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I Never Unpack

Category Archives: Life

Looking Back as We Look for Tomorrow

22 Friday May 2020

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Life, Uncategorized

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Life

Our new normal brings with it many memories of the past with its ordinary moments and its very special moments, too. It is almost as if we have been given the chance to find our new normal as we remember the experiences of what normal used to look like. If that sounds confusing to you, well, it sounds confusing to me too.

Early in this new life we are all living I began to remember those experiences from long ago that had felt special to me, as well as those days that were always quite ordinary,. Those moments, those days, those experiences were all…my normal.

As the medical experts informed us of all the risks, as the government put in place all manner of ways to “slow the spread”, we all began to realize that life was going to be very different, maybe for a very long time. And suddenly, even procuring groceries became a thing, a moment, an experience unlike it had never been in my grown-up life. And then it hit me…going to Kroger had once been very special, an event, and it was about to become an event again.

When I was a little girl growing up in Detroit, I spent a lot of time at my paternal grandparents house. I always tried to begin my weekends there on Wednesday night…yes, that does make for a nice long weekend! I knew that Grandma and Grandpa walked down to Kroger on Seven Mile Rd. and Livernois every Thursday to get the groceries for the next week, and I always tried to find a way to go with them. I loved those trips to the store. Why? There was a bridal shop on the way, and each month a new dress showed up in the window. Oh how I could not wait to see the new dress on that gorgeous mannequin! Then there were the ice cream cones, one for me and one for himself, that Grandpa always got at the dime store, whether Grandma approved or not.

And now I go to Kroger on Monday morning every two weeks to do our shopping for the next two weeks. I do not go any other day, and so we best be certain everything we need or want is on the list that hangs on the refrigerator. If we find we are missing something…well, Monday will come again. We have learned to adapt…even be more creative with recipes…because, maybe, Monday is still a ways off! I noticed this past week that I was like a kid looking forward to passing the bridal shop…I was going shopping, and it was an event, and I was even excited. Maybe, just maybe, this is good for all of us, discovering once again the simple things that are really important and should never be taken for granted.

It is from this same set of grandparents that I was introduced to the beauty of nature. They loved gardening, and while I was not as keen on it as they were, I did learn a lot from them. Then suddenly, as an adult, I grew into my understanding of all the nature they had taught me and I have never looked back. As we are “locked down” I spend a lot of time in my yard, I spend a lot of time looking at the bees and the birds, the flowers as they bloom at different times, and I take some pride in planting my garden. This year I will be planting a Three Sisters garden…more about that in another post.

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We watched each day as our maple trees came back to life!

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We watched as a bluebird pair claimed ownership of our box to start a family…

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and delighted in watching their nestlings grow, and finally fledge!

Grandma had, literally, hundreds of Viewmaster slides from all over the world, and from those slides I developed my love of travel. I cannot travel right now, but Jim and I can, and do go for rides in the countryside down roads we never knew existed, and we discover so much we never knew was out there so close to home.

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This is a scary time for the whole world, but it is also a time to look back at where we were, and realize that was often a pretty neat place. Maybe, just maybe, we might not mind returning to that life, if only just a bit, understanding that little things we have learned to take for granted are really pretty special after all! If we do, maybe, just maybe, we will all be better for the experience.

 

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“We Plan Our Days, but…” and Apple Pudding

17 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Dessert, Life, Uncategorized

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Dessert, Food, Life

As I was reading this rainy Saturday morning, I came upon this line fromĀ Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate,

We plan our days, but we don’t control them.

The sentence seemed to strike right at the moment in which we, and the whole wide world find ourselves in this moment of time.

We had so many plans for the coming weeks. I teach a children’s nature study at a local conservation area. We just had our first spring class…maybe our last for a while.

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I was excited about attending training early in April to become a Xerces Ambassador and help educate citizens about the importance of saving our pollinators. That training has been postponed until at least June.

We were planning on traveling to Texas to see a bucket list item…Texas Bluebonnets. That trip has been put on hold.

Meetings, church services, get-togethers among friends have been cancelled.

And Jim and I find ourselves in that vulnerable over 60 crowd. So what to do?

The simple answer is…go outside! There is no virus in the woods, nor on the prairie, or by a stream. So we go out and look for the reassurance that a new season is coming. We find those signs for which we are searching, and it lifts our spirits, clears our minds, drives away despair, puts smiles on our faces…and tires us out for a good night’s sleep!

We begin in our own backyard…

The maple trees are beginning to bloom...
The maple trees are beginning to bloom…
as are the forsythia.
as are the forsythia.
My Blue Flag iris is up...
My Blue Flag iris is up…
and my New England aster.
and my New England aster.
Our rosebush is anxious to get going...
Our rosebush is anxious to get going…

But the very best find in the yard, one rainy afternoon is our first daffodils…

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Late in the evening, the full moon out our back porch shone through the thickening clouds long enough for me to get a picture with my camera’s moon setting…

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We traveled to a local state park where we could see green coming back with almost every step we took…

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At the water's edge, life is re-emerging.
At the water’s edge, life is re-emerging.
The beavers and the turtles are active
The beavers and the turtles are active
The Lake at Montauk State Park
The Lake at Montauk State Park

Just before we were all told to stay away from places where we might encounter large groups of people, we visited one of our favorite places, Shaw Nature Reserve, near St. Louis.

It was a very cold and very gray day, but we enjoyed every single second of our time outside. We were very lucky to have made the decision to visit on Sunday, because on Monday the reserve was closed until further notice to protect its workers as well as its many visitors. We had the park nearly to ourselves, and what a joy!

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We saw signs of things to come, even tough it was so very cold…

These Wake Robin will bloom in the next month. I hope the park opens again before then!
These Wake Robin will bloom in the next month. I hope the park opens again before then!
Found these by the pond.
Found these by the pond.

I was really excited by finding our real reason for visiting. Each year, Shaw has literally thousands of daffodils that bloom throughout the park. The daffodils come up in the fields, they bloom on the hillsides, and they sneak out from within thick brush.They are amazing when in full bloom, and we caught them just as their bloom was beginning. The even more amazing thing this spring is that the park conducted a controlled burn. Yet, the daffodils came up…and they are blooming, even those that were temporarily damaged by the burn. Yup, there is always hope for better things to come!

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The world is in crisis mode, I know, but going outside, smelling the fresh air, seeing new life, makes me sure we will weather this storm just as we have so many others.

Baking While Home-centric!

Being at home, with only parks and woods, forests and streams to visit gives one a lot of time to finish projects that have been on the shelf, sometimes, for years. It gives me time to clean…well, if I want to. And it gives me time to play with a new kitchen tool I got for Valentine’s Day and search out some new recipes in cookbooks I have wanted to explore for a long time.

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My new spiralizer, peeler, slicer!

I checked the apples that we picked last fall, and found the few we have left to still be in very good shape. So I checked for a good, new apple recipe. I found the perfect one in a book I bought from our church group some thirty years ago. The book is called Heritage of Cooking: A Collection of Recipes from East Perry County, Missouri. That is a long name given to a cookbook of favorite recipes from a group of Lutheran churches in east central Missouri. They are good old German recipes, from old German Lutheran families, like mine. This apple pudding is absolutely delicious!

Going with the theme of the present moment to do with what you have, I used some coconut sugar (not sure why I had that!) for the sauce in place of the brown sugar which I did not have, adding a half tablespoon of molasses. I am not sure if that is what gave it its deep brown color, but it was really delicious.

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Apple Pudding

  • Servings: 9
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 2 c. apples, peeled and cored
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1c. flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (Missouri is famous for its black walnuts)

For the sauce:

  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. white sugar
  • 1 c. water
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Allow sugar and apples to stand until sugar is dissolved. Add egg and beat. Stir dry ingredients together and mix with apples and sugar. Add walnuts. Bake in greased 9″x 9″ pan for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Note: You can double the amount of apples to make the pudding more moist. I used about 3 cups of apples.

For the sauce, bring sugars, flour, and water to a slow boil until it is slightly thickened and glossy (about 10 minutes). Add butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Stay safe, and enjoy!

 

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Welcome to Autumn

22 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Family, Life, Nature, Photography

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Family, Life, Nature, photography

Let me just start by saying…I love autumn. I love the colors of autumn, the temperatures of autumn (even if today is going to be an unusual 93 degree day here in Missouri), the foods of autumn, the crispness of the morning air that accompanies autumn. But…

on this first day of autumn, 2017, the world seems a different place, outside my front door, as well as inside my back door. I cannot wrap my head around what is happening in the world, but I can try to put it aside for a while, close it out…and so I do. But…

then, as I look at my inside world, I notice it changing also. Things that used to be so easy are not easy anymore. Change is not only in the seasons, it is a part of life, sometimes welcome, sometimes not so much so. My challenge this autumn is to find the change worth cherishing, to find the change that covers up the losses that come naturally. And so, as always, I went for a walk…

I have discovered over the last couple years that goldenrod is one of my favorite flowers, and it explodes in the late summer taking us into autumn.
I have discovered over the last couple years that goldenrod is one of my favorite flowers, and it explodes in the late summer taking us into autumn.
Asters are incredible, and the bees are very busy this time of year.
Asters are incredible, and the bees are very busy this time of year.
The colors in Missouri are just beginning to change...yes!
The colors in Missouri are just beginning to change…yes!
Chrysanthemums have always been one of my favorite flowers, they remind me of my home growing up.
Chrysanthemums have always been one of my favorite flowers, they remind me of my home growing up.

And as I walked, I found those things that go out of season to make room for those things I so love in autumn like these sunflowers that were so beautiful a couple months ago, and are now spent until their season returns…

and I found life hanging on as long as it is able…

This rose, a Mother's Day gift from so long ago,,,
This rose, a Mother’s Day gift from so long ago,,,
and these tomatoes, hanging on for us to still enjoy.
and these tomatoes, hanging on for us to still enjoy.

and the highlight of my walk was this monarch chrysalis on our garage siding, getting ready to start a brand new life and a brand new journey…

So, as I come back inside my back door, I understand that there is a certain melancholy to this first day of autumn, 2017…

But I will not let it last for long…because there are apples to pick. There are pumpkins out there I need to turn into my favorite dessert, pumpkin pie. There are crisp, cool mornings to take walks while listening to the leaves crinkle beneath my feet. And best of all, there are holidays to prepare for, and that means family!

Yeah, life, it is changing…my challenge is to keep up with the change as best I can, cherish it, and plan for it! Now where is that 9 inch pie pan!

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