…share posts that evoke the sense of peace for you, in whatever form that might take.
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Several months ago, I discovered a small clearing in the woods in back of my condo building…which I often gravitate to when I am out for a walk.
Even though I can still hear the roar of the traffic from the nearby highway, it is my peaceful place. I often wish there was a place to sit.
Perhaps the coincidence traces back decades to when I used to spend afternoons out exploring the wooded area down the street with my friend Kathleen. Gathering rocks and leaves and the odd rusty nail in an old bucket. Or – alone – perched in a tree in my front yard, hidden from the world…as deep in thought as a 9 year old can be. I always felt a sense of belonging…and a sense of lightness being in the out-of-doors.
Although now there is no tree climbing…that sense of belonging continues.
This summer I noticed a flowering bush so pale amidst glorious purples on either side, I decided it deserved a photo of its own. Overlooked, as it might often be, in such colorful surroundings.
I do not know what kind of flower/bush/plant this is, however I was intrigued by its seaweed appearance…even though it was flourishing on a Vermont hillside.
A few weeks ago, our new friends who live down the hall invited us to share Thanksgiving dinner with them and their extended family. We were honored. Also grateful, as we were not going to be able to spend it with our adult children and their families.
It’s an unusual kind of apple pie...I warned my friend. The apples aren’t peeled. There’s no top crust… I also have to make it gluten free.
She was fine with whatever I wanted to make.
It is also huge…filling a lasagna pan.
At Thanksgiving, there is no such thing as moderation. Ever. Especially when it comes to pie. The turkey? The stuffing? And all the rest?
Just the path to pie.
In Thanksgivings past there were always at least 3 kinds of pie at my table…to go along with family shenanigans and card games (as shared in my 2018 Thanksgiving story). I miss all of it.
The most popular? “Hearty Apple Pie” – each slice 2 inches high by many inches wide.
Well, it has been a few years since I made this pie. After downsizing and moving and spending Thanksgivings by ourselves, there was no need to make one until now.
I still had the old family recipe.
As I assembled the ingredients yesterday, I thought…what could go wrong?
First step: substitute gluten free flour blend for the real thing. Press into the pan.
Dough pressed into pan
Doesn’t quite look the same, but should be fine in the end. It’s PIE after all.
Next step: Core the apples. Can’t mess that one up.
Cored apples
Next step: Slice apples in the food processor.
Um…the food processor doesn’t work. I tried a different outlet. Nope. My husband and I tried several variations of blades and positioning of the “pusher assembly” and the cover. Still nothing.
Find the directions!
A fuzzy memory rose to the top of my aging brain. This was the new(ish) food processor we had gotten about 10 years ago. It had replaced the nice simple one from 1978. Back when there were no complicated safety features. When it was your own fault if you stuck your finger in when the blade was running. Back when you popped the blade in, snapped on the cover (the only safety feature) – added the apples through the hole in the top…and voila! sliced or chopped results.
Much simpler.
Not anymore. The current small appliance companies are in the business of saving us from ourselves. Which, in many cases, is necessary. As it turned out, there were 3 different steps and clickings into place that I had to perform before even one apple could be sliced.
I was annoyed for 2 reasons. First that I had forgotten what to do and second, that it had become necessary to make devices so complicated that I had to remember this sequence in the first place. (probably a third reason as well – that I was turning into the old fart I never wanted to be…complaining about newfangled stuff…).
Anyway, after much huffing and puffing and locating the directions…success.
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Next step: Mix with lots of yummy spices. No holding back here.
Apples mixed with spices!
Next step: Transfer to the waiting piecrust.
Ready to Bake
(fyi: covered apples with brown sugar, almonds and dots of butter which look like cheese…but aren’t)
After baking: Extra Large Apple Pie ready to share.
Ready to Eat!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
(where there’s no such thing as moderation)
Inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #74: Moderation
We look forward to seeing your interpretation of “cold”. It could be snow and ice, or a frosty window pane, or even your favorite flavor of ice cream!
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What a timely topic this week…
A recent walk turned crunchy as I navigated around an icy mess in the nearby woods. Freezing temperatures had recently followed close behind a cold rain…trapping the remnants of fall leaf survivors.
But I know it’s only a matter of time before the scene…once again…showcases a familiar blanket of white.
I am a whole person, I should have said to her. Look at me. Hear me.
The doctor in her white coat stood in front of the ever present laptop typing furiously as I spoke…trying to convince her to prescribe several weeks of antibiotics as a preventative measure for Lyme Disease.
I’m not just the tick bite victim, I also should have said. Or a statistic to fit neatly into your column on “how to treat.”
Of course, I didn’t think of these profound statements until later. When I was driving home and my controlled calm turned to anger.
I had my own statistics and studies to quote – to back up my request – but she would have none of it. She had her numbers and studies and her…reputation as the head of the medical practice. Avoiding antibiotics, even as a short term preventative was her mantra.
The tick that bit me 2 weeks ago tested positive for 2 types of Lyme. I paid $50 to have it tested. She brushed the report aside, explaining…I just assume all ticks around here have Lyme.It wasn’t on you long enough and you got the single dose of doxy right after.
But can you guarantee I won’t get it? But what if I am the exception…as I usually am?…I countered.
Back to her laptop. More typing. The power dynamic firmly in place. She stood as I sat. She paced. Clearly exasperated with my unwillingness to just agree to wait and see if I get the disease. The often chronic, disabling disease.
She knows I already have several chronic conditions…but her focus is just on this one piece of me. This one sliver of data.
There is a cure you know…she offers.
I don’t want to risk getting sick in the first place. I did say that.
After 45 minutes of debate…she extended a “compromise”…10 days of antibiotics.
Inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo: Fantasy
Your challenge is to use the theme of Fantasy and take it into your choice of creative directions; be it an image of your fantasy location, a fantasy that is in your mind, or whatever speaks fantasy to you!
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Does anyone remember watching the Walt Disney show on television…with the tagline “The Wonderful World of Color?”
Walt Disney’s “Wonderful World of Color” was one of my favorite programs when I was growing up. First only in black & white…and when I was 11…finally in color. When my grandparents gave us a Zenith color TV for Christmas. What a revelation! Color!
The show was broadcast on one of only three (!) network channels on Sunday night right before the Ed Sullivan show. A million years ago.
If I was lucky – and my mother didn’t notice that my sister, brother and I were still up – the Sullivan show morphed into Bonanza.
I escaped through television back then. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the make-believe lives of Donna, Samantha, Gilligan, Beaver, Chip & Ernie and Clark fueled my imagination for what an alternative reality might be. Unrealistic of course, but when you’re a little kid, you don’t know any better. It was a welcome relief to watch kind loving families with problems where it all eventually worked out. When the day was saved by a flying mouse. Or a flying man in a suit. Or even…a flying nun. When the world was a happy place in the end.
My fantasy photo for Frank’s challenge appeared to me on a walk yesterday.
A spot where grass and trees and water and light coalesced…
Via my magical, yet rudimentary, computer software – it emerged in its own wonderful world of color.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 