monday's mulling: unique {august 28, 2023}

 

They call us ”The Elderly”

We were born in the 40-50-60’s.

We grew up in the 50-60-70's.

We studied in the 60-70-80's.

We were dating in the 70-80-90's.

We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's.

We venture into the 80-90’s.

We stabilize in the 2000’s.

We got wiser in the 2010’s.

And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.

Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades...

TWO different centuries...

TWO different millennia...

We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.

We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.

From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, colour TV and then to 3D HD TV.

We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.

We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.

We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans.

We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.

We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.

Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had!

They could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.

We've kind of “Seen-It-All”!

Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.

It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”.

A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE.

-Author unknown

little things {august 27, 2023}

"The older I get, the more I'm conscious of ways very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of tiny matters, isn't it?"

~ Sandra Cisneros

the importance of proof reading {august 26, 2023}

Ugh, ugh, UGH!

Such a glaring mistake.

Proofreading is so important. It lets people focus on a message, not a mistake. 

Overlooked errors are distracting. Mistakes can range from mildly uncomfortable to downright embarrassing. Do we want the general pubic to witness us making those missteps? When we care about our writing, we won't hesitate to focus on the little things. People will and do notice!

the friday feed: everything bagel ice cream {august 25, 2023}

Garlic and onion are delicious on a bagel. But mixed into ice cream?

There’s a little cooler at the end of the check out lanes at my favorite grocery store, Dorothy Lane Market. It is filled with limited edition flavors of Jenis’s Splendid Ice Cream, one of them being Everything Bagel. At first I thought, “No way. Never.” The last time I was in the store, curiosity got the best of me and I bought a pint.

Once I got over the notion that everything bagel seasoning belongs only on a bagel, I thought maybe, just maybe, the combination of flavors might make sense in an ice cream. Jeni’s uses a mix called “Everything Bagel Gravel,” a slightly modified form of Everything Bagel seasoning, to blend better with dessert. It’s a buttery streusel seasoned with onions, garlic, cayenne, sesame, and poppy seeds to flavor the cream cheese ice cream base.

The buttery streusel is delicious, the sesame and poppy seeds add a nutty flavor, and I didn’t notice the cayenne. As for the garlic and onion, they're definitely there, and I think those flavors are a little too bold.  

I didn’t dislike this ice cream, but I won’t buy it again. If you’re a fan of bold flavors, this might just be for you. I'm glad I tried it but next time, I’ll try that butterscotch popcorn flavor.

butterflies {august 24, 2023}

Butterflies...the masters of metamorphosis. This beautiful winged creature symbolizes transformation, freedom, and rebirth. Butterflies have long been viewed as otherworldly messengers and heralds of good fortune and joy.

Yesterday at the farm, a grandma came to buy some fruits and veggies and had her very energetic, chatty first grade grandson with her. He was all over the place checking out the baskets of apples and fascinated with and worried about the yellow jackets that were flying around, asking if he could taste a yellow grape tomato, asking why the heirloom tomatoes "looked funny." To give Grandma a little peace while she shopped, I asked him if he wanted to choose a zinnia in the "Just for Kids" flower bed. He was all over that.

With the kids's flowers, the child gets to choose one flower. This little guy so politely asked if he could also have a flower for his sister. Yes, he could. A lot of butterflies were on the flowers and out of the blue, this talkative, ball of energy said, "My mom died of cancer and whenever I see a butterfly, I think of her."

Cue the tears.

And then he was off to check out the irrigation system.
 

wordy wednesday: nerds {august 23, 2023}

Foodie. Mountain biker. Airplane builder. Witty. Sense of humor. The farm's sound system fixer. Excellent conversationalist.  Hard worker. Many post-graduate options. A young man who's going to do something great. He describes himself as a nerd.

This young man, an electrical engineer, and I met at our summer job at the farm. One day as we were talking about sound and how he may pursue something to do with sound in post graduate studies, he said, "I hope I don't bother you talking about this, but I'm a nerd when it comes to this kind of thinking." And he went on to say, "You know a nerd is someone who has an intense focus on something that catches his/her interest." My reply was, "We all have a little bit of nerdiness in us."

It's Wordy Wednesday and so in my word nerdiness, I began pondering nerd's origination. "Nerd" dates from the 1950s. Dr. Seuss coined it in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo, but not in the sense that we use today. The usage of nerd is now often used in a neutral fashion to denote enthusiasm or expertise (theater nerd) or proudly as a self-identifying trait (word nerd) 😁 

I do love words. I love their etymologies, their sounds, spellings, synonyms and antonyms, how a collection of words paints a picture or evokes emotion, plays on words. This could easily lead to a discussion of the power of words but that is a much bigger picture. Right now it's just about a niche interest. Think about what interests you and be proud of your nerdy self.  

green {august 22, 2023}

Green means "go," so let's get this day going!

“It’s TUESDAY! And since it's CHOOSEDAY: choose to smile, choose to be happy, choose to love, choose to bless, choose to be a blessing, choose to be humble, choose to be patient,  choose to be kind…HAPPY TUESDAY!” – Unknown