Congratulations...

Congratulations...

Congratulations and best wishes to Ben. Today he wraps up his assignment in Dasmarinas and prepares for an extended tour of South East Asia.

Twenty-seven months wrapping up this week. I can hardly believe it.

Tradition...

Tradition...

Today would have been my Dad's 92nd birthday. To bad he wasn't here to enjoy his tradition.

Strawberries come into season early in June, and every year on his birthday he wanted Strawberry Shortcake. Why would you have a birthday cake when you could have strawberry shortcake? Last night I was prepping for family dinner and I wanted to make a shortcake. Too late I realized that I was out of flour. So I called Mom and asked her if she could bring one. She was happy to. We cut and mashed up fresh berries (Ok, they weren't local, but they were still pretty good) and slathered them in white sugar.

Then I whipped up a half pint of cream. It made a big bowl (with more white sugar), and we laughed about how Pete could finally have all he wanted since Leena wasn't here to compete with him.

What a great tradition.

Three quick notes...

Three quick notes...

Kudos to Joe for modeling an antidote to complaining.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm driving up to Waterloo to bring #1 daughter home for a short vacation. Wish us safe travels.

Have you been following the White House garden? Let's hear it for fresh vegetables! Now there is a stink from some pesticide lobby about going organic. I'd like to hear what Uncle Leo would say about that.

PS: (The fourth quick note written Friday morning.) I peeled back my shower curtain this morning, and the new bloom on my Phalaenopsis took my breath away. For weeks this plant has been sending out a spike, with several light green balls growing slowly - oh so slowly - larger and larger. This morning the first had burst open like ... well the only metaphors I can come up with are spiritual and sexual, and it is too early to go either place.

Premio Dardos...

Premio Dardos...

Some Bird tagged me with a meme with a title.

Premio Dardos means 'prize darts.' This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

Some Bird thinks I deserve it because she's my favorite daughter. I'll show her. Here are the rules:

Step 1: Respond and rework — answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.
Step 2: Tag other bloggers to do the same.

Here are the questions:

What are you wearing right now?

Jeans and a button down shirt - green plaid

What part of your house never gets cleaned?

Basement - although I've been thinking about doing it because sometimes I drop clean laundry on the floor when I'm hanging it up to dry.

Do you nap a lot?

No. Except on weekends.

Who is the last person you hugged?

Sara

What websites do you visit when you go online?

Every morning I hit Google reader to check the family and friends blog feed. Then I check the hourly weather forecast to decide if I can bike to work. I usually check etruth for headlines and obits.

What was the last item you bought?

Tonight I swung by MacIntosh and bought 2 dozen 3 1/2" peat pots, a drainage tray, and assorted seeds (flowers and some red peppers) for porch pots and garden.

What’s the last book you read?

Actually completed? I guess that would be Susan Howatch's "Absolute Truths". I have about 3 or 4 that are floating around half done right now.

If you could go to the Oscars, who would you want to sit next to?

Dumb question.

What did you last eat?

Sigh... Tonight was family night comfort food @ Pete & Marilyn's: Cab Sauv and cheese appetizer, Baked Macaroni & Cheese (ok penne & 4 cheeses - this was not kraft crap), green salad with feta and olives, steamed brocolli, homemade apple sauce topped with tea and homemade chocolate chip cookies. It isn't just because I didn't have to make it that it was good.

What is one skill you wish you had, but don’t:

I wish I could play piano - really play it.

What was the last movie you watched?

Lewis & Martin: Scared Stiff.
Dumb.

My substitute question: Do you believe in luck?

Not really. I think 'Shit happens' is a profound theological statement.

If you had a whole day to yourself; no work, commitments or interruptions what would you do?

Start with a nice breakfast and a good cup of coffee and make the rest up as I go.

Is there a major goal you have that you haven’t yet achieved?

Yes. (Look - I answered the question.)

Where did you meet your spouse/partner/bf/cat?

I have no spouse, partner or cat. I assume bf means best friend, and I have more than one. If you're asking about the person that I'm dating, I met her on the church bus.

What is something that those in blogland might not know about you?

My mother reads my blog. My children read my blog. Do you really think I'm going to tell you something about myself that they don't already know? You can take that anyway you want.

What Countries have you visited as an adult?

Canada (OK - I lived there), Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Burkina Faso, Germany, Finland, Russia, France (very briefly), Britain, Philippines, Texas

What do you do to relieve stress?

Work and get the job done. Meditate. Drink herbal tea. Ride bike. Play squash. Drink wine. Remind myself that there is nothing to fear in the moment.

What is your first clear memory from your childhood?

I sometimes wonder if I remember being born. I have a fragment of memory of being in an oxygen tent that my mother says happened when I was 9 months. I definitely remember at 5 when Pete was demonstrating how to use a shovel and I got the scar on my lip and forehead.

As this is supposed to be a cultural award, what is the most recent piece of painting or sculpture that really impressed you?

Some Bird's pictures of 125 Hollywood.

What is the last piece of music that you heard and what did you think of it?

The other night I was listening to Edward Aldwell's CD of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 and I thought "This just doesn't sparkle like Glenn Gould's recordings."

My new question: If you could have dinner with anyone - living today or a historical figure - who would it be and why? Name the runner-ups if you want.

I think it would have to be Jesus. I'd like to know if it - meaning the last 2000 years - turned out like he thought. Runner ups: probably Wolfgang Mozart, because he was such a genius; Leonardo daVinci, another genius; and Carl Jung, to talk to him about dreams.

Who will I tag to receive the honor after me?

Not that far, because he writes so well and friends and family want to hear more about his life in Philippines; and IrregularReflections because he is just back from Guatemala and he has probably seen some good art that we should hear about.

Happy 26th...

Happy 26th...

To #1 son. I'm so proud of you and glad to have you in my life.

Mon béret...

Mon béret...

Some years ago my dad gave me a nice wool beret for Christmas. In my hometown, the chapeau of choice is more often a baseball/golf/seed corn cap, and at first I felt a little self-conscious about wearing it. Actually sometimes I still do.

But after dad died in 2004 I decided to wear it boldly. I also decided that if anyone called me a sissy I'd punch his lights out. Not really.

This morning as I passed through the hardware store I heard that this has been the coldest January on record. That didn't surprise me (brrrr). What has surprised me is that my beret is arguably the warmest hat I own. I used to always wear a toque (Canadian stocking cap), but the beret is far warmer. I think it is because it creates a dead air space around the top of your head. Besides it doesn't paste your hair down to your head and then electrify it when you take it off.

The beret doesn't do a good job covering your ears (if you wear it right), but I found a nice pair of ear muffs.

So far nobody has called me a sissy. At least to my face.

Library nights...

Library nights...

Tonight after supper I took care of a bunch of mundane housekeeping tasks - paid a few bills, balanced my checkbook, that sort of thing. Then I saw the stack of books that I needed to return to the library. It was only a little after eight and it seemed like a good time to take a little walk.

On the way there I was trying to decide if I had to time to read anything new. The last round of books was fairly intense, and I realized I'd like something a little lighter, and maybe not so long. A full-length novel seemed like too big a commitment. That reminded me of NotThatFar's recent post, but I couldn't remember the title or author he recommended.

Fortunately the library now has Internet access, and surprise: there was a station free. So I pulled up the post, found the title and author, then flipped to the GPL online catalog and found it is still on the shelves. So I checked it out and brought it home.

On the walk home I found myself remembering library nights in another lifetime. During the late 80s just about every week - I think it was usually on Wednesdays - I'd pile the kids into the car or in a wagon or on bikes and we'd go to the library. We'd load up with huge stacks of books and bring them home for the week.

That was back before they remodeled the GPL. The kid's section was on the right when you walked in the doors off of 5th Street. (At least that's what I remember. B seems to think it was always downstairs, so I may have it wrong. Does anyone remember for sure?) When it came time to check out, we'd bring a huge stack of books to the desk and help the librarian open them all to the back cover. Then she'd pull out all the cards and replace them with a card stamped with the due date, and feed the card from the book into this punch machine that would notch the card and stamp the due date on it.

CHUNK! CHUNK! CHUNK! Then this old machine would jamb and she'd take out a scissors, carefully clean up the edge, and then CHUNK!

I think my favorite books from the era - and there were a lot of them - were probably Vera B Williams: "Something Special for Me" and "Music, Music for Everyone" and "A Chair for My Mother" and "Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe". Something about the colors and the drawings, and the little heroine, Rosa. She had a lot of spunk, and she was a musician too.

Fond memories.

Film maker...

Film maker...

I think of Joe as a journalist and writer, and forget sometimes that his degree was in film making. The degree shows when you see something like this post. The sound track gives me the sense that maybe his subject could change the world.

And then how could you not want to say "hey, that's my daughter."

42...

42...

When I was a kid everyone in our family played 42. We only played it with my Mom's side of the family, and I've never met anyone who didn't have connections to the little farming community where she grew up that had even heard of the game.

The folklore is that playing games with face cards was forbidden in their church because of the commandment not to have 'graven images'. Necessity being the mother of invention someone transposed Euchre into dominoes.

(I've always taken some comfort that, according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the answer the question of life, the universe and everything is 42.)

This Thanksgiving gathering was hosted by a cousin on my Mom's side, so of course we got out the dominoes. Chuck and I bid high, lost big, and had fun getting set.

But it got me wondering if 42 was ever played outside of central Illinois. You can guess that the next thing I did was search using Google.

I was surprised: 42 is very popular in Texas (read the rules here). They call it Texas 42, if you can believe the nerve. It is Illinois 42 if it is anything. You can play on-line and there is even an International Player's Association (42IPA), dedicated to "promote the game of 42."

Uncle Leo would have gotten a kick out of that.

I wonder if he would have joined.

Of course you find the answer to one question and it generates a bunch more like 'So how did it get from Texas to central Illinois?' and 'Or did it move from Illinois to Texas?' and 'Who came up with it in the first place?' and 'When was it invented?'

Today was relaxed and easy. Altogether a fine day of too much rich food including 3 different kinds of pie. After all that pie I didn't bother with supper.

Bragging...

Bragging...

Congrat's Nora on the nice write up in the Trib. Did I mention she's my niece?

Come by it honestly...

Come by it honestly...

I hope my mother doesn't mind if I quote the email she sent in response to yesterday's post:

The word is spelled putzed. Grandma Stalter liked to use that word.
I suppose all parents use harmless deceptions now and then. The way I got you boys to eat tuna was to say it was chicken of the sea. That happened to be the advertising slogan of one of the brands.

I had forgotten.

Tonight I took a long walk in the woods hunting the wild dog(wood). Wildflowers and new growth are everywhere. And in one space hundreds of American Beech trees were still holding on to their tissue paper leaves from last year. It was quiet and calming.

It also brought back memories of a trip to the same woods five - maybe six - years ago with my dad. I know it was the last one he made, becoming increasingly housebound after that. I'm sure he would have known all the good hunting places. As it was, I found a beauty.

Music truck...

Music truck...

When I was a little kid, I LOVED long twilight evenings in the spring and summer. You know that time between sunset and dark dark?

Tonight brought all that back to me. I loved wandering around the yard at dusk. Often Dad was finishing up some project. Or on weekends we used to play hide & seek or kick the can; parents inside talking and letting us race madly around outside until who knows when. Pleasant memories.

The weather bar on my google sidebar says it is 70, and it is 9pm. Which explains why I was out _____ing in my yard until it was almost too dark to see. (What is the verb I'm looking for? Working isn't it. The word that comes to mind is putsing, but I don't know how to spell it. Dinking around? Playing? Humm...) Anyhow, I got my first raised bed box in position tonight, and then - and then I don't know what happened. I just putsed around. The evening just seemed to stretch out indefinitely. And before gathering up my laptop to write this post I sat under the moon and watched the bats and swallows feeding some 30 feet overhead. It was marvelous. Joyful even.

It was so pleasant I didn't even mind the music truck. I found myself cheerfully humming the opening 24 bars of "The Entertainer" because the music truck was blaring it all over the neighborhood. If you're not sure what the music truck is, this is where I have to apologize to my son. You see, when he was a toddler I told him that the ice cream truck that rolled slowly down the street on summer nights was the music truck playing nice music just for him. I'm not sure how long that little lie lasted. Anyhow, if you're reading this, Ben, I'm sorry. It was a nasty bit of deception, ranking up there with Santa Claus.

The family that blogs together...

The family that blogs together...

Every once in a while you pull the lever and all three pieces of fruit line up and you get the jackpot. I've never actually had that happen, but I imagine that it feels the same as when Not That Far, Some Bird and Kansas City Soil all post at roughly the same time. Cultural news, feast photos and some pretty good jokes all in five minutes. What a blast.

Tonight was another shot at fame and fortune for the Schmaltzentrubers. We played a pro bono gig for the folks at the Greencroft Health Care Center. Last time we played Greencroft it was for the monthly birthday party for people who could get around. This was a far tougher crowd because they kept wondering away or falling asleep on us. Fortunately there were a few ringers in the crowd (OK - I talked my mother into coming over) who could not only hear the lyrics but also understand them. We were a big hit. I know that because June AY's mother was in the back row shouting "More! More!!" at the end of the program. Someone suggested that if she had had a lighter she would have been holding it up.

It was a good thing she didn't have a lighter.

The only thing better than the satisfaction of playing for a group like this may be the band adjourning to Constant Spring after the show over a couple of really cheap beers and a Pork BBQ sandwich. Good company.

In other news - after a month of searching I think I've found my replacement for the guy that bailed on me last month. He won me over in the first interview, and his references can't say enough good things about him. I've done a lot of interviews over the years, and I think I can tell the real thing when I see it. I think this guy is it. I'm interviewing him again tomorrow with some other folks on staff, and if he comes through on that I'll offer him the position. This could be a huge improvement over where we are, and even where we were.

Fuming isn't the last word. All is well.