Ditto

 Amongst the untruths, misspeaking and old news floating out there in Internet World, there are still absolute truths and learning/teaching moments. Yesterday, I happened upon a figure of speech, that was heretofore unknown to me. I've written, this concept, many times, and I use it in speech, often. However, I was unaware that it had a name. Pronounced "di-ak-o-pee", it's repetition, used to instruct, emphasize and for remembering.  And, at my age, I can use a whole bunch of that remembery-type help!!

"To be, or not to be" is an example of "diacope".  Another is, "Bond. James Bond". Or, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." All memorable quotes, due to diacope.

Diacope is the songwriters go-to. Think about the words to the Beatles' lyric "Help". Or how about "Kansas City. Kansas City, here I come."?

Prior to learning about diacope, I was worried about repeating myself. It's a concern for all of us aging folks, I suppose. Now, I find there is a word for this phenomena and it's okay, okay?

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 Thank you Lord for the gift of longevity. We are Your servants and our lives allow us to follow Your example, living and caring for others. We remember Your sacrifice and honor Your holy Name.

 

 

"Haul out the Holly"

I've become aware, recently, that the celebration of ADVENT has changed, drastically?  According to the dictionary the word advent, is defined as "the coming of" or "the arrival of". Think of "the advent of Spring". For Christians, the season of Advent begins four Sundays, before the 25th of December, and ends on Christmas Day. Advent Calendars, in some homes (particularly those with small children) mark the passing of the 25 or so days before the coming of the Christ Child. I used to buy one for my kids and each day was a tiny, calendar sized picture of something particular to the Holiday about to be celebrated. The kids would open one little door each day and see or read something having to do with Christmas.

Do you know what types of Advent Calendars are being offered to folks today???? Here are a few: The Whiskey Advent Calendar, The Gem Stone  Advent Calendar, the Magic Tricks Calendar and the Fishing Lures Calendar. There are Advent Calendars that depict popular movies, like "Frozen", "Harry Potter" and  "Wicked". The National Parks Advent Calendar even offers a 2 for 1, where you get a puzzle and a calendar, combined. There is even a Murder Mystery Advent Calendar.

I don't normally care about what kind of calendar folks display. (Well, now that I think about it, I once quit a job because my boss kept asking me in to his office.... that prominently displayed several calendars of naked women.) But, my over active mind keeps thinking about what would be behind the doors of the Murder Mystery Calendar, and how does that depict the Advent of anything? Okay....maybe there are 25 clues or individual murders and then a gigantic mass murder, on the 25th? Gruesome.

What's going on here? Or how about the WWII Aircraft Calendar? Do the planes depict a Baby Jesus in the cockpit, on the 25th? Bombs away, Jesus. And, does the "Star Wars" Advent Calendar, have the Millennium Falcon arriving at the stable on Christmas Morning? 

 

I think I should possibly just "Let It Go", and celebrate Advent, in my traditional way.

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 We will celebrate Advent, Lord. You are our Strength and Refuge.

 

"Over There, Over There....."

It's autumn in the Midwest. We've had our first frost, of the season, and the first snowfall is expected this weekend. Believe me, I'm ready for it. Plans have been made for Thanksgiving and the date is set for our December Holiday Party. 

When cooler temps occur, I can finally "turn on the kitchen oven and bake again". Let's face it, electricity isn't cheap. Well maybe it is, compared to the price of beef, but the utility bills, on the home front, amount to a big chunk of cash. Right? So, it just isn't prudent to fire up the oven, in July and August, when we're spending a ton of money to keep the house cool. Autumn........ The return of Baking Season.

In the Fall, one wants to keep the house toasty and a dish of warm apple cobbler, yummy chocolate cake or brownies not only warms the soul, it helps heat the house! Great reasoning, right?  

So today, I baked one of my favorite recipes. It's a classic and even older than my Bess Truman's Ozark Pudding concoction. Wacky Cake has been a staple, in my family, since WWI. Rationing of food stuffs occurred in both World Wars, so it's always been a "go to" dessert, even when the cupboard was bare. It's a great Chocolate cake and it's mixed and baked in one pan. No big mess to clean up. No milk, cream, eggs or butter is needed. Icing is optional. Usually, I just dust with a bit of powdered sugar.

Looking to warm your tummy and other parts? Try it you'll like it. 

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                                                                    Wacky Cake (circa 1917)

Measure and dump in a non-greased 8x8 pan:

1 & 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons Cocoa, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking soda.

Mix well.

Add: 1 Tablespoon Vinegar, 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup cold water. Mix well.

Bake 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

Cool a bit and serve.

HEAVENLY 

 

 

Technicolor Dreamcoat

I just don't know what came over me, when I decided to crochet a Hexagon Cardigan. As a inveterate fiber artist, I endlessly peruse crochet patterns, on the Internet, and almost immediately come to the conclusion that they are too complicated, too busy or in the matter of most "granny square patterns", just too stupid looking, to waste my time replicating.

But this time, it was like I became possessed by the Crochet Devil. I had to make this strange-looking sweater. They were everywhere on my Crochet Sites! Actors, Jack Black and Jason Momoa, were wearing them. So, I did. Well, I told myself, I had recently purchased these two skeins of vibrant jewel-toned, multicolored yarn and I just had to make something.  Why not a Hexagon Cardigan?

I'll tell you why not. First of all, I had to purchase 2 more skeins of a solid color, to tone down ALL of the COLOR from the original skeins. Stupidly, I then chose the scourge color, of all yarn artists......Black. Black and most other dark colors are terribly difficult to work with. But, by the time I made that choice, I had invested countless hours and quite a bit of money in my quest. Black goes with anything, I reasoned. Black would tie all of those rainbow colors together.

 (In case you might be wondering,......make two hexagons, fold them to make each to make a sleeve and half of a body of a sweater. Imagine two, upside down L shapes, with the center of each hexagon, being the armpit. Then you sew the back seams together to create a cardigan.)

Well, the damn thing is finished. It fits me. The 2 sleeves are the approximately the same length, PTL and the colors on both sides match. Neither of those accomplishments was an easy fete. Now, I'm wondering will I ever wear it? Probably once, maybe. But, I may have a hard time finding the appropriate occasion.

Wait a minute. If my church ever has a "Coat of Many Colors" celebration, I have the perfect costume.

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 O Lord. Save us from our foolishness. Great is Thy Faithfulness. 

 

"...Guess what you will spy? Jack-o-lanterns dancing. Witches in the Sky."

ATTENTION: 

Of all the Autumn Holidays, and there are quite a few, Halloween is my least favorite. I love the autumn season. The colors of the changing leaves and the quirky hot/cold/just right weather here in middle America, are my things. Decorating for Fall, without a doubt, is one of my passions. So far this season, I have crocheted about 2 dozen pumpkins, and given them all away! My home has, for years, sported decorations of pumpkins and colorful leaves....from September 1, through the last Thursday, in November. I love hosting a good old, fashioned Thanksgiving Dinner. I give away poppies on Veterans Day and whoever you celebrate on October 12th, I am in favor of it. I am just not keen on jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, goblins and more than anything else.......anything scary. 

I've made and purchased my share of Halloween costumes. The most noteworthy being a brilliantly creative Storm Trooper made from poster board and brass brads. Oh, and I made a Pink Panther costume that eventually disintegrated, from constant year-round wear. Over the years, I've passed out enough candy (and eaten the leftovers) to cause a spike in Hershey stock prices and raise my A1C levels. I've done it all, but I just haven't enjoyed much of it.

I'm not knowingly going to visit a Haunted House, or decorate with sheets and spiderwebs. And, no more cleaning up the pumpkin snot, after the shell has been carefully carved. The history and meaning of All Hallows Eve and Dia de los Muertos, are not lost on me. Noteworthy religiously and perhaps historically, but I really don't care. 

If anyone could be called a Scrooge, on October Thirty-One, it would be me. Boo Humbug.

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Great and All-Knowing God. Thank you for the adventures of life. This journey is awesome and wondrous. We praise Your Grace and Goodness. 

"Play it again, Sam"

     

 

 Have you seen any great movies lately? I must admit that I haven't been to an actual movie theater in ages. By ages, I really mean, maybe in more than a decade.  However, I often enjoy old movies that are replayed on U Tube or other television sites. 

My viewing preferences are mysteries, happy endings and comedy.  I've posted before, many times about my favs. I am always up for watching any Jane Austen adaptation and of course "Blazing Saddles", "The Three Amigos", or "Princess Bride". You might find me watching a couple of reruns of Poirot, or Midsommer Murders, in one evening. However, too much realism or scary stuff, is not my bag.

Scary, for me, means any thriller by Alfred Hitchcock. You can't tell me that anyone over 70, doesn't get weirded out, just thinking about "The Birds" or "Psycho". Anthony Perkins was just the most benign yet creepiest villain, of all time. And, thankfully all the blood in "Psycho", ended up in the bathtub!!!!! That's about the most action this old lady can take! That's just scary enough, for me.

I realize that I am a bit old-fashioned and admittedly tastes in movies have changed. Today, folks want constant action and in-your-face blood and guts. Just recently, I foolishly suggested, to a couple of my age-contemporaries, that we watch "Rear Window". Not a good idea. While I was oohing and awing over Grace Kelly's stunning clothes and the scary, silent scenes, my polite hosts were bored stiff.  I apologized, of course. I sincerely felt really awful about putting them through what was probably their most boring evening ever.  

Having confessed and admitted this, a Cardinal Sin of House Guests, I still believe that Raymond Burr, makes a terrific villain....even without saying a word!

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Oh Lord. Differences make life a blessing and a challenge. We all have our likes and dislikes. But, we are all united in our thankfulness to You. Forgive us our trespasses. We praise your Holy Name.

 

CHEATERS

 Like many of my fellow septuagenarians, I have had cataract surgery. So, with this corrective surgery, my distance vision is 20/20, and my close-up vision isn't horrible, but it's not great. Therefore, like most of my old-lady colleagues, I use "readers or cheater glasses". 

Prescription glasses have been part of my insightful life, since my teen years. I wore them constantly, because I couldn't see correctly without them. As I aged, I switched to bifocals and finally trifocals. Since having eye surgery, I have discarded prescription glasses for cheapo cheaters, in order to read printed material. 

But, cheaters are a problem. Because, although I have 6 pair (I think), I can never find them. Yesterday, for example, I needed to read a label on a pill bottle. I looked for my glasses and couldn't find them. After several minutes of searching, I noticed the pair that was sitting on top of my head. Great. Then, shortly thereafter, I discovered the pair that was hanging from the neckline of my shirt. Then, when I got in my car, there were three pair, on the dashboard of my car.

I know I'm not the only person who does this. My good friend, Judy, wears two pair of glasses all the time. One pair of sunglasses and her needed cheaters. She deftly shifts, from one to the other, when she needs to. That's a skill, folks. I'm striving for that ability. If ever there was "both a curse and a blessing", it's Grandma's readers!!!!!!!!

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Holy God: Good Vision is a blessing. Like many things we don't appreciate it enough. "Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me."