hey, little cutie

This photo is self-explanatory.

#someonecomegettheirdoggy

Someone is missing his or her stuffy. Thank you to the good samaritan who rescued this sweet little pup from the sidewalk.

 

the friday feed: apple cake

I love apple pie, but I don't bake pies. My mom was an amazing pie baker, but that gene didn't pass down to me. My favorite fall dessert to bake is apple cake.

October 31 was the farm's last day of business for 2026, and I made an apple cake to take in to celebrate the end of the season. I've had this recipe for almost 50 years.

I got the recipe while working at my first job out of college as a paralegal. The week before Thanksgiving, one of the other paralegals brought an apple cake to share with everyone who worked on our floor. Oh my, it was delicious! It ranked right up there with Mom's apple pie.

This cake always takes me back to those early working years: driving my VW Rabbit or taking the bus downtown, the things I learned, and the transition from college student to young professional. I remember realizing that the bosses' secretaries were the ones who really ran the ship, figuring out who to avoid at the office Christmas party, and making friendships along the way. There were late nights preparing for trials, out-of-town trips to clients' businesses, and being recognized for my research skills. After five years on the job, the decision came to stay home after my son was born.

So much of those work days comes back with making this cake The workplace was a very different place back then. We gathered in offices, shared coffee breaks, celebrated birthdays, exchanged recipes, and got to know one another in ways that just happened when we worked side by side.

It makes me wonder if today's work-from-home generation has those same opportunities to make connections with coworkers, share favorite recipes, and discover that someone down the hall makes an apple cake worth keeping for 50 years.

thursday's thought for the day

Autumn isn't really about endings. It's about having the courage to change, the grace to let go, to make room for what comes next, and the faith that something beautiful will grow again. 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Back on October 29, which was my son’s birthday, Neil, the creator of the blog Yorkshire Pudding, published a post titled “"Quotations.".” He wrote about The Quotation Dictionary and how he used it when writing academic essays as a student at the University of Stirling in Scotland back in the 1970s. He still has that book.

In that respect, Neil and I are kindred spirits. I, too, have held on to some of the old reference books from my college days. And just recently, I added another one to my collection when I purchased a Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language at a friend’s garage sale.

My love for dictionaries goes back to fifth and sixth grades. When the class was  learning how to use one, our teacher gave us a weekly exercise involving our spelling words. First, we had to alphabetize the words in our spelling books. Then we would take out a couple of sheets of paper, look up each word in the dictionary, write it down, underline it, identify its part of speech, indicate its syllabication, and finally write its definition. Whatever we didn’t finish in class became homework.

There was plenty of moaning and groaning from some of my classmates, but not from me. I actually enjoyed the exercise. I liked searching for the words, discovering their meanings, and learning something new along the way. Looking back, those assignments probably helped develop my appreciation for words and the English language.

Now, back to my Webster’s Dictionary. It is an absolute giant! The pages measure 8 by 11 inches, and the book is 5.5 inches thick. There are 2,006 pages devoted just to A-to-Z words and their definitions. But that’s not all. It also contains sections listing the populations of U.S. cities and foreign cities, information about U.S. presidents, maps of countries, a digest of the purposes of current federal agencies, and so much more. This eight-pound tome is practically a reference library all by itself.

I imagine that most students today rarely, if ever, use a physical dictionary. With resources such as Merriam-Webster Online, Dictionary.com, the Cambridge Dictionary, and the Oxford English Dictionary, definitions, word origins, and thesaurus tools are just a few clicks or taps away. Information is instantly available at their fingertips, without having to thumb through page after page to find what they need.

And while I appreciate the convenience of online dictionaries, there is something special about holding a big, old-fashioned dictionary in your hands. You can open it to look up one word and, before you know it, find yourself exploring several others along the way. Sometimes the words you stumble upon are just as interesting as the one you originally set out to find.

That's what I miss most about the physical dictionary: the journey of discovery. Looking up a word was never just about finding a definition. It was about learning, exploring, and occasionally getting sidetracked. Technology may have made finding words faster, but I think there is still room on the bookshelf for a good old dictionary.

 

text messages are driving me bonkers

And I truly truly truly truly truly will never send you any money because you have no idea what a comma is. 

día de los muertos/day 2

Today, November 2, is the second day of Día de Los Muertos, dedicated to honoring adult family members and ancestors.

Pilsen is a Chicago neighborhood, rich in Hispanic culture, and wherever you walk you're greeted by a sensory feast with fabulous murals for the eyes, music for the ears, and the smell of foods to entice the nose. 

Día de Los Muertos is a big celebration in Pilsen. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Isabel Hernandez built her first big altar (ofrenda) to show her community this wonderful tradition of keeping family members' and community members' memories alive. It's also her way of attempting to influence the younger generations to pass down Mexican traditions. This ofrenda takes her three weeks to build, fills her entire yard, and people from all over Chicago come to visit it.  

I discovered Isabel's ofrenda on Instagram and last weekend we all piled into Lauren and Anthony's big SUV and headed to Pilsen to visit it. The ofrenda is 17 feet tall, has over 400 photos of departed relatives and community members. It's decorated with flowers, favorite foods, candles, personal mementos, papel picado (cut paper), calacas and calaveras (skulls created with humor and joy to show that death is not something to fear). Isabel pours so much love and joy into her ofrenda. She opens her gate for people to walk through garden and to the ofrenda. It is her beautiful gift to her community.

día de los muertos/day 1

Día de Los Muertos is a Mexican holiday and celebration where families welcome back and honor the spirits of deceased loved ones. It takes place over two days, November 1 and 2. Even though it's the day after Halloween, Día de Los Muertos is a joyful celebration of life and memories rather than a night of fright.

 

November 1 is the Día de Los Angelitos, the Day of the Little Angels. On this day, communities across Mexico and other Latino communities celebrate the lives of babies, toddlers, and children who briefly lived on this earth. This celebration is vivid and colorful. Even though the parents have lost a child, they have gained an angel.

In Dayton's historic Woodland Cemetery, there is a monument of a boy and his dog. Back in the day when Dayton was a canal town, Johnny Morehouse was playing with his dog by the Miami & Erie Canal and fell into the water. The dog jumped in and tried to rescue him but was unsuccessful. The story goes that the dog stayed by the grave for weeks, waiting for Johnny, living on scraps of food that sympathetic mourners gave him.

To this day, visitors touched by the sweet story frequently leave gifts, toys, and flowers on his grave.

Descansa en paz, angelito.