Gratitude Attitude

I'm feeling very grateful today.  Maybe it's a feature of getting older and wiser, (just turned 71,)  or maybe it's an overwhelming appreciation for all the wonders of this world of ours.  In particular, I'm feeling especially grateful to whomever invented the pressure canner and the science of canning.  I guess I could google it and find out who, long ago, decided that there should be a way to preserve the goodness and edibility of the food which we usually harvest in summer and would like to eat all year round.  I like to connect to that soul and say, thank you, thank you, thank you.  I do quite a bit of communicating with other souls from the past.  I don't know if they are listening but it's fun to meditate and thank all the different ones who spent their lives trying to make things better for the ones who would come after them.  Just think if that person hadn't taken the time to figure out the canning process.  It'd be a lot harder to subsist on fresh food, especially in our northern region...........The event that started me on this thought was a trip to our "root cellar" in the garage.  Many of the apples we picked last fall are now wrinkled and not as much fun to eat as when just picked.  So, I started making apple sauce and canned it.  I put it in 8 oz jars so we don't open a bigger jar and then forget about it and let it rot in the refrigerator.  It's so nice to still be able to use the fruit and without the pressure canner, it wouldn't be possible.  The pictures show the miracle of the apple blossom,  Bing picking the apples and the finished product.  You rah, rah, canning!

The Last Crop

Every day I walk a path around the garden and I've been amazed at the hardiness of the kale that was planted last spring.  I finally picked it and we'll use it in soups, stews and stir fry.  It's another subtle sign of the changing weather patterns, to harvest a crop in early January in northern Wisconsin - very strange!

This and That

It's the last day of 2012!  Wow, that was a super fast year.  When I read magazines and papers, I often cut out paragraphs and thoughts that strike me as wise or interesting or amusing.  I just went through the pile of scraps near my chair and thought this would be an appropriate day to share them. So many many people do highlights of the past twelve months, so here's my collection of wisdom:

"If you fail to pay your exorcist, you get repossessed."...............From Rabbi Rami Shapiro:  "When you admit to life's complexity and to your unknowing, you discover you need do nothing with your life except live it - humbly, simply, kindly, and justly - trusting in life to offer you one opportunity after another to make the world a little better for your having been born into it.  Nothing confusing about that.".............."Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana."......................From Roma Downey: "Before I left home for drama school in England, my father took me outside one night and told me that wherever I was, the moon would shine on both of us.  Months later, walking in London I'd look at the moon and feel his love.  Now I've shared the ritual with my own kids.  When I travel, the moon reminds us that we're never as far apart as it may seem."..........................."John Deere's manure spreader is the only equipment the company will not stand behind.".......................Don't know who spewed this wisdom: "The very nature of being alive is participation, expanse, change and progress............embrace your fears as opportunities for learning."................"Biologists have recently produced immortal frogs by removing their vocal cords.  They can't possibly croak.".....................From Ron Tranmer: "A Prayer for Our Sons - Dear Lord. Your gifts are many.  I'm grateful for every one.  One of your greatest gifts you've given is the gift of three wonderful sons.  Thank you for their lives dear Lord.  Watch over them every day.  May they be safe and free from harm, and led along life's way.  Bless them through life's trials Lord,  may they always do what's right, an example be for all to see, as they're guided by Your light."......................"Atheism is a non-prophet organization.".............From some health magazine:  "Heal your body - using your mind.  Research shows that by tapping into the power of your mind by using an ESP-like technique called guided imagery, you can create changes in your body!  To put it to work for you: Sit or lie quietly with your eyes closed, focusing on  the symptom that is bothering you and forming an image of it in your mind.  For example, maybe a fire in your abdomen.  Use all your senses to experience the image - then visualize a solution, like water dousing the fire.  Your symptoms may ease or fade away."................"The man who survived mustard gas ans pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran."........................From the June 2012 O magazine: In the book, "Your Brain on Nature", Eva Selhub,MD and naturopath, Alan Logan, explore the incredible physiological effects of being outdoors - including increased immune activity and less perceived effort during exercise....Just looking at a natural scene activates parts of the brain associated with balance and happiness.....They sound like science fiction but negative ions -  particles found near waterfalls, breaking waves and river rapids - can act as natural antidepressants....The Japanese knew that shinrin-yoku, or forest breathing, does wonderful things for the body.  But now researchers have quantifiable evidence."".............So, my friends, in 2013, let's all live our lives with love, laughter and in communion with nature.  Happy New Year!

Deer Harvest 2012

Two deer gave their lives for us this past week and we will honor their lives by using as much as possible of them to nourish us and give their hides to Lions International.  I married into a hunting family.  When I was growing up in Chicago and Milwaukee, I didn't know what venison was and I never ate any wild game.  Bing's mother and father's families were hunters and fishermen and rabbits, pheasant and venison were common foodstuffs with them.  Bing introduced hunting to our three sons and schooled them in the ways of the hunt.  Each of them participated from about the age of twelve or thirteen.  Back then, with the busyness of raising the three sons and working part time, I really didn't pay too much attention to the maturation process that obviously occurred with the awesome responsibilities involving life and death, the handling of weapons and the learning the rules and regulations and customs of the hunting shack men.  Now that life is so much less hectic and there is time to observe, it is incredible to watch as our grandson, Jamie, has joined the hunting traditions.  Jamie is 14 now and he and his dad, Bernie, and Bing, went out opening day, together but each in their own territory and on their own, silently scouting and hoping for a sighting.  Jamie was the one to whom a deer destined upon him.  All these years of living up here in deer territory, around hunting season, any socialization brings myriad stories about the monster deer slain or the mighty ones that got away, but to hear Jamie's personal story of his exploit, was so much more interesting and charming.  He proudly told of the magnificent eight point buck in his sights and how, even though trembling, he managed to pull himself together, aim and shoot and down the animal humanely and without wasting too much meat.  He called his dad on the cell phone and Bernie showed how to gut the animal.  Jamie then dragged the beast to the road by himself to wait to go register it.  That afternoon, Bing and Bernie and Jamie skinned, quartered and boned it and my part of the work is to trim it and package it.  Back to DePere went Jamie and Bernie but back up here for the second weekend of the hunt this past weekend.  This time Jamie's 17 year old sister, kayla, came along so we could celebrate Thanksgiving and her birthday.  The hunting trio went out again Saturday. No luck.  Then Sunday morn they tried again and Bing got a nice big doe.  They skinned, quartered and boned again and our venison supply is plentiful.  So many lessons learned - cooperation, confidence in oneself, biology, butchering, nature's bounty.  Thanks deer.

Grandkids are Greatkids!

How can you describe a love so deep and so pure and so joyous that just thinking about the objects of that love makes you smile with warm delight?  Words cannot adequately convey the love of this grandma toward each and every one of our six grandchildren.  They blow me away with their distinct little personalities, their talents and their ability to love unconditionally.  Our 6 range from almost seventeen to two years old and we have our seventh on the way.  Today we enjoyed a visit from the 14 year old, Jamie, and he has now successfully passed me in height.  He and his dad, Bernie, did some partridge hunting and he practiced throwing the discus for next Spring's track season.  His happy smile is evident in the half face included in the attached pictures.  Later today, when Bing and Bernie were fishing and Jamie was on the way to a Halloween corn maze with old friends, I went to get the mail.  Wow, what a thrill.  There was a letter to Grandpa and Grandma from the two little granddaughters that moved with their mom and dad and little brother from here in Rhinelander to Medford, Or.  They each wrote such loving words about missing us and our special days, about how they love their new neighborhood and how they're already looking forward to our visit next year.  Oh my, my weepy little eyes gushed forth with happy tears!  They're in the accompanying picture with their dad and brother.  The girl on the right in the picture of the three girls, is Kayla, seventeen in another month.  She led the way for the younger ones and has been a fine role model.  And then, the other picture is of the little two year old and his dad, Dan.  We know Ben vicariously through the little vignettes and pictures sent by e-mail and i phones.  We've also had two precious in person visits and will get out to Washington state next year  to get to know him better and to welcome and meet his little brother,  name so far, unknown.  The other picture is our grandcat, Bungee..................Thanks so much, God, for setting up such a complicated, complex, confusing but oh so wondrous system by which we are born into, live with, and get to love our family members.  May your light continue to shine on all of us.

Juxtaposition

Here's another lovely word, juxtaposition.  It means placing things side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.  As I meandered I noticed that Mother Nature has placed Summer and Fall in juxtaposition.  I snapped some pictures to demonstrate.  It's a beautiful time of year but the cool nights have arrived and riotous colors of Autumn are springing forth.

Crescendo

Crescendo is a good word.  It means a gradual increase in volume or intensity.  In music, a crescendo moves from a gentle sound that builds and builds until crushing sound envelopes you.  In our little part of the world, a crescendo of sadness is building and building and will soon culminate as our third son, Tony, his wife, Carmen,  and their three wonderful children, 13, 9 and 7, move away to follow a dream out in the state of Oregon.  We wish them well and hope and pray that it will be a great move and they will build a beautiful life out there.  We know we've been unusually blessed to have had their lives so entwined with ours these past few years.  But still the sadness looms.  The children have been our playmates and gateway back to the innocence of childhood.  We've watched them blossom and learn and establish personalities, likes and dislikes, and show glimpses of special talents. We know them all well now and can be confident that our connection is forever but we also know that our relationship will be changing.  Hopefully, we'll be able to travel the 2000 miles annually, especially since our second son, Dan, his wife, Cori and son, Ben, are out there too, in Vancouver, Wa.  We'll try to utilize all the hi tech communication devices that we can master but in our heart of hearts know that it won't be the same.  But that is life, ever changing and not always exactly as you'd like.  So, we're savoring  every one of these last days we have, swimming and laughing and singing.

We'll let them go and wish them well, let the cescendo of sadness envelope us and then exit the other side, delighting in the every day pleasures of our life, looking forward to the visits of our 1st son and his children who only live 130 miles away, and start to plan next year's trip out west................The pictures I've included are showing how our apple trees are faring this year.  Bing had to put seven foot fences around some of them because last year we saw deer standing on their hind legs to reach the low hanging apples.  We've heard that apples are scarce this year and two different ladies from town are asking to buy our apples.  And then a picture of a cucumber inserted itself.  Enjoy!