Buffalo Gal

Saturday February 4 was a very special day for our family. It was a birthday-day for our youngest granddaughter who turned 17. She joins other grandaughters born within 5 months of each other in 1994-95 who are the best of friends as well as cousins.
It was also a day of sweet, mellow voices of hundreds of North Dakota junior and senior high choral students.
A special weekend of singing and learning from eminent choral conductors took place at the NDSY campus for these teenage singers from all over the state of ND. It was organized by music teachers all over the state and the official organization is the NDACDA,,,the definition of which I do not have. I only know it has to be a great group to have brought so many high school singers together for a weekend on the NDSU campus.
The students formed 3 honor choirs: A Treble Choir made up of junior high girl students and when I wrote the words “sweet voices” it described the girl’s honor treble choir. Their sweet voices filled the space in Festival Hall’s main concert hall. They were first on the concert program and not far into their first song, I knew I was in the right place!
Years ago I was a choir singer in more than one choral group over a long period of years…junior and senior high school, a college concert choir and later various adult choirs . The human voice is the most elegant musical instrument of all.
The Mixed Honor choir had junior high students…male and female and what I will remember about that group is the richness of the young mens’ voices..amazingly mature for thier ages. All the honor choirs were large…some over 100 singers. Sweet, mellow voices raised in songs that were so incredibly performed and wonderfully sung. It did this Old Choir Girl’s soul so much good!!!
Our youngest granddaughter..the Birthday Girl…sang in the Womens’ Honor Choir of over 100 voices. It was another ethereal experience of hearing the sweetness of the young voices expressing lovely music.
All the honor choirs had guest conductors from other places…..Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Bismarck ND and a college conductor from Illinois.
Their conducting and teaching must have been a once in a lifetime experience for the young singers from all over North Dakota.
It was a great reminder of the importance of public and private schools staying focused on the Arts such as choral singing, concert bands and orcestras, and drama opportunities. In a day and age that glorifies high school sports over and above everything, the concert at NDSU yesterday confirmed the worthiness of the Arts in ND schools.
After the concert was done, our family proceeded to celebrate the birthday with cousins and uncles and aunts and one set of grandparents (us)
We all ate Papa John’s pizzas and DQ ice cream cake to our hearts’ content.
Yesterday we sweet and mellow in two ways: the sweetness and mellowness of young choral singers and then the sweetness of family love and fellowship.
It was a great day all around.

I read with great interest this morning an article with the exact title as my
blog heading (in case you want to google it and read it in its entirety.)
I am going to quote liberally from the news piece by Abby Johnson (Feb 3/2012)

QUOTE # 1
“People who run private charities that award grants to Planned Parenthood haver got to be wondering if their organizations will receive the ‘Komen Treatment’ a mafia-style shakedown, if they ever decide not to fund the group?
Will their organizations’ good names be dragged through the mud in a vicious, cruel and demeaning campaign to dishonor their life-saving work? Probably. The people who run Planned Parenthood, the nations’largest abortion chain, want money and they don’t care who they have to beat down in order to get it.”

Pretty strong words, but I agree with the assessment of PP of this writer.
The writer, Abby Johnson, has been a former manager of a Planned Parenthood in Texas says she knows exactly what it does for womens’ health and she is sickened by it. Johnson tells of having “abortion quotas” to fill in her particular PP facility….there was little concern with womens’ breast health or screening at PP..only quick manual exams may have been done but very little else and maybe nothing at all involving breast cancer screening.

QUOTE # 2

“Here’s the kicker: If low-income women come to Planned Parenthood for a breast exam, the federal government pays for it. The Komen money isn’t really necessary. Taxpayers give $1 million a day to Planned Parenthood, more than enough to cover free cancer screenings.”

QUOTE #3

” The despicable campaign that Planned Parenthood waged against Komen has revealed PLanned Parenthood’s true colors. The group cares about money, money, and more money. It has become not only the nation’s largest abortion provider but one of the top lobbying groups in the nation, a force to be reckoned with, which is an unfortunate thing if you are a well-loved organization that wants to focus on saving lives rather than maneuvering through unfriendly political waters. Komen did not have to apologize for cutting funds to Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant thinks it is above the law even though it is under criminal investigation for many ,many years and for good reasons…it has defrauded Medicaid to the tune of millions of dollars and has been caught on tape telling 13 and 14 year olds how to get abortions after being impregnated by men in their 30′s and telling pimps how to get secret abortions for young girls who are being used for sex trafficking.”

The Susan Komen foundation was set up to save lives. Planned Parenthood seems to be set up to TAKE LIVES…the lives of unborn babies by the millions each year.
How does killing unborn infants stack up as a necessary part of maintaining womens’ healthcare? I sincerely doubt that having your unborn child sucked or ripped from your womb is a form of good healthcare,in fact I would argue that it is as deleterious as it gets if you have any kind of conscience or knowledge about the development of a human baby. It is not just a “blob of tissue” as the Planned Parenthood rooters would have us believe; scientific information…. which includes intra-uterine photography shows a LIVE baby. That baby is alive as soon as it is conceived.
In addition to Planned Parenthood’s obsession with getting all the money it can get from private charities like Komen, it is also guilty of the big lie told to women about abortion…that they are not to worry about a live child being destroyed…it is just a piece of tissue being sucked out of your body.
Do they also insist that near-term infants who are aborted by saline injections or other caustic measures are only a “blob of tissue” also…. when they are taken, dead, from the mother’s body???? Fully formed and ready to be born?
Planned Parenthood comes very close to a definition of “Evil Incarnate” in my views.
The recent exposure of its heavy- handed threatening tactics toward the Komen organization clearly unmasks all the ethereal balderdash they pass off on their “abortion quota” clients (falsely called “Patients”). It should be more than enough enough to reveal Planned Parenthood’s TRUE COLORS.

There is going to be an author visiting our llcoal library next week and I am looking forward to it. Author visits are very satisfying. I finished reading this one’s book last night. It is not brand new hot of the presses but it was written in the recent 2000′s.
The author is Lin Enger ( a MN author) and the book is UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
For a first novel it is pretty well written although I found some of it a bit unbelievable.
I still was unable to put the novel down til I finished.
Lin Enger has a brother named Lief Enger who did a lot of documenaries for MPR—- one of which I used for research for a big blizzard on November 11, 1940. Lief’s documentary was titled THE WINDS OF HELL and it was so well done I still refer to it sometimes.
Lief has also written a novel which I have not read yet: PEACE LIKE A RIVER which was well received . It probably has a regional (MN) setting) Lin’s book is set in fictional “Batttlepoint, MN, a town that seems to be in an area much like Bemidji or Thief River Falls..lots of piney woods and lakes in the settings of the novel. The premise of Lin’s book is the death of a 17 year old’s father from a rifle gunshot in a deer stand…it is thought to be a suicide but the boy does not believe that for a minute. He resolves to find the murdurer of his Dad because he is very sure who it is. It is a gripping story and Enger did well in developing both plot and characters..probably because he teeaches English in a college in either Iowa or MN…I forget.
But it is a good book if you like an unfolding “mystery” one.
I am eager to hear Lin Enger talk about it and his other writing on Wednesday night.

If anything is going to bring down the Obama adminstration as far as scandal is concerned, it might well be the DOJ under Eric Holder.
As early as the election day in November 2008 there have been grounds for prosecution by Holder’s DOJ that have been simply and politically, ignored.
I remember watching live television on Election Day 2008 when the cameras showed 2 or 3 very threatening men standing at a polling place in Philadelphia, PA..they were clad in black and were holding clubs….tapping them threateningly in their palms when white voters were entering the polling place. It immediately registered in my brain that these men were trying to intimidate white voters at probably a predominantly black neighborhood. In any event some time after the election, officials brought charges against these men for their attempt to interfere with voting. The Holder DOJ never blinked when they refused to prosecute and Holder himself made a statement to the effect that he was not going to prosecute any blacks for such a crime because “they are my people” and they had so much done to them in the past that he justified no prosecution of that obvious crime in 2008 which carried into the new Obama administration and Holder’s DOJ.
Now Eric Holder must have the hottest set of tootsies in the country from having his feet held to the fire in front of a Congressional committee that is investigating the “Fast And Furious” gun running scandal which has broken over Holder’s head.
Holder still claims he knew nothing about it..which if true makes him one of the most incompetent Attorney Generals in the history of this nation.
The pressure on Holder is not going away. Committee members are threatening to hold Holder in contempt of Congress if he does not produce the documents they have asked for and have a right to ask for. How long can this corrupt AG hold on????

Several articles in today’s news caught my eye since I have been following the Fast and Furious developments for months.

Google these:

1. “Holder’s # 2 in 2009: Gunwalking. Fast and Furious a ‘terrific idea; ”
M. Boyle, D.C. 2-2-2012

2. “Holder: No coverup in Fast and Furious..no effort to hide details”
Foxnews, 2-2- 2012

3. “Bribery, compromised individuals leave indicted financial crime suspects free from prosecution under Holder’s DOJ” Matt. Boyle, D.C. 2-1-2012

And if that is not enough for anyone today…..Punxatawny Phil the Groundhog saw his shadow this morning and says we have 6b more weeks of winter left. If it is the kind of spring-winter we have been having that is OK with me!!!

AND>>>>THE DONALD has made an endorsement in the Republican primaries.
WOO HOO!!!! He did it in LOST WAGES, Nevada today.

We get a monthly magazine of news and other topics. In this month’s issue of Newsmax, there was an interesting article about regional tastes in food.
It was news to me what people in other parts of the nation enjoy the most. Since I have been blogging about food and food cravings brought by the winter doldrums I think this is equally as interesting…perhaps way more interesting than my regional and ethnic tastes.
Let’s start with the NORTHEAST: since that was the first place settled in the US. The article said “you have not eaten a hot dog til you have had a dirty water dog from a New York (City) food cart. There is something about the tepid greasy water that the Sabrett franks float in before getting smothered with onions on a soft mustard drizzled bun.”
Rhode Islanders like to eat their “Johnnycakes” which are fried cornmeal patties. The you have to add a glass of cold glass of coffee milk sweetened with coffee syrup and “harmony is restored to earth.”
Let’s swing down to FLORIDA since we have heard nothing BUT Florida lately due to the Primary election there.
You can pick a fight in Florida by bringing up religion, politics or KEY LIME PIE. Floridians say Key Lime pie should not be green…..it should be naturally yellow. The crust must be made of Honey Graham cracker crumbs. Purists eat the pie straight but you can have whipped cream as long as its real cream. Meringue is for tourists only.
MIDWEST(our own territory) NEVER put catsup on a Chicago hot dog It has to be steamed, not boiled, and served on a poppy seed bun. Load it up with pickle relish, tomato slices, celery salt and plain yellow mustard.
In Ohio there is Shaker Lemon Pie which has thinly sliced lemon slices soaked in sugar before the custard is added. The lemon slices are placed on the bottom of the crust before the lemon filling is added. Minnesota…..anything with green
beans, corn, noodles, meat or tuna and the ‘cream of something’ soup is HOTDISH!!!! “In Sioux City, Iowa the loose meat sandwich is happiness on a hamburger bun. Ground beef sauteed with onions is loose and crumbly; ” add catsup and mustard but any other kind of sauce is blasphemy.”

SOUTHERN COMFORT: “Louisville natives long for the open faced “Hot Brown” a late night sandwich invented in 1926 at The Brown Hotel.” Start with a thick slab of toast, pile it high with roasted turkey breast, tomatoes , crisp bacon and then a creamy Mornay cheesy sauce. Follow that with a wedge of gooey chocolate and walnut Derby pie.
MISSISSIPPI folks get nostalgic over their SLUGBURGER. It tastes better than it sounds…..it is a spicey ground pork pattie with mustard, pickles, and an onion slice. It was one of Elvis Presley’s favorite sandwiches..
CAJUN COUNTRY in the far south, MUDBUGS are loved and eaten. “Mudbugs” are really Louisiana crawfish. They are boiled with cayenne pepper, onions, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning. Twist off the head and suck the juice out; then with
a pinch of thumb and forefinger pop out the rest of the sweet meat of the tail. Repeat many times.”

SO WHAT ETHNIC OR REGIONAL FOODS DO READERS RECALL OR STILL LIKE TO EAT???

I blogged about January Cravings a few days ago and I have satisfied one of them. After a two day process I have a big crock pot full of split pea soup made from the broth of a picnic ham complete with chopped carrots and onions. We ate our first bowls of soup last night and I forgot to turn off the pot from “serve” so we tasted some hot soup as a pre-breakfast “appet-easer” this morning as well. I think that is the first time I have had any soup in the early morning but it tasted just as good as it did last night!
Now this morning I began to think about “Irish Oatmeal” while I was sipping the first coffee and checking out news on the internet sources.
So I made Irish Oatmeal for my breakfast and it is a sure thing that I will not be hungry for a long time.
Oatmeal–especially the Old Fashioned kind or even better…steel cut oatmeal…holds off hunger for hours and hours…… very different from when you eat a bowl of dry cereal and a piece of toast. If I do that I am usually feeling hunger pangs by 10:30 a.m. I learned to eat the right breakfast when I was still a teacher/librarian. If you get low blood sugar about 10 a.m. when you are among young students, you are in trouble both physically and mentally..not a good thing in a school setting with a lot of little kids full of energy from who knows where?
I first ate Irish Oatmeal in the dining room of the old Roughrider Hotel in Medora ND one summer when we visited our friends who were spending 2 weeks as retired volunteers in Medora.
That oatmeal was so tasty and so satsifying I have never forgotten it and have kept old fashioned oats on hand ever since as well as certain dried fruits and walnuts. The only thing I don’t keep on hand is cream….or even half- and- half and half and I admit that the rich cream on the oatmeal was one of its best features!
Today I used old fashioned oats and did not measure so I have a lot of leftover Irish oatmeal..no problem..I can put it in a covered bowl and put it in the refreigerator and use it again with a quick warmup and a bit of extra liquid tomorrow morning. (or for a bedtime snack….better than a dish of ice cream!)
Cooking my way is kind of common for cooks my age who have done a lot of cooking and experimenting for over 50 years. I rarely use recipes unless it is an entirely new dish I am trying. My daughter in law watched me “dump” ingedients into a bread bowl and asked how I could do that? I told her you will be doing that too in a few more years!!!
You can make Irish Oatmeal by preparing old- fashioned or steel cut oats the way you do —or follow directions on the package of container. I do it on the stove top because I love to stand and stir the cereal (you have to stir it so it does not stick to the pan) What I enjoy is watching the oatmeal heat up and suddenly you see the oat’s valuable things coming out into the water….it becomes thicker and has a translucent light tan color. The longer it cooks the thicker it gets and the thick “oatmeal sauce” keeps improving. (you do not get that with that wimpy microwave instant stuff!)
After the oatmeal is simmering you add dry raisins, dry cranberries and dry chopped apricots.( a half handful or whatever you thing you want) Finally you add chopped walnuts (another handful or less or more) at the end before it is served. It is delicious!!!! And nutritious…more than rice crispies or kix!!!
I need to do a separate blog about foods that are loved in various areas of our country. That subject was a most interesting article in the health section of a news magazine we get.

In the meantime I will digest my Irish Oatmeal…and sip the rest of the pot of coffee which is not Irish by the way!

Candiates’ wives are always closely observed by American voters during election years…all of them I would guess…wives of senate, house of representatives and especially wives of presidential candidates. One husband was in the picture for awhile this year but when Michelle Bachmann dropped out so did her husband’s fame or non-fame. I can’t even think of the guy’s name but I know the names of the wives in this years’dogfights.

MICHELLE OBAMA is making another notable news splash. The London Daily Telgraph reports that FLOTUS went on a $50,000 dollar shopping spree at a highly upscale lingerie store called “Agent Provocateur”. Her 50 thousand spree for fancy lacy corsets, satin Hollywood type bras and other Unmentionalble did a favor for that store’s economy. But will it play in Peoria with cash strapped Americans learn of our very own Marie Antoinette’s let them eat cake attitude when it comes to her spending money like the proverbial D—— sailor on shore leave? I don’t think it will be looked on too kindly at all. If I were a jobless or homeless American I would be outraged by the Michelle Obama’s extrravagnace and sense of “entitlement”. (I AM the FIRST LADY and I can spend all the money I feel like spending–especiallhy on myself). The First Lady earlier spent several hundred dollars for one pair of canvas sports shoes. (all the Little People can be happy with a pair of Keds)
This spending spree added to her taking separate airplanes ( at htousands of goverment dollars expense for fuel et al) from the President when she does not want to delay her arrival at Martha’s Vineyard or Hawaii for one of the multiple vacations she takes will not be looked upon favorably I predict.
( google “Agent Provocateur Sales Boosted By U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama” in London Daily Telegraph, 30 January 2012)

CALLISTA GINGRICH Callista—- with her perfectly groomed suits and hair- lacquered “helmet” had been by husband Newt’s side constantly in the Republican primaries and caucuses. But the big question I have is this:
IS CALLISTA A SELECTIVE MUTE????? Has anyone heard her speak one word to anyone on the campaing trail? I have seen her mouth move in camera shots taken informally but I do not know if she says anythihng out loud or is just pretending to speak. It is a big thing to ponder.
Have we ever had MUTE FIRST LADY IN HISTORY?????

ANN ROMNEY: Last week Mitt’s wife Ann..mother of 5 sons..was a big hit with a campaign crowd of Hispanic voters when one of her adult sons who has lived in Chile introduced his mother in perfect and eloquent Spanish.
There is nothing as pleasing to speakers of more than one language to hear their native tongue used to speak to them.
Ann did not speak in Spanish—- but her son’s doing so laid the groundwork for a most favorable appearance in a Florida campaigan stop.

RICK SANTORUM’S WIFE” I have seen her but not heard her speak. The Santorums returned to Pennsylvania when their youngest daughter became ill with pneumonia and had to be hospitalized…a fine move by devoted parents.

RON PAUL’S WIFE: I have not heard her speak either and cannot even think of what she looks like..very much in the background.

I hope to hear from more candidates’ spouses as the dogfights continue through the winter campaign season.
Speaking of dogfights…do you ever feel like you are at the classic “Dog And Pony Show” when you watch political debates???
These so called “debates” aren’t really debates at all. They are question and answer sessions governed mostly by whoever the Questioner happens to be. The most silly debacle I recall is when George Stephanopoulos asked Mitt Romney a question abpout abortion…..one that came out of mind of Stephanopoulos only. It was not even part of the discussion for that nights’ round of debates but was designed as a “Gotcha” by George in an attempt to GET Romney.
I am getting thoroughly tired out by these so called debates which are not debates at all in the real sense of the word. Nothing would be as refreshing as a real Lincoln-Douglas Debate with two candidates at a time and NO moderator or Lord High Questioner from a media outlet.

There is something special about January..believe it or not. It is surely not the weather, usually. January is marked (normally) by ups and downs….snowy days, winds out of the north or southeast that feel coldest in January, dirty snow if there is any melting or freezing, yucky road mush thrown onto windshields on salt and sanded mush roadways, days getting longer (now that is a January POSITIVE), and in my case…I get “cravings”.
I refer to foods.
Lately the craving has been for rice custard. It is one of my favorite desserts and it is not sweet at all. You can eliminate a lot of sugar out of custard recipes ..I think my favorite ingredient is the nutmeg sprinkled on top of the whole thing before baking it. I have a really good recipe for rice custard; it takes 5 beaten eggs, 4 cups of milk in which a small amount of rice has been cooked. Only the sugar, salt and vanilla flavoring remain. When the rice, milk and egg mix is combined and baked you have a taste treat that only eaters of almost white food love! My NorthernEuropeanNorwegian taste buds are showing. I have made rice custard twice in just one week.

I crave split pea soup…totally home-made by beginning with a nice ham broth that is best when a picnic ham or a really meaty hambone is cooked for long hours til the broth is so flavorful it is incapable of description. Cooking celery ribs and a couple of carrots and some onions with the broth helps also.
All of it is strained when it cools and then you can begin the split pea phase(I like to refrigerate the broth first and get all the congealed fat off before proceeding) Making split pea soup is a real “process” as are most truly tasty and purely homemade dishes are.
The dry peas can be soaked overnight and precooked til they are getting tender before adding to the ham broth. Then another long process sets in and the soup is simmered for hours. The overwhelming aroma of simmering split pea soup is present in a home for all the cooking time.
Homemade beef stew is another January taste that does not ever come up during the summer. That is another LONG cooking process that is so worth it.
As is always present in all seasons…. there is still the definite craving for creamy chocolate things…which I resist most of the time but every now and then—–I MUST EAT a Pearson’s Nut Goodie!
I am going “supply” shopping today and I am very sure that ingredients for the above-mentioned January cravings will be on my list. Unfortunately I have to go to Fleet Farm for some bird feeding supplies and they have Nut Goodies on sale there all the time!

After reading a lot of commentary and editorials lately I am convinced that there is not a great deal of difference between Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama. Like two peas in a pod, more and more likeness is coming to light with every passing day (and incidents).

**Both of them are so egotistical and arrogant it makes you wonder if Washington DC can hold the two of them.
Gingrich’s ego and arrogance have become apparent in the series of
candidate debates. He thrives on audience approval; he even
demanded a return to allowing audiences to cheer or jeer after ABC
moderator did not allow that in one debate.
Obama also plays to whatever audience he is in front of; he has
made his gravest mistakes in getting carried away with impossible
promises to his best audiences.
Both Gingrich and Obama’s physical demeanor cries out with a live
description of egomania and arrogance. Look at them when they
both thrust their chins upward, scowl in disapproval when crossed by anyone else.

**Both Obama and Gingrich are incredibly thin-skinned.
a recent witness of this trait was Obama’s petty comments to Governor
Jan Brewer on a tarmac in Arizona when Obama was greeted by
the governor. He immediately raised the subject of Brewer’s book in which Brewer had
said things about him that he did not like in her book SCORPIONS
FOR BREAKFAST. He walked off and left Brewer standing there.
Both Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal (southern border state governors)
have been left standing on other tarmacs after the Thin-Skinned One
took them to task over illegal immigration stances.
I can see Newt doing the same thing to anyone who disagreed
with him. Senator Bob Dole is quoted as saying this about his
years in Congress with Newt. “He {Newt) was a one-man band.
It was his way or the highway.” That sounds an awful lot like
Obama…..his unconstitutional appointments recently show that he,
too, is a one- man band and he does not take advice from anyone,
just as Newt Gingrich does not take advice….he only hands it out and
so does Obama.
(Google: “Mr and Mrs Cranky Pants” by Michelle Malkin

** Neither Obama or Newt are good at governing.
Obama has been in campaign rather than governing mode since
he took office. Newt seems to be better at campaigning also;
there is plenty of testimony from former House of Representative
colleagues about Newt’s disorganization as the Leader of the House
and his propensity for an idea a minute with no concrete actions
to carry out any of them.
Both Obama and Gingrich are masters of deflection when it comes
to serious issues of governing. They can both change the subject
to deflect their own incompetence in so many areas where they
should have governed rather than the campaign blather they
come up with.

** Both Obama and Gingrich are given to braggadocio and lies.
it is far easier for both men to brag about themselves and their
“accomplishments” which are often blatant lies or distortions.
(as in the “success” of the Obama stimulus!”)
Obama has proved his unwillingness to even consider the oppos-
ition’s proposals brought forth in Congress. Obama proves that he
too is unwilling to take any advice and unless it is “his way” the
Opposition can take to the “highway”. Obama is so good at
blaming others for his own failures that you would think you
were out on an elementary school playground when you
listen to Obama making excuses. I think Newt would do exactly
the same, because Egomaniacs never think they are wrong.

Michael Barone, an astute political commenter sums it up in an article titled “Gearing Up To Govern” in which he opines that Romney actually seems committed to governing.
In contrast to governing:
“Obama isn’t (gearing up to govern) and that’s one thing Republican candidates might want to bring up in future debates. Obama rejected the Bowles-Simpson recommendations out of hand and he seems untroubled that the Democratic majority Senate hasn’t passed a budget three years oh a row. That’s contrary to the requirements of the law, as is the administration’s delay of sending its own budget up to the Senate.
But this is a president who flouts one law after another. He made recess appointments when the Senate was not in recess, in violation of the Constitution, one was to a position whose occupant, according to a law Obama himself signed, cannot act without Senate confirmation. He vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline on environmental grounds that the law says could not be considered. His policy on whether religious organizations can require employees to share their beliefs was swatted down by a 9-0 Supreme Court vote…………..But a candidate(for the presidency) who concentrates less on denunciation and more on governing could have an advantage over an incumbent who is more about denouncing than governing , himself.”
(“Gearing up to govern” Michael Barone, National Review online,Jan 26, 2012)

We really don’t need any more of Two Peas In A Pod.

After a long hiatus from Silver Sneakers (last went in week of Christmas) I went back to renew friendships and get a good workout today.
It amazes me that I have become such a “road sissy” in winter. I am used to going to the DL CC with two friends who have gone for the rest of the winter to Hawaii. I am left alone like the last leaf on the winter tree— clinging to its branch. How dramatic can I be? I used to be a fearless daily driver in all seasons when I was still driving to my school each weekday. 8 years of retirement have truly sisified me as a winter driver.
Then as a bonus, after our class, it was SS social activity day……and we went to the social center in the Community Center and played……TA DAH!………….Apples to Apples, a game I have played with my grandkids many times.
It is not only a good kids’ game but we had a lot of fun playing as older adults.
Not everyone had played it before and we had some card players among us who had a hard time not playing for numbers or money! But after everyone caught on to the new-ish kind of card game….we had a lot of laughs. If we had drunk milk, it would have come out of some of our noses.
We raised our endorphins first upstairs with our SS excercise and toning workout but we also added good brain chemicals from all the laughing we did.
Have you ever noticed how much better you suddenly feel after having a hearty laughing session with friends or family? There is a true physical reason..laughter is truly a good medicine because it raises good brain chemical levels…endorphins to be specific.
I have felt terrific the rest of the day and will probably sleep like the proverbial baby tonight…or the log!!!!
I came home and it was gorgeous for being January 26….melting snow and ice and warm sunshine. I took the Princess (kitty) out for a walk..this means I walk and she rides as I carry her around so she can sniff all the smells outside. She is uninterested in spending much time outside when she gets her delicate little paws full of cold snow. We walked around the yard and “watched the birdies” as they ate the birdfood and suet for them on deck and under spruce trees. They certainly sing for their meals…they sound so happy and thankful it lifts my spirits.
My kitty is not really a kitty at all—she is going on her 14th birthday next summer.
On the way home from Detroit Lakes today, I pass by Boyer Lake which is next to the Sunnyside Nursing Home. Out on the ice I saw a lot of fish houses but what frightened me were the pickups out on the ice. I get the heebie-jeebies thinking about vehicles going through lake ice…and there have been a number of ice accidents already. The ice might still be thinner than usual with our too-warm temperatures through December and the first part of January. When I used to go ice fishing with my Dad so long ago, we never drove out on the ice; we parked the car on the shoreline and walked out to the fishing darkhouse. I get the creeps seeing so many ice fishermen take unnecessary chances on thin ice. You also never know where an underwater spring might be. Now I just read that a ND fisherman’s body has been found: his vehicle went through the ice on a lake and he got out and started to walk but he collapsed and apparently died of exposure or something else like a heart attack. Falling through thin ice and getting soaked in icy water could do it for you. Foolishness! No sense to a few ice fishermen.
I have been hoping for a clear sky night and tonight might be it; I am eager to see if we are getting any Northern Lights displays from the radiation storm on the sun. Some places have realliy gotten a light show from the aurora borealis…probably farther north on the globe.
I plan to go out and take a look when it is dark.
The days are definitely getting longer now. We are on the upswing again heading toward June 20. It is the best time of the year…for me.