throwback thursday

It's that time of year when the streets are lined with leaf piles and the leaf trucks come by to suck them up to take them to the city's compost pile. 

In our former house, we had a few trees in our yard, our neighbors had a lot of trees and those leaves blew into our yard. We also had two big dogs and their droppings got covered by the leaves. A Facebook memory from eight years ago popped up and it brought a smile and chuckle. 

It's that time of year...

In the backyard we have a small hill, nicknamed Turd Hill, where Ted and Hunter typically stop and drop. Yesterday was the day for fall clean up and the hill was covered with leaves and the dogs' land mines (they're 150 and 90 pounds. No little Tootsie Rolls from these guys!). It was a lovely day, not a crappy day, to work outside. 6 hours later my yard and gardens were clean, my boots have been scraped and scrubbed, and yes, I was pooped!

wednesdays words and wanderings and wonderings

One of my favorite pans...my kids gave it to me many years ago for Mother's Day. It's big and was a favorite for stir fries, cooking down tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce, making sausage gravy for the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas breakfasts of biscuits and gravy - so much cooking and so many memories in that pan. And now I can't use it. I have a new induction stove and this is a stainless steel pan. The pan and the stove aren't compatible. Lots of life and life in that 5 quart pan.

This past week has been full of changes. My daughter and son-in-law moved to their new home that they purchased. It's lovely and even with the stress of moving, they are beginning to build new memories. Todd and I went to Chicago to help with the move. As my daughter and I were packing up the nursery, I got a  little lump in my throat. This was the room the kids so lovingly decorated in a cute jungle theme for their son to come home to, this is where the new parents rocked their baby for the late night feedings, the room where he recovered from his heart surgery. Lots of love and life in that baby's room as well as the rest of their former home. 

Now that we're back from Chicago, the moving stuff bug is still with me and I've been moving lots of stuff from the china closet to my new kitchen cabinets. Wow...three sets of china - the set that I got when we were married, a Christmas set from my mom, and another pretty set with ivy and thistles, once again compliments of my mom. They don't get much use but I'm not ready to get rid of them just yet. I've used them an Thanksgiving and Christmas, at bridal and baby showers, and during COVID just to set a pretty table. Lots of special times around the table with those dishes. And now with the empty china closet, Todd can store some of his office "stuff" in there to clear up his small space.

Times of transition are strenuous a time for reflection and and time for looking forward. They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and be intentional about new habits. We are creating a new normal.

parallel parking

When we visit our Chicago kids, we always park in the street. They each have a garage space for their car, parking garages aren't nearby, and even if they were, it would be very expensive to park in one.

My girls amaze me. They're parallel parking ninjas...masters of their environment. They can squeeze a car into a tiny spot in a back-in-straighten-it-out-motion. I need a few more attempts. If I don't have an audience, I can parallel park. It's the pressure of being watched or a car needing to pass by that puts me in a tizzy. Come to find out there's a word for the fear of parallel parking - parallelophobia. Hitting another car isn't the most common fear of parallel parking; it's holding up traffic. Having someone blast their horn while I'm trying to park is enough to make me say, "Forget this," and go find another spot. But deep breath, they can wait because chances are they'll never see me again.

monday's mulling:

Speeding up I-65 just north of Lafayette, Indiana, you can’t miss the tall, white windmills reaching to the sky. Less than 20 years ago, this area was just another stretch of flat farmland used for growing corn and soybeans. Since 2008, boosted by federal and local tax incentives, wind turbines have become an increasingly prominent part of the northern Indiana landscape.

This 20 mile stretch of 3-armed sentinels begins in Benton County, Indiana, and ends at the White County line, where Eastern Standard Time ends and Central Standard Time begins. Todd and I always check to see whose iPhone changes to CST first. (Mine does - he has a much older model, but is getting a new one soon. Then we'll see whose phone will "win").  The turbines also signal the last leg on our trip to Chicago.

Chicago was our home away from home Wednesday night to Sunday. Our daughter and son-in-law bought a house and we were there to help with all that a move entails: cleaning, packing, moving boxes from one house to the other, and taking care of sweet little grandson. This was a work trip so no photos from Chicago, not even of the cool mural that is across the street and down a few houses from the kids' new home.

On the drive home on I-65, a magnificent sunset graced the sky. The sun was a fiery red ball and illuminated the clouds with many different colors as it dropped to the horizon. We arrived at the windmills on the sun's last half hour of its descent and as we buzzed along at 80 mph, that's when the only photos from our trip happened. 

be back monday 💜

 

good things come in threes

Patricia Saxton and I first crossed paths at Wittenberg University when we joined the same sorority. She was an art major, had a free spirit vibe about her and also a depth in her personality that was (and still is) intuitive and disciplined. She had an eye for detail that brought something extra special to her art. After graduation, we lost touch but reconnected at Homecoming a few years ago. Thanks to that meet up at Homecoming and then social media, we have stayed in touch. She used to live in New Jersey and whenever we went to New York City, she would come to the city for the day and she and I would have fun walking, exploring, and talking. A few years ago Pat moved to Sedona and exhibits her art at the Rumi Tree Art Gallery and the Sedona Arts Center. One of these days I will take a trip to Sedona, hang out in her art studio, and hike around the Red Rocks with her.

This very successful artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and author sends out a monthly newsletter and she tells us what's going on in her life. This time around she talked about how good things come in threes and created a little piece of art to accompany it.

GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES

Things like… Primary Colors (red, yellow, blue). Primary Shapes (circle, square, triangle). Dimensions (length, width, height). Stooges (Larry, Curly, Moe). Stories (beginning, middle, end). Triathalons (run, swim, bike). Rock, Paper, Scissors (obvious). French Hens (not 2, not 4, but 3 of 'em!). Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Days (morning, afternoon, night). Olympic Medals (gold, silver, bronze). Atoms (protons neutrons, electrons). And so on…

~ Patricia Saxton

 ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃ ᱃

And so on...

Art and words come together to make people think and so I the wheels started to turn. What are other things that come in threes? Without googling, here's what I thought of:

The Three Musketeers (Porthos, Athos, Aramis). Three Blind Mice (see how they run). The Three Bears (Mama, Papa, Baby). Rock Types (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary). Branches of Government (executive, legislative, judicial). Greek architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian). 

I hope that three good things come your way today!

wednesday's words and wonderings and wanderings

Working at the farm is done until next May. Whenever I drive out of my neighborhood onto Far Hills Avenue, a message pops up on my phone, "13 minutes to your destination." Driving to Treadway Gardens was a regular routine for the past five months but it's kind of creepy that my phone thinks it knows where I'm going. 

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I usually go to yoga 3-4 time a week but going to yoga took a backseat during my employment. Now that my job is over, I have returned to the studio. I was always moving while working at the farm. Moving through a yoga sequence is a different kind of movement and different kind of focus. I have come to realize that being at both, the farm and the yoga studio, is good for the mind, body, and spirit. 

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Todd and I are going to Chicago on Thursday. Our daughter and son-in-law bought a house four blocks from where they currently live in the Ukrainian Village. They've been moving a lot of small stuff to their new home and the moving truck is coming on the 15th to move the big items. Todd will help them move the rest of the small items and I will look after my 9-month old little sweetheart grandson. 

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We have season tickets for the University of Dayton mens' basketball season. The Flyers played Northwestern on Saturday and after the first half I was ready to go home. Northwestern shut them down. During the second half Dayton had moments of getting their act together and then Northwestern overpowered them. With six minutes left, UD hit a hot streak, Northwestern went cold, and Dayton won by 5 points. The crowd was loUD and proUD!

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Todd went to dinner with some friends and while he dined with his buddies, I fixed a tomato sandwich with the last fresh tomato I brought home from the farm. Duke's is my mayo of choice. This sandwich tasted extra good.

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It's also time to focus on Thanksgiving. My house will be filled with the people I love the most from the day before Thanksgiving until the Sunday afterward - all 12 of us plus Spanky the dog. Right now it's time for endless to-do lists, day-to-day charts of stuff that needs to be done, and menus for each day. Most times I'm good at going by the seat of my pants but for the Thanksgiving weekend I need lists, lots of lists.