Peaceful Reader

Charlson Meadows and writing

[Labyrinth at CM]

I’m working on consistently writing by trying to make a habit of it. Mentally I made a scheduled plan last Spring to create a new post every weekend and I’ve carried through pretty well. In the midst of Covid and school I’m happy with this amount. I have a million writing projects that stay incomplete that are separate from this blog space. I have several picture books I’ve started, several fiction pieces, a play, and a few nonfiction essays-mostly all not finished. My sister-in-law Steph invited me a few years ago to a writer’s retreat at Charlson Meadows and I went on a whim. In my mind I’m a librarian and a bibliophile but writer generally does not flash into my mind. But I do write and I fell in love with the location of the retreat. It’s not possible to be there in the beautiful surroundings inside and out and not feel productive or at best inspired.

The last time I attended I actually wrote several pieces, took a bunch of hikes, and managed to get lost in the woods, literally. Thank you for the rescue Jason! I can say this year I’ve been published twice; one, letter to the editor about BLM and second, a poem I wrote after my first walk on Friday late afternoon on the grounds of Charlson Meadows. It’s easy to be creative there if you give it some breathing space. It was also the most beautiful weather weekend we’ve had all fall. The last few days I’ve worked on an old piece, added to it, had my friend Angelle edit it and I just finished submitting it to Wow! Women on Writing. We’ll see, she says, with a shrug…

I feeling something emerging inside myself and maybe it took this lockdown of sorts to push forward. I found a batch of college writing of mine and my goal for the next few weeks is to read through and retype them and see if anything is worthwhile. The last two books I’ve read have also inspired me in different ways. Laurie Frankel’s book This is how it always is, is smart, funny, and timely. And Richard Power’s The Overstory is such an intricate work of details and stories weaved together in a tangled mess like roots to the trees he keeps explaining. I can truly see why this book won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for literature. I’m half way and even as I write this the book is calling out to me.

One of the reasons the last retreat I went to worked so well was because they had a writer/poet in residence, Ronda Redmond, who conferenced with us, gave a reading of her poetry, and in general was there to chat with as the weekend progressed. I very much enjoyed meeting her and listening to her as we talked about writing. Her book, Said the old widow to the new, is available on her website and is filled with excellent writing. During our conference together she suggested getting out my dusty old copy of The Artist’s Way and I’ve been working on the daily practice set forth in the book. I guess in writing and thinking about this as with much in my life I’m learning to be intentional about what I’m doing.

Gratitude for us

I’ve been feeling all kinds of thankfulness and not just because tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I celebrate the coming together of family to dine together over a special meal that I’ve taken weeks if not months to plan and make. You hope it is one free of argument and that all the kids will like what you’ve created. This year I’m making cauliflower tacos, potato vindaloo, a lentil dish, mashed potatoes with Jaime’s vegan gravy, cranberries with oranges, naan bread, and Vegan for Everybody vegan pumpkin cheesecake. This is a mish-mash of Indian flavors and some old standby favorites and it probably will look nothing like most Americans more traditional turkey and stuffing. You do you. This is more us. We all have our own identities and the food we eat is part of that; a mish mash of flavors, personalities, likes, and dislikes, allergies, and food politics.

I’m glad my son is vegan because he’s in it for all the right reasons; he cares about animals and their rights. He’s empathetic and is doing his part for the environment. My husband is a meat eater but he takes care of that himself. I am a vegetarian and my daughter is allergic to tomatoes which is a fairly new discovery after her elimination diet this summer. That adds a kink into lentil dishes and soups but after some research I discovered this person’s blog, Delishably, and she has the same allergy and shared ideas about substitutes that will work for my lentil dish. Bravo!

I’m grateful my family pushing me in new directions for I love to cook and cooking the same way or things all the time is not me. I live by the motto “Try new things…whatever they may be”

I’m grateful for a husband who works hard to make our house up-to-date with fresh paint and new looks.

I’m grateful, especially right now, for our continued good health. It’s hard to say this with so many falling ill with Covid, like cancer, it comes in so many different forms.

I’m grateful for all my people that have kept me sane during this difficult time of lockdowns and crazy politics. I appreciate the friendship everyday.

I’m grateful for a job I love that is more passion than drudge work. I love sharing the love of books with my students even though some of them do not care for my love of books and enthusiasm. It’s okay. I love them anyway.

I finished an extraordinary book this morning, This is how it always is by Laurie Frankel, and I just marveled in her storytelling! She’s a person worth exploring more about and I plan to recommend this book to my book club. I was thankful that I had the morning to “laze” away reading so I could finish. I look forward to celebrating tomorrow’s Native American Heritage Day because for me it is far better to spend the rest of November celebrating in prayerful meditation the ancestors of our land that came before us.

In gratitude to my readers! Thank you.

Travel Time

If I were to be able to whisper in President-Elect Joe Biden’s ear or lucky enough to have a working lunch with Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris I would ask them to make some changes to the Affordable Care Act to make it more like Bernie’s Health Care For All because while the ACA covers many people and has helped us go in the right direction I just don’t think it’s finished. We need to take it further. Why? Because we have a huge deductible as a middle class family and when we get hit with something our health savings accounts dwindle accordingly. America has such potential and I hope that we are only beginning our true journey toward that; instead of going backward. I listened to a podcast talking about this today as I journeyed home. And this is not to say that America isn’t great already but anything great can always be better. Am I right? Why settle…

I generally flip flop between listening to music on my phone or listening to podcasts. The last few weeks have been filled with a variety of podcasts: Up First from NPR gives me a quick 10 minutes of news every day. I don’t watch news programs ever so this keeps me up on a few major events and we leave it at that. Anything more critical my husband will read me from the newspaper as a good husband should. I also listen to SLJ’s The Yarn and Heavyweight plus I just discovered Teaching Hard History from Teaching Tolerance. I listened to one yesterday and had aenjoyed hearing correct spins on American history. I can’t leave out Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us which always makes me happy.

I spent last night hanging out with Groovy Girl in Iowa City. I felt terribly guilty moving about Iowa because we are such a flaming hot Cheeto for Covid cases. But our plans had been made months ago before our cases surged, we needed some mother/daughter time, and we are both extremely pro-mask. So we picked up Thai food for lunch and ate in the hotel and then we made a quick grocery run so she would have snacks through the next two weeks before she comes home for Thanksgiving. We had a great time cuddling, reading together, watching a couple of things on Netflix (hello New Girl-you still make us so happy) and basically stayed in and away from other people. My hope is that her sophomore year may be filled with the joys of college as it’s meant to be. I don’t want to get used to this as a new norm.

The two cool bookstores in town are both open only for curbside pickup so we couldn’t wander any exciting aisles for books, which we do totally understand and appreciate yet scratch our heads in confusion as people stream to sorority or fraternity house functions, and the bars-all open! The idea is to get over this not just live with it but I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir. Take care of yourselves, take care of your people, and be kind.

Long road toward feminism

I think I’ve always considered myself a feminist even though I may not have dug deep into what that meant. It came up a few years ago when I took a class about gender norms and had the opportunity to think about what makes a feminist. The movement may have started with women’s desire to vote and have their voices heard – and we still struggle with being heard and taken seriously. We still have a long road ahead of us so we need to keep marching.

I think one of the most important issues of today is about choice. Women deserve to have the right to choose what happens with their own bodies. Planned Parenthood, which the name implies, provides access to health care and contraceptives. When I was in college we were given good positive information about choices. I remember there was often a large bowl of single wrapped condoms that women could grab with out causing a stir. That bowl didn’t promote sex or promiscuity; that was already happening! It offered the chance to be safe. I remember friends in college feeling ecstatic they could go to PP and get health care far from their family doctor who may or may not have judgments on decisions 18-20 year old makes. The religious right made that bowl of condoms go away.

I also had sex education class in high school which helped to dispel anxieties and teach accurate information. It was gross to sit through it, yes, but we understood you couldn’t get pregnant just by touching. Looking back at this I was raised at a time when sex wasn’t controlled by church and government. It was a smart practice that has fallen away because of religious groups and these groups have worked hard to make sure we don’t have good, inexpensive access to basic health care which many women buy into even though it works against them. I wish they could understand how it keeps all women down and beholden to men -white men specifically – who’ve worked hard to keep us from thinking for ourselves.

I’m not an advocate for abortion, no one is, but we cannot live in a world where back alleys and scam doctors are a women’s only choice. There will always be accidental pregnancies, health problems, cases of rape or incest and even women who have had enough. Should we help young women understand the ins and outs of their bodies in a more open approach? Absolutely! Abortion shouldn’t be used as contraception but also then don’t make it so hard for women to get contraception.

This post was inspired by an ad I read about voting your faith. I clicked on it because it was an ad at at the top of a teacher website which annoyed the hell out of me. When I clicked I got this checklist for why one should vote for Christian values. I say if you are voting for your values you must think beyond abortion-it’s a string they are pulling you along by-and stand up and actually ask yourself deep down how would Jesus want people to be treated? People who might not be like you still deserve to live free of cages, free of humiliation, free of bullying, free to live their own lives. That’s what a feminist is to me: one who understands the only way the world can truly be in balance is if women are completely equal to men.

Here it is, 2020, and we just elected our very first woman to the second highest office in the land. It’s exciting and I’m celebrating, yet there is the feeling of what took us so long? Really asking, “what the hell took us so long?” We need more women in politics and, as Brene Brown would say, they need to have strong backs, soft fronts, and a wild heart.

**I’ve been editing this post for a few weeks now, coming back to it, rethinking what I want to say and I’m ecstatic to be able to add that last paragraph about VP-Elect Kamala Harris! It gives me great joy. I think of my daughter, and all the daughters and the young men, who will see a woman as a leader, equal, in a partnership with the president. It gives me hope that in the not too distant future we will look upon a woman as president, capable of leading, with her heart. And there will be much rejoicing throughout the land…

Feelings

(Inside Out from Disney is a perfect example of how I feel right now)

I’ve spent my night doing quiet activities. I took my two dogs out for a lovely walk just before the sun went completely down and was happy I didn’t have to wear a coat. I made myself a simple dinner of avocado toast with fresh eggs on top. I made myself a very small Clementine margarita and watched two quick episodes of Shitt’s Creek while I ate because I needed some laughter in my day.

I talked on the phone with my brother about all that is happening right now. I did some laundry and I had a Google Meet with Verda and Angelle. I’ve tried not looking at election results but I’ve peeked and it really only takes a glance to understand that our country is in real deep shit. While it isn’t a landslide and it is really too close to call I am literally shocked at how RED the map is and that some of the old characters like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell have survived this. I’m crushed. It’s chilling to think this through. We’re raised a nation of people who are non-thinkers, of hateful followers.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to get up and I’m going to walk to school in the beautiful late Fall weather and I’m going to have a day. I’m going to try to shut out the few (but loud) young children who will be elated because they’ve been chanting Trump for weeks. I’m so very worried for this exact follow mentality. And the superior attitude. I was already tired of the trucks with flags, and the bumper stickers plastered all over cars and trucks. I don’t know what the next four years are going to look like no matter who actually wins tonight. How did we get here? Never before have we had such division unless you want to discuss the Civil War era. And more importantly how are we going to fix this?

Basics of life

We’ve been cooking, reading, and walking the dogs here. The weather has moved into cold Fall making it not as much fun to take lazy, long walks with the two beautiful pups that we love and I’ve spent more recent time reading than watching.

Groovy Girl was home for the weekend though and we did start a new Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit, which is quite good. It’s about a young girl who becomes a chess prodigy during the 1950s. The costumes and the acting are so good and the story is very intriguing. Cuddling on the sofa with her is one of my favorite activities not matter the season.

I did read an entire chapter book this weekend which is always exciting. I started The only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert during a free read time Friday at school. The 6th grade class I was in were very book involved (yeah!) and I just pulled this one off the cart because no one picked it up. I read three quick chapters and pretty much wished I could spend the rest of the day with it. I continued to read it on Friday night and finished it Saturday evening right before I started watching game 4 of the World Series. What a good book! I started another small chapter book, Planet Omar: accidental trouble magnet by Zanib Mian which is perfect for young 3rd, 4th grade readers and features a Muslim family navigating a new town and school.

And speaking of the World Series-what an amazing end to that game and Brett Phillips will always be remembered for his hit and the fun he had air-planing around the field. The game was good but became fantastic if you stuck around to the end. It reminds everyone why baseball is so joy-filled.

In between watching and reading I’ve made some excellent food! Yes, excellent! Last week I made this Roasted Tomato Soup from How to feed a loon blog and I loved the flavor of late summer really ripe tomatoes and the fresh basil together. This fed me all week at school and we just finished up the last of it for a late dinner last night. My mother-in-law sent me this naan recipe and I made it yesterday afternoon on a whim. Didn’t really have a plan for Indian food so we enjoyed the toasted naan with our leftover soup. It will be easy to make these again because the recipe pulled together and the dough had a good rise in about an hour.

This morning for breakfast I whipped up this Cozy Turmeric Porridge from my favorite Minimalist Baker. A small bowl was so warming to my soul on this chilly morning and I have enough leftovers for the week. I did not have pomegranate seeds on hand but topped our bowls with a little Agave syrup, coconut milk, and cinnamon sprinkles.

Before Groovy Girl arrived home on Thursday night she said she was excited to come home to eat vegetables! Wow! How many teenagers say that!?! She says food is less than exciting (bland) and no good veggies at school so I made sure we had tons of good colorful vegetables in our fridge. She loves sweet potatoes and when she saw me unpacking them she asked if we could make sweet potato fries. I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven and they were delicious although not as crispy as I would have liked. This week I’m going to make this Pumpkin black bean soup (also from Minimalist Baker) and this Winter Roasted Vegetable Soup also from my mother-in-law. I love soup, it’s versatile and gives me a warm yet light lunch at school.

We are getting closer to the election and while I’m very anxious I also have to be filled with hope. Make sure wherever you are that you go vote.

Road Trippers

Café Mir is a special restaurant run by two brothers in a very small town called Fertile, IA. My mom introduced me to it probably about 3-4 years ago when she lived near Clear Lake. She asked my husband and I to meet there for dinner then because she read about it and one of the brothers bought some of her fresh herbs at the farmers market. Back then we drove the 1 1/2 hours to get there and took a walk around a bit before our reservation. The backyard of Cafe Mir sits on the Winnebago River and with a bridge that crosses over to a park making it a lovely place to walk before or after dinner. The restaurant is in a small storefront with the front and back rooms set aside for dining and the kitchen and host area lay in the middle. It’s quaint with an eclectic vibe; mismatched napkins and china that all look like they were pulled from various grandmother’s cabinets. The food is exquisite in this charming spot, making it worth the drive. It’s a little expensive but worth it especially for a special occasion. Because of all this I was determined to make it there again for dinner before winter is upon us.

(Charles City, Winnebago River view)

My husband is happy to plan day trips especially when beer is involved and I’m happy to ride along as long as there are patios. Saturday was a gorgeous day, lots of sunshine, too much wind but we didn’t blow away. We loaded the dogs into the car (patios are so perfect) and headed north to St Charles City Brewing Company where we shared a flight of beers and hard seltzers. A Filipino food truck was parked behind the brewery so we felt obliged to sample a plate of noodles and an egg roll which were delicious and a perfect snack to tide us over until our 6:30 reservation. We soaked up some sun at their outdoor picnic tables and then took a walk along the river before piling back in the car for our next destination.

Another 30 minutes or so we took a back road into Osage, IA to find The Limestone Brewing Company on Main Street. This place was a little more crowded but luckily most people were hanging inside which left the outdoor tables to us. There were a ton of fat tire bikes leaning up and down the street with most of the owners inside swigging beer, listening to live music, and eating pizza. Outside there was an eggroll food truck and two long picnic tables. While the patio situation was not the greatest at least we had a place outside because only staff were masked inside and the place was packed because the beer was good and there had been some major fat tire trail ride earlier in the day. We shared a flight here as well, bought two crowlers, and headed back to the highway.

These two stops broke up the drive perfectly and we arrived at Café Mir 30 minutes before our reservation. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn and it was pretty chilly walking the dogs around the park. It was toasty inside, the place was bustling, the tables were widely-spaced, staff wore masks, and I wore a mask it still seemed like the virus was a thing of the past for most others. I’m not of that mindset but I also have to live a little before we get totally locked down by the weather. I hope you did something thrilling with your weekend as well.

Time Travel

I feel like I’m time traveling through the month at light speed, forward motion on zoom. We’ve been lucky to have Groovy Girl home the last two weekends. We’ve hiked in the Fall leaves, we’ve eaten amazing food and cuddled. Her coming home from college at first was like “hmmm, should we fist bump and call it good?” but now we throw caution to the wind, trusting that we’ve all been safe during the week, so that we may cuddle on the sofa together to hang out. She and I are “cuddlers”, we love to share a blanket, the sofa, anywhere where we can snuggle close and breathe each other in. She is really good about wearing a mask in her daily life and only goes to one class – ballet – in person (and they wear masks while dancing) with the rest of her classes meeting virtually so from the comfort of her dorm room.

(source)

Last weekend when she was here I dreamed that I wanted cauliflower tacos and when I googled the recipe I found lots of choices. I had to weed through the recipes because she is allergic to tomatoes. I found a recipe on Bon Appetit that is so FANTASTIC! I made them again this Friday night. We loved that it was vegan, that it needed no other toppings to make it delicious. We tried to add a little goat cheese and did not like the combined flavors as the taco flavor is so bold that it needs no other accompaniments. We did have some of our garden kale cut in to strips to add on and a little fresh baby greens and those two seemed to be fine additions to offer a little extra fresh crunch but otherwise these tacos are spot on perfect and have found a place in our permanent collection. The two sauces are easy to put together and I had everything already in my cupboards. If you are looking for a meat-free dish that comes together quickly this one will not disappoint. Groovy Girl ate 4 the first night we had them.

I finished The Guest List and Wrong guy, Right room; both very good. I lost interest in the Guest List halfway through-felt like we really dipped down with sorrowful tales and back and forth memories but the last few chapters really redeemed the tale. Wrong guy, Right room was delightful. I’m now reading Greetings from Witness Protection! by Jake Burt for school; it is on our list for Iowa Children’s Choice Awards this year and it’s good. I’m still working on Untamed by Glennon and I need to review This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, one of my favorite authors, for book club this month. After watching the Smithsonian’s National Book Festival authors this year all online I am trying to read Marlon James’ book Black Leopard, Red Wolf. It’s unique and I’m not sure I’ll make it through it but he was interesting to listen to him talk.

Did you watch the vice presidential debate? I’m super ready for this campaign to be over and a new administration to take office. Please have a peaceful week!

The Choice: Embrace the Possible

Dr. Edith Eva Eger’s memoir is a deep look into what it was like to live through extreme trauma and survive. At 16 Edith was sent to Auschwitz and was herded into one line with her sister and watched as her mother was pushed into another line, one of death. Edith and her sister Magda fight one minute, one hour, one day to make it through their ordeal together. In four parts, Prison, Escape, Freedom, and Healing, Dr. Eger’s shares with us what her own experience was like as well as patients she has worked with who have been imprisoned in other ways. She lets her journey be the guiding force to helping others. I enjoyed her family story very much, as well as her work with patients. Several of the patient accounts made me cry. It is always difficult to read first hand accounts of the Holocaust; the details overwhelming, and painful. I highly recommend her story and want everyone to read it. It’s an critical reminder of how important our freedom is and that we should never take it for granted.

I’ve discovered that I’m baking more these days and I think it is a stress-reliever. Baked goods for mental health! I made this delicious Czech breakfast cake one morning and shared it with friends and another day I woke up really early and made this French apple cake (Once upon a chef) for a trip to Iowa City to see Groovy Girl (Groovy College Student?). I will make both again. I’ve discovered a new little recipe spot on Bon Appetit called It’s Just that Simple! It’s like family recipes that they just talk you through as if they are telling you a recipe over coffee. I made the Desi Omelette one night for a quick dinner and a Korma recipe another night. It’s my kind of easy recipe site-like I’m getting them from friends.

(French Apple Cake)

Reading three books: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, my friend Angelle’s book, Wrong guy, right room, a fun romance book-find it here on Amazon, and The Guest List by Lucy Foley.

Be safe out there. Wear your mask. Stay positive. Do everything you can to get out the vote. Last night’s debate was even more proof that our current leader is completely unstable.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: a national treasure

(Elle article)

We lost a national treasure this weekend and the loss will impact our lives for a long time. She’s been on our minds for awhile now as she went in and out of the hospital, we feared for her with Covid + her own health issues. Over the years she kept working even though it must have been tough and painful – in this she is like our Black Panther hero Chadwick Boseman. I am sure that Ruth had a hero’s welcome when she arrived at the gates of heaven. I’m still struggling with this loss and I think about her family and how they are feeling. We may see her as an icon for human rights but they’ve lost a mother and grandmother, a leader of

During the very first part of the pandemic my husband and I caught up on some movies and series that we’d missed and one of them was the RBG documentary on Netflix. If you’ve not yet watched this take time to do watch or re-watch it to remind yourself of what an amazing person she was. We need her passing to light a fire in each of us to do whatever we can and then some more to first insure that our current leadership team not pick a new Supreme Court Justice until we’ve had a change in said leadership. Fair is fair and they set the rules on this with President Obama and second insure that as many democrats win across our states, local races and presidential. We need to right the falling tower as quickly as possible. DT is not a president to everyone; he picks and chooses, ridicules, often siding with racists people and ideas.

I don’t know how to get through to people who really, really love him yet we can talk to our friends and neighbors who might be undecided about voting for Biden. Biden was low on my list as was Kamala but this race is vital in so many important ways and those of us that are strong, fervent Democrats need to help others see why it is so important to vote by mail or vote in person; just VOTE for the Democratic ticket. I cannot image another four more years of this man unleashing his own curriculum, his stance against all things science related, voting down everything that we’ve worked hard for like voting rights and women’s rights. We need the Black Lives Matter movement to continue to make change all the way to the White House with someone ready to really help us find a more equitable future. We need our leaders to understand better what we are looking for in our police community; one of working with people without force, to see all people in need of help and understanding Just like George Floyd became a catalyst for change so to should our grief over Ruth Bader Ginsburg propel us forward into serious action. After all it is our country we are trying to save.

My husband recently showed me a video of Trump supporters sharing why they believe Trump was sent by God to help the nation and it makes me wonder how we became so divided as a country. I grapple with understanding how a wide array of Christian people feel that Trump represents them.

Find a way to stand up for our country and honor Justice Ginsburg with action. Refer back to my earlier voting post to find people to support with donations or volunteer time.