more winter fell

i've run out of things to say, about,
snow.

#328

tonight, I went to a caucus. my plan to volunteer & vote, and hoped that our turnout would be good--despite the oncoming snow storm.

tonight, I stood in a room of 600 people, from my little senate district, and watched them count themselves off. starting in one corner, a person said "one" and we went around the room, through the crowd, until every person had a chance to yell the next number. I am #328.
and in the next room, went the count for the other candidates.

they expected no more than 300. They got 846. And the lines were long. And some people complained. But most people joked about how of course, no one expected such a turnout.

I didn't take a picture, I was too busy helping people get registered. But I did stand up on a chair, during the "count," I was standing, because I wanted to see each face as they yelled out a number.

I felt like I was really taking part in a Democratic process. There we all stood, each person with a voice & a vote. And in the end, despite the hours of standing & waiting, we were done, and we all cheered & applauded. Because we did it. Because like Obama says, "ordinary people can still do extraordinary things"

We are ordinary people. Ordinary people who live, and take part in, our democracy. And we did an extraordinary thing tonight. Even right here, in Kansas.

great things list #6, voting

it is a big day for Democracy. this Super Tuesday.

so tonight, I'll be voting. As a Kansan, that
means, I'll be heading to a caucus.
Where I've also volunteered to help with registration
and counting heads.

I'm actually calm today. November 4th, will likely be the day o' emotional moments.
(usually election days give me surges of choked-up emotions. because of pride, fear, thankfulness, community, hope and, the Constitution.)

because, though sometimes a flawed process, a Democracy it is still
a great process.

of the people, by the people, for the people.

february

February is a harsh month.

I think of February as a trial, we have to go through, to deserve Spring.

It feels like the worst month. The weary daylight filtered
by winter air. My skin dry & blotchy & lifelessly pale.

In the middle of it, sits this "holiday" of pink & red & candy hearts,
diamond commercials & the antique idea of romance.

But at the end of it, March shows up. With nights not always below-freezing.
Starting of little green things, to poke up from under frozen layers.

when photos came from film

so, as my friends will think to themselves, "it's about freakin' time"-- but, I finally purchased a backup hard drive. for how long it took me, you'd think I'd been contemplating buying a summer home. so, now, the next time my laptop goes black and loses my hard drive--I'll actually have it backed up.

this leads me to comment, that I've not yet put together my list of things-to-do-2008, but when I do, I think one of them will be to start archiving all of my photos taken before the digital age.

scanning these will be important. but a fun way, is to also, just take a photo of them with my camera. the true integrity of the photo is lost, but also, the photos themselves become...photos. and in a sense, a new art form. as I've been playing around with this technique, I've learned that how I represent the photo in a new photograph, changes the image. I don't suppose I'm explaining this correctly. but I'm having fun with it, regardless. (this is where my "Turkey" photos down below, came from)

the image above include two of my great-aunts, and a bushel of kids. my mother being the cutie, 2nd from the right. it was likely taken on my great-grandparent's front porch, the big old white house in town. I have two memories of that house. the glass doors opening into a living room, with a big old christmas tree. and the bright kitchen, that smelled of almonds & vanilla.

winter snow

this morning woke to a layer of new snow.
after starting a pot of coffee, swept the snow from
my front porch.
and the silence outside was huge.
everything quieted by those few inches of snow.
the snow, drifting in soft mounds. in odd shapes.

the day has long since started, and the sounds of cars
crunching on
the snowy streets, has taken over.

dug into my 1979 Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
and found Emerson's quote from The Snowstorm,
"The frolic architecture of the snow"

great things list #5, faraway places

about ten years ago, I had a trip to Turkey.
I'd gone to visit a best friend, Miss LMR. as she was living there, discovering the world by living all over it.
I arrived by Christmas and stayed through the first days of 1998.

at this point ten years ago, I was frantically writing in my journal about the smells, the colors and the sounds. words like pide, beze, merhaba, ak-deniz, lütfen & kenz-i mahfi, are all over my journal. some of the words are in LMR's handwriting. (isn't it amazing how having another person's handwriting written somewhere can make it seem like you've got a part of them with you?)
















so I've been browsing it. my journal. on my last journal entry in Istanbul I wrote, "It will be frustrating to go home and want to relive this time--with people who can only imagine & not have actually lived. I really am not so sure that I'll be ready to leave. There is so much more to do--this whole world is full of pictures."

it changed my world. that smell of roasted sesame seeds. that language so magically different from mine. the sound of the early morning drums during Ramadan. hot apple tea after a cold boat ride on the sea.

can you believe it LMR? It was ten years ago. I'll visit again. I absolutely, must.

great things list #4, Kansas

"if I went west, I think I would go to Kansas."
(Abe Lincoln, 1860)

Happy Kansas Day.
A list of some things I adore about this place.

1. bluest & biggest sky
2. tallgrass prairie
3. turkey red wheat
4. ad astra per aspera – to the stars, through adversity
5. it has been home to generations of farmers, that I call family
6. the smell of the green air, after a spring rain
7. harvest time
8. fireflies in the summertime
9. the South wind
10. huge backyards
11. Walnut Valley Festival
12. cottonwood trees
13. zwiebach
14. the Kansan spirit.
15. I get to call it my home.

(I do encourage you other Kansans, to contribute to this list)

the thing with feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without words --
And never stops - at all --

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm --

I've heard it in the chillest land --
And on the strangest Sea --
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of Me.

--Emily Dickinson

information age

The Library of Congress has a pilot project with Flickr. (The project is described, here) The hope is that by placing non-copyrighted images from the Library, up on Flickr, that they can actually learn more about the images. As some are missing information that would be valuable--like name of location etc...

I think it is a very clever and productive way for an "old" picture archive to be utilized by a "new" picture archive.

I did a search of the images for anything labelled Kansas. The above photo is "A church near Junction City, Kansas" -- and of course, now, I want to take a drive and see if I can find more about it.

flour, salt, yeast & honey.

and warm water.
I know that at times a bread machine would be nice. At those times I just wanted fresh bread, without all the effort.
But as I stand in my 100-yr old kitchen, at a place where other women likely stood to do the same, and knead away. Everything is peaceful. No computer, no internet and nothing buzzing or whirring. It is simply, me, making bread.

Honey Whole Wheat, like last time.

my desk is all a-fuffled

(first, may I state, hearing the words "arctic front", can't mean anything good. to anyone, truly? It seems like the whole world is just a still-life in freezing, right now)

kerfuffle (kuhr-FUHF-uhl) noun
A commotion.
[Of uncertain origin, perhaps from Scots curfuffle, from fuffle (to disorder).]

(Mostly, I like this word, because of its origin. And I plan on finding a way to bring back "fuffle")

butterflies for a blanket

snowy

happy to be inside.

happy in 2 months, winter will be gone again.

happy for fleece pullovers, wool scarves and insulated coffee mugs.

great things list #3

visiting friends, in cities I've never seen.

just purchased a ticket for "sunny" LA, in February, a perfect time to get away from the Kansas winter-weather grays.

butterflies on a blanket

fabric for the niece's first present, purchased this weekend.

butterflies in the making.

stacks of fabric. wonderful things. the colors, the prints, the combinations. I get dizzy in fabric stores.

great things list #2

oatmeal for breakfast.

i'm a person raised eating some form of cereal for breakfast. hot or cold. the importance of hot cereal to my dad, has led him to develop his own "blend" of a hot cereal combination. myself am quite happy with either Quaker Oats or McCann Irish Oats.

and though most days, breakfast for me is toast. on frosty mornings, I sometimes cook up some oats. warm, filling and just enough brown sugar for a little sweetness.

and, I hear-tell, that is is pretty good for you, too.

magic words

cat's paw
noun

1. Someone used as a tool by another.
2. A kind of knot used to connect a rope to an object.

3. A breeze that ruffles the surface of the water over a small area.

wordsmith.org

warm

the best (warmest) place in the house. while the cold winds swirl outside the windows.

pink in the drab

the annual surprise. pink blooms. the cactus began blooming right before Christmas. I realise that the plant is called a Christmas cactus, but how did it know, really?
It didn't really, it was luck.
Last year it bloomed at Thanksgiving.

anyway. nice to see some color. cause these days, Kansas is bare, grey, blustery and just plain Winter.

great things list #1

the inter-library loan service at my little hometown library. (or, any library, I suppose)

just about any book, if another library in the State has it, they'll find it, and have it sent to them, and then they call me, to let me know it is ready.

and it is free.

the long days ahead

this morning decided I simply can't get up early, because of the darkness that sticks around so long.

finally, joy of joys, managed to drink some coffee this morning. after almost a week not able to without getting queasy.

last night watched Miss Potter, mostly out of my desire to watch a period-costume-historical-british-drama, of which, I have a weakness. the movies was, only okay. RZ's heavy makeup quite bothered me. was she supposed to be ruddy-faced? I just didn't get it. and had to stop looking at her. long ago, on my trip to the UK. we stopped at her "home". the area really was one of the most lush, beautiful places I'd ever seen.

on the brit-drama note, excited to see PBS devoting four months of Sunday nights to Jane Austen.

last weekend, while ill & bored, pulled from my DVD shelf, an old favorite. Hannah and her Sisters. loved every neurotic, woody-allen, pretentious, 80's NYC, minute of it. after this movie I always want to devote myself to reading my complete e.e.cummings, all 1,000 pgs of it. while listening to jazz.

and am looking forward to one of my favorite photo sites, as though they have ended their year of mornings, they will soon begin, a year of evenings (and yes d., they did get a book deal, as you so cynically predicted)

anyway, before the book deal. a quilt for my soon-to-be-born niece. I'm thinking....butterflies.

xmas.feastival.new year's.

happy 2008.

christmases were had. my dad liked the scarf I knit him.
my nephew learned to "rip and tear", and enjoyed helping all of us do just that.
the "caribbean" colored stockpot I bought my mother, on a spontaneous it's-on-sale whim, was a bit hit.
and the "reuseable" grocery bags, which I made for my stepmother & mother--made from muslin & duckcloth, were enjoyed and I fully trust, will be used. I've grown to be quite a crank, when it comes to all those plastic bags floating around in the world.

and I happily received Last-Minute Patchwork & Quilted, as well as the Italian go-to, The Silver Spoon.

Feastival was excellent. much pumpkin bread was eaten. as well as empanadas. and many bloody marys, whiskey spritzers and coffee w/ liqueur was enjoyed. and once again, the Dutch Blitz came out. causing a lot of cursing, frantic card slapping and fun. The "christmas" holidays would mean very little any more, if it were not for Feastival. and my darling friends, who always make me laugh. and seem to think I'm funny sometimes, too.












By New Year's, I was feeling the holiday exhaustion . But, all dressed up, joined my brother and sis-in-law to go to a New Year's party. where fun was had. drinks were spilled. the new year, rung in.

I woke up the next day, with the stomach flu nastiness. and only today, am finally feeling like I can eat most things, without worry.

now, for 2008. am thinking, new job? or start a new program to get my that master's in library science that has been tempting me for so long? a trip to sunny LA to visit that mysterious city of palm trees. a new addition to the family in March. this summer, a trip up North for a birthday extravaganza. hopefully another visit to the windy City. and most definitely, more wallpaper removal, plastering, painting, & gutter repair on the house.
oh, and the ever so stressful, 2008 election.

new history.

the sugar cookie recipe I've been making since I was a girl (featured below) I'd had believed was my grandmother's. every year my grandma lorene bake these cookies. and we all look forward to snacking on them--as they are practically bite-size covered in colorful sprinkles.

I'd known that my cookies never quiet tasted like hers. but, I reasoned that I just didn't have her touch.

today, while at my mother's snowy farm kitchen, I was going through her folder of loose recipes. and I found Lorene's Sour Cream Christmas Cookies, written in grandma's hand, likely right after mom & dad were married. it is noted on the card, that this recipe came from her mother. it is not the same recipe which I'd been baking all this time.

I asked mom, so, where did this other recipe, that I've been using, come from? and she doesn't remember. but pointed out, it was probably someone's family recipe, maybe just not, ours.

Also, in the folder of recipes, is a picture of me at 11 years. with straight bangs and a few freckles.

annual bake-off

only once a year (mostly) do I take the time to make, roll, cut, bake & decorate cookies. mostly I prefer to make cookies that are easily dropped onto a sheet.

these are the sugar cookies which I've been making since I was little. my grandmother's recipe. (I should really remember to ask her where she got the recipe.) one that I thought, when little, had a bit of secret in them, since they call for a combination of milk & orange juice.

I love these cookies. Though they are now in the freezer, waiting for actual visitors, and holiday celebrations. Of course the temptation is too great, and I do pull one or two out, every day, for buttery-sugary-munching.

A batch of gingerbread cookies, (a recipe clipped out of my 12/95 issue of Sauveur--oh my, so long ago?) also now waits. For the buttery-gingery-sugary munching needs.

wintry week

our ice storm came rather ferociously. then melted away in one day.
as it melted, it sounded like rain on my roof. I stepped outside in the back, and watched in wonder, as the trees shed their ice, in pellets. and the trees simply crackled in relief. it was like watching a downpour of bits of glass. all the while, the sun was shining. glinting light everywhere.

and then, the next day. it snowed. all night long. in a hush.

and today, it will begin to melt away.

iced over

I have only a few days each year, in which I question why I love living in this big/small state.

ice storms. are definitely more pain than pretty.

here's hoping all those around me without power, get it back soon. b/c it is too cold not to have a furnace running, and a hot cup of tea in hand.

baking pumpkin

with the sub-zero temps over the weekend, it was important to warm up the kitchen with some baking. I made several loaves of pumpkin bread. a favorite of some visiting familia around christmas day. This recipe from Everyday Food I find I've relied on quite a bit, since it was first published. (Of course, I half the ginger and add cinnamon. Because I have a hard time imagining pumpkin bread w/o cinnamon.)

in other news. we are expecting a big ice storm to start tonight. here's hoping I keep my power over the next few days. as, it will be mighty cold (and no internet), if it goes.

shorty

went out to the christmas tree farm and cut my tree. the cute, young smiley guy in the Carhardt's overalls wasn't sure I'd be able to cut it on my own. but, I'd done it okay last year.

it was particularly windy. and of course, cold. but I walked around and found one just short & fat enough to fit my wants. and into my trunk for the drive home.

and now she's all dressed up in lights and stuff.

and when I walk into my house, I get a whiff of that christmas pine.

tis the season, in my house.

in my yard

Fall is Yellow.

though I do feel compelled to rake up all the leaves from the Elms, Walnut & Oak tree in my yard (compelled from an idea of "good homeownership"). I think I may skip it this year.

I raked leaves into the flowerbeds as extra winter protection. And that, was quite enough, for me.

old stars

another shot from the hometown photoproject.

am fairly sure the "stars" are functional/practical, maybe bolts of some kind? I don't fully know. But I love how they seem to be scattered about.

fall harvesting

milo waiting for harvest.

november is here.
my nephew turned two last weekend. and he had a fun & sunny Saturday, with a lot of love, attention and presents from his adoring fans.

this is a busy month for birthdays. my brother's. and many friend's--in Lawrence, KC, Portland, L.A. & Istanbul.

am collecting sewing projects for to-do over the winter months. am also trying to convince myself that more trips to the gym would be good for the mind, body & soul.

am considering adding these to the menu for the annual Feastival in December. (this ever-growing menu will definitely have to be pared down, by the time 12/26 rolls around.)

have also become recently obsessed with the idea of having these. and there are so many to choose from, I don't know if I'd ever actually decide on which to have.

all hallow's eve

it is windy & chilly today. and cloudy, so the night will be dark. seems perfect weather for a witchy, spirited day.

a friend helped carve the jack o'lantern last night. we think it is a happy pumpkin. but maybe also, just a drunk one.

so, Fall is really here.

over-wintering

all the plants have come inside. as the temps are going below 40 at night. they live crowded around the few south-facing windows in the house. I brought some basil in, though I know it won't last long. as well as rosemary, parsley, oregano & thyme.

the porches are bare. and the leaves are beginning to fall--which is good, as I'm planning to rake them over the beds for the winter.

my old house is cold. as they all are. and suddenly, it has become time to shuffle around in slippers and sweaters. (dreaming of a wood-burning stove.)

and fight the constant desire to bake warm (& sweet) things.

pumpkin c. chip muffins

as soon as a friend had mentioned she'd recently been baked some amazingly good pumpkin chocolate chip muffins...I put in a request that she get the recipe for me from the baker herself.

and as I had a wine-drinking get-together to attend last night, I made up a batch. and the few I'd left at home, were eaten up today by my nephew & brother during a visit.

so, they were a hit. and I've since passed the recipe on to another.
I love that about recipes. how they get handed from person-to-person, over time and over distance.

thanks C.-in-Chicago for the recipe. quite yummy.

space patrol

more flannel pants for the almost two-year old.

with a big space patrol pocket.

which, I may wait to give him as a part of his b-day present. since I still haven't decided what to really give him.

photo project

one of my new goals is to carry my little Elf digital camera with me where-ever I go. I'm constantly "seeing" pictures around me. Mostly, around my little town.

so a new project is to photograph this place. the nooks & crannies. the building details. places we don't always see. most of these will show up on my Flickr page.

making things for give-away

I was inspired by these little owls made by Moonstitches. And adapted her tutorial directions to create a more baby-friendly-soft owl. (no cardboard, no buttons, bigger, fatter and flannel instead of wool)
As, I have a baby shower to attend this weekend. The 2465115 th baby shower I've attended in my life. (I keep telling myself that Karma will bring me many cute, handmade gifts. when the day finally comes I have my own shower. It is how I sit through them, and keep smiling. Until I escape to the kitchen to have a glass of wine, while all the mothers move to the "joy", oh the joys, "you can't understand until you have your own" part of the conversation)

But I like this fat little owl so much, I sort of want to keep her on a shelf in my studio. To watch over things. She's wise. She's pretty. Maybe I can make another one soon.















Since I've also gotten these made, I wouldn't be going empty-handed. If, the little owl were to stay here with me. The bibs are the new, easy shower gift in my life. The pattern came from Angry Chicken's book, Bend the Rules Sewing.

fall buckeye

I have a Buckeye tree in front yard. I've been told by an aging neighbor (who wears dark blue suspenders and shuffles about) that the tree was planted in 1897, before the house was even built.

It was hurt by a late freeze in the Spring, and therefore, lost all of its leaves this summer while
producing the Buckeye nuts. (The Walnut & Oak trees didn't even bother to put out fruit)

It is skeletal now. And the squirrels sit atop branches. Cracking those nuts. Letting the shells fall to the ground. Scattering along the sidewalks and lawn. And the neighbor cats just perch in the grass. Watching the squirrels.










Sometimes, a shell or two, end up on my porch stoop. I think they must land there, after falling from the treetop & bouncing up from the sidewalk.

fall planting

planting daffodils, scilla siberica & muscari. oh, & crocus. but those bulbs were already planted when this pic was taken. some around the apricot tree in the back. others around the buckeye tree in the front. some along my fence.

I like the idea that these bulbs, hibernate away in the ground all winter. and then will pop out in spring.

















also, Mums. these are planted in the back. where the "2007 Hosta Experiment" failed to thrive. (I'm so over hostas)

I just recieved note that my gardening place is having a sale this weekend. in which, I may buy even more of these things.

annual funtimes

 

every September, since I was 7, my father has packed up the car and taken my brother and I to the Walnut Valley Festival, in southeastern Kansas. My father and stepmother can still be described as giddy during this time of year.
and it is, for my brother and I, an annual no-miss event.

it involves bluegrass and flatpicking. campfires and walnut trees. coffee in the morning and beer all afternoon. indian tacos. baked potatoes & corn-on-the-cob from a stand. meals from a camp stove. fireside chats & long walks around the campgrounds. afternoons listening to the sleepy sounds of guitars, mandolins & banjos being played all around.

the oh-be-joyfulness of these times is hard to describe. but the friends that I've brought along from time-to-time, have become instant lifetime fans.

but I'm back now. after a week of funtimes. and I've caught up on my sleep. and I'm back in the real world. on to enjoying Fall.

driveway shot

the farm sits on what used to be an old country road. that over the years has become more of a county highway, linking smaller cities to a larger one.
so, the old mailbox, gets beat up a lot. every so often a large truck roars by, and slams the mailbox around. or, just knocks it right off into the ditch.

spent some time out a mom's place this weekend. had grand thoughts of digging up some daylilies for transplant in my yard. and possibly catching some pics of the rusty red milo in the fields. a color quite amazing, when up against Kansas blue.

but, laziness was queen. and instead just walked around a bit. ignoring shovels. and without energy to walk out to the back field.

this photo was taken at the end of the driveway. as I was leaving.

50cent watermelon & blackberry jam

it is true that I may have bought this little watermelon with the curly-q top, simply because of the cute factor. (similar to why I bought a little purple & white striped eggplant last weekend--even though, I don't even like eggplant)
but it is also far less overwhelming, the idea of eating this little thing vs. one of the huge ones.

I've been converted to the blackberry (or apricot) jams & jellies of a elderly woman (who always is under a wide-brimmed straw hat) at the farmer's market. she picks the blackberries. and turns them into delicious-ness.

mom mentioned once, how long the winter seemed at a point, when she realised how much longer she had to wait to taste this blackberry jam again.

so, I've stocked up. 3 in the fridge.

soon it will all smell like fall

the farmer's market is still full of tomatoes and obnoxiously-large zucchini. but the green beans are long gone, and the cucumbers harder to find.
and soon all the cantaloupe, with a perfume slightly rotten, which permeates the outdoor market, will be replaced by pumpkins.
right before the sun goes down, the cicada songs burst overhead. the insect hum so loud, you have to raise your voice to be heard, when talking with a neighbor on the sidewalk.

read this in Updike's "Marry Me" last night,
"She was still in the kitchen when he came in the back door; the cry of cicadas, the dry football smell of summer's end, followed him in."

fading

as we have reached the hottest part of summer, it also begins to fade. all those vibrant colors from June have dimmed a shade.
my neighbor has sunflowers next door. in the backyard, they tower 10ft high in a cluster.

all now with heavy heads, they droop.
from over my fence, it looks like a band of tired giants. waiting out the sun.




one grows in the front, next to my driveway.

weary

since this was the first time for a garden in this yard. I knew there was a chance that something would go awry.
and though I had added in some new soil/compost, there must still be something wrong here.

my once beautiful tomato plants are withering. (still producing fruit, though)


I'll have to investigate and come up with a prevention plan for next year.

for now, I still happily have far too many cherry toms to eat.