In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, there’s something truly magical about creating a tiny, enchanted world right in a front yard where passersby can delight in the creativity. Fairy gardens have become a whimsical trend, captivating the hearts and imaginations of people young and old. These miniature landscapes, adorned with tiny fairies, gnomes, and charming accessories, offer a delightful escape into a realm of creativity and wonder.
Last week my boss asked me to ride along in the box truck to go to the produce auction with her. Her son is the one who goes to the auction every week to buy vegetables to supplement what they grow at the farm. He wasn't able to go and she wanted a riding buddy for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Bainbridge, Ohio.
Along State Route 41 in rural western Ross County, Ohio is a thriving settlement of Old Order Mennonites. The community features a general store, a bakery, a craft shop, restaurant, and a produce auction, along with several other smaller home-based businesses. This area is gorgeous when the leaves begin to change in autumn. Ross County is perched on the edge of Appalachia where the flat farm fields of central and western Ohio run up against the first rolling ridges to the east. The drive was beautiful. We went from two lane highways, through small towns, to narrow two lane roads where horse and buggies shared the road with motorized vehicles. For being 1 1/2 hours away, the fall colors were more vibrant than the ones at home.
Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss German and south German heritage who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, still drive a horse and buggy rather than cars, wear very conservative and modest dress, and have retained the old forms of worship. Formal schooling in all groups ends with eighth grade. All speak Pennsylvania Dutch as their first language.
My boss has been going to this auction for many, many years, and she knows so many of the farmers and their families. We visited a couple families while there. One man, Jesse, refinished a butcher block for her. It was painted blue and white when she got it but now it is a magnificent statement piece of furniture. We stopped by Freddie's farm to get some apples and his daughter was delivering 200 loaves of sourdough bread to a customer. She said this week she baked over 500 loaves.
For six hours, we had taken a step back in time to a quiet, gentle life, one where we were welcome but one that belonged to the Mennonites. It was a reflective drive back home with a beautiful sunset right as we pulled into the farm.
Happy Birthday to the one who gave the gift of motherhood to me! But how can this be 40 years ago?
40 years.
I remember the day like it was yesterday. October 28 was a Sunday and Todd and I went to my parents' house for dinner. Dad had grilled some steaks, Mom fixed baked potatoes, a salad, and green beans, and I didn't feel well. My stomach was upset, I was a little achy. was it the flu? I went down to my parents' basement and laid on my brother's water bed - it was so comfy - while Mom, Dad, and Todd ate their dinners. We went home, I was feeling worse, and around 11:30 p.m., Todd said, "Let's go to the hospital." I did not think I was in labor but I had no idea what being in labor felt like. So we went to the hospital and guess what? I was in labor.
Four hours hours later, 3:46 a.m., I was holding a baby boy in my arms.
"(The) firstborn can instill joy, fear, triumph, uncertainty, and delight all at the same time. The moment your first child is born your life changes completely and irrevocably, for good."
That sure is the truth and this guy paved the way for three more.
Happy Birthday, Patrick!
In eight days the citizens of the US will elect its next president and other people to the offices for which they are running. Political ads fill commercial time on the television, flyers fill my street mailbox, requests for donations come through my email, and text messages start dinging around 8:00 a.m. and end 12 hours later. The amount of money spent on campaigning is astronomical. Money like that that could be routed toward schools, food pantries, programs that help the physically and mentally disabled, shelters. The societal need list is big but so is the need to be president or another office. It must be a badge of honor to see who has the bigger checkbook. My shredder has been busy cross-cutting the campaign ads into little pieces and my finger has been busy hitting the "Delete and Report as Junk" button on my computer and phone.
Turkey vultures are often associated with death and transformation, but also knowledge, wisdom, and resourcefulness. I'm going with the latter. In the Cherokee culture, the turkey vulture is known as the Peace Eagle, because it kills nothing in order to live. When you see turkey vultures swarming around in a cluster in the early morning hours of early spring or fall, they are preparing to continue on their migration. Vultures seen in the evening hours have probably arrived in the area that day and are preparing to roost for the night.
This mockingbird has been entertaining us with his widely varied birdsong repertoire since the farm stand has been open. Northern mockingbirds typically sing from February through August, and again from September to early November. Some northern mockingbirds migrate south for the winter, especially if the weather is too extreme. However, many mockingbirds remain in the same location throughout the year.
Monarch butterflies embark on a marvelous migratory phenomenon. They travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more from the northeast United States, and southeast Canada to the mountain forests in central Mexico, where they find the right climate conditions to hibernate from the beginning of November to mid-March. These beautiful creatures flit and rest on the zinnias that were planted in the spring.
The sunflowers at the farm are just about finished for the year due to Hurricane Helene's strong wind and rain that blew through the region a couple weeks ago and now the recent frost.
This eye-catching vehicle showed up in the parking lot at the farm. Is the owner an all-out Kamala supporter or is the the thought that if she is the next president, the country will turn into a zoo? One thing for sure, a lot of people stopped to take photos standing by this truck while its owner shopped.
A big weekend for Cleveland: the Rock and Roll Class of 2024 Inductions, the Guardians World Series run, and the Battle of Ohio - the Cleveland Browns v. the Cincinnati Bengals.
Fans filled Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for a night of music and speeches. The Cleveland Guardians fans had high hopes for their team in games 3, 4, and 5 of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field but those darn New York Yankees dashed those hopes by taking the series 4-1. Lastly, the beleaguered Cleveland Browns once again disappointed their always hopeful we're-gonna-win-this-one fans with a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It was a big weekend and it was a tough weekend. The heart of rock and roll is still beating, the Guardians and their fans will be back next year, there's always next weekend for the Browns.
Blue Collar Cleveland
S. Renay Sanders
The Titans of Industry
Still, hold court on the bridge
Over the once burning river
Where steel mills shot fire in the sky
And billowed smoke from their stacks.
Early risers to all night third shifters
Went to work
Metal lunch boxes in tow
Hard hats, steel-toed shoes, blue collars
Working Joes with names displayed on their shirts.
Hot molten steel being tended to by muscular men
Never in need of a gym.
Now industry is about tourists
Museums, casinos, and posh eateries.
Rock n Roll has been encased
In a pyramid of glass
Glistening on the lake.
Music archived and digitized.
But the raucous rock in roll’s roots remain
Played in the taverns, honky tonks
and neighborhood saloons.
In the past on payday
The railroaders, stevedores and factory Joes
Ordered up boilermakers or perhaps a glass of POC
With a blonde, brunette or redhead standing by
Jukebox blaring
polka, country or maybe a bit of the blues.
The women and the music
a reflection of the neighborhood
In which they were raised.
The heart of rock n roll was and is in Cleveland.
The sons and daughters of the hard-working Joes, hustle
To answer the call of the new industrialists
Dealing cards, waiting tables
Serving the connoisseurs and conventioneers
Who speak of the comeback of this town.
Truth is she never left
Cleveland survived your insults
Rust Belt, mistake on the lake
Didn’t much care what outsiders thought anyway
But hey welcome to Cleveland
Enjoy your time here and in her spirit
Rock on!
Each new generation breaks paradigms and overturns old ways of doing things. It’s how we move forward as a society. Each generation of kids will remake the world, and from this we’ll gain all kinds of new discoveries. So as we age, we have a choice: we can either cling to the world as we shaped it and refuse to engage in the new world our kids’ and grandkids’ generations are creating, or we can adapt to their world and remain curious, active participants in it.
This to me is at the heart of aging joyfully. Our goal shouldn’t be to cling to youth as we get older, but to keep our joy alive by tending our inner child throughout our days while also nurturing our connection to the changing world. In doing so, we balance wisdom with wonder, confidence with curiosity and depth with delight.
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Continuing this post for Sunday: These articles were in Saturday's New York Times. What a coincidence!
How a Bit of Awe Can Improve Your Health
How to Add More Play to Your Grown-Up Life, Even Now
LET THERE BE HEAT!
❊ I woke up, got out from the cozy comfort of my down comforter, and thought, "Brrrrr. It's a little chilly in here." And it was. The thermostat read 63. I flipped the switch to heat and nothing. Uh oh. Went to the furnace and flipped the switch off, waited a minute, turned it back on, and nothing. Todd tried doing a couple things and the furnace wouldn't turn on. This is a brand new furnace. We called our furnace guy and he was at the house in an hour. He did his furnace guy thing and got the furnace to work.
❊ It was time to pull the parsley out of the garden and made parsley garlic butter. There was a lot of parsley still left and I remembered my mom froze parsley. It took no time to chop it in the food processor and it took me back to the days of no food processors watching Mom chop her parsley by hand.
❊ At the farm, people are buying lots of pumpkins and tomatoes. Fall decorating is in full force and the customers are sensing the end of fresh tomato season. I've been buying my share of tomatoes, too. Once they're done, I'll wait until next year for the homegrown tomatoes.
❊ This week a couple people who evacuated from Florida came to the farm. One lady is planning to go back in a couple days and she bought a lot of veggies to take back to friends and family. Another woman and her daughter spent a long time just walking around and looking at all the vegetables and pumpkins, they sat in a couple chairs looking out over the field that had been recently plowed. It was a beautiful fall day and the mom (who had evacuated from Anna Maria Island) just wanted to take it all in. The farm is a little 10 acre oasis that brings a lot of joy to people.
❊ I made an early morning trip to Kroger for some ingredients to make an apple cake. The young man monitoring the self-checkout line said, "Good morning," and I responded, "Good morning, how are you?" This opened the gates to a conversation. "Im tired. Had to be here at 6:00 a.m. and I worked until 9:00 last night. I'm so excited for next week because I'm making my last two payments on my college loans." Good for you and congratulations, young man.
❊ Oh, my 2 1/2 year old grandson brought the biggest smile to my face. He named his pet rock "Diane." Rock on, little guy.
People get vanity plates to celebrate something interesting about the car or its driver. They are intended as conversation starters. Sometimes they are inside jokes that most people won't get. Sometimes they are easier to figure out. Overall, vanity plates are a way for individuals to express their identity, interests, and values through their vehicles.
So what does MRS WTF say about this soccer mom who drives her kids to and from practices and to soccer games? Perhaps WTF is her husband's or partner's or her initials. Or is this what she yells at the refs when she doesn't agree with a call? Maybe it's an inside joke of some sort.
Me, I don't have a specialized license plate, just an everyday plate from the BMV which needs its renewal in the next few weeks.
The corridors are still, the children have all gone home.
Only the memories of their voices remain
As night closes in on Dorothy Lane.
This school I shall long recall, with thoughts of joy and gladness
The teachers with their skills and knowledge
The friends who someday will be in college.
If the rooms could take and tell their thoughts
What would they think, what would they say?
Do you think they’d remember Carnival Day?
The lunchroom is most peoples’ favorite,
For here our appetites are pleased.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, vegetables, and pies
Are some of the things we get to try.
(There were a few more verses going through different rooms in the school but this is where the my memory stops.)
The last line...and the biggest sigh of relief!
Good night, good night, dear Dorothy Lane.
Every year when the farmers market opens, one of the employees goes around to all the produce and makes a cheat sheet with all the prices on it. Typically it's handwritten and taped to the counter until everyone is comfortable in his or her price knowledge.
A couple weeks ago a new employee joined the ranks and she needed her cheat sheet. She's artistic and added illustrations to go with the items and prices. What fun! Hope she'll be back next year to make the price list.
