The View from Here

Credit Due

My husband is quite an accomplished photographer. Unfortunately most people don't get a chance to see his work. Tonight I'm giving him a little over-due credit and letting you see some of my favorite photos from his collection. I hope someday when he is retired from his regular work he will have a gallery and be able to share more of his special photos with you.

 

Mink and Me and Grandma Bea

I’ve been thinking a lot about my paternal grandmother, Beatrice Simmons. I’m not sure why, since it isn’t close to her birthday or the anniversary of her death.  I think it started a few weeks ago when we had a short cold spell and the greeter at WalMart wore a fake fur coat. It reminded me of Gran’s mink stole. She let me wear it once to the Fireman’s Ball. I felt like a queen!

Gran was like that- a generous, big-hearted woman who took in stray people and made them feel special. She had her own three children, a foster son, and a variety of guests over the years. I lived with her for a couple of years after my divorce from my high school sweetheart,  and then later when my second husband, Gary and I returned to California from Iowa and needed a place to stay while we looked for work.

Gran had several occupations over the years, but her primary ones always involved cooking. She cooked for a nursing home, and several cafes. She even owned a small café when I was about nine. I remember staying in the back room sometimes and watching television. Or I would go around to the front and play the jukebox or the bowling machine.

When Gran was at home she still cooked as though she was running a restaurant. She made huge pans of homemade bread and bubbling kettles of stew. Her lasagna was fabulous! Her pies were perfection. But she cooked enough for a “logging camp” as she was fond of saying. We had leftovers for days.

Gran also kept a lot of food. Because she still vividly remembered the Depression, she kept her pantry well stocked. As a young girl I marveled at her shopping abilities. She watched for sales and clipped coupons and if she used something frequently, then she bought it in multiples. I once asked her why she had ten pounds of coffee stashed away. She looked at me incredulously. “Because we drink it every day!” she explained.

I got a cherry limeade at Sonic one day last week. That also reminded me of Gran because she loved maraschino cherries. She always told me she “should be on a diet”, but she could make you a chocolate sundae with whipped cream and a cherry on top without ever sending anyone to the grocery store! There were simply some essentials that were always in stock at Gran’s house.

For years I was fascinated by the fact that Gran could eat at all. She was the only person I knew who could remove her teeth! And without her dentures she talked funny too. She used to take her teeth out to amuse us, and later did the same for my children.

Gran also sewed and crocheted. She made most of her clothes and also made clothes and toys for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She had a “sewing and alterations” business for many years and her customers loved her.

I suppose Gran had a difficult life. My grandfather was an alcoholic. My uncle was a habitual criminal. Gran suffered with arthritis and various health problems. But she seldom complained. She had a strong faith in God and in people. She had her work and her garden and her sewing. She spent her life taking care of others and rejoicing in her blessings. That’s quite a legacy, and certainly worth remembering from time to time.

Criminal Minds

           I’m bored with television. The season has barely started and already I’ve had enough dead bodies, violence, nudity, and crime scene tape. Criminal Minds borders on disturbing. Numbers has outlived its usefulness. The Unit is like Dallas in fatigues. (At least NCIS has a little humor, and who can’t be happy just looking at Mark Harmon?)  I originally loved CSI. It was innovative and irreverent and entertaining. Then the clones started and it was Law and Order syndrome all over again. Why do television execs think that if we like watching a show, then we’ll  really like watching a version of it every other night of the week????? What ever happened to variety? And what’s our fascination with crime? Why do we get such perverse pleasure out of knowing  how a serial killer stalks his victims? Why do we want to know all the weird and wacky ways there are to kill someone?

I thought Ghost Whisperer might be different, but again, I can take it or leave it.  The plots are  predictable and hokey, but the worst part is that Jennifer dresses like a slut. What’s with all the strapless, lacy, nightgown-looking garb? There was one scene recently where the camera moved in for a close-up and she looked nude. Intentional I’m sure. I’d have to look again, but I don’t think the show takes place in Vegas! Jericho seemed hopeful, but it’s already lost me with the whole “save the corn” episode. And does every show have to include an affair? Is that like a network requirement for submitting your synopsis?

I miss Bonanza. I miss Star Trek. I miss Superman and Tarzan and the Lone Ranger. I miss Little House on the Prairie. Sometimes I even miss Lucy. I know it’s crazy. I should just quit being so cheap and get cable. Then I’d have 140 reasons to stop whining. I could watch cooking shows and This Old House. But I’m stubborn. I want the regular, poor man’s television networks to live up to all the promises they made when I was a child. When my grandmother bought the first little television our family ever watched, it was touted as the innovation that would educate, entertain, and enlighten America. Some of television is entertaining, but we’re sure missing out on the educating and enlightening. The only educating television seems to be doing is for pharmaceutical companies. (I promise not to get started on commercials again. We’d be here all night.)

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to be grateful that I love to read and write. And I also have House on DVD. Now that’s entertainment!

S-o-o-o Good

Warning: the following may be hazardous to your health. If you are on a diet or under a doctor’s care for any reason, I cannot be held responsible for your inability to resist eating a second helping of this dessert! Also please note that the use of butter is not optional. This is the south! Enjoy!

Sopaipilla Cake, from the kitchen of my friend Kathy Barker

2 cans crescent rolls

2 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 T. vanilla

1 stick butter

½ cup sugar

2 T. cinnamon

Layer 1 can crescent rolls in bottom of baking dish. Mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and 1 T. vanilla and spread ½ of mixture on crescent rolls. Repeat layer- 1 can of crescent rolls, rest of cream cheese mixture. Melt stick of butter and pour over the top. Mix ½ cup sugar and 2 T cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.

Up, Up, and Away

                                                                                                                                   

I don’t often blog about anything at school because I like to keep that part of my life private for the sake of my students and colleagues. However, we had such an exciting experience this week that I had to share it with you. This weekend Hugo celebrates the third annual Balloons Over Hugo, and a crew always brings one of the balloons to school. Well, the kids enjoyed it and I got some great photos.

Ford

           I’m not usually a whining, complaining woman, but someone is going to get a piece of my mind this week! I was driving home from work a few weeks ago, before the deer incident, and was about two miles out of town when the fuel light flashed on my dashboard. Well, first of all I’d never seen that light before so it took me a few minutes to even realize what it was. Then I panicked because my fuel gauge said “empty”. I imagined the worst- someone had drained my tank while it was in the parking lot at school. I found a driveway, turned around and headed back to the gas station. About five minutes later the light goes off and the indicator says I have half a tank. What the…?? Okay, I’m not usually a cursing woman either, but I was tempted.

We had to wait several days for a service appointment to find out what was wrong, and then had to miss that because of the deer incident. A week later Gary finally got the car to the shop and paid $57.44 for the diagnostic test to find out what was wrong with it. You know of course that mechanics can’t actually tell you what’s wrong with your car anymore. A little computer printout does that! Turns out that the “fuel level sensor” on my car has failed. Failed? Are you kidding me!? The car has less than 48,000 miles on it! Of course that’s over the warranty mileage because Ford has the worst warranty in the industry. And of course that isn’t considered a defective part. (Why not?) Now here’s the real slap in the face. The dealership wants $595 to fix it. $595!!!!! Gary priced the part at Napa and it’s $110. You do the math.

This is our fourth Ford. I still see our old ’93 Thunderbird in Durant once in a while.( I can spot it because it still has the dent where I hit a dog.) I’m betting the new owners can still read the fuel gauge. Our son is still driving our ’96 T-Bird and yes, the fuel gauge still works. Gary is still driving our 2001 Mustang. Over 100,000 miles and the fuel gauge still works! How is it that a 2005 can have a fuel level sensor that DOES NOT WORK unless it is a defective part?? How is that my fault?? How can the dealership charge me $595 to fix it??

I’m not alone in this of course, and Ford is not the only company to blame. My friend has a Toyota that is less than two months old and it has been in the shop more days than she has actually driven it. My son used to have an old Toyota that made two trips to Alaska and had over 250,000 miles on it! Now I hear and read complaints about the auto industry nearly every week. There are new cars all over the country with defective parts, blinking lights, squeaking parts, and failing sensors. Can you ever remember a time when there were so many automobile recalls? What has happened to quality and service in this country?

I don’t know if complaining will do me any good, but the dealership and Ford and anyone else who cares to listen is going to hear about this until someone steps up and offers to take responsibility for it. And you can bet that my next car will not be a Ford if this isn’t handled properly.

            

Men ARE Different

      So, I’m buzzing around the house Saturday morning doing some pre-winter chores before our trip to WalMart. I have everything removed from the pantry in preparation for cleaning it and putting in new shelf paper. I have a load of laundry in the washer and one in the dryer. I have the breakfast dishes soaking in the sink. I’m trying to decide whether to move the couch (away from the heater we’ll soon be using) or remove the evaporative cooler from the window. Gary is shaving and just needs about ten more minutes before I can have the shower, so I decide to start pulling winter clothes out of the closet storage bins so I can wash them later.

          I have my head in the closet and Gary comes into the room and asks a question only a man can ask- “Why don’t you just work on one project at a time?” Why don’t I WHAT?

Is he insane? If women only worked on one project at a time, the world as we know it would cease to exist! Women invented multi-tasking! I can remember my mom holding a baby, cooking dinner, and folding clothes- all at the same time. If I’m not working on two or three things at one time, I’m at least thinking about three other things that I will be doing soon. Gary can spend three hours shopping online for a single item!

I told a friend’s husband this story and he said men can only focus on one thing at a time. They’re different. So true. They have tunnel vision. It isn’t that they don’t want to take out the trash, mow the lawn, or do the laundry. It’s just that they can’t do those things if there is anything else going on in their world.

Girls are trained at an early age to multi-task. Teenage girls can talk on the phone, do their nails, and read a book at the same time. Teenage boys can play a video game, but please don’t bother them while they are playing it. It disrupts their concentration!

It’s probably our own fault that men are the way they are. While we are busy doing ten tasks we usually give them one to accomplish. And sometimes we apologize for asking them to do that! It all stems from the June Cleaver days when men went to work and women did everything else. Now women go to work AND do everything else. What are we thinking??

Well, I have to go now. I have laundry in the washer and I’m sorting photos and doing some filing. Time to start dinner and put some chicken in the oven. Gary is watching a movie! Maybe I can ask him to fold towels while he watches.

Bad Nana

           There are times when I hate being so far away from my grandchildren. My oldest granddaughter was hurt at her soccer game tonight and I had to hear about it over the phone. Then I had to wait anxiously to find out if she had a concussion or not. I know it isn’t my fault that I live in Oklahoma and she lives in Vermont, but I still feel guilty. Guilty that I’m not helping my daughter cope with a crisis. Guilty that I’m not comforting my granddaughter. Guilty that I obviously passed on the “accident waiting to happen” gene.

Being a long-distance Nana takes some effort and sometimes I get so busy that I really mess up. I forget about dance recitals or basketball games or big tests or even birthdays. I don’t write often enough and I certainly don’t spend enough time talking on the phone. I find myself searching for conversation topics now that all of my grandchildren are past the “cartoons, super heroes, baby animals” stage. I can’t talk about a lot of their activities because I’m not there to participate or even watch.

Christmas is approaching and I don’t know what any of my grandchildren want. They haven’t made a list or expressed any burning desire for a particular thing. I find myself thinking that if I was around them more I wouldn’t need a list. I wouldn’t have to wonder what they want.

Life is hard sometimes. 

First Prize

I was thrilled to win first place in photography in our little art show at Heritage Day. Here is my photo:

Some Enchanted Evening

          My husband reminded me this morning that I forgot to blog about our wonderful dinner experience. Thanks to the generosity of his boss, we went to a fund raising event last Saturday night for the Southeastern Chorale of SOSU. We were treated to scrumptious hors d’oeuvres and a delicious dinner of marinated chicken breast over linguini pasta with garlic and cream sauce. That was followed by a yummy cheesecake with chocolate sauce. The Chorale members were our servers as well as providing the evening’s entertainment. They sang favorites like “Mr. Sandman”, “One for My Baby”, “Come Fly With Me”, and “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. One of Gary’s co-workers, Kerrie Usry, sang a solo, as well as participating in some of the group numbers. She has a great voice and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to hear her sing. Also thoroughly enjoyed Vance Davis and Megan Crews. Well, they were all good. The Chorale is the “cream of the crop”.

Before the dinner there was a silent auction. Afterwards there was an amusing dessert auction. The event raised over $5,000 for the group. Congratulations to the Southeastern Chorale on a wonderful event and fantastic performance.