Monthly Archives: March 2010

It’s Beginning to Look

Posted on March 31, 2010 | 1 Comment

a lot like… Spring? Over one foot of snow today. Bet the ski resorts wish they had this in early February. The birds are back and plants want to send out shoots and buds and now we have a foot of snow just today, and more is expected overnight and tomorrow.

I’ll try to get a photo for you tomorrow. Dog Zoe loves the snow and played with a young pup tonight and had a blast chasing snowballs.

We had terrific St. Louis-style ribs that I roasted in a low oven yesterday with a dry rub of salt, pepper, paprika and sugar. We ended up going out for pizza, which was a good thing. Today they didn’t want to send out the heavy artillery to plow roads and driveways so tried to get away with shoveling, but the snow kept coming so they finally gave in. I didn’t take the car out all day, just the dog, and getting boots on again after nearly seventy-degree weather is a task I didn’t expect this week.

I served the ribs after heating them in a 350 degree oven with a store-bought high-end maple and chipotle glaze. Also french fries and fresh snap peas that I de-strung. Uncooked snap peas.

So, perhaps the grill will come out another day soon as soon as the decks have defrosted. Hope your day went well. Cheers, Dee

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas

Strange Sounds

Posted on March 30, 2010 | 3 Comments

With the fire today, I thought I smelled smoke and it was only that I changed the dry rub to smoked paprika instead of sweet Hungarian paprika. I drove the roads today thinking it was snow or fog, not even thinking it was smoke from a fire in the valley.

Recently Spring is in the air. Instead of grooming the trail beside us, it’s been plowed. The robins are back, but it’ll take the next season (Mud Season) for the rain to force out the worms and onto the trail for our red Robins’ feast.

There are red-winged Blackbirds in adjacent trees that call out an alarm whenever Zoe and I walk by. She’s a herder, and doesn’t even register birds, but they yell at us anyway.

I just tried to add a photo and even Eocene Crane sounds but it didn’t work so I’ll have to try again. As for other strange things in the neighborhood, photographers were having their day with a bikini-clad model, barefoot and in a bikini in 40 degree weather. Yes, that’s a day in our neighborhood and they want to kick us out for having a dog when porn movies with snowboarders and bikini models are being filmed right under their noses.

Yes, that is the HOA, life’s reason for having a real home. We love that there our sounds outside, bird calls, and I love watching them, binoculars and camera at times. I did clean the outside dryer vent because when the barn swallows return they’ll try to nest in that dryer vent, and dive-bomb my head if I go out to our upstairs deck.

So that’s it for sights and sounds. I did prep some ribs for tomorrow but we went out to our local place for great pizza (Maxwell’s) and I’ll say goodnight now. Cheers, Dee

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Editorial

Fire

Posted on March 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

As I write this there is a fire in the valley near Saltair, that has led to many ducks relocating up here on the mountain, where the air is still full of smoke and ash. One thing the news fails to tell us, as they do in So Cal, is that the fire is “contained.” Contained is the word that you know you don’t have to leave your home and all the things that mean so much,

Contained is a word people understand, especially after spending your time talking about wind speeds (71-91mph) and the fact that this fire jumped I-80 toward the marina. It closed one of the major US highways, I-80, west of Salt Lake City.

A while ago I couldn’t see anywhere and now the air is beginning to clear. It’s lucky no-one was hurt and hopefully my husband will get home with clear roads.

Let’s hope for the best. Dee

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Editorial

Four Girls Four

Posted on March 27, 2010 | 3 Comments

This girl group (I should say ladies’ group) was composed of Rosemary Clooney, Rose Marie, Helen O’Connell and Margaret Whiting.

They were fantastic singing classic big band and other songs, and I was lucky to see them in the early 1980′s at Chautauqua. Tonight I’m surrounded by Two Guys Two, my husband and a work pal are here, for the weekend for skiing (not my Jim). I’m working on dishes and while they set up a movie, they start into total work mode and start talking tech.

In the midst of the work conversation and had settled on a movie, I broke in and told them I’d been to a seminar this past week. We learned that while the Greater Sandhill Cranes mated for life, one guy asked why the male bird had to show his feathers for the gal every year. I said it was like dinner and a movie. Most people laughed.

While we’ve been together over eight years (seven married) it’s always interesting to meet fellow colleagues. Yes. it is always better to have other guys, gals/wives around for a social event. At home, taking care of weekend guests, it’s different.

It’s always a treat to have guests here, we wouldn’t have had an extra bedroom except to have people visit us in this gorgeous location. Several folks have and it’s always good to see them, cook for them, and see them off.

Now there are folks who want to kick us off this place and we don’t want to leave. What I hate more is that someone who sees me regularly on a public route with my dog on a leash (when his is not) goes home and has wife send a letter saying we’re not allowed to have a dog.

This morning I picked up a beer can that had been buried in the snow and put it in the trash, my dear husband shoveled the trail himself after he got home from work yesterday, and now I’m wondering why we’re such bad neighbors. After all, our dog is six now and we’ve had her six years so why are we supposed to get rid of her to pay a fortune for a lovely home that we care for diligently, and are recognized as great neighbors.

It would be nice to just have a break, to be recognized for being good neighbors and not be ostracized by one couple for having a friendly, special needs dog who does nothing to hurt anyone. Hope y’all are having a good weekend. We enjoyed our long drive today! Cheers, Dee

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Editorial, Pet, Utah

Tagged ,

Alumni Affairs

Posted on March 25, 2010 | 3 Comments

A big reunion is coming up, college related, and I haven’t been to a single one over the years. Pictures of me in a red-and-white striped gown I recycled from my high school prom have been circulated. I remember the dress but not my date’s name. Awful dress, and obviously the date didn’t stick around.

My roommate worked in the development office and got paid for it. I got to volunteer for events, which was always a treat because the meal involved was way better than one could get in the cafeteria. I gave out name tags, hung coats, and let the alumni know they were appreciated by giving them a smile and treating them well.

Now, I hear that alums will not be allowed to “rent” dorm rooms for our reunion, as many years after graduation, they’re afraid we’ll do something we didn’t think of at age 19? Personally I don’t think I could sleep within those cinder block walls even for one night.

Yes, I’m thinking of going. Bad idea, I know. I want to see a few old friends, meet one retired professor and maybe even go to Mass. Imagine that, roof falls in and it’s all me.

It’s the London Homesick Blues all over again. Thanks to Jerry Jeff Walker for helping me to get through college! Cheers, Dee

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Editorial

Tagged ,

Wii’re History

Posted on March 25, 2010 | 4 Comments

Our nieces and nephew just got a Wii so there will be no more guitar or keyboard playing. It’s sad for me that the real music has been supplanted.

My husband Jim and I discussed this before giving woodworking tools, an acoustic guitar and keyboard to “the kids.” We didn’t want them to have the PlayStation and Rock Band, opting for the real thing.

Apparently the real thing isn’t good enough. At their age, I spent winters reading serious books, and summers climbing up and down the hill, playing in the creek, and swimming. We had active imaginations and put on plays, dance recitals et al in the basement, even printing tickets for our parents.

At age eight I started to really cook, and planned elaborate parties for my baby brother. I didn’t need Wii or Rock Band or a cell phone or computer.

I know we can’t go back to those days when we didn’t lock our car or house doors but can parents please let their children develop an imagination before they text behind the wheel of a car? Sadly, Dee

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Editorial

Childhood

Posted on March 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

At age eight we moved to a large home on a mountain overlooking a lake. You should have seen me lugging rocks to build a retaining wall, using a miter to cut window moldings, or grabbing the automatic stapler with both hands to put up ceiling tiles in the basement.

When I talk about the Job Jar now it’s a good thing! Whether it was folding diapers, dusting, vacuuming or weeding we each had our things to do. The only thing is that it was never passed down to the younger ones, who got away with anything. But I digress.

Childhood is different these days. When a toddler waves at me from a supermarket cart I can’t say hello. Two tween girls wanted to come over here to play my keyboard last year, with an OK from Mom but Dad would get home from work and retrieve them post haste.

We didn’t have to lock our front door or our car. Yes, in high school several people I knew took drugs but I didn’t. I can’t imagine life as a twelve-year old girl today with Internet access and so many dangers. I wonder if parents are being too protective and creating monsters of their children who crave independence or will remain dependent forever.

Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to the time where we built sand structures or snow forts or sledded down the hill? While I’m past my child-bearing years my husband and I love children, especially our young relatives on which we dote. Some have the luxury of living a country existence and some don’t have that pleasure except on vacation.

We missed Thanksgiving at Nanny’s last year, first time in eight years. I missed the after-supper activities: pushing the little ones on the swings and looking at the horses. It’s a different world out there now, and parents should be extra-vigilant about their child’s safety but also let them learn and grow.

Yeah, I check all the locks every night. It was creepy when our garage door kept opening on its’ own, over the holidays. Husband Jim had to change the frequency to stop other garage door openers from opening ours and having full use of our home! Stay safe, Dee

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Editorial, Education, Pet, Recipe Ideas

Hoarding Mincemeat

Posted on March 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

It was in one store but was sold out way before Thanksgiving last year! I found a jar a few weeks ago and should go back and get more.

Before you say “ick” and “gross” know that most of the jarred mincemeat these days does not include meat and now they even give you the choice of brandy or no brandy. I say brandy, which infuses and sets the dried fruits and raisins that make this particularly British dessert.

Mom had two glasses to cut her pastry (I’ve given you the pastry recipe, for certain) and placed the bottom layer of pastry in a regularly sized muffin pan, filled it with her precise amount of mincemeat filling and added the top, or “hat,” according to my Aunt.

You’ll see my mincemeat woes as I now decorate my family’s pantries with jars of it, hopefully in the off-season so we’re ready to go over the holidays. Yes, I spent 2X the amount to FexEx it halfway across the country only to find out they had it already.

If you ask my husband’s family, it is an acquired taste, along with lebkuchen, that they have not yet acquired. Husband Jim can take more cayenne than I, yet I can take more nutmeg and cloves. I think that’s partly a Southern thing.

In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find some more mincemeat now so I don’t have to go crazy looking for it in November. I was just thinking of a trifle with mincemeat, applesauce, and nutmeg-spiced whipped cream. It sounds holiday-ish to me. Cheers! Dee

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Editorial, Recipe Ideas

Tagged ,

Count Us In!

Posted on March 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

What happens to people on a temporary assignment where the US Postal Service does not deliver mail? And where over 90% of residents are not occupying their property so will not get the census form?

There are nearly 100 townhomes where we live that are not being included in the 2010 census simply because the USPS does not count us as delivery-worthy. We have to buy a box at the local post office or a full-service mail center. A lot of the places out here, out West, are refused service by the USPS. Makes me think we should create and market our own stamps and send our own mail.

Ten years ago I worked to get out the census forms especially to African Americans and Latinos, because the 1980 census had our city building schools that were too small for the legal population the day they were conceived and little kids were going to school in temporary classrooms that took over their playgrounds.

What happens when entire swaths of people are ignored because the USPS refuses to acknowledge our home address? Yes, a week after we moved here a census worker came by and said we could expect a survey. I told her she shouldn’t expect to have anyone answer the door as few people live here year-round. She said she understood.

How can one expect government “services” for one’s taxes if you’re not counted and even your mail cannot be delivered to your home address? Dee

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Editorial, Education

Milestones

Posted on March 24, 2010 | Leave a comment

When you’re a kid, well, you’re a kid and don’t understand the meaning of life. Not that I do half a century into it. For me it was taught as a matter of Catholic faith. Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Priesthood, Last Rites.

I always wondered why those events are so important. I missed my Confirmation because there were two churches in our small town so they only held Confirmations every other year and because we moved, I missed both. Is that a sin?

Birth, death, marriage, children, are what lives are made of. Engagement is a symbol of hope in the future (also a call for tea services and small appliances). When a family member dies, a friend gets divorced or another’s mother dies, each is a life-changing event. These are the ways we measure our lives, as I awakened one morning to realize it would have been my parents’ 50th anniversary had they not been divorced 15 years and my mother was dying.

That was a party I’d planned in my head since I was a teenager. I wanted to give my parents a perfect golden anniversary. But that was my dream, not theirs.

Mom’s gone now, and Dad is on a ship in the middle east? As far as I know he’s not being held hostage, as he probably wears a tux to dinner. Marriage is another story, and it does change a relationship as I know as my husband and best friend is about to walk through the door to a fabulous dinner.

Our milestones are our own, but we get to share them with others, good and bad. This blog goes out to MB and the family of Katherine, who died at her home at age 92 after a long, good, Iowa life with loving family and friends. May she rest in peace knowing that she was loved. Best wishes to anyone going through a life change. Dee

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Editorial