remember what I did with the body. There is so much of that night that I cannot remember.


Sleep eluded me. How could I sleep while hearing that horrible sound?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It sounded like Trump. Trump. Trump.

The sound was calling to me, blaming me for the death of the Hillary.

But, no, it was a sound that was, at first, faint, and then became louder and louder and louder.

It was the heart of the Hillary, beating like a metronome.

The noise continued, all night, until it became quite a din. It took over my own heartbeat. I was scarcely aware of being a human. I forgot that I was the Mighty and Invincible Donald. I was full of fear. My future had been destroyed by the heart of a Nasty Woman. Neither one of us would ever be president but I had to make sure that her heart stopped making that terrible noise.

And yet, I was powerless.

I was a magnificent, important man who was loved or at least feared by many, but I could not stop the terrible beating of that frightening heart.

Morning approached. I heard the unlocking of doors. A janitor approached to clean the green room. He saw me there, my tie askew and a stubble on my face. He saw the crazed look in my eyes. He ran, screaming.

Not long afterward, two policemen came into the room. I was happy to see them. I love Law and Order. Great TV show.I knew that the policemen would stop the beating of that terrible Nasty Woman heart.

But no.

The noise continued, unabated. Louder and louder. The policemen asked me questions. I could not hear them. I could not hear anything but the beating of that horrible heart. I could bear it no longer.

"I confess! I have killed the Hillary. I buried her heart under the floorboards. Tear them up! There! Right there! Don't you hear? The beating of her hideous heart!!!!"

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Who would you climb a tree to see?

Today, at Saint Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church in Grand Island, New York, Father Earle King talked about Zaccheus, who climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see Jesus. Zaccheus was a short man so he needed to get the advantage of a little extra height. Being "fun sized" myself, I understand this need to get a little extra height. Well, Zaccheus was a tax collector so he wasn't really anyone's favorite person. Zaccheus promised to change his ways and to make restitution to anyone that he had fleeced.

Father Earle asked us this question: Who would you climb a tree to see? Who do you admire so much that you would climb a tree, just to see this person. 

Here are my choices:

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish: An infertility specialist, originally from Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish now lives in Canada. He wrote a book, titled I Shall Not Hate. The book's title is amazing because Dr. Abuelaish, the father of eight children, experienced the worst horror that a parent could experience. Three of his daughters and one of his nieces were killed on January 16th, 2009, by an Israeli shell that hit his house in Gaza. He immediately called a friend and TV broadcaster, Shlomi Eldar, in Israel. His story was broadcast live in Israel. Israeli friends helped evacuate another injured daughter and an injured niece from Gaza.

Dr. Abuelaish grew up in a refugee camp, where he was educated. He went on to medical school and was the first Palestinian doctor to be offered a staff position at an Israeli hospital, where he took care of both Palestinian and Israeli women, who were having issues with infertility.

Dr. Abuelaish founded the "Daughters for Life Foundation" in memory of the three daughters who died: Bessan, Mayar, and Aya. The foundation raises money for girls in the middle east to receive a university education. Most recently, the foundation raised the funds for eighteen refugees (fifteen from Syria and three from Morocco) to learn English at the International Language Academy of Canada and to prepare for university education.

Dr. Abuelaish has called on the people of the Middle East to stop the violence and start talking to one another. He has said that it his hope that his daughters and his niece will be the last sacrifices on the road to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Dr. Abuelaish's dedication to human rights and to life is amazing. Yes, I would climb a tree to see him. 

Two writers: I'd like to meet these two writers, who created fictional worlds that felt more real than reality. The only problem with these books is that they ended. Yes, I would climb a tree to have an opportunity to meet these two writers.
Anthony Doerr: Author of All The Light We Cannot See, set in occupied France during World War II. Beautifully written. The author has the magic touch with words.
Kate Atkinson: Author of Life After Life, set in England and Germany between 1910 and World War II. The main character, Ursula, is born and dies repeatedly. It is an incredibly original, creative book.

My question for you is: Who would you climb a tree to meet? Please tell me about your choices in the comments section and, in a future blog post, I will feature your answers.


Saturday, October 29, 2016

Comments and conversations



Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share their opinions and stories and ideas on my blog posts. You, and everyone who reads this blog, are very much appreciated. Today, I'm going to share and answer some of the comments. 

The "bed and breakfast" post drew these comments:

From Jane: 
I'm coming to your bed & breakfast. The smoothie with an omelet sounds great!

Absolutely, Jane. You are always welcome!

From Alana: 
Having stayed at B&B's several times (a special treat, and probably one we won't enjoy for a while) I can say there are some very creative cooks out there. Your guests (and I) would enjoy that farm fresh omelet. Could tell by the yolk that it was a quality egg as I used to own chickens.

Yes, there are definitely some creative cooks. I've had French toast baked in the oven, egg bake, egg casserole, pancakes with delicious flavorings, crepes, etc. Ooops. I am making myself hungry! There is nothing better than a really good egg. I am so fortunate to be able to buy the eggs right from the farm. Supermarket eggs can be old, and they tend to have thin, brittle shells.

Martha said:
Okay, what time is breakfast, I'm on my ,way! If I had a B&B, my breakfast would be similar. I love making omelets, I mix eggs, chopped onions, ham or bacon and a shredded cheese all together. Just before it's finished cooking, I add a boat load of cheese to the top and let it melt. Since you served a smoothie, I'll serve a nice cup of hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream!

Sounds good! I could go for some hot chocolate, although I think that I would like mushrooms in the omelet, instead of the bacon or ham! Lately, I've become very fond of shittake mushrooms. So delicious!

"LIfe of a a Busy Mommy" shared her favorite breakfast: 
MMM yours sounds great! Mine would be french toast, bacon & eggs over medium cooked in the bacon grease! With a big ole glass of OJ!!! That is my favorite breakfast! A good ole southern country breakfast!
There is something about cooking in bacon grease that really adds to the flavor of the eggs. And freshly squeezed orange juice! Yum!

Vishal suggested: 
Yum! Makes life easy. Toast butter or cake in the morning with coffee works for me.

Yes, a nice Continental breakfast. My next goal is to learn to bake bread. I'm thinking that will be a winter project. Bread baking in the oven makes the house smell good! And fresh-baked bread with butter melting over it? Yummy!

The post on "your travel bucket list" drew these responses:

"LIfe of a Busy Mommy" said: 
One of mine is Hawaii, it looks so beautiful, that is the #1 place on my travel bucket list. thanks for sharing yours!

Yes, Hawaii sounds good. Mountains to climb, beaches to visit, seashells to collect, tropical fruits to pick. Not to mention all of the fabulous photo ops!

"Gigi Eats Celebrities" said: 
Greece and Italy were on my bucket list for a VERY long time and I thankfully was able to just cross them off - YAY!

Number one on my travel list is Africa though. Definitely AFRICA. I ALWAYS have said that if I ever get married, I will go on my honeymoon in Africa. Well... I am getting married in two weeks ;) So um. Ha! My fiance knows this ... I think he MIGHT have something up his sleeve, but who knows! 

At the end of the year I am going to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - stopping in HK (been and it's amazing). So I am pretty stoked about that too!!!! :D

Hmm, all places that I'd like to visit. So much to see and so much to do and so many different cultures to experience. My budget doesn't permit that level of travel but, if it did, I'd be off and running! (I think that I would need a camera upgrade, too, lol!!)

The "what would you say to your teenaged self" drew these responses:

Martha said: 
Wouldn't it be great if we now then what we know now? Excellent letter!

Oh my gosh! Yes, it would be fabulous... or it would be frightening! I would have probably followed a different path, but who knows? Would it have made me happier? I really don't know. But I do wish that I had known how to respond to bullies. I never thought about simply agreeing with them and talking to them in a very blah tone of voice.

Jane said: 
Oh to have the wisdom we have now when we were teens! Now, would I have listened to and taken heed of the recommendations of an older me? Not sure. But they would have at least been food for thought and stored away for when we needed them. I love the letter!

This is only too true. Who knows how our teenaged selves would have responded?

Vishal said: 
Enjoyed reading this letter filled with wisdom and something teens should read.

Thank you so much!! I am fortunate enough to know teenagers, who have much wisdom of their own. I would love to have a letter from them, as well.

Rajashree said: 
It's always everyone's wild wish to go back in time and erase some of our mistakes. But i call this very feeling as 'regret'. Whatever was our decisions back then was due to the situation and our mindsets. And it was something what we felt right at that moment of time.

This is so true. The hope that time can be made circular and that we can have a do-over. There are times when I wish for a do-over of some mistake that I've made. But, then again, I wonder if, perhaps, the mistakes led me to the place that I needed to be. I don't really know. This comment is so full of wisdom because there really is no point in living with regret. The past is over but the future can be invented and can be better, based on the actions of people in the present.

Well, that's it for today! Thank you to everyone who has commented and has shared ideas about life, food, and adventures. I'm going to try to make these conversations a regular feature in this blog so stay tuned and keep sharing your ideas!

Friday, October 28, 2016

A letter to my teenaged self...


Today's blogging challenge is to answer the question: What advice would you give your teenaged self... if you could go back in time and share that advice. So... what advice would I give Alice when she was a teenager?  

I think that I will write her a letter, with a few suggestions from an older human. So... here goes...

Dear Alice,
You don't know me yet. Some day, you will know me quite well, but, right now, I am a stranger to you. I look like you and I have a lot of the same mannerisms that you have, but we are not the same person. Not yet, anyway. I've lived a lot of years and have learned something about life in those years. At least, I'd like to believe that. I think that you know more about life than you believe. I think that you know yourself better than you realize. As I see it, your main challenge is that you don't believe that you understand yourself and your world as well as you do.

With this in mind, I will give you the following suggestions:

  • If bullies say rude, judgmental things to you or about you, consider the source and disregard the comments! Nice, friendly people are not bullies! People who have confidence in themselves are not bullies! You don't need to believe the commentary of a bully. In fact, one way to deflate a bully is to agree with everything that the bully says. Here is a sample conversation:
Bully: You are ugly.
You: Yes, you're right.
Bully: You are really ugly.
You: You could be right about that, too.
Bully: You are stupid.
You: You said it. It must be so.

After a while, the bully will be so frustrated by your lack of reaction and your bland responses that he will give up on you. Once he starts bullying someone else, be kind to the victim of the bully and encourage that victim to respond in the same way that you did. Eventually, the bully will run out of victims and will have to face his own insecurities. And, yes, bullies are insecure. 
  • Enjoy each day as if it is your last. Have fun! Make this moment count. You are living in a beautiful world. Relish nature. Go outside and jump in the leaves. Collect leaves and press them. Write a poem or a story. Remember what you just learned by being in the play, "Auntie Mame." "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." Don't starve when you are surrounded by this sumptuous banquet.
  • Explore your talents. Leave yourself open to discovering something about yourself that you didn't know. Let other people support you and encourage you. You have hidden talents. Let them shine! 
  • Tell people whom you love that you love them. Tell that to them often, even when they are unlovable. Maybe that's when they most need to hear it.
  • Avoid the word "can't." When you say "can't," you are limiting yourself. Other people may propose limits for you, but why should you do that to yourself? Reach for the sky and, who knows? You may catch a little stardust.
  • It's OK to be sad when confronted with sad things and angry when confronted with injustice. Use your passion wisely and channel it well. You have the potential to do great things because you are a passionate person.
Well, that's about it for the next few years.
Remember that you are loved.
Love,
Me







Thursday, October 27, 2016

Oh, to see the world, one step at a time

Today's blogging challenge is about travel. The question was "where would you like to travel? What is on your bucket list?"

Well, I have been fortunate enough to be able to walk long distances and to join groups of people who walk for causes. In June, I walked through rural Illinois with a group. The title of the walk was the de-incarceration walk. We were walking to a prison in Thomson, Illinois, that had been purchased by the federal government from the state. The plan is to convert that prison into a high-security facility ("administrative United States Penitentiary), which will mostly hold prisoners in conditions of solitary confinement. We walked through the beautiful countryside and, when we arrived across the street from the prison, we held a vigil to express our dismay at the idea that human beings could be kept indefinitely in solitary confinement. I would love to see the practice abolished.

Human beings are not meant to be cooped up in little cages or little rooms with thick walls, with nothing but their own thoughts for companions.

Human beings are meant to explore the world and to experience life.

And, so, I choose items from my bucket list that involve lots of walking. Scenic places that are best viewed within touching distance. Spiritual places that are best experienced with an open heart. Below are some of the places that I would like to visit. (The pictures are all of rural Illinois, a great wonder to see and experience.)

The Appalachian Trail: For me, walking the Appalachian Trail (Appalachian National Scenic Trail) would be a dream come true. It is described as the longest hiking-only trail in the world. It spans fourteen states and is 2,190 miles in length. The trail heads are at Springer Mountain, Georgia, and Mount Katahdin, Maine.
The fourteen states are: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The Pacific Crest Trail: This hiking trail of 2,659 miles has, at its southern terminus, the U.S. border with Mexico, just south of Campo, California, and, at its northern terminus, the Canada-U.S. border on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia. The trail spans three states: California, Oregon, and Washington. The route is almost completely within national forests and protected wilderness. It avoids civilization and roads. It passes through the Laguna, Santa Rosa, Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Liebre, Tehachapi, Sierra Nevada, and Klamath ranges in California, and the Cascade range in California, Oregon, and Nevada.

Continental Divide Trail: This is the last of the "triple crown" of hiking, but it looks awfully hard! It spans 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada, following the Continental Divide along the Rocky Mountains.  It is not as well traveled as the other trails because it is very hard!! I'm sure there are great photo ops there and they are well-earned. The trail is actually only 70 percent complete. It traverses five states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Only about 200 persons per year attempt to do the entire trail.

There are connected National Historic Trails, which include the Lewis and Clark trail, the Nez Perce trail, the Pony Express National Historic trail, and the Mormon Pioneer Trail.

El Camino de Santiago: This is a series of trails that takes the walker to the shrine of Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, in northwestern Spain where, according to tradition, the relics are the saint are buried. The most popular trail begins in France at St. Jean Pied de Port.  A few will start in Portugal. People carry a "credencial" or pilgrim's passport and stay in hostels along the route. At each hostel they visit, they receive a stamp on their credencial.

The walk takes between 30 and 45 days, if you take the walk that starts in France. There are shorter routes that start in a variety of location.

People have been taking this pilgrimage for centuries, and part of the main trail actually follows an earlier Roman trade route, which continues to the Atlantic coast of Spain, ending at Cape Finisterre. It is the westernmost point of Spain. "Finisterre" actually means "the end of the world." It was given that name by the Romans, who apparently believed that the Earth was flat and that, if people tried to venture beyond that point, they would topple over the edge of the Earth.

El Camino de Santiago has been declared to be a European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Inca Trail: This is a much shorter walk but a very scenic one. It is located in Peru. It takes four days to complete and is 26 miles (43 km) long. On the route, you will see mountain scenery, cloud forest, subtropical jungle, and a mix of Inca paving stones, ruins, and tunnels. At the end of the walk, you will arrive in Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.

So... what places might be on your bucket list? Please share in the comments section!


21st century slavery: the nightmare of mass incarceration

On Sunday, I saw a movie titled "13th." It is a documentary about mass incarceration, and it was directed by Ava DuVernay. It was an impressive movie that explored the history of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and racism. According to the Pew Research Foundation, the prison population in the United States increased by 700 percent between 1970 and 2005. The United States now has five percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's prison population.

So... are Americans terrible malefactors who asked for this terrible fate... or is something else going on here?
"After a 700-percent increase in the US prison population between 1970 and 2005, you'd think the nation would finally have run out of lawbreakers to put behind bars," said the report by Pew's Public Safety Performance Project.

Apparently not. People who were interviewed in the movie, which included Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, which is about racism and mass incarceration, described prison as a growth industry in the United States. The "war on drugs," combined with a "get tough on crime" mentality in the 1970s and 1980s and beyond, made prison  a very lucrative growth industry.

Some of the prisons are owned by for-profit companies, which have found the incarceration of human beings to be quite lucrative. According to Wikipedia, Corrections Corporation of America was, in 2015, the largest private corrections company in the United States. It manages more than 65 correctional and detention facilities, with more than 90,000 beds in the District of Columbia and nineteen states. In 2012, its total revenue exceeded $1.7 billion.
That is a lot of money. To me, making money off of the incarceration of human beings seems rather perverse. 

When I was in the federal prison camp in Danbury, Connecticut, for crossing the line at Fort Benning, Georgia, to protest against the School of the Americas (more than once), there were several things that I observed:
  • I never once met anyone in prison who could be considered a menace to society
  • Many of the women had children and they were trying to raise their children via 15-minute phone calls each day. They were allowed to talk on the phone (at inflated prices) for 300 hours a month.
  • The women who had issues with drug addiction had to wait until nearly the end of their sentences to get into a residential drug treatment program.
  • Everyone had to work. The pay was very minimal. Inmates were considered to be government property because of this very bizarre loophole in the 13th amendment that said that slavery was outlawed, except as punishment for crime after the "party has been duly convicted." 
  • The food in prison was often served well past its expiration date. Medical care in prison was inadequate, and often borderline malpractice. People in prison were considered to be malingerers who were avoiding work, even when it was obvious that they were seriously ill. I knew several women who died because they did not get adequate, timely health care. 
  • People who went to prison on crack cocaine charges were sentenced to far more prison time than those who went to prison for powdered cocaine charges. This disparity in sentencing was considered to be a blatant example of racism in the criminal justice system that is already racist. Statistics show that one in every fifteen black men and one in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated, as opposed to one in every 106 white men. I also learned that the government cast a wide net in an attempt to catch anyone who might be remotely connected to the illegal drug business. Sometimes, they caught nonparticipants, such as wives, girlfriends, grandmothers, etc. 
  • The nonparticipants were informed that they should have reported the drug dealing family members and that being clueless was not a valid excuse. They were charged with conspiracy and were threatened with draconian sentences unless they agreed to plead guilty and accept a "mandatory minimum sentence," sometimes as long as ten or even twenty years. When someone is charged with conspiracy, the government doesn't actually have to produce evidence, such as the drugs, to link the defendant to the crime. That can be called "guilt by association."
  • Being placed in the segregation unit for a long time caused people to suffer from mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Being locked in a cage for 23 hours a day and having very little human contact, other than a cagemate, is a very difficult way to live. In August 2011, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, concluded that even 15 days in solitary confinement constituted torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. 
  • I learned a lot of gardening skills in prison as a result of my prison job.
  • Many of the women who were in prison with me are now activists who are working to end mass incarceration. They want to make sure that families do not have to suffer from having a parent in prison for many years for "conspiracy."
  • I made friends for life in prison. In August, I went to Washington, D.C., for a reunion of some of the friends that I made in Danbury. We found that, because we had all survived the prison experience, we were truly sisters for life.


Freedom and friendship are good.

Getting ready for a day out.


One of the places that we visited was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King statue in Washington, D.C.




The fun of the selfie.




We also visited the Frederick Douglass museum.

It was an interesting, educational tour. We have all been deprived of our freedom, and we believe that there is a better way to deal with issues of drugs, crime, etc., in our society. Prison does not have to be a growth industry. Really, we can do better for our families.

Question: What are some issues that mean a great deal to you?

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Favorite garden quotations: a day in the garden

Today's blogging challenge was to choose "a favorite quotation" and write about it. I decided to tweak it by choosing two interesting quotations, all about the garden in winter and early spring. Today, I was outside, planting bulbs, which carry the promise of spring. So, here are the quotations, which are about gardens and the experience of winter and spring.

"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size" -- Gertrude S. Wister

"Springtime flowers bloom like colorful arrows piercing their way to the sun" -- Terri Guillemets




Today, I was busily at work in a neighbor's garden, planting bulbs. It's one of the last gardening activities of the year, done in the autumn, when the growing season is almost over.

One of the things that I love about gardening is the whole instant gratification thing. I plant the annuals or perennials, I dig up the weeds, and I prune the shrubbery. I see the results while I'm working. There's no waiting or wondering if the project is going to work. It does work... right away. Planting bulbs is a whole other story. They are planted in the autumn, and there is no sign of growth until late winter or early spring. Once I plant the bulbs, I try to forget about them. When little shoots start popping out of the ground, it is a pleasant surprise because months have passed since I've planted.

Here are a few helpful hints about planting bulbs.

First of all, make sure to choose your bulbs carefully. If you live in an area that has a high deer population, don't plant tulip bulbs. During the winter, the deer will visit your garden and will polish off the bulbs. Deer consider tulips and tulip bulbs to be a great delicacy. They don't like daffodils, though. I guess that daffodils taste bad to them. You are more likely to get a bright yellow garden by planting daffodils. They are a wonderful early spring flower because they are such a happy color, which is pleasant after a long, gray winter.

Plants that grow from bulbs include hyacinth, grape hyacinth, day lilies, amaryllis, lilies, narcissus, iris, and more. They can be planted any time in the autumn before the ground freezes and becomes too hard to dig.

You will see that your bulb has a rounded side and a pointy side. After you've dug your hole, place the bulb in the ground with the pointy side up.


More bulbs, ready to plant.

Here is a smaller bulb, that I interspersed with the large ones, to get a variety of spring plants.

All in all, it was a good day in the garden, albeit a little cold. It was a day to remember that the coming winter season will not last forever and that the promise of spring flowers, which bring such joy, is just a few months away.


Monday, October 24, 2016

The Monday morning coffee chat

Today's blogging challenge was: "If you were sitting on your front porch (cold!) or in a coffee shop (warmer!) with one of your readers, what would you talk about?" 

In the morning, the topic of discussion would probably be food. This is the question that we could each answer:

If you owned a bed and breakfast, what would you like to prepare for your guests for breakfast?

I will go first!

I would make an omelet and a smoothie. Then I would describe how I would prepare the food. Because this is a blog, I can share an illustrated guide to a yummy breakfast that I would prepare for guests at my (imaginary) bed and breakfast.

Making a smoothie is a great way to use up fruit that is too soft for a fruit salad. When you cut up the fruit, it's OK to cut them up into large chunks because they are going to be turned into liquid by the food processor.

And, as a side note, I love my food processor. I bought it at a garage sale for three dollars, and it has served me well. I definitely recommend having a food processor. I also recommend shopping at garage sales. But, anyway, I digress (my hobby).

For this smoothie, I used strawberries and a peach. I chopped them into large chunks and then pureed them in the food processor.



Once the fruit is pureed, I add plain Greek yogurt and a cup of apple cider.

The smoothie is finished...

... and it is ready to drink!

To prepare the omelets, I grate extra sharp cheddar cheese, some white and some orange.

Then I chop some garlic. I purchased this lovely garlic from a local farmer.


This is a big, beautiful, very flavorful locally grown garlic. I was told to store the garlic in a paper bag at room temperature. It was explained that I should not put the garlic in the refrigerator because the garlic could get moldy in a damp environment.

The eggs were also purchased from a person who lives nearby and who has a whole bunch of chickens that enjoy roaming the front yard, the back yard, and the entire grounds of the farm. The chickens are not shy and will walk right up to you and "introduce themselves." From this farm, I get these lovely brown eggs.

I use just one egg for my omelet to get a more crepe-like effect.

I made two omelets at the same time. This is my mom's omelet. She likes to have her omelet made with liquid egg whites. They come in a container like a milk container. They are good only for cooking, not for baking because they are pasteurized. If you want to bake something that calls for egg whites, you need to separate eggs. 


This is my omelet, made with one whole egg. Here are some interesting facts about eggs:
  • eggs from free range chickens have three to four times the amount of vitamin D as eggs from chickens kept indoors
  • the yellow color of egg yolks comes from antioxidants
  • egg whites are full of protein
  • some of the nutrients in an egg include vitamin B12, vitamin B5, phosphorus, vitamin A, and more

My mom's omelet is ready for her!

An omelet and toast, as well as the smoothie, make a delicious breakfast.

Your turn!!! If you had a bed and breakfast, what would you serve for breakfast? Tell me in the comments section, and I will share them in a future blog post.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Your questions... answered!

Yesterday, I invited you to ask questions of me in the comments section, and three individuals took me up on that offer. So... I will answer all three questions in the order in which they were asked.

Alana asked: "I would like to know something about your childhood - what do you think was the experience that most shaped you into the person you are today?"

Answer: That is a great question, Alana, and I had to think for a while about the answer. Some of my childhood experiences were negative. I lived with an undiagnosed disability (sensory and auditory processing disorder) and I was bullied by other kids. I think that the experience helped me to be able to identify with and support the underdog and to have more empathy. But I think that I would choose my participation in theater as something that has helped to make me into the person that I am today. Performing on the stage gave me confidence. It helped me develop my imagination because I was experiencing the world from a perspective other than my own. The theater became a magical place for me, a place where I felt safe and where dreams could come true. Some of the plays that I performed in were:
  • Bury the Dead, by Irwin Shaw. This was an anti-war play about six dead soldiers who rose out of a mass grave to express their horror at the unnamed war in which they were killed. No amount of pleading and cajoling from the people who knew them could get them to go back into their graves. I played the role of one of the wives of the fallen soldiers when I was eleven years old. From this play, I learned about the futility of war. Years later, I became an anti-war activist.
  • Alice in Wonderland. I played the role of the Queen of Hearts. This was pure fun, and I got to say, "Off with her head" over and over and over again. Well, sometimes, I said "off with his head." Because of the absurdity of the language, being in this play, when I was fourteen, helped me enjoy my imagination.
  • Auntie Mame, adapted for the stage by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and based on the novel by Patrick Dennis. This is the "straight play." Most people are familiar with the musical, called "Mame." This play celebrated the free spirit that was Mame. I played the role of Agnes Gooch, who was Mame's secretary. I had a nasal voice and drank a lot of Doctor Pepper. The character actually wore thick glasses, just like me. At one point, I had to walk down a steep flight of stairs, without glasses. I was seventeen when I performed in this high school production. It helped me to appreciate and explore my own free spirit.
Although I never became a professional actor, I think that my theatrical experience has given me the lasting gifts of a free spirit, empathy, and a vivid imagination. I think that I have become much more outgoing because I got on the stage and performed. I still enjoy performing on stage. The above photograph is me on the stage during my dance recital in June, tap dancing to "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing," composed by Duke Ellington.

Martha asked, "I would like to know how.you come up with such exciting fractured fairytale. I love them!"

Answer: About twenty years ago, I was given a book titled Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, by James Finn Garden. The stories were wacky adaptations of fairy tales. Later, I learned another term: "fractured fairy tales." I found them to be hilarious. In fact, I had been composing "fractured fairy tales" for a few years before the book came out, mostly as "creative writing activities" with my nephew when I was babysitting him. In one story, Little Red Riding Hood was at an aerobics class with her grandmother. Unknown to them, the Big Bad Wolf arrived. He threw the grandmother in the closet and dressed up as her and did the aerobics. Little Red Riding Hood was not convinced that her "grandmother" was really her grandmother.

I have always enjoyed "fractured fairy tales" and, this year, I decided to have a little fun with them. One of the tales was actually inspired by a picture of a frog that I took when I was working in a garden. A few others have been inspired by this rather tedious presidential election that we are experiencing. I thought that it would be fun to lampoon the candidates via the genre of "fractured fairy tale." I guess that the stories come from a combination of current events, satire, and overactive imagination. When I wrote my blog, I just make the story up on the spot, sort of like a creative writing exercise. It's loads of fun, and I am really happy that you enjoy them, Martha.

Jean asked: "
What are some of your favorite recipes to bake and why?"

Answer: For me, baking is definitely kitchen fun. The whole process is fun, from gathering the ingredients to the taste test. Here are some of my favorite goodies to bake:
  1. pineapple brownies: What is fun about these is the element of surprise in the brownies. In the middle of the brownie, there is a ribbon of little pineapple chucks. It adds a different flavor to the brownies, and it also adds a nice texture. My mother found the recipe for me in one of her old cook books. It is an old cook book that's full of yummy recipes because it is obviously well used and has to be held together with a rubber band.
  2. coco pink cupcakes: This is a fun and easy recipe. It doesn't require a frosting. Instead, I add nuts and chocolate chips to the top of the cupcake. The chocolate chips become soft and melty during baking and actually make the cupcakes seem as if they were frosted. 
  3. double chocolate chocolate chip cookies: For me, the fun part has been in adjusting the recipe. I turned down the heat in the oven and let the cookies bake a little longer. They are nice and chewy and not hard. I add dark chocolate chips, instead of semi-sweet. Sometimes, I bake the cookies with other stuff, such as M&Ms. It is fun to play and experiment with the cookies. Oh, and the double chocolate part is because I add one-quarter of a cup of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. I like the "special dark" version of the cocoa powder.
  4. banana bread: OK, I admit it. I really enjoy mashing the bananas!!! They are gooey! Goo is fun!
Well, that's all for today. Once again, thank you, Alana, Martha, and Jean for asking these questions. One of these days, I'll do another question and answer session! Bye bye for now!