the good rx

When the world is upside down and out-of-focus, a hike along a muddy trail in the fresh air and sunshine does wonders.

I took this photo back in 2020, when COVID had shut the world down and we were confined mainly to our homes. For a while the MetroParks were closed but once the nicer weather rolled around it was evident that being outside in the fresh air, sunshine, and being surrounded by Mother Nature's glory and wonder, was good medicine and good for the soul.

Fast forward 5 years - 2025. COVID is a bad memory and the MetroParks are still a calming escape for today's crazy, upside down, who-knows-what-the-hell-is going-to-happen-next world.

the friday feed: clean-out-the-veggie-bin salad

My very favorite grocery store has a salad on its salad bar that is filled with all kinds of vegetables and the dressing is a delicious off-the-shelf vinaigrette called Garlic Expressions. (Pickled garlic cloves are in this dressing...yum!) I've purchased this salad a few times and always think, "This would be so easy to make," and so the other day after looking at the veggie bin, it was time to get out my favorite knife and start chopping away. It was one of those salads that started out small but grew and grew and grew. A half bag of spinach, broccoli bits, red and orange peppers, cherry tomatoes, a couple carrots, mushrooms, red onion, pea pods, cauliflower topped with the Garlic Expressions dressing filled my largest salad bowl. Todd and I had this with dinner and barely put a dent in this pile of produce. I took some to my son's fianceé, the next day had some for lunch, and then finally polished the last of it off at dinner. If you want to use up vegetables and get the recommended daily portions intake, this is a tasty and easy way to go.

Who hasn't spent time

brushing their cutting board of

cauliflower bits?

a sweet find

The other day I found one of my mom's jewelry boxes from when she was a young girl. It's been packed away for a long time and it was one of those moments where I took my time to look at each item: religious medals, a couple pair of screw-on enamel earrings, a 1949 class ring, her Salutatorian medal from high school, a stopwatch, an ID bracelet, thimbles, brooches, and a sweet note from her brother before he left to attend law school. He was seven years older than she was. He was a teaser, she was feisty, and with their age difference they knew how to get on each other's nerves. In the end, love won out. Such a sweet big brother to little sister love letter.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

At the Dayton Art Institute visitors are greeted by John Safer's Pathway. This outdoor sculpture towers 70 feet high and suggests the pathway of humans into space. Kind of appropriate for the home of the Wright Brothers. Last week Sharon from Phoenix Daily Photo made a post, Scenes from an Art Fair, where she photographed a similar sculpture. I wonder if it could be the same artist?

I took a walk at Woodland Cemetery where many of the Who's Who of Dayton are buried. Erma Bombeck's grave is just a few steps in from the entrance gate. Erma graduated from the University of Dayton, got married, worked, and raised her family in Dayton. She and her husband moved to Arizona This 29,000 pound rock is a monument to her grave. It was brought by flat-bed truck from her home in Arizona so she could have a piece of the Southwest in her first home.

The plaque on the rock says, "I've seen the motherhood role played by men, grandparents, friends, aunts, and even social workers. It doesn't matter who plays it. What does matter is that when the curtain goes up each day, someone is there to dazzle, ad-lib, support, comfort, listen, and fulfill whatever I feel is the most important role I'll ever be offered in my life. It's the only one I'll be remembered for." - Erma Bombeck

The Wright Family plot. Orville, Katharine, and Wilbur Wright's gravestones are in the front with their parents behind them.

Another favorite grave marker at Woodland, Johnny Morehouse with his dog and toys. Johnny, the youngest son of John and Mary Morehouse, lived with his parents in Dayton, Ohio in the back of his father's shoe repair shop. Legend has it that Johnny accidentally fell into the Miami & Erie canal one day while he was playing and froze to death, despite his faithful dog's efforts to pull him out. After he was buried, the dog laid on his grave site and wouldn't be moved. A special stone was made in 1861 to commemorate Johnny's dog's devotion.

Woodland Cemetery also has the highest point in Dayton where visitors can get a view of the city's skyline from the east.

This year begins my third year for volunteering with the MetroParks. I sign up to work at the downtown parks working in the gardens. This year the volunteering opened up earlier than the past two years. Dayton is hosting the Spring 2025 NATO Parliamentary Assembly May 23-26 and a little extra time is needed to get these parks in tip top shape for all these visitors. This downtown view is from Deeds Point. The tower to the right is one of the five fountains that shoots water at the confluence of the Great Miami and Mad Rivers.

And last, do you remember doing this? What a way to get the last word in!

national poetry month and april fools

April is National Poetry Month, an annual celebration launched in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry. Every Tuesday for this month and perhaps some other days, too, I will share a poem to make you think and wonder, and hopefully give you a smile through this form of literary art.

Refugees

by Brian Bilston

They have no need of our help So do not tell me These haggard faces could belong to you or I Should life have dealt a different hand We need to see them for who they really are Chancers and scroungers Layabouts and loungers With bombs up their sleeves Cut-throats and thieves They are not Welcome here We should make them Go back to where they came from They cannot Share our food Share our homes Share our countries Instead let us Build a wall to keep them out It is not okay to say These are people just like us A place should only belong to those who are born there Do not be so stupid to think that The world can be looked at another way   (Now read from bottom to top.)

I'll bet that when you were about halfway through this poem you thought, "Wow. Why would she share a poem like this? Is she really one of those cold hearted people?"  

Then you read the poem again, from the bottom up, and you think, Wow! How did Brian Bilston pull this off?"

Reverse poetry is a poem that can be read forwards (top to bottom) and have one meaning, but can also be read backwards (bottom to top) and have a different meaning. One poem offering two perspectives is very powerful. 

monday's mulling: the first big spring storm

Three days ago the hype from the weather forecasters began regarding the dangerous storm that would hit the Miami Valley Saturday night. Todd was going out of town for a few days, leaving late Saturday afternoon, and all I could think of was, "Great. Six months ago he was gone when the remnants of Hurricane Helene blew through here and I was alone, without power for 30 hours. Is this going to be another here-we-go-again story?" My next thought was, "If we lose power this time we are buying a generator."

Leading up to the storm, the day was pleasant. I raked some leaves from a couple garden beds, went for a quick hike at Hills and Dales, stopped by the grocery store to get a couple ingredients to make Dal, a lentil-based soup. My rationale to make this? If the power went out, I would have a legume/vegetable based meal that would last for 30 hours wouldn't spoil. Plus it's tasty and comforting (at least to me, it is) and if there was any storm damage, I could drown my sorrows in a bowl of Dal. I did put my corkscrew in the wine refrigerator (of course the wine would be protected in there).  Priorities, you know. My mind was going every which way.

At 8:30 all the local TV stations interrupted regular programming to track the upcoming storm. It was getting close south of here and lightening showed up in the sky. I went outside to check things out and the night sky was clear with some clouds, the wind was starting to pick up. Some stars and planets were visible so of course I opened the Night Sky app and found Jupiter and Mars. With those sightings, I was content to go back in the house. Ten minutes later, the sky opened up with torrential rain and the winds howled. The weather man reported that there had been a 74 mph gust of wind at a location two miles from my house. 

The weather drama shifted to the reporters who were driving around out in this storm to give live reports. Why would the powers that be send people out in these dangerous conditions? Ratings and real-life footage and those who want to keep their jobs.

Anyway, it took 30 minutes for the storm to pass, there were no confirmed tornadoes and Monday when it's light people will be able to assess the damage. At 9:32 pm (21:32) the weather threat was over and the weather specialist passed along these comforting words, "You all can go to sleep now." Not yet, I poured a glass of wine.

I had a different post planned for today but bumped it to next Monday's Mulling.

the daffodil house

"And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils..."

A sea of daffodils brightens the drive along Ridgeway Road. These first spring flowers bring a sense of hope and new beginnings as they emerge from winter to herald the arrival of spring and a fresh start. A gentle breeze blew and daffodil perfume filled the air. I just stood there and enjoyed the moment.