Thought for the day: I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.
Need a short break from the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations? Seems to me it's time to take another little road trip, dontcha think? Chopsticks won't be joining us, because we're not going to be looking at translated Oriental signs this time. Nope, gonna go cruising for more of those funny billboards you only wish someone would erect. Remember them? Been a while, huh? As always, sincere thanks to the fine folks at Dribble Glass for so graciously granting me permission to share their stuff.
So, ya ready? Here we go...
There ya go. I hope you got a big KICK out of some of these.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
Thought for the day: If you have a drawer filled with odds and ends, and get rid of all but one thing... which is it?
Yep, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. There's even more red splashed around our house than usual, and even though it's so warm I wore shorts and a tee shirt to go shopping the other day, Dash still felt the need to curl up inside a flannel shirt she found lying on the bed. (Her head is peeking out the sleeve!) (And, um, yes, that IS a lava lamp in the background.)
Okay, this is gonna be an eclectic post today. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Like what do YOU want for Christmas? I have a pretty good idea what my hubby would like...
(I'll have to see what I can do...)
How's about this for an early Christmas present? How's about a break from wracking your brain to come up with an idea for a post this Friday? D.L. Hammons is hosting a blogfest where all you have to do is pick out your favorite post from 2012, and run it again. Um, one YOU wrote, that is. You know, maybe one that didn't get the love you think it deserved? Whatever floats your boat. If you'd like to participate, just hit that Deja Vu button in the side bar, and sign on up. Should be fun!
Kittie Howard's new book launched last Thursday, and I think this is one you might want to order right away. Really! Not only is it a really good book, but this month's sales proceeds are being funneled to the Wounded Warrior project. So, while you're giving yourself the gift of this book, your money will also be supporting a very worthy cause.
What's it about? I'm glad you asked. David, a decorated Marine who survived the horrors of Iwo Jima, doesn't expect to have to fight more battles when he returns to Louisiana after the war. But he does. You see, the local members of the KKK don't care about his war record.
Intrigued? You should be. Kittie does an excellent job of taking a part of history some of us would rather forget, those horrific days of lynchings and cross-burnings... and makes it come alive. And she breathes life into the sharecroppers and their families, too, both black and white, who were terrorized by the Klan, and demonstrates the enduring got-your-back brotherhood of the Marines. As a special added bonus, she also offers some background history and a Cajun glossary at the beginning of the book that I'm sure other history nerds will enjoy as much as I did.
And like I said, the $2.99 it'll cost you to get the e-book on Amazon or Smashwords can help make a difference for our returning soldiers. Ginormous kudos to Kittie for supporting Wounded Warriors again. (She did the same thing with her first book.)
Think I can get away with serving Smarticus THESE crabs....?
Nah, me neither.
You guys like custard? Me, I wouldn't mind finding myself in a swimming pool filled with the stuff and eating my way out. Okay, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it's definitely one of my favorite old-fashioned comfort foods. Much to my surprise, I discovered recently that none of my friends ever make it. They LIKE it... they just don't know how to MAKE it. And it is sooooo easy! This recipe comes from a circa 1945 or so cookbook, and tell ya what... I'm gonna share it with you.
Preheat your oven to 350, because you'll have the custard ready to pop in there in no time at all. Mix 3/4 c of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated... sweetened condensed) with 2 1/4 c HOT water. (not boiling, but HOT) While stirring continuously, gradually pour the milk mixture over 3 slightly beaten eggs. Add 1/4 tsp salt. (optional) That's IT. I sometimes add a splash of vanilla or rum flavoring or grated coconut, but none of those things are needed. It's super good just as is. Pour the mixture into a baking dish or individual custard cups, sprinkle with nutmeg, and set in a pan of hot water. Then bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife blade can be inserted and comes out clean. See? Easy! And oh, so good.
Okay, has this post been eclectic enough for ya? I believe I'm gonna go make some custard now... for some reason, I've suddenly developed a craving for it. And then? And then I believe I'm gonna go out and get some crabs. Who says we have to wait for Christmas? It's December. Close enough.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
Thought for the day: It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. [Chinese proverb]
Can the light from a single candle make a difference? Can one person radiate enough light to hold the powers of darkness at bay?
Yes, a thousand times yes. Or to be more accurate, 2500 times.
Hanukkah, an eight-day festival that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, and spirituality over materialism, begins at sunset tomorrow. To all who are Jewish, I wish you a very happy Hanukkah. For the rest of us, I believe we, too, should embrace the ideals of light over darkness.
Here's a story of a very special woman who did just that.
Her name? Irena Sendler. This is what she looked like in 1942, when the young Polish Catholic woman lived in German-occupied Warsaw. As a social worker and nurse, she was allowed to enter the Jewish ghetto. She saw their suffering first-hand, and knew that people of all ages were being forcibly removed from their homes, never to return. And she also knew what the penalty was for trying to help them.
She knew what the penalty was, because signs like this were posted all over Warsaw.
These signs issued a clear warning that helping anyone leave the Jewish settlement without authorization was punishable by death.
And yet...
[credit: German Federal Archive]
And yet, the dark plight of the children tore at her heartstrings, and she had to DO something. As a member of the Zegota resistance movement, she smuggled 2500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto, provided them with false identities, and got them to a safe location... to private homes, to orphanages, to convents. She took the children out in ambulances, under the pretext that they were infected with typhus; she carried them out in tool boxes; she transported them in coffins. Whatever it took, she did it. One after another, desperate parents turned their beloved children over to her, a virtual stranger, in the hopes that their children would be spared from the horrors of living... and dying... in a concentration camp. Each child's name, Sendler recorded on paper, along with their new identities and locations. Then she tucked those papers into jars, which she buried under an apple tree in her yard. Following the war, the information in those jars was used to reunite some of the families. Unfortunately, most of the parents were already gone, but thanks to Sendler and other members of the resistance, their children survived.
In 1965, Israel recognized Sendler as Righteous Among the Nations, a designation honoring non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews. And risk her life, she did: Sendler was captured, tortured, and sentenced to death... and spared from execution by virtue of a bribe. The Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations is part of the Yad Vashem complex on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.
At the entrance to the Garden stands the Tree of Irena Sendler. I don't know what kind of tree is it, but an apple tree would be perfect, wouldn't it?
[credit: Mariesz Kubik]
This picture, taken in 2005, shows Sendler with the grown-up versions of some of the children she smuggled out of that Warsaw ghetto during the war.
[credit: Mariesz Kubik]
In 2007, Sendler was presented with the Order of the Smile, an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care, and aid for children. A year later, she passed away.
In 2009, Poland issued a commemorative coin in honor of three women. One was Irena Sendler, a woman who proved that one person... one candle burning brightly in the darkness... can indeed, make a difference.
In a world full of darkness, in a world full of pain, All it takes is a sparkle, all it takes is a flame, To make joy out of sadness, to bring hope to a life, Like the promise of the dawn On a long winter's night.
[from the song Light One Candle, by Ronnie Spector]
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
Let it shine!
P.S. For those of you who will be lighting menorah candles, I'll betcha you won't be doing it in such an unusual way as THIS...
