Mom, I'm Bored!

Those words signal the start of summer vacation, time off from school, long lazy days of lemonade, hammocks, days at the beach, and afternoons with nothing to do.

When we were kids we hardly dared to utter the phrase, knowing only too well what horror would ensue. We were sure to be told we could clean our rooms, mow the grass, pull weeds or shovel out the garage. We knew we would never be invited to take ourselves swimming or to the movies (even if we had the fifty-cents admission, our folks were not always keen on the summer showings at the Washington or the Main).

Thankfully, we had an older sister and a mom with boat loads of imagination. And if we were lucky, mom might come up with some idea that while simple and rather bland on examination, had the allure of sounding brilliant and thrilling in its initial impression.

The one I remember best was the Penny Walk. It might have been called the Penny Hike or the Penny-something-else. The name doesn't matter. The important thing is when it was the end of June and you thought you would never find anything interesting to do again, the words "Penny Hike" fired instant imaginings of thrilling possibilities.

Now to the blandness. Here's how it worked. We were given a penny, told to walk to the first corner and toss the coin. If it came up heads, turn left - tails, turn right. At the next corner, repeat the process.

Sounds great, right? And in the 1960s when kids were allowed to be away from the house all afternoon, as long as they stayed out of trouble and reported home in time for supper, a great way to occupy a long day with nothing to do. Trouble was, we were never sure what counted as a real "corner". The first one was easy. But soon enough came a time we had to cross the street and we found ourselves on - you guessed it - another corner. Or was it another corner? Were we supposed to toss the coin again right away, or continue on to the end of that block? There was too much room for argument. And for rule bending.

Too soon we started adapting what had been a truly simple concept. What if the coin landed on the grass instead of the sidewalk? What if it landed on an angle, say in the crack between the sidewalk and the grass? I tell you, bored kids could complicate a great idea in no time flat. And inevitably, the worst happened.

After the first couple blocks, we started to catch on that we were really just walking up and down the street (or at best, around the block). What kind of game was that? We could walk around the block any time. This was no fun, it was just a trick to get us to . . . . . light always did dawn slowly for Brents, or at least for me.

But wasn't my mom brilliant? I told you she was! For the cost of a penny, the hundredth part of a dollar, a slim shiny sliver of copper, she had us out of the house and out of her hair for - well - if not an afternoon, at least as long as it took us to get halfway down the block. And to the mom of six unruly kids, that was enough time for her own personal trip to heaven - or at least for a blissful 20 minutes of kid-free time to herself.

You gotta lover 'er. She sure knew what she was doing. And if you're lucky, I'll tell you about my sister sometime.

Quotable Quotes; In the category Yeah, And We All Know Who Invented The Internet, Too, Don't We???!!!

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance." Bern Williams

I Think I Know

Oprah had her magazine column "What I Know For Sure".  It turns out a lot of other people also post lists of things they know for sure. 

I thought I might want to list some things of which I am sure, but I am never quite sure if we actually know anything for sure so I am calling this "Things I Am Pretty Sure Are Probably True".  If I was including only things that had happened directly to me I might say I know for sure but just in case, I am pretty sure.  So here are some things I am pretty sure I know are almost absolutely true.

Things I Am Pretty Sure Are Probably True

When it's in the 90s for four days in a row people get hot and people get mad.

Just because your mom could cut her own hair does not mean you can too.

If you cut your thumb with scissors it will hurt and it will bleed.  A lot!

Hair grows back.

Professional hair stylists can fix just about anything you can do to your hair.

And from other sources, always remember these simple rules to live by.

Hot coffee is HOT!
Wild animals are WILD!
Killer whales KILL!

And if something seems too good to be true there is a good chance that it's neither good nor that it's true.

Quotable quotes; in the category Sure, It May Not Be True But Why Take Chances?

"Don’t ever buy a sandwich from a vending machine. Ever."  Kate Bartolotta on her blog Elephant Journal.

Homecoming

Bill comes home this weekend.  He had knee replacement surgery and has been away since May 7 for recovery and for physical therapy at an inpatient place.  I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to having him home again.

My biggest challenge was making sure there were clear paths through doorways and hallways so he can move around on his own without fear of bumping into something.  Okay, the BIGGEST challenge was finding a place to put all the stuff I had to move to clear the paths.  Y'see, we are kinda packrats.

I have looked on this as a learning experience and an opportunity to purge a lot of stuff that made me wonder why I bought it in the first place, as I removed it from its box, examined it and placed it in the give-away pile.  There is a trip to the used book store in my near future.

The next challenge will be finding things to keep Bill busy as he recuperates at home (and continues physical therapy with an in-home caregiver).  TV is out of the question.  His roommate had the TV on all day and all night and seemed to watch nothing but Cheaters and Law & Order marathons.

Maybe I can give him a new box each day to be sorted into "give away", "throw away" and "just get it out of here, I don't care how".

And we wonder what the cat will do.  She has not seen him for nearly three weeks.  She will either cuddle up immediately or treat him aloofly, as she has me most of this time (except when she was desperate for ear scratching).

Quotable Quotes; in the category It's A Good Thing She Was Here Even If He Was Not!

"One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home."  Pam Brown

Knit Wit

Mom taught me to knit when I was about 6 years old.  I think.  I may have been older.  I only remember I wanted to knit and begged her to show me how.

Money always being on short supply, there was no trip to the yarn shop for supplies.  Instead, mom scrounged a pair of knitting needles from somewhere and took apart a kitschy doll made of rug yarn.  Such things were (I guess) popular at the time.  In my memory this doll was an octopus made of pink yarn.  A ball of yarn, or perhaps Styrofoam, made the head, the yarn, tied in the center, covered the ball.  The yarn was all gathered together at the "neck" then separated and braided to make the legs.

Mom snipped all the ties and we painstakingly un-braided that doll.  The task of tying those hundreds of short lengths of yarn together to wind into a ball was left to me.  This falls under the heading of "false economy".  It is virtually impossible to knit anything when a giant knot interrupts your scanty progress and your failing concentration every few stitches.  Still I must have persevered because I knit fairly prolifically today.

When I was about 13 I wanted to knit a sweater.  I knew how to knit, didn't I?  No reason not to tackle such a project.  Luckily, our neighbor was an avid knitter and was willing to offer assistance, advice and impromptu lessons when necessary.  She taught me to purl, to read a pattern and the basics of garment construction.  In my recollection the sweater was out of style by the time I finished.  I don't recall ever wearing it.

Anyone who knits knows there are countless tool, supplies and doodads available.  Stitch markers, point protectors, row counters, stitch holders, gauges and needle pouches.  If someone can think it up someone will make it and others will buy it.  I never went in much for these gadgets.  Needles and yarn were my basic tools with an occasional stitch holder (think large safety pin without the point) thrown in.  If I needed a stitch marker I tied a scrap of yarn into a loop.  If I needed to count rows I marked them on a scrap of paper and crossed them out as they were done.  I did not believe in spending money unnecessarily.  If a rubber band would serve as a needle holder, well, it was free!

Lately, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of knitting and, consequently, a spate of newly designed or improved knitting supplies.  Recently, a local store had a sale on knitting items.  I stopped in to check and was surprised to find the prices almost ridiculously low.  An item that might cost $3 retail was on sale for 99 cents - and not for one, for a whole packet full.  I splurged, spending maybe $5 and outfitting myself with a wardrobe of plastic stitch markers, little row counters, gauge testers and needle sizers.

These days, as I knit, I find myself reflecting on those early days and my wealth of tools today and I understand why so many knitters use them - - - they're FUN!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Practice Makes Perfect!

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.”

Elizabeth Zimmermann; Prolific knitter, author and television knitting host, and all around knitting guru of generations of knitters.

It's A Sin

I recently read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I had never read this book and had sometimes felt I should.  I am glad I did.  I don't think I have ever seen the movie all the way through, either, but what bits of the movie I remember prove that the director clearly knew what he was doing, and the casting of the characters was spot on.

As always, the book delivers much more depth and insight than the movie can but I really think they got it right.  I also think Harper Lee knew exactly what she was doing.

If you have not read this book I urge you to do so now.  An excellent read.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Oh, So That's Why . . .

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Come See About Me

It seems my blog has started to become "food heavy".  Nothing wrong with that, but I thought it would be helpful to have a blog dedicated to food with a food-centric name so it might be easier to find.

I'll tell you was was NOT easy, finding a name for a food blog that was not already in use.  Well I finally found one and it should be up and running.  I hope you'll stop by and visit, comment and tell your friends!

Find my food blog here and let me know what you think.

By the way, don't stop visiting madKnews - I'll be keeping it up too, as well as I can.  Thanks and say hi for me!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Let's See, Milk, Bread, Eggs, What Else Do I Need?

"A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list."  Anonymous

You Say Tomato!

I love a BLT sandwich.  If I make a batch of bacon I will make BLTs until the bacon is gone.  Once when I did this I realized I still had lettuce and tomatoes leftover and I still wanted a sandwich.  I decided to try it without the bacon - an LT if you will.  It was delicious.  My taste buds were so conditioned to taste bacon when eating toast with mayo, lettuce and tomato that I almost believed my sandwich contained bacon.

But whoever heard of a Tomato Sandwich?  Well, if you have read Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh you know all about them.  A Tomato Sandwich was the only thing Harriet ate for lunch all through grade school.  No matter what was suggested for lunch the answer was always the same.  "Tomato".

A tomato sandwich is tasty.  A tomato sandwich with lettuce and mayonnaise is tasty too.  A tomato sandwich with mayonnaise and lettuce on toast is one step away from a BLT both in ingredients and in deliciousness factor.

Next time you crave a BLT and don't have any bacon handy, make some toast, slice a tomato and wash & dry some lettuce.  Spread the toast with mayo and top with your fixings.  Note:  I almost always have to eat this over the sink if the tomatoes are juicy.

BLT memories - at work, if there was any bacon left over from breakfast, the lunch ladies would move it to the sandwich station to make BLT sandwiches until the bacon ran out.  One day, there was bacon and I ordered a BLT.  The lunch lady took pride in fanning the lettuce "just so" and layering the tomato artfully upon it.  She spread my toast with mayo, laid on the fan of L & T then held up 7 slices of bacon.  She put three on my sandwich, then another, then pondered the three remaining slices.  After a few seconds she shrugged and put all of them on my sandwich.  Fair is fair, right?

Quotable Quotes; in the category You Thought I Was Going With Homer Simpson, Didn't You?

"I unfortunately still crave chicken McNuggets and bacon, which is the meat candy of the world."
Katy Perry