a new table

Every Tuesday morning a group of Dayton artists gets together at an area coffee shop for an “Art Pop-Up.” This is to help their art get exposure, maybe make a sale or two without a space fee or commission to the business, rub shoulders with other artists, and introduce the public to some fun coffee shops around town.

Part 2 of the story is that once a month four of us friends get together and we play euchre. One of the women (not me) is a really good euchre player and she is a wonderful teacher for the rest of us so-so players. We rotate houses, fix snacks, and usually finish two complete games because we talk too much. The first time everyone was at my house, we sat at the dining room table. My table is oval shaped and whoever sits at the oval ends has a farther reach than the other two players. It’s not a good table for playing cards and I don’t have a card table. 

I follow a few local artists on Facebook and one day one of them posted a photo of a card table he had made into a piece of art and he was taking it to the Wholly Ground coffee shop. He calls it “Hollywood Squares” and it can hang on the wall until you need to use it as a table. What fun! I messaged him and told him I would like to buy it, Todd and I met him at the coffee shop, visited with him and the other artists, and left with a card table. 

Sometime in August it will have its first euchre game played on it.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Look who's in Kettering, Ohio this week! Wonder if this guy's last name is Trump or if he uses his license plate to show his political support or maybe he's really good at playing cards. His car, his choice. It is an eye catcher and thought provoker.

Out at the farm we have two mockingbird nests. I was at the table to tray up some tomatoes and this mama was giving me what-for. Also at this table is a little container of blueberries and she wanted to come down to get get a blueberry to feed her babies. She was not happy that someone had invaded her space so I stepped away for a few minutes to get some big gulps of water on that very hot day.

Boxwoods are dying in Ohio either from boxwood blight or from the invasive box tree moth. The moth defoliates the bushes so my guess this one has died from blight. So there's a dead bush by my front porch and it needs to be dug out. One of these days Todd or I will get around to it. 

 

My basil needed to be trimmed. Those flowers grow so quickly. Pinching off or trimming the flowers encourages the plant to focus its energy on producing more leaves, resulting in a bushier plant with a larger harvest. Additionally, basil leaves tend to become more bitter after the plant flowers. I did get around to it.

Look what's in my garden - a conjoined coneflower. Side-by-side beauty in one of nature's anomalies.

This doesn't happen very often - Wordle in 6. On that last word, I thought, "What the heck. I'll just go-fer it and see what happens." Didn't break my streak!

tuesday

Not much happens on a Tuesday. Every other day has something to offer except Tuesdays. Tuesday is just bland and basic as a day can get. Whether you love or hate any other day of the week, you don't love or hate Tuesday. Tuesday just happens with an "eh."

This past week I've been going through boxes, looking at my "stuff," and came across a letter that I sent to me. It's postmarked February 22, 2022. In the numerical date format that we use in the US, it shows up as 2-22-22. All twos. And to make it even more special, the day of the week was Tuesday! Tuesday, February 22, 2022, was dubbed as "Twosday." (Look at the stamp...it says "celebrate!").

Just thinking way ahead, February 22, 2222, will be all twos in any worldwide date format. Very cool. But it will fall on a Friday. Sigh.

The next "Twosday" will happen 400 years from now on Tuesday, February 22, 2024. Wonder if my "geek gene" will pass along through the generations and someone will send a letter to him/herself to commemorate this day. But then again, in 2422 will people hand write letters, will there be stamps, will the USPS still be in existence? I hope someone will take note of this once-in-a-lifetime date.

monday's mulling: another sunflower post

(Image created on Snapseed)

happy monday!

welcome your day with energy and strength

and a sunny disposition

stand tall

shoulders back

chin up

and share your beautiful smile to spread a little sunshine.

(Original image)

thought to start your week

"May we have the strength of the mountain and the wisdom of the water."

~ Paul Coelho

 

back in the day...

Was this part of your gym class routine...climb a 30-foot rope (9.14 m) with a life-saving 2 inch mat below? It was a test of strength and agility.

I was good at climbing the rope. My grandparents had a tire swing tied to a rope that hung from a tree and that's where I first started my rope climbing adventures. Those skills carried through the physical education years. My children never did this in school but they did climb a rope at their gymnastics classes. The rope hung over a pit filled with big foam blocks - just a bit safer than the 2 inch mat of yesteryear. They were so excited when they finally made it to the top to ring the bell. 

This activity was phased out in the early 2000s due to concerns about safety, rope burns, and injury, the lack of participation, and the liability for the schools ended this exercise.

 

the friday feed: popsicles!

Last Saturday at the farmers market, we had an incredibly busy day. Non-stop customers for the five hour afternoon shift. And when you're the busiest, of course what could be a big glitch for some was just a minor inconvenience for my co-worker and me. One of our iPads that tallies the purchases and processes the credit card transactions lost its connection. 

"We're going old school!" 

I brought out a pen and paper and tallied the transactions using my good old math brain. The older customers commented, "That's how we did it back in the day," and some of the younger customers watched with fascination. "Wow, you did that really fast." (Smile). The way I learned math vs. how students today learn math is so different. I drilled, drilled, drilled with flash cards and memorization and today's students learn with a step-by-step process. I don't know if one is better than the other but last Saturday my skills served me well.

At the end of the day, my boss and her two little grandsons brought up popsicles to celebrate getting through a busy, crazy, and very fun day. I haven't had a popsicle in ages. These are so much fun to break off a piece and crunch it or make it into a slushy or to let it melt and drink the juice. Made me feel like a kid again.

Eating popsicles

makes me feel like I have pig-

tails, though I do not.

 

chiasmus

Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy

One should eat to live, not live to eat - Cicero

All for one and one for all. - motto of The Three Musketeers

What do these phrases have in have in common?

They are examples of Chiasmus (pronounced kee · az · muhs or kai · az · muhs), where you take a phrase and flip it around. It's named after "chi," the ancient Greek word for the letter X. The X shape captures the structure of the chiastic shape.

 

The chiastic phrase has balance, element of surprise, and playfulness. It makes us rethink the relationship between things and ideas at the same time. It's a powerful tool for getting a point across.

Put your readers on and enjoy a few (40) more examples of chiasmus.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

I thought hard about sharing the heart breaking story of the little boy who was murdered. My blog is full of everyday life and its adventures - lately lots of sunflowers and life at the farmers market - and to share something so monstrous really sticks out like a sore thumb among all the nice "stuff" that fills House Dust and Wanderlust. So now back to the regular programming.

Speaking of the farmers market, more and more veggies are coming which means there goes my paycheck and lots of fun in the kitchen!

These Italian stuffing peppers are grown on the farm and I bought six of these freshly picked gems to make stuffed peppers. Instead of the usual ground beef and sausage mix, I used ground turkey seasoned with cumin and coriander, cauliflower rice, onions, shishito peppers, a few other bits and pieces from the veggie bin, pine nuts, and queso fresco. Top them with a little Rosa Alfredo sauce from Little Italy in the Bronx and my husband who at times will roll his eyes when I tell him stuffed peppers are for dinner, said they were really good. 

For a nostalgic meal, Todd requested my mom's Sloppy Joes. Her recipe is a bit different from the usual tomato saucy meat mixture. Mom added sour cream at the end of cooking and sour cream does bump up the taste game. The recipe is one that's just ingredients: ground beef, onion, peppers, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, water, sour cream. You have to adjust the taste as you go. 

With more and more veggies coming in, that also means business is picking up and some days have been crazy busy. And that's good! On one of those crazy days, my boss said, "You need to take a break," so I did. As I sat in the shady corner, listening to the mockingbird's ever-changing tune, sipping on my water, I looked down and saw a bunch of ants. They are fascinating if you take the time to watch them and since I was on break, that's what I did. You've heard of ants on a log? Here's the new version, ants on a hose.

This table took me on a fun adventure. It will have its own post but just to pique your curiosity...

monday's mulling: this was hard to write

A little while ago I explored a couple bridges that cross Route 35 and was going to write a post about how the construction of this highway cut up diverse, thriving neighborhoods by leveling homes and businesses, causing segregation and economic harm.

This is the McClure Street Bridge that connects the Twin Towers and St. Anne's Hill neighborhoods after Route 35 divided them.

Last week this bridge turned into a memorial for Hershall Creachbaum, an 8-year old non-verbal autistic boy, who used a wheelchair to get around. He was reported missing by his mom's boyfriend who told the 911 dispatcher that someone broke into the house, punched him, and took the boy. The child was found the next day by Route 35 underneath this bridge.

The story unfolded and in a nutshell, the boyfriend is responsible for Hershall's death. About 3 weeks ago, Mom was in the hospital for surgery, boyfriend was looking after the child, got drunk and was having an argument over the phone with someone, got mad and punched the child twice and then forcefully knocked him to the floor in his wheelchair. He died the next day. The boyfriend moved the body around to different locations, the last one being underneath this bridge. Mom knew that her son was dead and didn't contact the authorities. How could she not do that? Her child was dead.

A poor, helpless child whose death has rocked the community. People have come together to try to process this heinous crime and to seek justice for this defenseless boy. Another memorial for another senseless death. 

forks and a tray

You know those hacks that take everyday articles and use them for an easy solution to a problem? A little while ago I saw a suggestion where a common household fork with bent tines could be effectively used to remove weeds from the cracks between  patio pavers. My husband is very attentive to keeping our driveway and patio weed free so why not try to make the job easier for him? We didn't have any old forks laying around so off to Goodwill to look for some inexpensive forks. 

Forks are 19¢ at Goodwill...what a deal for digging out weeds! I bought a couple. And then on the shelf behind me I saw this tray. My mom had purchased a set of these dishes a long time ago and they were our everyday dishes for quite a few years. I am such a sucker for dishes, this tray brought back good memories and what a bargain for $2.99.

And just to let you know, the fork hack for digging out weeds didn't work that great...at least for our patio pavers it didn't.

from bud to bloom

A tight little green ball slowly unfurls and bursts into a full grown sunflower.

(Boy, oh boy did the PhotoCollage app gave me fits. It kept changing the order of the sunflower's progressions. PhotoCollage was persistent but I had more patience and persistence).

the friday feed: sunflowers

Treadway Gardens has two rows of zinnias that are planted just for our young customers, the children who come along with their parents to shop. Every time a child visits, he or she can have a choice of any zinnia that's out there. Behind the zinnias are sunflowers that are made into bouquets and those bouquets of sunshine have been purchased as fast as we can make them. 

When we are super-duper busy, it is so comforting to look out from the stand at the sunflowers and view that sea of yellow. And when we're not-so-busy, it's very comforting to take a walk along the sunflower garden and see the butterflies resting on the flowers, the bees gathering pollen, and the finches who fly away as soon as someone gets close. 

“Yellow is my favourite summer colour – it makes me feel like a sunflower.”

~ Bria Vinaite

cheery sunflower

you feed birds and butterflies,

the bees and my soul.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

This past week my siblings and I turned into road warriors to take a 3-day trip to America's heartland. We inherited some farms from our parents and wanted to have face-to-face talks with our tenant farmers. This is the first time the four of us have done this and aside from having a lot of "quality time" in the car, it was heartwarming to see the investments our parents made as a young married couple, to meet the people who have farmed this land for almost 60 years, and to be surrounded by corn and bean fields as far as the eye could see.

I swear, construction on I-70 leaving Ohio to Richmond, Indiana is never-ending. The semi-truck traffic seems to magically increase as we approach the border. 

First stop: The farm with the wind turbine. None of us have been up close and personal with one of these behemoths. It was impressive to watch the blades turn and when the wind picked up, hear the generator kick in. Our farmer told us that even though these are beneficial for electricity production, a lot of birds have been killed. There will always be a struggle in man v. nature. I wish there could be a more equal balance.

Lunch in Cabery, Illinois...population 250. We ate lunch at the Grand Prairie Station which was like walking into a warm and cozy farm kitchen. The best cheeseburger you'll ever have and a club sandwich were the day's special. Cheryl, the owner, bought the beef from a relative who butchers cows. Nothing like knowing the source of your food.

Onward to Iowa. We stopped somewhere among the never-ending fields of green for a gasoline (petrol) fill-up and of course a bathroom stop. On our way out of the station, I noticed this cool logo on a freezer and had to smile. Quincy is the childhood home of Sharon, author of the blog, Phoenix Daily Photo, where her daily photos and posts show art around Phoenix and in its museums.

Second stop: We ate dinner in Iowa City, spent the night in Cedar Rapids, home of the Quaker Oats plant, and were awakened at 5:00 a.m. by the engine whistle as the train passed through the center of town with its corn and grain deliveries to food producers. The sounds of a Midwestern city...

The next day we drove west to the farms. Our tenant farmers took us on a tour of the land and we talked about its history, the highways that have been built, the tiling, and the family who has been in charge of the farming. Three generations so far. It started to rain as we said our good-byes.

And boy, oh boy, did it rain. It turned into a downpour with strong winds and the rain coming in sideways. My brother did all the driving and handled this horrible, scary weather like a pro. Me, I would have pulled off to the side, turned on the flashers, and prayed that a tornado wouldn't come and blow me away or that no one would hit me. Come to find out later on, there were tornados in the area.

Third stop: We spent the night in Dubuque, Iowa - slept well after that white knuckle, harrowing drive - and woke up Saturday morning to take a walk along Dubuque's Mississippi Riverwalk. A lovely walk and a charming town.

 

For this trip, my sister flew into Chicago's Midway Airport. Her flight departed at 7:30 p.m. (19:30) so our last adventure was to visit our grandma's grave. The cemetery was close to the airport. Many, many years ago this area was home to the Czechoslovakian and eastern European populations. Although the demographic has changed, a lot of the signage from the past still remains as an indication of the area's early heritage.

We've always known about the farms but to see them and to experience the vastness of farms after farms after farms as we traveled, to talk to the people who have farmed them for two and three generations, gave us a link to our parents' past and an understanding of the future they wanted to build for their children.

the single sunflower

A single sunflower popped up in the plot of dirt where the bird feeders are. I didn't plant sunflower seeds so my deduction is that while the birds were eating the feed a sunflower seed fell into the dirt and took root. The flower looks a little tattered; it's probably food for the birds, too.

“look at its shape, with vibrant yellows and oranges, a sunflower can brighten your day...it's as if it is smiling like a happy face painted on the sun...so if you do only one thing all day, let it be to smile, so you can brighten the day of others around you, just like the sunflower”  ~ Bodhi Smith  🌻

monday's mulling: the buck full moon

July's full moon rose on the night of the 10th and shined brightly over Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Yes, my brothers, sister, and I were there for some family business. The moon was a beautiful sight...a clear sky with the bright moon shining over the Quaker Oats plant and other city lights. And to think, weather permitting, people all over the United States and the rest of the world saw this same moon. I wish I would have had my Nikon Cool Pix with me to get a photo of this moment. It has a zoom feature and every once in a while, I can get a decent shot of the moon. But since that opportunity was missed, enjoy a couple lunar moments from past full moons.

“As the sun illuminates the moon and the stars, so let us illumine one another.”

~ Anonymous

plan for the future