july gratitudes {july31, 2022}

A look back at the month and I am thankful for...

⁕ Two large zucchini from my sister-in-law and making 6 loaves of yummy zucchini bread to share with my family.

⁕ Trip to CLE to visit my little grandson to celebrate his weeks of life. T and I got to babysit the little guy while his parents went on a 3 hour date.

⁕ Sunday of July 4 weekend…going back to Columbus from CLE and we get a flat tire right as we got on I-480. Pulled into the Hilton Garden Inn by the airport, called AAA, and were having a tough time finding an open tire repair shop. We found a place that was open (Tire Depot Discount on 25th), drove there thanks to our run flat tire, we were the last customer,  and they had a used tire that cost $60. 

⁕ 4th of July…Go to my brother’s house in Cincinnati for a cookout and a Cincinnati Pops Concert at Riverbend

⁕ Summer in a Bowl Salad with a fresh basil dressing.

⁕ Kentucky Mule: Ginger Beer, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Lime, Ice. Yum.

⁕ My daughters go to CLE to meet their new nephew.

⁕ Graduate from PT for my shoulder impingement

⁕ Girls’ weekend in downtown Columbus with sorority sisters

⁕ Family dinners with our son

⁕ Taking long walks

⁕ The July 13 Supermoon

⁕ Using my big camera again. I missed it.

⁕ The fungus tree along the Nature Trail

⁕ Sweet grandbaby turned 1 month old on the 18th.

⁕ Going to T's family's reunion and watching the little kids splash in the puddles

⁕ Visiting my mother-in-law and taking her for a “walk” in her wheelchair, visiting outside on the front porch, watching her "set" the table. She took her silverware out of the napkin, spread the napkin out like a table cloth, and placed her knife, fork, and spoon in their proper spots on the napkin. 

⁕ Our trip to Philly to celebrate our soon-to-be great niece or nephew

⁕ Going through the tunnels on the PA Turnpike

⁕ Taking photos of bridges on the trip to Philly

⁕ Face Time with my son and daughter-in-love as they give their baby boy a bath at 10:00 pm

⁕ The Circle of Life: in one week going to a baby shower for my niece and then driving to Richmond, VA to attend a funeral for a long time friend

⁕ Walking around the University of Virginia campus, specifically the area around The Lawn, a part of Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, a large, terraced grassy court at the historic center of Jefferson's academic community at the University of Virginia.

bridges {july 30, 2022}

A lot of times when we're driving a distance, I notice things and take pictures of things to pass the time. On this past trip to Philly, I took a lot of pictures of bridges. I love bridges. Whether large or small, they are engineering marvels. Metaphorically, bridges are about connecting, about learning about new communities. And that's part of the joy of traveling, meeting people and discovering new places. 

Connecting the dots through bridges as we drive east...

Zanesville, OH

Connecting Ohio and West Virginia

Connecting West Virginia and Pennsylvania

King of Prussia, PA

The Ben Franklin Bridge connecting Philadelphia and Camden, NJ

Bala Cynwyd, PA

A bridge in the Harrowgate neighborhood of Philadelphia. We were returning from a visit with friends, missed our turn, so the GPS rerouted us through Harrowgate. Come to find out, it's the 6th most dangerous neighborhood in Philly. At least I got a photo of a bridge and story to tell!

fishtown {july 29, 2022}

Our trek to the East Coast landed us in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown. My sister and brother-in-law moved here last year from their home in West Philly so they could be closer to their daughter, son-in-law, and two adorable little grandsons.

Located in the River Wards section of Philadelphia at Philly’s north and northeast borders, Fishtown was a classic working-class neighborhood on the Delaware River, so named due to its history as an epicenter for the commercial shad-fishing industry. Today, the River Wards are known for the arts, culture, and dining scenes (particularly in Fishtown).

The Berks-Shad Mural is on a residence in Fishtown and has a story behind it. The owners approached the artist with the idea that they wanted to give something to their neighborhood and honor the time long tradition of utilizing the fish to honor their neighborhood. The owners wanted the fish to face towards the Delaware River. They also wanted to make sure the fish was a Shad specifically to speak to the Shad Fishing Company that was started as early as the neighborhood.

🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟        

The Market-Frankford Line, aka the MFL (but don’t call it the Muffle), links Fishtown with downtown Philadelphia in less than nine minutes. Today, the El is held up by local politicians, developers, and the media as the foundation of Philadelphia’s new model for Transit Oriented Development. It’s also magnetizing a new generation of Millennials, Baby Boomers, and young professionals (the New Fish) who are rejecting suburbia, car culture, and food deserts in favor of independently-owned retailers, farm-to-table restaurants, and the new self-supporting micro-economy to move back downtown again.

As some of Fishtown’s long-time residents (the Old Fish) watch their neighborhood develop and change, their thoughts aren’t about the good ole days but how changes are positive. “The improvements here have always been brought about by the people who live in the neighborhood. It’s always happened house by house, block by block for generations. The new people who are moving in now are doing the same thing all over again. They’re the new immigrants. Change is inevitable.” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/petertaylor/2018/05/02/how-fishtown-philadelphia-became-americas-hottest-new-neighborhood/?sh=395efe3832e5)

As proud Fishtown inhabitants, the residents have embraced the fish in murals, in outdoor decorations, and even on the city trashcans. 

Today marks a milestone in the passage of time in the life of the four family sibs. The youngest of this gang of four, a Fishtown resident, turns 60! HBD, Suze 🎂 💜 

grandma's cookies {july 28, 2022}

July 27, 1904 (118 years ago...wow!) my maternal grandma was born. Right now I don't have a readily available photo of her but I do have a handwritten recipe of hers which brings back so many happy memories of visiting my grandparents on their farm outside of Bloomington, IL. Whenever we visited, a pan of these butterscotch squares would be on the counter waiting for us, famished from the long drive in the family station wagon. (The drives weren't too terribly long, no more than 4-5 hours, but when you can't wait to see your grandparents, that time went soooo slow).

To celebrate Grandma, I'm baking these today and savoring childhood memories.

wordy wednesday...resonance {july 27, 2022}

Resonance:

1. the production of a sound as a result of vibration of another object (Physics)

2. a feeling, thought, memory etc. that a piece of writing or music makes you have, or the quality in a piece of writing, etc. that makes this happen

__________________________________________________________

The first thing one sees entering the Flight 93 Memorial is the Tower of Voices. The tower is conceived as a monumental, ninety-three feet tall musical instrument holding forty wind chimes, representing the forty passengers and crew members. It is intended to be a landmark feature near the memorial entrance, visible from US Route 30/Lincoln Highway. The Tower of Voices provides a living memorial in sound to remember the forty through their ongoing voices.

The Tower of Voices serves as both a visual and audible reminder of the heroism of the forty passengers and crew of United Flight 93. The haunting, melancholy melodies created by the tower’s 40 chimes are meant to commemorate the voices of the passengers and crew members who lost their lives.

The Tower of Voices brings resonance to the events of 9/11.There are no other chime structures like this in the world. The shape and orientation of the tower are designed to optimize air flow through the tower walls to reach the interior chime chamber. The intent is to create a set of forty tones (voices) that can connote through consonance the serenity and nobility of the site while also through dissonance recalling the event that consecrated the site. 

flight 93 national memorial {july 26, 2022}

On trips that included driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Exit 110 pointed the way to the Flight 93 Memorial. It's always been a note to self to get there and we made it happen on this trek.

On Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, the U.S. came under attack when four commercial airliners were hijacked and used to strike targets on the ground. Nearly 3,000 people tragically lost their lives. Because of the actions of the 40 passengers and crew aboard one of the planes, Flight 93, the attack on the U.S. Capitol was thwarted.

In Pennsylvania, you experience the profundity and power of the natural landscape of this slice of American heartland that became the scene of dreadful tragedy. You walk the flight path and imagine what might have been in the minds of those men and women as they performed the deed that almost certainly spared a third target in the sights of the hijackers. You stand before the wall separating visitors from the Sacred Ground where the plane struck earth and ponder the stunning last moments of those whose mortal remains lie in that cemetery of heroes. After the crash, most of the plane came to rest beneath the loose soil of this former mining site, and there was little else in this rural field left after the crash in the way of material to which a memorial narrative could be linked. The task of the Flight 93 National Memorial was to give form to such a narrative, and its various planned features, from the Tower of Voices to the Wall of Names that leads to the Sacred Ground, do so in a way that is at once historically informative and emotionally moving.

Following Flight 93's flight path. It lists the attacks in order on 1 WTC, 2 WTC, and the Pentagon.

A common field one day. A field of honor forever.

The Wall of Names. Located underneath the flight path and final approach of Flight 93, the Wall of Names is constructed from white marble. Forty individually selected and polished marble stones are inscribed with each of the passenger or crew member names. Black granite denotes the flight path. From the Ceremonial Gate, constructed of hemlock wood, visitors can look down the flight path to the last piece of granite etched with the time of the crash and the impact site marked by a distant sandstone boulder.

The Ceremonial Gate. Ten hemlock beams with 40 cut angles to memorialize the 40 passengers on Flight 93. Beyond the gate, the final piece of granite marks the point of the plane's impact.

Flight 93 took off from Newark with a final destination at San Francisco. It turned changed its flight pattern around Cleveland with the intent to crash into the Capitol.

main street usa {july 25, 2022}

Road trip to visit family in Philadelphia and two hours out of Columbus, T needs to take a phone call for one of his consulting clients. Once you get past Columbus on I-70 East, there's a lot of space between a lot of little towns. He needs wifi and a quiet space. Options are few. After a 15 minute Google search, he is set up to make his call at the Guernsey County Library in Cambridge, OH.

Welcome to Cambridge, the Crossroads of Southeastern Ohio. 

Cambridge is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Guernsey County. It is at the crossroads of Ohio at Interstate 70 and 77. In 1796 Col. Ebenezer Zane received funds to cut a road from Ohio to Kentucky. He responded by naming the first settlement in honor of Cambridge, Maryland. 

Long ago, the Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandotte, Miami, Chippewa and Mingo Indians traveled the forest spread throughout Guernsey County. Many bridges were built in the county including the construction of the first bridge authorized in the Northwest Territory. Some of the bridges curved, as evidence by several ‘S’ bridges, which still survive. I saw a road sign denoting the building of the first bridge but we had passed it and weren't able to make the turn around to grab a photo.

Gotta have a local bakery! This one sure smelled good. The special of the day was a mixed berry muffin.

Honoring hometown hero, John Glenn, who was born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge. He attended primary and secondary schools in neighboring New Concord and received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Muskingum College, also in New Concord.

John Glenn with his eyes to the sky. To infinity and beyond!

Early in the 1900’s, Guernsey County, and particularly Cambridge became synonymous with the quality glass of the Cambridge Glass Company. Collectors who appreciate quality glass still visit Cambridge for antique glass.

I walked into the museum thinking that I could stroll through the display cases showing the various stages of Cambridge Glass Company's 56 years of production. The lovely lady at the desk insisted I take the museum tour. I told her I had 30 minutes to look around and she happily gave me the "speed-dial" tour, which included the 8-minute movie showing the glass-making process in the factory from start to finish. It was a wonderful and very informative 30 minutes.

My grandma had this set of the gold-rimmed glasses and stemware for her fine crystal.

Next stop: The Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA.

family reunion {july 24, 2022}

Growing up, my family moved around a lot due to my dad's career with Sears. His family was scattered all over the US and a few overseas. My mom's family on the other hand was located in the middle of rural Illinois, all living within an hour or two of one another. My dad's family did not have family reunions; my mom's family did. We didn't go every year but when we visited my grandparents in the summertime, Mom tried to plan our visit around the family reunion.

That reunion was so much fun. It was held on one of the family farms. Adults visited and caught up, kids played games and ran around in the wide open space and ate as much dessert as they could. 

T's dad's side of the family has had a reunion since 1947. His dad was one of 11 siblings and for many, many years the attendance was huge. When we were first married and when our kids were little, we attended the reunion every summer. The reunions were so fun with lots of planning to include all the generations. As our kids got older and involved in summer activities, our summer vacations revolved around the kids' schedules, and we began to miss reunions. So did lots of other families. 

This year was supposed to be the 75th anniversary but like everything else, COVID cancelled it in 2020 and the reunion powers that be deemed this one as the 74th. T's dad's generation mostly lived in the area and brought the numbers with their spouses and their respective families. With the second generation, many of the children have moved out of the area. Distance lowers attendance. The third generation's members have really scattered and many of them have no idea who their cousins are. Families just don't stay in one place anymore.

We attended this 74th/75th reunion and most of the attendees were from one branch of the eleven siblings. Most of them live in the area. It was fun to catch up with cousins and watch the little ones play. It had rained before the reunion started and puddles formed in the gravel driveway. Little kids love to splash in puddles. Adults love to smile at the pure fun and joy that a puddle brings both to the child and to themselves.

As to the future of the reunion, I don't know what will happen. There will be a 75th. People want to talk about how to keep it going and how to get the younger generations from all the family branches involved. It's hard not to dwell on the value of these simple traditions and how their absence will affect us all. My children know their first cousins but not their distant cousins. Are we making more out of it than what it was? You look back and you think, "Okay, it was important. It’s one of those things that are going by the wayside. It’s a different time."

And only time will tell.

 

daily reminders {july 23, 2022}

Oh, the joys of approaching 65...

This is my mail. Every. Single. Day. 

One of my wishes for my 65th birthday (hey, this is a big birthday so I get more than one wish) is that this barrage of Medicare solicitations ceases. And when it does, the senior living options information will follow.

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?” Satchel Paige

feather fun {july 22, 2022}

Whenever I see a feather, I think of Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope Is a Thing with Feathers." I started thinking about feathers and feather idioms. It didn't take long to come up with a list.

* A feather in your cap

* Birds of a feather flock together

* Feathering your nest

* Horsefeathers (my kids and then later on my students got the biggest laugh when I said "Horsefeathers," especially in a dramatic fashion)

* Ruffling someone's feathers

* You could have knocked me over with a feather

* As light as a feather

* Shake your tail feather

* Tar and feather

* The feathers fly

“You know that book of poems I’m always carrying around? [...] In one of her poems, she calls hope the ‘thing with feathers,’ and I always think about that…. Maybe when we hope for something, the hope flies off to find whatever it is we’re thinking about…and then it brings it back to us. And when there’s nothing else we can do, at least we can hope.”

― Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the City of Gold

baby blankets {july 21, 2022}

Back in the day when I was having babies, my mom made flannel blankets to swaddle my little ones. She did this for all of my siblings' little ones and then she branched out to give to her friends' children who were starting families and to her friends who were becoming grandmas. She thought the store-bought blankets were too small for a proper swaddle. Her blankets were 45" x 45", big enough to tuck those corners for a cozy, but not too tight, wrap. 30+ years ago, the flannel color selection was very basic: pink, blue, yellow, white.

Now I carry on the tradition. I have made blankets for my kids' friends who are having babies but what is really special is making them for my first grandchild. Today's flannel selection is overwhelmingly huge! So many cute prints. With young people finding out their baby's gender before the child is born, having a nursery theme chosen, it's fun to take that information to the material store and choose a pattern that will fit into the newborn life.

This weekend T and I are going to a baby shower for my niece. This is her 3rd child, she and her husband don't know the baby's gender, but zoo animals are in her nursery theme. In a couple weeks my son and grandson are coming for a weekend visit so I need to get my Didi stock ready for the little guy.

These blankets may not be as cute and definitely not as perfect as the ones sold in stores but they have one thing that the store blankets don't have. Each one is made with lots of LOVE.

wordy wednesday...ghosting {july 20, 2022}

“Ghosting,” a method of ending a relationship by ceasing all forms of communication and simply vanishing — like a ghost. Humans, of course, have always been rejecting one another; ghosting is just a newfangled form facilitated by technology, particularly online dating apps.

It’s often used in dating and friendship contexts but ghosting in work contexts is also rampant — among co-workers, during professional networking and in the hiring process, even among those trying to get a job.

Suddenly cutting off contact with a romantic partner or professional colleague, never to be heard from again, is rude and should happen much less than it currently does. But what about the other, less egregious ways we might blow off each other’s messages, especially at work? In these exhausting times, when so many are overburdened with family responsibilities, stress, grief and anxiety, perhaps we should let go of the outdated, demanding requirement to participate in ceaseless back-and-forth conversations.

For those of us who strive to be polite, text-based digital communications — all those chimes and dings and vibrations — can be extremely demanding. Ignoring a Slack, email or text message feels rude, but should it? Daniel Post Senning of the Emily Post Institute, which offers advice and training on good manners, states that when our phone rings, we’re under no obligation to answer it. “You have to be a civil and decent person, but you don’t have to give your time and attention to everyone who asks for it.” (NYT, 7/12/2022)

As far as in the work place contest, employers are now making it easier for job seekers to apply online, and applicants can apply for many jobs with just a few clicks. This allows applicants to cast a wide net, but also for them to apply for jobs in which they’re not very interested. Job offers are extended but no response from the applicant, or in many cases the applicant accepts the job but doesn’t show up and cuts off all communication. While the conversation can feel awkward, employers would rather know where they stand and can understand when a potential employee decides to go in a different direction. Staying in contact also gives employers the opportunity to counter another company’s offer. You never know what repercussion that could have and what if you want to come back and apply for that job down the road. You’ve burned that bridge with that specific employer.

There are situations that are difficult but need to be addressed. It's the right thing to do so that one can move on. Other situations warrant peace of mind and you have to discern what is best for you. Technology is wonderful in so many ways, but I do miss the quieter days of not being instantly accessible.

national prosecco week {july 19, 2022}

Raise a glass! 

Raise a glass to all the good yet to be realized. Raise a glass to hope and dreams, and the passion, stamina and grace to carry them through.

Raise a glass to friendships near and far. Because friends, like kindness, can lift us up and smooth out life’s frictions. And like Prosecco, no special reason is needed – every day is a good day to appreciate their sparkle.      

~ Cheers!

What brings sparkle to your life?

hammer time {july 18, 2022}

It's hammer time...BIG time!

“Gavel” by Andrew F. Scott is a 31 foot steel gavel and sound block located in the south reflecting pool outside the Supreme Court of Ohio. Scott's massive rendition of the symbolic tool of the judge is charged with notions about the omnipotence of the judiciary.

At the other end of the pool are words reflective of the judicial system: Reason, Honor, Wisdom, Justice, Truth, Intellect and others written in steel.

Built in 2008, this large stainless steel sculpture claims to be the World’s Largest Gavel. However, Guinness Book of World Records says that the world's largest gavel is located in Marshall, Illinois, measuring 16 ft., 8 in. x 5 ft, 1 in. A representative from Guinness states, "As with all of our 'largest' items the item must be made of the same materials used in the manufacture of the regular sized version - in this case, an exact outsized, to-scale replica of an commercially available gavel.

And if you get the brilliant idea to jump into the pool, the police will be right there to tell you, "You can't touch this," and the mighty gavel of justice will boom with a guilty verdict.

(Not my image; no photo credit)

oh deer! {july 17, 2022}

There's a deer standing on the Rich Street Bridge overlooking the Scioto River and downtown Columbus! 

The deer were added to the Scioto Mile as part of the big rehabilitation project in 2015 that turned the area into the multi-use park and trail space that it is now. The sculptures are part of a commissioned art installment by artist Terry Allen. When Allen learned that “scioto” meant “hairy deer” in a Native American Language, he took that as a bit of inspiration to create the deer. The river was named scioto because of all the deer hair that inevitably ended up in the water when deer actually lived there. In an interview, Allen said he roamed around the city and ended up at the Scioto mile, “It was supposed to be in this area where people just sort of lounged around and walked around and took it easy and I thought of deer doing the same thing as people just lounging around.”

Come to find out, there are three deer in the area. I need to find the other two. Yep, that's a good i-deer!