wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Woodland Cemetery is Dayton's oldest and most historic cemetery. Many of the Who's Who of Dayton have their final resting place here. My yoga studio is just around the corner from Woodland and one day after class, I took a quiet, peaceful walk around the cemetery. The snow, the gray sky, the bare trees, the peace and quiet, the grave markers blanketed by the snow emphasized the reverence of the space and whenever my boots crunched on the ice, I felt as though I was disturbing the sacred rest. 

Whenever I go to Woodland, I always go to see the Wright Brothers gravesite. Orville and Wilbur are buried there along with their sister and their parents. The family plot is between the State of Ohio flag and Aviation History flags.

Another favorite grave marker is of Johnny Morehouse and his dog. The story is that 5-year old Johnny Morehouse was walking alongside the Erie Canal, got too close, and fell in. The boy's loyal dog jumped in and wasn't able to save Johnny's life. A local sculptor immortalized the pair depicting Johnny asleep with his dog protectively curled around him. People who visit his grave leave toys for both Johnny and the loyal dog.

We took off for Chicago to celebrate our grandson AJ's 2nd birthday. The big wind farm in Indiana goes for 20 miles and at the north end of the farm is where the time changes from Eastern Standard Time to Central Standard Time.

It's birthday party time and a big Elmo Rice Krispie treat set the Sesame Street theme.

All smiles with our two-year old little guy.

Q

Back home we woke up to hoarfrost on some branches and leaves. So pretty and delicate. As soon as the sun hit it, the hoarfrost melted.

After gray skies for a few days, this sunset was a welcome sight.

The grocery store is gearing up for Valentine's Day with strawberries and raspberries in heart-shaped containers. RIght now these fruits are not in season and even though they look pretty, their taste has little to be desired. Maybe a little Valentine's magic will make them sweeter for their recipients.

 

monday's mulling: bad bunny's super bowl performance

Last night over here in America we celebrated the culmination of American football by being glued to our televisions to watch the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks play in the final game of the 2025-2025 season, Super Bowl LX (that's 60 if you don't recall your Roman numerals).

My husband loves the game of football. He has his favorite teams and can watch games all day long. Me, I don't care for football. The Super Bowl is a big draw for fans whose teams are playing and it also brings us non-football fans to the TV to watch the commercials (companies shell out huge sums of money to advertise during this game) and to watch the halftime show.

This year's halftime entertainment was provided by the Puerto Rican rapper and singer, Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny? Yeah, I hadn't heard of him until the announcement came out that he would be doing the Super Bowl halftime show. The drama really snowballed when people found out that the performance would be in Spanish, a first for the Super Bowl. 

My first impression of this Spanish-speaking rapper's performance...I liked it. He highlighted Puerto Rican life and even though his words were all Spanish, the choreography told the story - the love of community, the love of family, working to overcome devastating circumstances (the electricity going out with no power for days), and the call for Americans to recognize and respect one another.

Near the end of his performance, Bad Bunny spoke his first and only English words of the show:

"God Bless America."

He then proceeded to name every Latin American country, one by one, in Spanish: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican republic, Cuba, and more. He continued through Central and South America, before ending with USA, Canada, and finally Puerto Rico again. As he named each country, dancers carrying flags from across the Americas walked behind him, a visual representation of the hemisphere united. The jumbotron behind them lit up with the words, "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE."

This post is a little late because this morning I watched this halftime show a few more times before writing about it. It tells the American story. The REAL one. The messy, beautiful, multilingual, multicolored courageous one. At the very end of the performance Bad Bunny held a football that read, "Together we are America," and spiked it into the ground. Not with anger but with joy and it made hate look exactly as small as it is.

Check out this performance that celebrated Puerto Rico and its place in the American story.

 

it's that kind of sunday

Paradox - two opposing elements that coexist, revealing complexity or deeper insights. It challenges conventional thinking, causing people to think more critically, to see the bigger picture, to broaden horizons, to see both sides of the story. It helps us to grow, to adapt.

Right now it feels like the world is wobbling on its axis. Everyday we are bombarded with news that makes us wonder, "Can this get any worse?" and it continues day after day. Tune out the news and tune into your heart. Share a little kindness. It could become the best part of someone's day, especially when they're not expecting it. So today I encourage you to lead by example and show someone that most people are good, that kindness isn't dead, and that we're all in this life together.

it's birthday party time!

Today is the day for the family party to celebrate my little grandson AJ's 2nd birthday. Two years old and what a joy this little boy has brought to so many. 

For his 1st birthday, I made a zine to celebrate his first year. The tradition continues for his second year with a Sesame Street theme.

Dear AJ,

Woohoo!

You're TWO!

Happy, happy birthday,

I love you!

Love,

Didi 

 

the friday feed: perkatory

A big thank you to Catalyst, the creator of Oddball Observations and his Friday Funnies for inspiring this blogpost.

Perkatory...isn't this the truth? You smell the coffee brewing and can't wait for that first hot sip to start the day. 

Hot coffee and a c-c-c-cold winter morning. How cozy to be on the inside looking out at the new fallen snow.

Do you see that circle in the snow? There's a story to that. One afternoon my son called and asked if I would pick his dog up from doggy daycare. "Sure, no problem." It was 6:00-ish and he would pick his dog up from my house between 7 and 8:00 p.m. (19:00 and 20:00). 

"Would you mind making some scrambled eggs for Brutus for dinner?"

"I can do that."

It took a few minutes to make the eggs. They were hot, the dog was hungry, and the snow was cold. What to do: open the patio door, put the pan in the snow, the eggs cool in less than 30 seconds, and when they hit the bowl, B-Doggie snarfed them down in no time.

There are times when you need to use what's in front of you. It may not be the most conventional way but it sure gave a good solution.

ikigai

I love learning new words, words that come from different cultures, ones that may not have an English counterpart, words that encompass a bigger feeling, an action, or emotion in a way that English doesn't. 

Ikigai is one of those words. It's a reminder that joy and purpose can live in the same space. It's poetic and inspiring.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

It's been a quiet week. Winter Storm Fern has hovered over the Miami Valley with its bitter cold temperatures. Yesterday the mercury rose to 32° and after all those below zero days, 32° felt like spring was knocking at the door. Snow still covers the ground but it is slowly evaporating and melting. Maybe after the melt, we'll see some crocus pushing out from the dirt.

On January 30 the moon, with Jupiter to its lower right, sit up the night sky. It looked like a full moon but it wasn't. The full moon appeared on February 1. Todd was driving home from Findlay, Ohio. a couple hours north of here, after visiting a friend and his sweet mom who had been hospitalized. As we chatted, all at once an "Ohmygosh, you should see the moon rising!" It was a beauty and it wasn't dark yet. I went to the end of the street, stood in the middle of the cross road and got mooned! The full moon for February is the Snow Moon. It sure lived up to its name this year.

I've kept busy this week making some zines for my grandsons. AJ's birthday party is this weekend so he's getting two - one with the original party theme and one with the updated party theme. I also made one for Owen (3 1/2 years old) thanking him for choosing a loofah of many pastel colors as my Christmas gift. He and his mom went to the Dollar Store for his Christmas shopping spree and he chose all of the gifts for his recipients. In case you're wondering what a zine (pronounced "zeen) is, it's a small handmade book made by folding a single sheet of paper. They're fun to make and fun to receive. The art of writing thank you notes seems to have lost its importance. I grew up writing them and will continue to do so. One of my sons-in-law once commented that he really enjoys receiving my notes and letters. Letter writing is becoming a lost art.

The other day Todd was perusing the Kroger grocery ads and he pointed out that chuck roast was on sale for a good price. (Isn't it time to go to the grocery store...hint, hint?) A pot of beef stew sounded tasty so off to Kroger to find that chunk of chuck roast plus a few vegetable to put in it. I tried a new recipe, one where the meat was browned in a large pot on the stove top, add the vegetables for a few minutes to warm them up, and then put the pot in a low heat (325°) oven for two hours. Wow. It was delicious and will be my go-to beef stew recipe from now on. It made enough for a few leftover meals, too.

The big scuttlebut from yesterday was that the groundhog saw his shadow so six more weeks of winter. Actually Groundhog Day is the midpoint to spring so today marks the downslope to spring. 

The birds are busy at the feeders. Such a joy to watch them. Every so often a big flock of grackles comes and takes over the feeders. The other birds sit patiently waiting in the wings for the grackle feeding frenzy to end. Every so often, Todd will open the door and clap his hands to scare them off but they're back in 30 seconds. 

life is art

Life is art. Everyday we create, or recreate, our personal masterpiece. Masterpiece? I like to think that mine is a work in progress. People are compared to art because we all possess unique, subjective beauty, we tell stories and evoke emotional responses. Each person is a unique "piece." Humans, like art, communicate emotions, stories, and experiences. A person's life is a form of self-expression, similar to how art conveys messages.

Art is also something we do, a verb. It's an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality.

I really like this analogy. It puts art on such a personal, everyday playing field. Take your canvas or lump of clay or musical instrument, your smile or your wit, your grocery list or your to-do list or your dinners-for-the-week list, and share your most beautiful story.

Life is art.

 

monday's mulling: groundhog day

Groundhog Day, celebrated every year on February 2, is an unusual holiday that stretches back hundreds of years to European traditions and ancient times.

Why this date in midwinter? Groundhog Day stems from an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolc, rooted in astronomy and marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. 

Groundhog Day is a quirky holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada. It’s a fun way to break up the winter season and look forward to spring. It’s based on the belief that some animals can sense seasonal changes, and their hibernation patterns will indicate the coming weather.

According to weather lore, if it’s a clear or sunny day, the groundhog will see its shadow and return to its underground home. This means six more weeks of wintry weather. If it’s a cloudy or snowy day, this plump little prognosticator will not see his shadow which means early spring weather is right around the corner.

The first official organized Groundhog Day celebration in the United States was held in 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and has become a popularized annual tradition. My brother, one of the many accountants in the family, worked on an audit in Punxsawtawney, PA for a few years. One evening he and his boss were at dinner and the restaurant was selling wine made at the Groundhog Winery. The server gave him the story about the winery, that it's home to Junior and Sis, two cute little groundhogs who are rumored to be 3rd cousins of the famous forecaster Punxsawtawney Phil. 

Cheers to you, Phil. After all the snow and the many days with below 0 temperatures, we sure would welcome some early spring weather. No pressure at all...
 

it's that kind of sunday

We are bombarded every single day with news that is bad, upsetting, unsettling, depressing, discouraging, frightening, painful, troublesome, distressing, frightening. The list goes on and on and on...

Goodness and kindness get overshadowed by the bad, upsetting, unsettling, depressing, discouraging, frightening, painful, troublesome, distressing, frightening....

You can't control what shows up in your head but you can control what you do next. Look for stories and actions that overshadow all the noise and negativity. Engage in a random acts of kindness - a simple, non-premeditated actions that brighten someone's day - or a good deed. When you pass along a kindness, that gesture may soothe a soul, bring a smile, or give hope that perhaps the world may not be so bad after all. 

In the big picture, random acts of kindness may seem small. But no matter how small, little kindnesses make a big difference. Remember...

“Treat everyone with politeness and kindness, not because they are nice, but because you are.”

~ Roy T. Bennett

dayton's precious natural resource

If you fly into the Dayton airport, you might notice an informational signboard about water as you walk toward baggage claim from Concourse B. 

Dayton benefits from a plentiful groundwater supply known as the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer (GMVBA). Formed thousands of years ago by glaciers, the GMVBA is made up of loose, coarse sediments such as sand and gravel. This natural type filtration results in very clean water. Replenished by water that seeps down from the overlying rivers, this aquifer serves as the sole source of drinking water for the entire Dayton region. The City of Dayton provides drinking water to 400,000 people from this underground treasure.

The aquifer is stores approximately 1.5 trillion gallons of water. Rivers, streams, and lakes quickly recharge the aquifer, making the groundwater truly a renewable resource.

Around town you will notice “No Dumping” signs on sewers and storm drains. These signs educate the public that storm drains lead directly to waterways (rivers, lakes, oceans) without treatment, making it crucial to stop pollutants like oil, paint, or pet waste from entering them. The city officials realize what a precious resource we have and want to keep Dayton’s natural resources as clean and safe as possible for years to come. I just hope the data centers stay away from our area. They use up an incredible amount of water to cool the servers. (Google reported using more than 6 billion gallons in 2023).

 

the friday feed: gougères

Gougères. What an elegant way to say cheese puffs. 

A few weeks ago, I took these to a gathering and the hostess had asked that we bring an hors d'oeuvre to share. My refrigerator was still full of post-Christmas foods, with an especially large quantity of cheese. The kids had brought some cheeses for a charcuterie tray and we had received some gifts of assorted cheeses from friends. When it was time for everyone to return to their homes, no one took cheese. Everyone was cheesed out.

When my friend requested the appetizer, my immediate thought was a cheese tray, and instead of crackers I would get a little fancy-schmancy and make gougères.

Gougères are a baked savory pastry made with a French choux dough mixed with cheese. They have a reputation as being difficult, but they're really not. They're more fun than anything. To make them you combine liquids (water, milk), butter and salt in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Add flour and stir madly into a smooth paste. After allowing the paste to cool a bit, you work in eggs, one at a time. Then add grated cheese, pipe onto a baking sheet and bake. This dough is the same as a cream puff dough; the cheese makes it a savory bite.

On the chance gougères are left over, they can be frozen and then reheated for a special snack.

peaceful

Just another pretty winter sunset. The sun gives the patches of ice on the street a glow and the air grows colder as daylight disappears.

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion on January 28, 1986. Among they crew members killed was Judith Resnik of Akron, Ohio. She joins a long line of space pioneers from the Buckeye State. Ohio has a remarkable legacy as the Birthplace of Aviation with over 25 NASA astronauts. The well-known, iconic Ohio natives include John Glenn (first American to orbit the Earth and later the oldest person in space), Neil Armstrong (first man to walk on the Moon), and Judith Resnik (second American woman in space and first Jewish woman in space). 

Do you remember where you were when the Challenger exploded? I do. I was at home with my 16-month old son, watching in awe of the space shuttle talking off, the powerful rocket boosters launching it into space. And then, just a little over a minute into its ascent, the Challenger exploded. The awe turned into horror and disbelief. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

On our drive to Cleveland, it was the same ole, same ole drive, a little snow on the ground as we headed north. It was a beautiful, sunny, cold day with no indication of the snow that was to come. An IIK Transport truck caught my eye with its Russian writing on it. I wondered if IIK Transport was a Russian company doing business in the US so to pass the time on the drive, I did a little research. Just so you know, IIK Transport is an American trucking company headquartered in Bridgeview, Illinois, and utilizes a diverse, immigrant-heavy workforce, just as many other trucking companies do. The presence of Russian text on their trucks likely reflects that their drivers, owners, or operators are from Eastern Europe or Russia, and serve a multi-lingual driver base. The things you learn while passing time on a 3-hour drive.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Snow storm Fern was the looming topic for this past week. It came, it dumped, and now we are moving on with 20" of snow blanketing the area. Grocery store shelves have been restocked from the panic buying, the city snow plowers putting in heroic hours and effort to get the roads cleared for people to be out and about safely, the sun shines deceptively bright, not indicative of the below zero temperatures. The schools are still closed and I know parents are anxiously awaiting those doors to open again.

While in Cleveland, I did manage to get my Frozen Feet Challenge walks in. Dress warm enough and you stay warm. While trudging along, this mailbox made me do a double-take and gave me a little chuckle. What a contrast. A beach scene surrounded by snow. Only in Ohio. I took my gloves off, fumbled around in my pocket to get my phone out, dropped the phone and my fingers got colder. Anything for a photo to tell a story.

word illogic

Gotta love the English language...

 

monday's mulling: snowmageddon

48 years ago, January 24 - 26, 1978, I was a junior in college, living and loving the university life, and The Great Blizzard of 1978 pummeled Ohio, dropping 30+ inches, that shut down everything down. This winter storm, also known as the Cleveland Superbomb, is often cited as one of the most severe blizzards in the history of the US.

The same thing happened this past weekend. A huge winter storm pummeled central and southern Ohio with two feet of snow. We weren't at home when this happened; we were called for babysitting duty in Cleveland. Friday we were on the road to see the grandbabies, early Saturday the snow started to come down and it snowed until Sunday morning. Cleveland, surprisingly, got half the snow that southern Ohio did. Our plan was to head back home on Monday but a Level 3 snow emergency has kept us off the roads for another day.  

The snow and dangerous road conditions kept everyone at home but once the snow lightened up, people were out shoveling or using snowblowers to clear driveways and sidewalks, pulling their kids in sleds, walking up and down the street to check out this big snow dump. The city sent the snowplows out to take care of the streets and the driver assigned to this particular neighborhood was on a mission to get done as quickly as possible. He and his big truck traveled at warp speed, taking out a few mailboxes while barreling up and down the streets. 

My little grandson was over-the-moon excited to see so much snow on the ground. What was a major inconvenience for so many, the twelve inches of snow was magical for a 3 1/2 year old little boy. While Grandpa and Dada were shoveling, Owen and Didi bundled up and played "let's find the ball in the snow." We also made snow angels. Such joy from a winter storm.

postage stamps

Postage stamps...I enjoy seeing what the new releases are and then buying a couple sheets for mailing cards and letters to add a special touch to the personal communication to family and friends. 

At the most recent visit to the post office, the line was moving slowly, and that gave me a chance to look at the poster of the newest stamps. The Good Night Moon stamps immediately caught my eye. I read that book to my children and now to my grandchildren. It brought back memories of bedtimes with us sitting on a couch or a bed or snuggled under a blanket reading this quiet, relaxing book.

"In the great green room, there is a telephone and a red balloon, and a picture of

The cow jumping over the moon

And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

And two little kittens and a pair of mittens

And a little toyhouse and a toy mouse

And a comb and a brush and bowl full of mush

And a quitet old lady who was whispering 'hush...'"

Valentines Day is coming up and the stamps with hearts are perfect to send Valentine cards. Doves delivering a letter and the Keith Haring Love Stamps add an extra touch of love to the sentiment inside the envelope. I don't know if the recipients will notice the stamp but it's fun to match the card to the occasion with the postage stamp.

 

the polar vortex winter storm

Today is THE day of the BIG snowstorm. The snow will start tonight and will fall all day Sunday. The weather forecasters have been talking about this all week long and I'm still not sure how much snow we're supposed to get. Todd was supposed have been in Nashville today but that trip was cancelled. At the beginning of the week Nashville was predicted to have 12 inches of snow which would have shut the city down. Now the predictions is 1-3 inches and it will still be shut down. Southern cities typically don't get snow and when they do, it's a disaster. They're not equipped with the snow removal and salt trucks that the Northern cities have at the ready whenever there's a mention of winter weather.

Back in Ohio, the prediction is that we're going to get a lot of snow but how much changes hourly. I just hope the power stays on. The snowfall will be accompanied by bitterly cold temperatures.