harriet powers stamps

The post office got me again with the recent issue of stamps that celebrate Harriet Powers' quilts. I went in to mail a letter that required extra postage and came out with two sheets of Harriet Powers quilt making stamps.

Harriet Powers was an African American quilt maker born into slavery in 1837 in rural northeast Georgia. She most likely learned her sewing and quilt-making skills on the plantation where she was enslaved.

After emancipation, she lived and worked near Athens, and over time became known for the remarkable pictorial quilts she created - quilts full of symbolism that read like illustrated panels that tell a narrative story. Powers used her quilting as a way to preserve her faith, her African American culture, and her own personal story.

Only two of her quilts are known to survive today, but those two works have become cornerstones in the story of American quilting - especially the tradition of story quilts. Each of the blocks in her quilts is its own little scene, almost like a storyboard.

Today one of Harriet Powers’ quilts is in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The other is housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

History is told in many forms - through oral traditions, written narratives, documentary films, museum exhibitions, performance, art, and digital storytelling - all working to humanize the past. But what could be more intimate, more deeply human, than being wrapped in a handmade quilt, feeling the care, intention, and love stitched into every piece of fabric?

the friday feed: an irish meal

"For the whole world is Irish on the Seventeenth o' March!" – Thomas Augustine Daly

Every March 17, the United States turns emerald for a day. Americans wear green clothes and raise glasses of green beer. Menus fill with green milkshakes, bagels, even grits. In a bit of leprechaun-worthy mischief, Chicago dyes its river green.

I’ll wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, but skip the dyed drinks and foods. I’ve been in Chicago for the occasion, walking along that famously green river.

My own celebration happens in the kitchen. This year’s meal: corned beef, colcannon twice-baked potatoes, and roasted cabbage, carrots, and parsnips - traditional fare with a few twists.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!

sunflowers!

Not complaining, but I'm definitely over winter. To shake off the funk, I ordered some Crème Brûlée sunflower seeds from Burpee. Honestly, how could I not? Crème brûlée is one of my favorite desserts.

The catalog's description was the icing on the cake: "Bound to be the sweetest, most sophisticated sunflower on your block. Elegant crowns of golden-yellow petals surround fluffy, amber-bronze centers – a floral reflection of the caramelized sugar atop dessert classic ‘crème brûlée’. Refined plants stand 4-5’ tall with a bushy, branching habit and a continuous bounty of blooms. If you’re craving something new and spectacular for your border, this sunflower is for you."

Now I'm craving créme brûlée!

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

On the road last weekend to watch some college basketball. The Dayton Flyers belong to the A-10 Conference and we made the trek to PPG Arena in Pittsburgh to watch our Flyers in their tournament games. The road to March Madness begins

Back in the day of traveling from the Midwest to visit my grandparents in New Jersey, we always took the Pennsylvania Turnpike which primarily cuts through the Appalachian Mountains. It was a long, boring drive for four young children but what got us through the tedium of the drive were the stops at the service plazas and going through the tunnels that were cut through the mountains. We always looked forward to the Kittatinny and Blue Mountain Tunnels - one right after the other. 

On the drive to Pittsburgh didn't take us on the Pennslvania Turnpike but we did get to drive through two tunnels, one in Wheeling, WVA, and one right before getting to Pittsburgh. That little kid excitement of going through these tunnels is still there.

My son and grandson joined us to watch the games. 3 1/2 year old Owen could watch only so much basketball so to help him get his wiggles out we went up and down the escalators too many times to count. "Let's do it again, Didi!"

All smiles after an exciting win to get into the championship game. We beat #1 seeded Saint Louis University by one point in the last .5 second.

Nothing like a messy red, white, and blue popsicle to keep a kid happy!

One of Pittsburgh's nicknames is the Confluence City. Three rivers converge at Point State Park. The Allegheny River is in the forefront of this photo, the barge is starting its voyage down the Monongahela River, and Point State Park where the concrete platform comes out into the rivers marks where the Ohio River begins. 

Pittsburgh is also known as the City of Bridges. It has 446 bridges, which is more than any other city in the world.

While walking around Pittsburgh I saw lots of references to "Yinz" and "Yinzer." Come to find out "yinz" is equivalent to "you all" or "y'all." It originated from the Scottish-Irish immigrants who used "you ones" (or "you'uns") and it evolved into a signature phrase of "Pittsburghese" dialect. A person who speaks this way is often called a "Yinzer." 

We arrived home Sunday night and then in the wee hours of Monday morning, I woke to the sound of howling winds and rain slamming into the house. Very scary. No tornado sirens going off but it was enough to keep me awake for a couple hours. Monday morning my neighbor was in the street with his chain saw cutting up a huge branch that had broken from his old, massive tree and was blocking the street. He wanted to clear a path before the school bus arrived. He got a lane open and then the city street crew arrived to finish the job.

The storm caused our power to go out for a few hours and our wifi was out for most of the day. My son's power was out longer than ours so he came over to do his laundry. It was nice to have him around and have a catch up visit. I invited him and his wife to come over for dinner. I wanted to surf the 'net for some dinner ideas and got shut down because of no wifi. So I went old school and thumbed through a lot of cookbooks. It was like becoming reacquainted with old friends. I do love my cookbooks and got a lot of smiles from finding old favorites and just being taken back to how I used to plan meals when the internet wasn't around. I found a recipe and prepared Chicken Cacciatore from Cucina Povera. Comfort food that came from the stress of a storm.

st. patrick's day

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go. ~ Irish Blessing

Oh, the music in the air!
An’ the joy that’s ivrywhere –
Shure, the whole blue vault of heaven is wan grand triumphal arch,
An’ the earth below is gay
Wid its tender green th’-day,
Fur the whole world is Irish on the Seventeenth o’ March!

~Thomas Augustin Daly

monday's mulling: shine!

Walt Whitman believed that life should be lived fully, authentically, and joyfully. In this short and concise thought he’s essentially saying:

You can choose any path in life.

The specific activity matters less than the spirit behind it.

What truly matters is that your actions create genuine joy, vitality, and meaning.

Whatever you choose to do in life - work, art, love, travel, learning - make sure it fills you with a sense of joy and aliveness. 

In other words, don’t just exist - live in a way that lights you up!

"donut" fear the ides of march