Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

This past weekend, I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of leading a track at the Iowa Episcopal Summer Ministry School and Retreat in Grinnell, IA. My friend, Jeanie, who I've written about repeatedly, is a Deacon with the Episcopal church, serving at St. Timothy's in West Des Moines, IA.  It's a later in life career for her.  She answered the call she had been hearing over the years after working in a number of businesses, the last a home health care organization that specialized in infusion therapies.  And in true Jeanie fashion, she has answered the call loudly, with extraordinary grace, energy, enthusiasm, dedication.  In fact, she and a fellow Deacon were in charge of the event, which is how I came to be a presenter. "I think you should do something with your retirement stuff," she said last fall. "Okay," I replied, thinking, how hard could this be? Fast forward to early June, when I pulled out the schedule for the workshops to get a s...

I haven't written in awhile (again).  Life seems to be getting busier and busier, confirming what I was told repeatedly before I retired: you'll be so busy that you'll wonder how you ever worked. Last night I taught my 'last' class for the 2017-18 school year.  What a terrific ride this has been!  I knew going into it that I would learn more from the people in my classes than they would learn from me, and this, too, has been confirmed.  I'll be revising all my offerings, due in no small part to what participants have shared, the questions they have asked, their reactions to the presentation.  I have been humbled by their bravery in expressing their concerns and heartened by how their fellow classmates confirmed the commonality of the concern, or stepped out of their comfort zone to relay their story and how they found ways to confront the issue, or continue to deal with it.  That's when I personally feel the most successful--when the group turns to each o...

A faithful reader pointed out there was not a recipe in the Motherhood post.  I could say it's because mothers shouldn't be cooking on Mother's Day but it was because I forgot. This is a recipe we're having tonight.  Very fragrant and an easily done, which, as far as recipes go, is one all mothers need in their hip pocket. Mongolian Beef Ramen 1 lb. sirloin steak, sliced against the grain 2 T corn starch 2 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil) 1 T sesame oil 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 t. minced ginger 1/2 c soy sauce (I prefer the reduced sodium variety) 1/4 c brown sugar 1 c chicken or beef broth pinch red pepper flakes 1 large head broccoli, cut into florets 1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks 3 pkgs instant ramen, flavor packet discarded** 3 green onions thinly sliced Toasted sesame seeds 1. Cook ramen noodles** according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.  (If you don't have ramen, a thin spaghetti noodle also works), 2. In wo...

Not unlike how the incandescent blue sky ever so softly fades, hues bursting first as fireworks, then spreading across the horizon, melting into the mellowness of pastel Motherhood Moments of extraordinary pleasure or pain and often melded, enduring efforts to be erased; rather etched into memories that seep out when least expected Motherhood Tempests tossed then calmed with a soothing touch tempered by patience honed into strengths of character by unimaginable yet all too real depths of love Motherhood Steps forward for years, followed by shuffles backwards from the launch, not adrift, rather admiring from the space where lives have been nurtured and guided and now take their own shape to discover paths where the colors and shadings of the sky are reminiscent of those when the merger was so strong it was often impossible to decipher where one began and another began and then, oh so suddenly, the separation was nothing if not clear, as if gazing to the sandy bottom of the m...

We're winding down our two month stint in Belleair Beach, Florida.  During the daily beach walk(s), I've been using these last few days to reflect on our time here. I suppose the best thing I can say is that we're already signed on to return next year.  The place where we've stayed, a townhouse in a small development called Los Caracoles (the snails) that fronts the Gulf of Mexico, has been, as my sister who is a realtor down here calls a real find.   (In fact, on a walk the other afternoon, Hank discovered this snail on the property.) Next year the unit is available for 6 weeks rather than 2 months.  We'll make due.  I can sit on the patio and look out at the Gulf; listen to the waves at night, which have more than once lulled me either to sleep or back to sleep; and in about 73 steps,give or take a few, be on the beach.  We are simultaneously spoiled and blessed. The time, like the Gulf, ebbs and flows differently depending on what is g...

As a child, I loved to receive mail.  Back in the day, the postal carrier would deliver twice a day during the Christmas season and I remember begging my mother to be the one who would open the cards.  When I was in college, my maternal grandmother would occasionally send me a letter, complete with newspaper clippings of articles she felt were important.  Sad to say, I didn't keep any of those.  But I remember the excitement of checking the collegiate mailbox and finding mail in there! Christmas cards, with the accompanying annual letter, remain a big deal for me.  I have composed a newsy tome for many years--don't remember how many--and once we had children, first added a photo to the card before switching over to the photo card.  Once during the holiday season, after all the cards have arrived, I spend an afternoon re-reading the letters we have received, making mental notes of what has been going on in our old friends' lives.   More than ...

Greetings and salutations--or should I say, pawlutations?  JK. I'm Hank, Mary's (the author of this blog), beagle and today is my 11th birthday.  We thought it would be fun if I put paw to keyboard and blog about my life with Mary and her spousal unit, Dan, while they're in Florida.  Since typing is quite challenging, I decided to mostly post pictures.  Isn't that what humans say, a picture is worth a thousand words?  In the dog world, a smell is worth a gazillion words but for today, we'll go with pictures. First, this gives you an idea where they got a place for me to stay in Florida. There is a sign that says No Dogs Allowed on the beach, but Mary took me on just for a minute.  I discovered I like it and now, whenever they take me out, I head right for the beach.  There are birds and water to chase there and talk about the smells!  WOO HOO! You might be wondering what I do all day, since I can't go on the beach.  Here's an ove...