wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Here it is - October 7, the first complete week of October. In the blink of an eye, we'll be handing out Halloween candy to the trick-or-treaters.

This past week, we were back in Cleveland for a few days. The Browns played the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Thursday night game. Todd, Andrew, and Jennifer went to the game, while I was on Grandma duty, babysitting the little ones.

Owen, Hallie, and I took a nice, long walk and collected autumn leaves and rocks, played in the backyard, and then the kids ate dinner and cleaned their plates (they even asked for seconds!). After dinner came bath time, and soon after, bedtime. That's where things fell apart. Two little grandkids against one grandma. Let's just say they got to bed a little later than usual. In the big picture, one late bedtime isn't going to disrupt their schedules. And the beat goes on...

Another reason for our trip to Cleveland was to attend Grandparents' Day at Owen and Hallie's daycare. I will accept any invitation to spend time with my grandkids and be part of their lives. I just want to be there to share in their adventures.

It's that time of year again... PUMPKIN-ZILLA! And I do believe this is the biggest one yet. The plan is for this big guy to make it through Halloween and Thanksgiving. Once Thanksgiving is over, it will get wrapped in Christmas lights.

The monarchs are still migrating, and the zinnias at the farm are still in bloom. The monarchs flit from flower to flower, resting their wings and gathering whatever pollen is left for their journey south. These beautiful butterflies still have a long way to go before reaching their winter home in the high-altitude mountain forests of central Mexico.

October carries on - continuing the big pumpkin tradition, monarchs heading south, leaves changing color, and plenty of grandkid adventures along the way.

color

Sometimes we don’t realize just how much color impacts our lives.

For me, color is an important part of how I experience the world — whether I’m wandering through a museum, hiking in nature, exploring a city, taking in public art, shopping for food or clothes, choosing art for my walls, or simply noticing the changing colors of the seasons.

Color is everywhere, constantly shaping our surroundings and influencing how we feel. We shouldn’t underestimate its power.

Take a moment to slow down and appreciate the colors in your life. Notice them. Let them inspire you. You might be surprised by how much they add to your everyday experience.

 

monday's mulling: dandelions and autumn leaves

What started out as an "ohmygosh...dandelions and pretty fall leaves together" moment lead to some deeper thinking. There's complexity in simplicity.

Dandelions represent the resilience of spring and summer while autumn leaves represent surrender and letting go. Together, they symbolize that rare junction in life: the choice between fighting to hold on or finding the courage to release.

Both dandelions (at their white seed puff stage) and autumn leaves rely on the wind to fulfill their purpose. The leaves fly to give the tree rest, and the dandelion seeds scatter to carry future wishes.

Letting go and holding on are not always opposites. Sometimes resilience means staying rooted and continuing to bloom; other times, it means releasing what we have known and trusting that something new will take root. The beauty lies in knowing when to do each.

 

art comes in many forms

Our visit to the Cincinnati Art Museum a couple weekends ago was to see the Yayoi Kusama pumpkins exhibit. It was a timed exhibit. We were allowed to view the pumpkins for 90 seconds and then leave in order for the next two people to have their turn. 

We then strolled through the museum marveling first at the Great Hall and Main Lobby with its sweeping staircase and then to the Cincinnati Wing, which has the nation's first permanent museum display dedicated exclusively to the artistic heritage of a single American city. This wing features Cincinnati artists and the famous Rookwood pottery collection. We spent a lot of time here because of our familiarity of the area and its history. We then walked through the Near East and Ancient Art collections with wonder and awe of the age of the pieces in this gallery. There’s something humbling about standing in front of an object that has survived for centuries, or even millennia.

We ended our visit in the Special Exhibition/Feature Spaces that is a rotating gallery. This work, Untitled (Fondly, to Helen), by Dan Flavin caught my eye because it's a bright fluorescent light tucked into a corner where two walls meet the floor. What the heck is a fluorescent light doing in a museum instead of an office or a basement or a classroom? For me it was difficult to get past its everyday function and see it as art. But perhaps that’s the point. Flavin is teaching us that no object is inherently mundane and boring. It just waits for a visionary person to see it in a new way and then share it. 

So...any visionaries out there?

 

who are...?

Life is full of surprises! On the September 21 episode of Jeopardy, the following question stumped all three of the contestants. The $400 clue in the "Together Forever" category read: 

Who are...? 

Orville is buried to the left of Katharine and Wilbur to the right. Four other family members are buried in this plot as well: Bishop Milton Wright, Father (1828 - 1917), Susan Wright, Mother (1831 - 1889), Otis Wright and Ida Wright, infant twin brother and sister to Orville, Katharine, and Wilbur (1870).

Did you know the "Wright" answer?

the friday feed: skillet cabbage and white bean pancake

This recipe for Skillet Cabbage and White Bean Pancake recently popped up on a Food Network page, and it immediately caught my eye. I love all the ingredients - cabbage, cannellini beans, and green onion. I took the liberty of adding some red bell pepper and half a jalapeño. And since I didn't have a green onion, I used red onion instead. Todd wasn't home for dinner on Wednesday, so this recipe became my dinner.

Recently, people on social media have been complaining about restaurants using AI-generated photos to showcase their food. You can be assured that this one came straight from my kitchen, photographed with my own camera. The finished product isn't exactly pretty. The pancake didn't slide out of the skillet nearly as easily as it did for the chef demonstrating the technique. But it was very tasty, especially with some of my homemade basil-garlic butter melting over the top.

The next time I make this, I'm going to make smaller pancakes. They'll be a lot prettier than the big one, and easier to get out of the skillet.

And in case you're dying to make this, here's the recipe.

Skillet Cabbage and White Bean Pancake

1 cup shredded green cabbage (sliced very thin)

½ cup canned white beans (cannellini or Great Northern), drained and mashed with a fork

1 large egg (to bind the mixture)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or chickpea flour

1 green onion (scallion), thinly sliced

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil or butter (for the skillet)

Mix the batter: In a medium bowl, combine the mashed white beans and the shredded cabbage. Add the sliced green onion, egg, flour, salt, and pepper. Stir well with a fork until a thick, cohesive batter forms. Let it rest for 3 minutes so the flour absorbs any extra moisture.

Heat the skillet: Place a 10-inch cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil or butter and let it melt and coat the bottom of the pan.

Form the pancake: Pour the cabbage and bean mixture into the center of the hot skillet. Use a spatula to press and shape it into a flat, even round pancake.

Cook until crisp: Cook undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes until the bottom is deeply golden brown and crisp.

Flip and finish: Carefully flip the pancake using a large spatula. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until the other side is browned and the center is fully set. Transfer to a plate and serve warm.

october 1

 "Oh my gourd! It's October already." 

Please enjoy this poem by Dayton, Ohio native, Paul Laurence Dunbar. In this poem PLD rejects the traditional view that autumn is a sad or dying season and instead celebrates it as a joyful, vibrant high point of the year. He also views autumn not as an ending, but as the "highest time of living” - a time so full of joy and cheer that it naturally flows into a feeling of gratitude and thanksgiving.

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Merry Autumn

by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1893)

It’s all a farce,—these tales they tell

     About the breezes sighing,

And moans astir o’er field and dell,

     Because the year is dying.

 

Such principles are most absurd,—

     I care not who first taught ’em;

There’s nothing known to beast or bird

     To make a solemn autumn.

 

In solemn times, when grief holds sway

     With countenance distressing,

You’ll note the more of black and gray

     Will then be used in dressing.

 

Now purple tints are all around;

     The sky is blue and mellow;

And e’en the grasses turn the ground

     From modest green to yellow.

 

The seed burrs all with laughter crack

     On featherweed and jimson;

And leaves that should be dressed in black

     Are all decked out in crimson.

 

A butterfly goes winging by;

     A singing bird comes after;

And Nature, all from earth to sky,

     Is bubbling o’er with laughter.

 

The ripples wimple on the rills,

     Like sparkling little lasses;

The sunlight runs along the hills,

     And laughs among the grasses.

 

The earth is just so full of fun

     It really can’t contain it;

And streams of mirth so freely run

     The heavens seem to rain it.

 

Don’t talk to me of solemn days

     In autumn’s time of splendor,

Because the sun shows fewer rays,

     And these grow slant and slender.

 

Why, it’s the climax of the year,—

     The highest time of living!—

Till naturally its bursting cheer

     Just melts into thanksgiving.