"Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes"

Sometimes a girl just needs a bit of a change. A change in scenery, a change in attitude or just a change in background of her BLOG. So, I did it. Voila!!!

For the new background, I have chosen a forest-like/woodsy theme, in honor of the woods/pond/river in our backyard area. The city is fast encroaching on the property, but for now, it appears like we are in a smallish National Park.  There is always something wild and interesting to view, from a window, the two back decks, or boating on the pond.  Frequent visitors are deer, turkey, a variety of birds, and two blue herons that have chosen the tallest trees to call home.

And, we are blessed to have a steady stream of human visitors, to help us share this rural oasis. Rick is in charge of entertaining the outdoorsy folk and serves as the chief grilling expert. I handle the indoors group and all of the side dishes. We share in the clean-up. As I check the calendar, I think our total of day and/or overnight guests, so far this season, is right at 21. 

Our big new attraction here, at the homestead, is the newly completed (is any creative project truly complete?) walk-in Terrarium, that Rick has constructed (think room sized aquarium) in part of the basement. He has added a waterfall, sprayers, pond, plants and critters. Trust me. It's absolutely stunning.We've even had some of the young visitors put down their phones, to watch the chameleons do their "changing color act ".

We plan on being home, mostly, for the rest of the summer. Drop by or give us a call, and we'll pencil you in. We'll put some burgers or tenderloins, on the grill.  Bring your swimsuits, the zip line over the pond is all hooked up.

See ya soon.

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 Holy Lord. Your Creations are without number. The beauty of Your world is boundless. We cannot even begin to count our blessings. We praise Your Holy Name.

 

 

 

"Pick a litttle. Talk a little. Cheep, Cheep......."

Picture this.....two folks sitting on the back deck, on a perfect summer evening and an owl starts hooting, in the near-by valley. One person listens to the sound, remembers and carefully recites, word for word, a poem that was displayed, on the wall of a science classroom, around 60 some years ago. 

Amazing, you say. Well, of course I thought so, since I was the one who had memorized the poem. Actually, I thought my companion would be favorably impressed by my elocutionary skill.  Certainly, Mr. Ernie Nelson, our Junior High Science Teacher, would have been. He was the one who had hung the posters. Let's face it, Science was of very little interest to me, which is probably why I memorized the the poems on the walls of the classroom.

The reason for writing this particular blog, was my companion's reaction, to my compelling recitation of the Owl Poem. He said something like, "You didn't much follow that advice, did you?"

I was, only briefly, taken aback. He was right. I talk a lot. I really talk a lot. Years ago, About the same time, I was sitting in Science Class memorizing that poem, another teacher told me, "You talk so much, you don't even know when you're talking." He was right. Today, I can phone my friend Judy, and we can talk for an hour or so, barely taking time to breathe. We have a lot of opinions. We have a lot to say, to each other.

That's the reason, of course, that I write this Blog. And, have written it, weekly since 2008. My musings are what I believe and what I'm thinking about. Oh, I'm awfully glad that you are reading them. 

Life is a Hoot.

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    The wise old owl he lived in an oak. 

    The more he saw, the less he spoke.

    The less he spoke, the more he heard.

    Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

      

 

Honest Abe

 

I've spent the last few days viewing, on Netflix, a very fine documentary on the the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The presentation was enhanced with commentary from experts on Lincoln, military strategy and emancipation. As I watched this fine and in-depth critic of the years of Lincoln's life, little did I realize that I would be once again "slapped-up-the-side-of-my-face" by stupidity. Ignorance is bliss, I've heard all my life. But, how can experts screw up two simple words???? (Well, actually the words I am writing about have 3 syllables, so I guess they are not exactly simple words.)

We have a very highly rated institution of military training and history, close by, at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. It's formally called the US Army Command and General Staff College. They train folks to wage real war, etc. One thing, I assume they do not do, is teach religion. That's why many of the well-educated military personal, who graduate from institution, say " Calvary" instead of "cavalry" when referring to mounted troops?  Granted, the only place you actually see troops, mounted on horses these days, occurs when you see "The Trooping of the Colors", telecast from England. But, how can these supposed experts not know that those mounted soldiers are CAV alry, not CALvary???? Jesus, reportedly, died on a cross on Mt. Calvary.

So, back to that documentary and actually dozens of politically based interviews that I have watched, over my many years.  Chiefs of Staff confuse the words. Three-Star Generals confuse the words. People actually determining military strategy, for our country and dozens of our allies, apparently are not taught the difference between those two words. And, it's for sure that our heathen politicians don't know the difference either. Folks, that scares me. 

Just about now, you are saying to yourself....she needs to find something else to worry about. You're right. Next, I am going to tackle the difference between Nuclear and Nucular!!!!!!!!! 

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All Knowing God. Excuse our ignorance.  

 

 

" Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell?"

 Like thousands of other folks, I am the recipient of quite a number of "new" recipes on my Facebook and email feed. I write "new" because like the phrase "everything old is new again", there are no "new" recipes out there. My theory is that they are considered "new" only because all the people who used to make them, X number of years ago, are now dead.

I've already blogged about Wacky Cake, a WWI recipe, which I've baked for years. Another oldie is Bess Truman's Ozark pudding. Oldies, but Goodies folks. Yummy.

Well, here's another one....circa 1970. Do you remember Jello Poke Cake? Do you even remember Jello? My mother and grandmother made Jello deserts, Jello salads, Jello side dishes and the occasional very odd Jello main dish. My own four children ate something I made called Jigglers. They were made with couple of packages of Jello and very little water. That recipe was famous for making Jello (usually soft and very wet) into a "finger-food".

However, it must have been the early eighties, when Jello fell out of popularity. Those same four kids, all but forbade me to allow anything resembling Jello, access to the kitchen table. 

Well, recently the Poke Cake Recipe popped up on my computer. I made it, served it to company several times, and consistently received compliments. Trust me it's easy to make and very tasty. Dare I tell anyone that it contains the heretical Jello? Maybe not. I'm going to smile and thank the Lord, that I am still alive to make it.

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P.S. Interested in any of the above mentioned recipes? My email is: BriarKin@aol.com. I'll email you a copy. Remember. Don't mention Jello. 

Where are you going?

How did your ancestors get to America? Do you know if you are a descendant of someone who arrived here, before the Revolutionary War? Did your great-great-great grandpa fight in the Civil War? Maybe your people were 20th or even 21st Century immigrants. Or, were they already here, before our country became official, in 1776!

Every family has a different story. Many of us have relatives that came into this country through the immigration process, at Ellis Island, New York. Taking the time, to make a visit there, is well worth the effort. Perhaps someone in your family is listed on the Wall of Honor, located on the grounds of the large complex. I was impressed by the size of the facility and the acoustics, within the refurbished halls. I imagined that the sound of the different languages being spoken and the number of people being processed, must have been overwhelming, to the immigrants passing through.

Genealogy may not be your thing. Maybe you don't care who your fore fathers and mothers were, or what they did. But, the popularity of TV shows like "Who do you think you are?" and "Finding Your Roots", seems to be holding steady, season after season. We've all heard the expression "History repeats it's self." I believe that our ancestors would not want us to repeat their mistakes. Therefore, I think that it's important to learn the facts of their lives. Our ancestor's stories just might influence our life choices. After all, as the great philosopher Berra once opined, "If you don't know where you're going, you might take the wrong road."

Good luck in those archives, folks. Who know what fabulous stories you might find?

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 German passenger ship, The George Washington (ID# 3018), commissioned in 1908, sailing from Bremen, to New York Harbor. In 1914, Jacob and Eva Keller, German speaking Hungarians, were steerage passengers on the George Washington. They arrived at Ellis Island, according to the Ship's Manifest List, at Ellis Island, in January 1914. Michael F. Keller, their eldest son, was my father.

 

 

 

"Say Uncle!!!!"

 Here's a very loose follow-up, to my last post about my dad. Everyone has a dad. And, some of us are fortunate to have uncles. Trying to remember, it took me a minute to count my uncles. I had five, and only one that I really knew well. Also, there was also a group of great uncles, who can be remembered mostly for their persistent and consistently annoying habit of tickling little girls. 

Uncles. We're all familiar with some very famous uncles. Some, like Uncle Ben and Uncle Remus, are politically incorrect, so we don't talk about them, anymore. John Candy was very funny as Uncle Buck, and who didn't like Uncle Fester and Disney's Uncle Scrooge?

Perhaps, the most famous uncle of all, is Uncle Sam. Images of Uncle Sam have been around since the War of 1812. However, the caricatures of this fictional character became most popular and well circulated, when James Montgomery Flagg, drew his famous WWI Poster "I Want YOU, for the U.S. Army".  That one and others that Flagg drew, around 1917, were published everywhere. Uncle Sam, pointing at the viewer, certainly ranks up there, among the three or four most reproduced portraits in history. What could be more patriotic, than a self-portrait by a guy, actually named Flagg? 

So, how did the portrait become the most well known portrait of Uncle Sam. Well, that comes from the nickname derived from a meat packing stamp. Rations sent to soldiers, during this second conflict with England, our War of 1812, carried the stamp U.S.! Sam Wilson, New York meat packer and supplier, was locally known as Uncle Sam Wilson. Soldiers began calling the rations "Uncle Sams". Somehow, a hundred years later, Flagg's portrait became Uncle Sam, recruitment icon for the United States Army.

Okay, there you go. More inane information from your Blogger Friend. But, as you celebrate the 250th Birthday of the U.S.A. , you can now contribute to any patriotic conversation, with your newly acquired, historically accurate, (likely, perhaps) knowledge. No need to give me credit and be sure to freely add any stories about your own uncles.

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 Dear Lord. We are thankful and blessed. 

 

 

 

Dad

Just today, I read on the Internet (where else would I find real news like this) that the Schlitz Brewing Company is going to produce it's last barrels of Schlitz "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". Some of my earliest memories, are of my Dad, beer in one hand and cigarette in another, sitting on the front porch or standing in his tiny workshop, listening to Dizzy Dean describing the Cardinals game, on the radio. I can still hear my Dad fuss about Dizzy's horrible slaughter of the English Language. (These disparaging comments came from a man, who did not speak English, until he was 6 years old.) Dad was a lot of things, but he was not a grammarian!

My Dad, Mike,  did enjoy an occasional beer, or three. His favorite, as I remember, was Pabst Blue Ribbon. But, I kind of remember Schlitz and maybe Hamms, also. As a young man, he had worked at the Potosi Brewery (established in Potosi, Wisconsin (1852). It's slogan, according to my Dad, was "the beer that made Milwaukee, jealous!"

During my childhood, Dad worked the 4-12 shift, at a nearby chemical fertilizer plant. That meant, he left the house about 3:20 p.m. and returned around 12:30 a.m. He was generally up and making our breakfast, before my sister and I went to school. It was my dad who pulled and yanked my hair into a ponytail, every morning, until I was old enough to do it myself.

He was also our lunch chef. I walked, or probably ran home from school, every day for lunch. His gourmet specialties were scrambled eggs and noodles, canned chicken noodle soup and whatever he could make with bologna or hot dogs. Nothing to exciting, but I ate it. He was always there. After school, I'd come home to either an empty house or most of the time my sister was there. Mom came home around five and we wouldn't see Dad again, until breakfast the next morning.

So, I'm hoping that this current generation "remote/working-from-home" dads, is also engaged in some normally "mom" chores. Your kids are going to remember how really "present" you were, when you were home with them.  My dad, was doing "home" work, in the late 1940's and early fifties.

There are all kinds of dads, in this world. Dads who work crazy hours, dads to work 9-5 and dads who work from home. Dads just doing whatever they can, trying to be good dads.

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Heavenly Father. Being a good parent isn't easy. We are thankful for those folks who try to do the best they can. Help us to be Your good stewards of the next generations.