peace – Peaceful Reader

Today and tomorrow

I anxiously awaited the end of the Chauvin trial, as millions of others did, because I wanted a trend to be set and I am very happy with the outcome. In fact I cried. If we can convict one police officer then it can happen again and hopefully start a fire burning for better policing. City and state budgets need to be spent on training for officers on how to de-escalate with more emphasis on better understanding and compassion. Long live the memory of George Floyd! It’s one tiny step to restorative justice in these United States.

I finished The Night Watchman Louise Erdrich’s excellent novel which recounts the story of her grandfather in 1953.. There has been no time in our country’s history where we’ve treated the First People with the respect they deserve and this book recounts the “emancipation bill” created by Senator Arthur V. Watkins, a Mormon, of Utah. This bill was set to relieve the Native people of their status as a tribe and force integration into bigger cities like Minneapolis/St Paul. Watkins pushed this idea as the Emancipation Proclamation for Natives. Erdrich’s ability to weave facts into her beautifully-written prose makes this a majestic book to read. I strive to read whatever she publishes. My favorite quote from The Night Watchman:

“We’re from here,” said Thomas. He thought awhile, drank some tea. “Think about this. If we Indians had picked up and gone over there and killed most of you and took over your land, what about that? Say you had a big farm in England. We camp there and kick you off. What do you say?” Barnes was struck by this scenario. He raised his eyebrows so fast his hair flopped up.” I say we were here first!”

Many aren’t aware that Erdrich has a historical fiction series that begins with The Birchbark House for elementary students. This 5 book series is a wonderful look into Native life as they attempt to survive while European explorers and settlers encroach on their land and way of life.

I’m feeling burned out from school and look forward to summer. I will be happy to have Groovy Girl back home and hope for somewhat of a “normal” summer with threads of pre-pandemic moments. I am taking my worries to my yoga mat and have challenged myself to show up everyday for at least 20-30 minutes with Adriene. I thought I would have so much extra time this year and I just ended up juggling more work and stress. I always have hope and know this is temporary. Be good to yourself. Peace be with you…

New Year, New Me

Not really. Why would I want a new me? I like me, most of the time and I’ve had a really pretty great 2018 so I say more of the same in 2019.

{Happy graduate with his two sisters}

Psychologically at this time last year, I had a major life meltdown. Things were not good in my family of 5 and we had a breakdown in communication. I bring this up only as a way to say we worked through it and we made it. That kind of life event does take a toll and I forced myself to find a therapist. I wasn’t sure how it could ultimately help but I needed someone to talk to other than family. It took two tries to find the right one and with that came the realization that talking to someone, sharing your inner struggles and concerns, is about wellness; not about being broken. While this life concern was resolved positively (thank the mighty universe) I am still happily visiting my therapist’s office every few weeks. I might choose to close that door soon but I know I can go back to it at any point.

{Celebrating Anton’s 24th birthday together}

In the midst of that family struggle, I worked hard to get our fostered adult Anton out on his own. While he really disliked living with us with our reasonable family rules and expectations he was afraid of how hard it was going to be in the real world on his own. He lived with us for 16 months trying to begin a different life. He was a community college student for two semesters, he held down a job for almost a year, and he learned (sort of) he was not a great money manager. He also learned once he was fired that finding another job is no easy task and that once you have a job it is so very important to treat it with care and respect. The world is filled with rules and expectations, ideas and norms that many people never grow up understanding.

It’s not that collectively we all need to know the same things but it is important for your own personal survival to understand how to get along. And the better you are at code-switching the better you are going to get along. I mean simple things like how to address an envelope, put on a stamp or pay a bill, how to dress up for a job interview no matter what position you are applying for, how to not bend rules at work to make it easier for you, how to get along and work with others who you might not like, oh the list is endless. Thankfully this young man is now living in our community with his friends trying to make it work. I’m glad that I still see him and can help him out when I can. I’m also very happy that he isn’t living in our guest room anymore. It was adding a great deal of undue stress into my family life. All I can do is remember that we did our best to help him create a new life; one where he can see past cyclical poverty and unemployment, even if he doesn’t understand those recurring roles in his life. Thank you to these lifelong friends for helping me through this tough journey. And for all my friends who support me.

My goal for the year is to bring yoga back into my life as it was the one thing I let go of in the wake of last year. I chose sleep over yoga but I have to find a way to have both. Other than that more writing and reading, more time for being tranquil. Peace and love my friends and hello to a new year.

June; thank you so much.

Wow – this month has flown by. Groovy Girl and I started the summer off with a road trip to Denver, Co. We stayed with family and just had a lovely time. We hiked in the area and saw deer, bison + baby bison, and pronghorns. From Iowa, it is about an 11-hour drive and we did it in 2 days.

Our favorite things were Sushi Ronin, Little Man ice cream both in the Highland area of Denver and I loved the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse and we both loved hiking at Chautauqua in Boulder, walking the 16th Street Mall, and dipping our feet into Boulder Creek. We also had a great afternoon hanging out in Washington Park just enjoying.

We had dinner with friends and family we have not seen for years and it felt great to reconnect. It is very important to keep lines of communication open in friendships and family circles. If not nurtured in some way they can easily wither away. Sometimes that can even mean a place and I definitely enjoyed connecting with Denver/Boulder again and I’m happy my daughter loved our experiences as well. I wished on the trip that I’d had the foresight to take each child on a high school road trip. There are a lot of skills learned on a road trip that you don’t get if you take a 4-hour flight to the same destination. Different lessons. The talking and the navigation were the best parts; I’m trying to teach her to put down the phone as we drive so she can look out the window and daydream, think or just unwind. Unplugging is a huge challenge for all of us with smartphones.

This trip was also a challenge to myself. I used to make this trek back and forth frequently when my son was younger and the trip was longer because I was often driving back to Minneapolis/St. Paul or Rochester area. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still make it happen and get myself around. And I did it. Bravo to me. My life can now continue!

I’ve been lucky enough to call a variety of states home but Colorado will always hold a very special place in my heart. As we drove into the state and you can see your first glimpses of the mountains in the distance; my daughter said “hello mountains; its been too long”. I agree. Our souls are better now.

And then I’m just as happy when my little black Prius pulls us back into our little corner of Iowa and we are home; happy to sleep in our own beds and kiss the ground with happiness for a safe trip.

Time passing…

Groovy Girl was confirmed yesterday. It was a beautiful service with lots of emotional moments. Six confirmands-all girls-have had a year of classes filled with interesting discussion. A few girls-including G.G. were able to take a trip to Nicaragua to deliver shoe boxes filled with school supplies to children. They’ve had overnights, a ski trip and a June mission trip to W. Va still to come. Most of the girls have grown up together in the church.

It is still difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that my baby is 13, confirmed, will soon take driver’s ed, and will be in 9th grade. Crazy. Seriously. She was a miracle baby, born early, but oh, so healthy and rambunctious. Effervescent as her youth director described her.

To celebrate her and her best pal, Katy, I hosted a brunch for family friends including our minister and his wife. Impressively ALL my dishes turned out amazing. This does not usually happen for me. I have best intentions but things fail, fall, or just don’t work. This all worked and they were new recipes so if I can do it; you too could make these brunch happy recipes. Groovy Girl loves breakfast food so brunch was the perfect choice even though it was 1:30 in the afternoon.

{laughing spatula}

I picked two dishes and two side dishes. This Mexican Breakfast casserole from Laughing Spatula was a perfect main dish and we had toppings galore with sour cream, cilantro, diced tomatoes, chopped avocado, hot peppers, and homemade salsa. I followed this recipe closely except I added a layer of frozen spinach (almost thawed) to the bottom of the pan. Groovy Girl always orders omelets with spinach so I figured this was a good twist.

I knew I wanted my second dish to be sweet and I browsed through many recipes on line and in my own cookbook cupboard. Many with apples seemed too Fall-ish and G.G. is not the biggest fruit lover. Watermelon is her favorite and that does not pair well in any baked dish that I know of. She does love bread though and I happened to find just what I was looking for in “Not Your Mother’s Casseroles” by Faith Durand. I’ve used many recipes from this book but never made this particular one. I really wanted my daughter to swoon with joy with my brunch choices and this one did it.

Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake

9 x 13 pan
Bake time: 50 minutes

One 12 – to 16 – loaf good quality white bread (Italian or French) with crusts removed, cut in half lengthwise and then into thin slices. {I skipped all this, left the crust on my fat French bread and sliced it into medium slices. I wanted it to be hearty}

For the custard:

5 large {farm fresh} eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
2 T. sugar
1 {big} tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

For the cinnamon cheese filling:

8 ozs cream cheese, softened
2 T. unsalted butter, softened
1 large {farm fresh} egg
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

More cinnamon for sprinkling.

Preheat the oven to 325*. Lightly grease the baking dish with butter or spray.

Layer half the bread in the baking dish, overlapping and wedging them in tightly so they are in an almost solid layer.

To make the custard, whisk the eggs until fully beaten, then whisk in the milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour half of this custard over the bread in the baking dish, letting it settle in and soak the bread thoroughly. Set aside the rest of the custard.

To make the cream cheese filling, in the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld, beat the softened cream cheese with the butter, egg, cinnamon, and sugar. Beat until very soft and whipped. Spread over the first layer in the baking dish. Layer the rest of the bread on top {making a sandwich} and then pour the rest of the custard on top. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. {Think Christmas morning}

Sprinkle with extra cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, for about 50 minutes, or until it is firmly set. Cool for 15 minutes, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, and serve.

I skipped the powdered sugar-it didn’t need that extra sweetness. I did generously douse it with cinnamon though. Also a few years ago I downsized my kitchen and I only have one 13 X 9 -in pan so I made this breakfast bake in my slow cooker. Perfect! It worked so well I would do it this way again. I made the cream cheese filling on Saturday night (after I’d made the Mexican egg dish and it was resting in the refrigerator” and then I layered the bread, custard, and filling into the slow cooker and let it soak for about an hour. We turned it on low before we left for church and it was piping hot when I returned two hours later.

We also had a strawberry spring greens salad and grits slow cooked with gouda right before guests were to arrive and strawberries mixed with a sprinkle of sugar just like my grandmother served in the springtime when she said the berries were still a little tart. My son loves them just that way. My friend brought a dish or squared watermelon and we had glasses of mimosas to clink. It was lovely and I have not one photograph of the table. Happy guests though and a happy ~~girl~~ / young lady. Peace be with you.

Enjoy.

29 days of book love

Happy Saturday everyone. Yoga was cancelled, while a huge disappointment, allowed me to sleep/lay in bed a little longer this morning and sometimes we just need that.

We also had to cancel a day trip to Minneapolis so Groovy Girl can get her groove back. She slept in and is mostly feeling better. I spent most of the day mourning the loss of the trip but I found positive ways to fill my day. #cleaning #walking

Schooled by Gordon Korman is one of my favorite elementary chapter books for its celebration of independent and creative thinking-something we need more of across the board. Capricorn Anderson is a young hippie living on a commune with his grandmother Rain. He leads a happy life until Rail falls out of a tree while picking plums. For the first time Capricorn is sent to school while Rain recovers. School is a strange world to comprehend to a peaceful boy.

He takes it all in stride, spends time confused, experiences his first crush but all throughout he stays true to his positive ideals. Cap is a great character created by Korman; perfect for teaching kids empathy for those different than us. We all need that today.

Dr. King; We need to do more, we need to be more.

Today is the day in our nation that we celebrate this great and profound man. Groovy Girl has peppered me with random, yet amazing facts from the internet about Dr. King. Like did you know his name was Michael for the first two years of his life and that a woman stabbed Dr. King while he was on a book tour. That he almost didn’t go to seminary. That he got a “C” in public speaking. That he liked Star Trek; especially Nichelle Nichols’ character Uhuru because she played a non-traditional black role and he saw that as important.

While we often study the same 5-6 black heroes, now through February, King is someone everyone could learn more about. He had opinions on many important issues that still stand true today. Poverty, war, white middle class, leadership, God, and our country were all topics he spoke on during his life.

What would he think today? I think he’d have his head in his hands for about 30 seconds and then he’d say “We still got a lot to do here.” He would have been in Sanford, Fl, Ferguson, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago, Minneapolis, and D.C. He would have been busy and sad.

I feel powerless as a white woman. I can’t travel to any of these troubled places because I have a regular every day job working with children. I do stand for the underdog and caucus in my state. I talk about important issues with my children. I talk about important issues with my students. I put my arms around the bully on the playground and hold the hands of students having a tough day. I wipe tears away. We need mayors and the police system to retrain, rethink how they do business as usual. We need people to understand our political system better and know that if they vote for a republican candidate they’ve voted for the top 10% and for big money, big corporations; not for main street or manufacturing. We need a better way and we need it to happen right now. Truthfully we need a revolution. We need nonconformists. Let’s make this the year to change a few things; change what you can. Do what you can; make a difference.

Girl at war by Sara Novic`

School is winding down and my desk is full. I’m grading, collecting books, and preparing for an-end-of-the-year book fair. My head is spinning maybe because I spent part of my week laying on the sofa reading Girl at War instead of getting stuff done. It was worth it though; this is a great book.

Ana Juric`, a ten-year-old living in Croatia’s capital has had a happy childhood until civil war breaks out and her life is transformed by food rationing, soldiers, and air raid drills. Suddenly life is very different and she feels out of control. The daily peace she felt is replaced with fear and uncertainty except when she is nestled together with her family:

That first time we saw it, my mother and I together, she patted my shoulder because these men were protecting Croatia and the fighting didn’t look too dangerous. She smiled and the soup steamed, and even Rahela wasn’t crying for once, and I allowed myself to slide into the fantasy I recognized as such even while my mind was still spinning it- that there in the flat, with my family, I was safe. (29)

The war circles around the Juric` family but at home there is a greater concern. Ana’s younger sister, Rahela, is sick and needs medical attention. After visiting a female doctor in Zagreb Ana’s family makes the difficult decision to get Rahela transported out of Croatia to America where she will recieve the treatment she needs. As Ana and her parents mournfully drive back to Zagreb they are stopped by a roadblock of Serbian soldiers. It is at this moment that Ana’s life will be forever changed and as it is with tragedy it makes her into the womas we later meet in New York.

Her predictable life studying in NYC has her on edge and she can’t accept all that has happened to her. She is at war with herself, trying to resolve what she experienced. She makes a rash decision to travel back to Croatia to see if friends are still alive and to make peace with how her life has been shaped.

This is a transformitive story. I enjoyed Ana’s voice, her family struggles in New Jersey, and the difficult time she has with feeling comfortable after living, surviving a war where so many died. Girl at war shows how resilent we are while making us fully aware of the damage caused by tragedy and war. It is a story of survival. And we all need to read more of that.

It also brought to light this conflict for me. In my small town we had an influx of Bosnian residents during this conflict. They’ve succeeded in our community in many ways, been accepted and embraced, but it also makes me wonder what lies underneath. Thank you, Ana, for this reminder; realizing the harm we do while fighting wars abroad and on our own streets would be a worthy reason to keep the peace.

On sale: May 12th, 2015 (go buy it now)

Thank you to @DavidEbershoff at Random House for my copy. My time-wasting habit of scrolling around twitter totally worth it when I’m able to scoop up an excellent book. It also in no way altered my review of this book. I loved it all on my own.

Baby, It's cold outside; Picture books to snuggle with…

Cuddle in by the fire and read!

I have a few picture books I checked out from the library and they are lovely and perfect gift ideas!

Mo’s Mustache (2013) by Ben Clanton

This is a very humorous look at copy cats and trendsetting-a fine line to be sure! Mo appears with a mustache and all his crazy friends follow along which eventually makes Mo unhappy and feeling very un-special! He puts his beauteous mustache away and sports a fantastic new scarf. His friends copy him again. This is perfect book for the little trendsetter in your family!

Glamorous Glasses (2012) by Barbara Johansen Newman

Bobbie and her cousin, Joanie do everything together so when it comes time for Joanie to get glasses Bobbie wants a pair to wear. It’s always greener on the other side of the fence as Joanie doesn’t really want to get new glasses. The two girls problem solve a solution that ends up mixing both of them up. This would have been a perfect book for Groovy Girl in kindergarten when she struggled with finding anything glamorous about wearing glasses.

Year of the Jungle (2013) by Suzanne Collins

Suzy’s father heads to Viet Nam and from a child’s perspective we hear about how his absence affects the whole family through the year. Full page illustrations show Suzy’s imaginative idea of the jungle. This is short and perfect to use for parents who are deployed today as a way to explain their long absences and may help them to draw their own journals through writing and pictures.

The Littlest Evergreen (2011) by Henry Cole

Full circle for a tiny tree; from the tree’s perspective we learn how this tiny shoot no taller than the glass blades transitions into a Christmas tree. His roots are dug up and surrounded by burlap and purchased by a family. In the springtime the tree is planted again in a big hole dug just for him. This is especially relevant to our family this year as this is exactly what we did. We plan to plant it where another evergreen died around the border of our yard. Our kids are adjusting to the fact that it is not a full-sized tree this year but we are giving it back to the earth and that they can live with.

Happy Holidays.
I had plans to have many other fantastic Christmas posts done before this but it just hasn’t happened. I did have a great last few days of work handing out cookies and sharing books with students and now I will enjoy my family back together for the next week or so. I hope the holiday is filled with many blessing for you and your family.

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

Code Talker

Joseph Bruchac

2005

224 pages

Kii Yazhi is six years old when he is taken from his mother, from his land to go to boarding school governed by the United States. His uncle drives him there in a wagon and gives him this advice:

Little Boy, he said, Sister’s first son, listen to me. You are not going to school for yourself. You are doing this for your family. To learn the ways of the bilagaanaa, the white people, is a good thing. Our Navajo language is sacred and beautiful. Yet all the laws of the United States, those laws that we now have to live by, they are in English. (8)

Boarding school takes away their beautiful Navajo clothes, their symbolic long hair, their language, and even their names. Kii Yazhi becomes Ned Begay. His school journey begins and ends with disrespectful and mean teachers yet he survives and does well. He chooses to follow the rules and gets sent on to secondary school. He is 16 when war breaks out and he wants to enlist but waits until the next year with his parent’s permission. The U.S. Marines have a special use for Navajo enlistees and he is able to be specially trained to send codes using the exact language he had been beaten for using at boarding school; a wonderful twist!

The story is told from Begay’s memory as he shares with his grandchildren. Ned’s journey shares such an overlooked part of history; one that I knew about but only on the barest surface. Bruchac inserts such wisdom among the awful horrors of boarding school and the war.

You know, grandchildren, for a long time even after the war, it was hard for me to have any good thoughts about the Japanese. What troubled me the most was the way they treated the native people of the islands they conquered. They believed only Japanese were real humans. Anyone else could be treated like a dog. Never forget, grandchildren, that we must always see all other people as human beings, worthy of respect. We must never forget, as the Japanese forgot, that all life is holy. (148)

This is great historical non-fiction and I plan to use it this year with a boy’s book club. They will love the war element and I will love that they are looking at it from a different angle.

Calling Invisible Women; A Novel by Jeanne Ray

Calling Invisible Women

Jeanne Ray

2012

246 pages

Jeanne Ray’s latest contemporary women’s fiction novel has something to say about how we allow products to heal ourselves whether they are expensive drugs prescribed by our doctor or Botox-type enhancers that lift money from our wallet for temporary solutions.

Clover Hobart, a fifty-something wife and mother, wakes up one day and discovers she cannot find herself in the mirror after her morning shower. Her first disappearance lasts only a short time but she’s concerned because her son says he can still see her. She thinks she might be losing her mind. When it happens again she locates a group of invisible women that meet at the local Sheraton Hotel. Clover learns that a combination of three medicines all made by Dexter-White, a pharmaceutical company, is what causes many women of a certain age to become invisible.

Through this group she begins to take action as the reporter she once was spurring others to get busy by exploring what they can accomplish as invisible women. Because of her new bravery she stops a man from harassing a woman outside the grocery store, she un-arms a robber in the midst of bank robbery, and she and another invisible woman ride the school bus to corral bully behavior. Eventually she takes on the Dexter-White.

This is a light-hearted look at how easy it is for older women to become invisible in society as what’s young and hip steals focus. I enjoyed the characters, the topic, and I felt more empowered as I raised my fist in solidarity with them as they crafted a plan to bring down Dexter-White.. It is an easy read-it only took my three days to read the book. Ray is the author of Julie and Romeo.

A quote:

“No one is interested in us,” Mrs. Robinson said. “When I look back on my life, I was invisible for so many years before I became invisible. I never did stand up for myself. If you don’t stand up before you become invisible, what chance do you have of making people pay attention to you when you aren’t there?”
“Amen to that,” a voice said. (66)

Reviewed at Dear Author