When I was growing up in the small town of Murdo, SD, I walked home from school each day for noon dinner. It was the biggest meal of the day. We had things like pork chops with corn, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Mom made pot roast and sometimes things like goulash or tuna and noodle casserole. It was all good, but my favorite thing was chicken pot pies with a baked potato. We smashed the potato and dumped the pot pie on top, smooshing it all together. Yum.
2nd grade
Kip and I had pot pies for our evening dinner last night, and though there was no baked potato with it, the taste of the pot pie took me immediately back to the days when Mom made my favorite.
Every school day after eating my huge noon dinner, I would usually get a quarter from Mom so I could stop at the Super Value Store and buy a few pieces of candy for dessert. I wolfed that down on my remaining walk to school. I still marvel at the fact that after eating all that, I could stay awake during Mr Applebee’s 1:00 o’clock history class. I’m not sure I always succeeded.
Christmas dinner with the Parish family. Note how everyone dressed up.
Food often makes for comforting nostalgic memories. I still make Mom’s lemon bars and my daughter Heidi often serves up cream o cheese o cherry pie that tastes just like the pie Mom made for her bridge club. I sometimes make chipped beef on toast, which is made with dried beef and cream gravy. Mom made that as a “jump up” as she called quick and easy meals.
I’m sure my kids remember having chicken pot pies.My beautiful mom was a great “jump up” cook.
What foods from your childhood do you still make? Isn’t it fun to let your tastebuds take you back?
NOTHING SMELLS SO GOOD AS HOMEMADE BREAD WITH BUTTER
I WOULD BE ABLE TO HAUL AWAY YOUR OLD JUNK IN MY GARBAGE TRUCK. LET ME KNOW!
SURE GLAD WE KEPT THESE WADERS AND BOOTS SO I COULD SIT IN A BOAT !
I’m trying to de-clutter our house with the arrival of a brand spanking cleaner new year.
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?
I’m thinking in terms of material objects because it’s not morally right to declutter people from my life- right? Plus it’s probably illegal.
Anyway, I’ve started with getting rid of linens from one cupboard. There were some hot pink sheets that I don’t remember buying nor using. They were snazzy but expendable. Also had some old NFL pattern sheets and pillow cases that our sons liked when they were young. Many various sizes and colors adorned the linens with both flannel types and something called Egyptian cotton type sheets which might’ve been used when they were building the Pyramids to wrap mummies, but I doubt it even though they’re pretty old. Besides the Ancient Egyptians couldn’t afford fancy sheets like I’ve bought at places like Bed, Bath and That’s All or Home Goodies or Tarjay.
You can get pretty wrapped up in discussing sheets and other bed linen.
I washed all the sheets, blankets and table cloths and after folding them, took them to a local benefit shop. It felt good to dump them…uh, donate them. My cupboard shelves looked much more organized and I even washed the shelves before repositioning the stuff to keep. Less was more; more or less.
Next I’ve moved onto closets which I am clearing out this week. It’s difficult to know what to keep because a lot of what’s in this first closet is sentimental. I have tried to decrease the amount of keepsakes from my parent’s but it all has lovely significance: WWII albums and photos. a 1940’s jewelry box, minus the jewelry, old letters, photos, a sewing kit, ancient newspaper articles all yellowed and brittle and many other items. I’m trying to concentrate certain things together, storing them in one storage box instead of three. I’m giving away a spice rack my grandfather from Pennsylvania made, a doll with marker drawing on its head, a needlepoint of the blue/green ocean with perfectly stitched in curvy shaped waves, a stuffed owl, reams of poster size paper for a printer we recycled, old hanging lamps we never installed from 20 years ago, and other odd materials with an emphasis on “odd”.
I’m still in the midst of sweeping and cleaning the floor of this closet and the top shelf. There is still a scent of musty age in this room. I go into the room and survey what I have done so far and start to feel good about getting rid of unwanted things then I see where I’m placing things I have decided to keep: a red electric guitar and small amp, an American flag beautifully folded in a special box given to us at my Dad’s funeral, old framed pictures of my grandparents and my husband’s great grandparents, an antique mirror and a church picture plate from Murdo before they tore down the church, wader boots because you never know when the urge to go flyfishing might hit. Shucks, I’m still keeping a lot. The smell is getting to me. There’s more but I’m midway through cleaning this first closet and have two more closets to go and an entry closet which I might deny I own. I congratulate myself on getting half a closet cleaned.
I’m getting a bit hungry especially since I have worked hard on half a closet partially organizing it. I just made two loaves of homemade bread, (they smell luscious), plus I bought great Irish butter from Costcocoa (you’ve probably spent a few hundred dollars there for huge amounts of stuff you can’t possibly eat nor use in this decade but it’s so cheap!) Out to thekitchen. Even if I never get to declutter another room, closet or cupboard, I’m never throwing away any food, especially butter. Butter is not clutter. I’ve discovered if I keep the doors closed to the bedrooms and the cupboards and closets, no one will notice any tiny bit of clutter. Where can you reduce clutter in your life? I’ll stay in the kitchen while you come up with your own answer. I’m done for today.
ANOTHER STORY? SURE! I’M READY. I’LL DRINK TO THAT. KEEP ‘EM COMING!
Met up with an old friend today who my husband and I have known for 37 years. We see him more often now since his wife passed away and he needs good friends supporting him in these tough times.
We talked for 3 and a half hours at a local coffee shop discussing our recent holiday trips. All of us had seen family and had been going new places. We shared all the things we had done lately. Then since we’re 70ish we brought up old stories and people from our past. When we’re 70ish, it’s comforting to talk to friends who are 70ish.
We both hugged our friend as we first walked into the local coffee shop, I lifted my head up and said, “I don’t want to get makeup on your jacket!”
Our friend said, as he often does, “it’s all right. Oh, I have a makeup story!” He has lots of great stories with a solid memory to back them up. He started to tell us about when he was a teenager growing up in New Mexico and was dating a twin. His friend and he went double dating to their high school prom with Vonna and Donna. The twins tried to switch places but the guys knew they were trying to trick them because the twins had slight differences in speech and one was nearsighted and kept asking, “Who is that coming toward us?”
The twin our friend dated also wore thick foundation and loads of makeup. Our friend had borrowed his father’s white dinner jacket for prom night and when he got home, it was all stained on the shoulder with makeup. His Dad didn’t say anything to our friend’s relief and took the dinner jacket to the dry cleaner. Then in another few days he took the same girl to her prom because she went to a different high school. He asked to borrow the jacket from his dad again and without a word, his dad handed him the white dinner jacket, clean and bright. Boy was he happy.
Our old friend can tell stories all day long. Just mention something like “makeup” and he’ll tell you a story. Or like one of us mentioned how our hearing is getting worse since we’re 70ish. Boom. He told a story about his wife a few years back making him go get a hearing test. The doctor said that he had lost a little hearing but overall passed the test and can hear well. Going home that day after his doctor visit, he shared this with his wife. She was so ticked off and angry. She said,”So if your hearing is fine, then you just must not be listening to me when I talk.” He said he tried to listen to her more closely after that.
I’LL LISTEN TO YOU. I AM ALL EARS.
Revitalized by fresh coffee and some sandwiches that day at the local coffee shop, the stories kept flowing. We discussed people we had worked with and what we thought of them. Some were living and some had passed away. It didn’t matter. Next we got onto the subject of movies. Our friend loves Greek films because he’s Greek. He said lately he’s watched old movies from the 1960’s like Zorba the Greek, Never on a Sunday and a newer one that’s hilarious, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. He likes how the characters remind him about his upbringing with Greek parents. “It’s funny but in that movie Greeks are credited with inventing and discovering all things and that’s what my parents said also. Who invented the automobile? Greeks. Who invented pasta? Greeks.”
Our friend is a grand storyteller. Naturally we were so lucky to get to hear him recount many fun stories that day from his perspective. We got to share a few stories of our own but our friend is tough to beat at storytelling. It’s not easy to pass up a chance to hear good friends share their stories. It’s an art, telling a story in an interesting way. I think the Greeks invented it. Next time I can ask my friend if that’s true. He will know.
I had a New Year’s Eve birthday, and I’m now 72ish. Although that’s a big number, I can handle it. My life has gotten pretty exciting lately. Let me tell you why.
After all of our big talk about being just fine with living in an RV full-time, we chickened out. It was just fine until the idea caught up with the reality. As referenced above, we’re not getting any younger. There will come a time when RV travel gets too difficult to undertak, and then what? What if one of us has a health emergency? What if the RV maintenance is too much for my currently very capable Kip? We need a home base. BTW, I’ll also confess that giving up our previous home base has proven to be a costly decision. Oh, well.
We put an offer in on a little house, and it’s been accepted. Barring any unforseen circumstances, we should close by the end of the month.
We don’t have one stick of furniture or duplicates of anything. We are keeping the RV as we’re not ready to give up the ship yet.
So why is the title of this post harmony? Well, a friend of mine asked a group of us to come up with one word for 2024. Harmony was the word I chose.
Harmony in human beings refers to a state of balance, peace, and coherence within individuals. It involves the integration of various aspects of a person’s being, including their thoughts, emotions, values, and actions. (That’s what the dictionary says.)
A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FROM A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN I TURNED 36.
What makes you feel nostalgic?
Birthdays make me feel nostalgic and sorta jealous. Let me explain.
My cousin has the best birthday celebrations. Her bday is today but she’s been partying for many days previous to it. She sent a picture of herself with her cute haircut dyed gray and wearing a bright red blouse, and a bright smile, grinning from ear to ear with 12 friends and family members eating out together. Her husband was wearing a button down long sleeve shirt and I barely recognized him because most often he’s in a t-shirt, with suspenders and Bermuda shorts. They were seated at one long table. One couple came all the way from Indiana and the husband was all dressed up in a dress shirt, going business casual with a tie and all. (I’ve often wondered why they call it “business casual”. If you mean you’re seriously doing “business,”then dress for success like you mean business. Don’t go all casual. I would probably come in my pj’s since that’s my business casual outfit which I wear quite often. When I mean business, I go to sleep.) My cousin was seated at a place of honor with presents surrounding her. All the guests obviously adored her. It was a big deal bday. It all looked quite different from my bday.
For my birthday my husband took me out for dinner in the Monterey area at a restaurant by the beach. But I didn’t have a dozen people there. In fact, last bday he and I sat alone at a small table eating our appetizers: calimari and French fries, then we ordered some raviolis and sand dabs to share with drinks, even though things were kind of expensive. (Happy birthday!) I didn’t mention it was my bday to the host nor waiter. I don’t like them to draw attention by singing happy birthday to me, although I bet all twelve sang (probably off key) for my cousin’s bday dinner. I also did not get a birthday dessert. (My cousin probably got an entire NY cheesecake.)
We had paid earlier for parking at the automatic parking machine in the restaurant lot, but had trouble entering our car license info. We thought we were all set to drive home, after paying for dinner and leaving a tip, but on the windshield of our car was a parking ticket, neatly wrapped up in a white envelope. (Happy birthday!) We had entered the license plate number incorrectly. This ticket would cost us almost as much as the dinner had, but we could contest it with a copy of the receipt, day and time we had parked and a letter to the parking company authorities, signed and dated within 60 days. (Happy birthday!)
I guess birthdays make me feel nostalgic because as a child my parents threw some fun parties for me and all the grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins came not to mention another separate party just for my neighbor hood friends and school classmates. It was a big deal as a child. Back in those days, people got dressed up. My relatives looked stylish for our family gathering and at my kids’ party, we little girls wore dresses, with patent leather shoes and anklets (fancy lace bordered socks).
I really need to grow up. No more kiddy parties, right? Birthdays are fun in our 70’s but we do not need a big fuss over them like when we were kids, do we? I’m happy my cousin had people she loves around her for her birthday. She deserves to have fun. Hopefully no one got a parking ticket, dear Cuz. Oh, and if you got my gift and bday card in your mailbox recently, it might not fit so just return it to me. I can take it back and get a refund. I’m going to probably need it anyway to help pay for the ticket.
Thanks, sweet Cuz, and happy big deal birthday. To me, you are a big deal.
HOLIDAYSCAN BE STRESSFUL BUT SHINE A LIGHT ON THE TRUE MEANING
As we get older, friends seem like family and we lose some dear ones along the way, letting us know we might go next. But when it comes to the holidays we can be childlike . (You can probably remember a special gift or two you got as a kid) My friends don’t have a lot of money so some of the gifts this year were a bit strange. Six of us met for our annual gift exchange. But we took the gifts home without opening them, because we had all had lunch together and time was limited. We also got carried away with the holiday gift giving. It took me two trips to carry it all to the car. I’m not even sure what some items are for but it was still fun to unwrap and pull out colorful tissue from gift bags revealing these things:
-A plugin snowflake shaped room deodorizer pine or peppermint scented (some assembly required.)
-Friends spoon with cute poem engraved (not for use with food or beverages.)
-Bar of goat milk soap.
-Dog gift catalog with stickers.
-Fifteen individually wrapped pretzels from Pennsylvania which are crunchy and delicious.
– A 2 foot long hand-sewn hanging kitchen piece made of fabric, shaped like a house with a floppy mini-wreath sewn on the door of the house. It has a big pocket on the lower half and two loops on the top suitable for hanging up…somewhere.
-A stick with a cute little gnome at the end.
-Gift cards.
As I opened each gift and card, I kept wondering where I would put these things. The giftcards were the best because then I could go buy what I want, especially the giftcards to a coffee shop. And of course there were also the pieces of jewelry given. You can always put those in your jewelry box, never to remember who gave them to you, or when to wear them. I don’t even want to bring up necklaces getting all tangled up.
My Dad used to say, “It’s the thought that counts.” That kept going through my mind as I looked over the collection of presents. I’m just lucky to have such generous, kind people in my life. It doesn’t matter what they gave me. Their friendship is what counts. They’re probably in turn looking over the gifts I gave them: a mug, kitchen dish towels purchased at a church gift bazaar, candy, and mini scented candles. They’re thinking the same thing I am. What will I do with all these? Do I really need any of this? What were they thinking giving these to me?
It doesn’t matter what you give to others at this time of year because just the giving part is what counts. The friendship is there. There’s love inside each gift. The friends give you meaning at this time of year.
ON THE RIGHT: MY YOUNG GRANDPARENTS, FUTURE UNCLE AND MOM WITH GRANDMA’S PARENTS AND UNKNOWN LADY VISITING SD
There’s this memorable old b and w photo from about 1915 of my young, beautiful, hardworking grandparents: grandpa so young in overalls, thin, tall, with a full head of hair, with his oldest two year old son, Wayne, who is looking like a grumpy toddler grasping onto the pant leg of his Dad’s overalls and petite Grandma wearing a long white two-piece homespun dress, holding baby Ella, my Mom, staring seriously into the camera and wearing her dark hair up, a bit disheveled in the prairie wind and sun, next to her handsome young husband. The flat, seemingly barren, never ending prairie goes rolling out behind them. Also standing next to them is a young gal totally dressed up in opposite style clothing, clashing in her citified hat, suit and manner with the harsh unforgiving plains of South Dakota. To this day we don’t know who she was but Grandma’s parents are next to this unknown woman. They are Perry and Elizabeth Tyrrell visiting from their farm in Iowa. They, too, are dressed up in typical 1900’s style clothes, like what you would wear for a long train trip obviously not ready to work on the farm that day. Perry is politely holding his hat and his wife gently reaches out with a hand touching little Wayne. The contrast between the young farming couple with two small children and the Iowa visitors is stark. This photo reflects a myriad of feelings, family history and questions. I’m captivated seeing it time and time again, never tiring of viewing my strong, loving, hopeful grandparents and the visiting Iowa relatives. They are frozen in time, in history with this photo, yet vibrant and youthful in the hopes for their future.
My family on my mother’s side was brave, capable and ready to take on the adventure and the toil of working on the hard untilled sod of the virgin prairie. My Mom stressed throughout my young days that I came from good people and no matter how rough life gets, I was part of a strong, courageous heritage. That strength was carried within me. I can hear them saying: Don’t let it go, pass it along to your offspring. Keep the spirit alive.
I’m trying to give that to my children and let my three children know that they have the same ancestry and the strong family background especially on my Mom’s side. It’s part of them. It’s in their blood. You can almost grasp it there in these old photos.
Don’t whine or complain that life is too hard. Your great grandparents truly had it rough farming in the early 1900’s in South Dakota, with the fears of WWI in the present and the Dirty Thirties and the Great Depression soon to creep into their future, but they didn’t complain nor give up. They should be an example to us all even in these modern times.
I hope my adult children take after my Mom’s side even though my dad’s family were amazing people also but in a different environment. I keep stressing to my kids to never give up. Keep going. Follow in the deep footsteps of your ancestors. They left some plans for us, some blueprint that life was harsh, but by their example you know you have the power in your heart and your body to follow their previous ideals to get through life. My grandparents did it and did it gracefully.
THREE OF MY HARD WORKING AUNTS AND MY TALL THIN MOM ON THE HORSE CREEK FARM WITH A VISITOR IN THE BONNET AND MODEL T AND LOG CABIN IN BACKGROUND
I read a remark from someone on Facebook regarding stuff. It said we shouldn’t be focused on accumulating things that, in the end, won’t matter. Why should we leave a bunch of “stuff” behind for our family to sort through and get rid of. “You can’t take it with you” was the point.
Though I am the queen of disposing of stuff, I do see the other side of it.
I remember going to my mother-in-law’s house after she passed. Though she had a massive amount of stuff to be gone through, some of the things she left behind brought back beautiful memories to those she left behind. Her children spent days listening to albums she had collected through the years. Many were family favorites that, to this day, mean something. She left behind photo albums and beautiful needlepoint pictures that she had painstakingly completed. There were other things, including pieces of jewelry, both expensive and costume that were keepers for the kids who remembered their mother wearing them. They were a part of their memories of her.
When Kip and I downsized this last time, I didn’t keep much, but even I have special memories attached to a few things. I kept a small wooden chest that has been in my family since before I was born. My brother and I remember the space it occupied in our old house. In those days, it held all of the family photos. That little chest survived a few moves and a flood. It is relatively unscathed. I really appreciate that Gus sent it to me after my mother passed away and he ran acrossed it in storage.
I take that back. It’s a little scathed. I need to oil it. Not bad for almost 100 years old.
I also kept some of my Aunt Irma’s costume jewelry. I just wore a pair of her earrings to church on Sunday. I have some of Mom’s things, too. Gus gave me a Christmas sweatshirt when I visited him recently. I have several pictures of Mom looking festive in it.
So don’t toss out or give away all of your stuff. Keep a few things that your loved ones might want to look through. Your stuff might be a family member’s treasure, and they might appreciate reliving the memories of you and special times.
Those 70ish Girls 