Letting Stuff Go

June 24, 2014June 26, 2014 / still a dreamer / 9 Comments

Each year in my town, something wonderful happens – you can put anything you no longer want at the edge of your property and the town hauls it away for nothing! That day is this coming Saturday. And this morning it put me in a panic.

Last Saturday was the townwide yard sale where people tried to sell that same stuff. At the end of the day, some of it is taken inside and the rest is left there for the carrion pickers who start cruising the neighborhood in their pick-ups and vans. You can put anything out for those folk, but no items containing freon, electronics, and lead-based paint kind-of-stuff for the town pick-up. I’ve watched my neighbors put out bookshelves, office chairs, an air-conditioner, two small stools, and it’s already been picked up and gone.

I took these this morning – so lovely. (They are actually here just to break up the text — enjoy.)

It’s a great deal, so why panic? I already knew what I was putting out – a bunch of items that are beyond ready to go – my ancient sewing machine, (yeah – from high school!), an equally ancient vacuum whose motor just won’t die, but ran out of intact attachments, a broken lawn chair – you get the idea. When I woke up, however, it was apparent that my mind had already been running amok with what else I should put out on the curb.

I started mentally racing from closet to closet, back down the basement – what WAS in those 2 large cardboard boxes? Did I really need that old heater? Back upstairs – my turntable died about 6 months ago – it could go, too. Was I going to replace it? If not, how many of those LP’s do I need to keep? And into the pantry – did I need those canisters on the top shelf? What about the indoor electric grill – I haven’t used it since I lived here … and suddenly it dawned on me. I could get rid of maybe 10% to 15% of my belongings and it would make no difference in my life.

Wow. I was blown away – what a concept. Then back into panic mode – how much of this stuff could I conceivably get on the street in time?

OK, whooooaaaaaaa. Slow down, Nellie. It doesn’t have to all go out this Saturday. Or ever. We can think about it.

On my own behalf, I’ll say none of this is new stuff that I just got tired of – it’s stuff that I’ve gathered and used over the years, some of which genuinely needs replacing, (like the sewing machine.) And to think, I have very little storage space – a tiny basement, no attic, and no garage. My home is neat, and clearly I’ve learned to maximize storage space.

It’s time for a change – I’m ready to start letting past parts of my life go, whether 3-dimensionally or maybe metaphorically. The not wanted, the not used, the not needed. I’m ready to feel lighter, and unbound by things and ideas which populated my past, and … someone will take it away for free.

My breathing has slowed – I’m feeling lighter already.

Stieg Larsson – The Millennium Trilogy

June 15, 2014June 16, 2014 / still a dreamer / 4 Comments

What a writer! Oh, my. Talk about books you cannot put down.

I just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire, not all that much later after reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*. Is it any wonder Larsson won so many awards? He was truly a masterful writer. Not only does he have that whole end-of-the-chapter-page-turning thing going on big time, but he is able to effectively flip back and forth into different places and characters’ situations in rapid succession, never losing, but rather only building, the momentum of the story.

The fact that the names of the characters and frequently referenced locations are all Swedish and unfamiliar to the English-speaking reader still does not slow one down. Larsson periodically goes into paragraphs of description, such as in his providing the background of each member of the murder investigation team under Bublanski in The Girl Who Played with Fire, but that doesn’t seem to slow you down either. The information proves to be relevant later on in the story, but in the hands of a lesser writer, such descriptions might leave one meandering and lost down some other path. Larsson’s twists and turns keep you turning the pages and reading far later in the night than you should.

His characters are engrossing, particularly, of course, the main character, Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant computer hacker with a profoundly painful past. She can be violent, yet is at the same time, highly moral, and always complex and challenging. Mikael Blomqvist, the investigative journalist, is also compelling in his own way, but more so, I believe, in his relationship to Lisbeth. The trilogy is classified as crime thrillers/murder mysteries, and, of course, this is true, but for me, I also found them fascinating character studies.

Sometimes we have to be in the mood for a certain kind of book – I don’t always feel like reading a crime thriller any more than I do any other genre. But if you are in the mood, these are books you will not easily put down. I was lent the first two by my neighbor, but for the third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, I will need to go to the library in town. Starting Monday morning, I am committed to being home for the tree people to come at a currently unspecified time to remove a very large and threatening dead branch high up on an older spruce next to my home. Start a new book? Wait to get to the library? All life’s decisions should be this enticing.

* The movie version of this book with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig is also outstanding, in my opinion.

Baking Simple, Delicious and Vegan – Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

June 7, 2014 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

I won’t lie. Baking makes me feel good. Just thinking about baking actually makes me feel good … looking at yummy recipes, the photos that make me want to drop everything and run to the kitchen, considering the ingredients … all part of the process. (And I like to blog about baking!)

First, we gather the ingredients together. You might, (correctly), surmise that I collect recipes for eons, as this one, in a copy of Woman’s Day, carried a 2/3 page cigarette ad! You won’t be finding
that in its recent history.

I committed to making a dessert for a volunteer picnic this Sunday for the local equine rescue I help. I wanted to also make something vegan, in keeping with my own direction, and also because when a bunch of people gather who are committed to the mission of rescuing horses, often from slaughter, (and becoming horse meat), there’s always a fair amount of vegetarians, and some vegans. I went searching through my recipes, and selected one without eggs and where I could easily replace the butter with Earth Balance vegan margarine. All other ingredients are vegan.

All you eagle-eyed bakers may have noticed something missing in that top photo – flour. NOW I have all the ingredients.

I’ve made this recipe before, but with butter and different flavors preserves. This time I also mixed it up and used brown sugar for half the sugar, as it’s such a natural with oats and cinnamon.This recipe is incredibly simple and whips up in no time.

After mixing the margarine, flour, sugar, baking powder and oat mixture together, the next step is pressing the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Next, spreading the preserves to within a half inch of the edges.

Sprinkle top with reserved crumb mixture and coconut.

Voila – Done!

One of the things that is most difficult for me is the concept of baking vegan. I don’t have a problem with not eating meat. I know enough about what happens to animals, particularly in the factory farming system, to not want to participate in it. But eggs and dairy, particularly when it comes to baking? Now this is rough.

Established vegans say that once committed, you won’t miss the eggs and dairy in food. Maybe not in some food, but in baking … I don’t know. As I go through my many clipped recipes and cookbooks, I can envision making a vegan version of some, but others? Simply not possible. I am in a quandary.

But for today, I made something simple and vegan, which, of course, I had to taste to make sure it’s safe for consumption.

Because I have modified this recipe significantly, I am including it here, should you want something fast and easy, vegan or not, (just use butter.) Enjoy!

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

3/4 C. butter or margarine
1-1/4 C. each rolled oats and flour
1/2 C. sugar I used half cane sugar, half brown sugar)
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 C. strawberry preserves (or peach, apricot – anything seedless)
3/4 C. flaked coconut

In 13 x 9″ baking pan, melt butter while oven is heating to 350˚; cool.
Stir in oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon until blended. It will be crumbly.
Reserve 1/2 c. crumb mixture.
Press firmly onto bottom of pan.
Spread preserves to within 1/2″ of edges.
Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture tossed with coconut.
Bake on center rack for 25 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool in pan on rack. Makes 36 bars. (per bar – 12 mg cholesterol with butter, 0 mg cholesterol with margarine.)

And now for me … back to the picture book I’m working on.

Seward Johnson Retrospective at Grounds for Sculpture

June 5, 2014September 29, 2014 / still a dreamer

This piece is titled “Were You Invited?” and was inspired by Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”

This brilliant sculptor is now having a major retrospective at the Grounds for Sculpture museum. Seward Johnson founded the non-profit museum whose doors opened in 1992. Johnson is known for his likenesses of famous figures as well as characters in well-known paintings from different eras, some of which are life-sized and some of which are truly of monumental size. He is also known for his sculptures representing people of all ages from all walks of life, including the boy bicycling in front of the post office in town to the couple looking up at the towering version of “American Gothic” by Grant Wood near the highway exit.

You may have stopped by and viewed some of his amazing sculptures in previous posts on my blog – you can start with Grounds for Sculpture III; the others are all linked. When my friends and I went to visit this 42 acre outdoor sculpture museum, there were so many examples of his work, and so many other wonderful sculptures as well, that I went into a picture-taking frenzy, and never found the time to get them all up. When we go again over the summer, I plan on just focusing on Johnson’s sculptures that I haven’t yet seen or photographed, including the 26′ tall Marilyn Monroe, titled “Forever Marilyn.”

The retrospective will be on view from May 4, 2014 through September 21, and if you are anywhere within traveling distance and can make it to the Grounds for Sculpture, I promise you will not be disappointed in Johnson’s amazing work or the collection of sculpture on the whole. Read more here about the exhibit, and more here on his own website. I can’t wait to go!

UPDATE: By popular demand, the Seward Johnson Retrospective‘s stay has been extended and will be available through July 2015!

Live Eagle Cam

June 3, 2014 / still a dreamer

My apologies – I have been remiss! As in years previous, there has been a live eagle cam at the Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey, and I have lost track and not gotten it up in a blog post til now!

This year, the bonded pair hatched 3 eggs and have 3 growing chicks. Please check them out here! The first egg was laid on February 17, and the third egg hatched on April 1 – so they are growing!

And to apologize for my negligence, nature lovers, here is a second live stream cam – on the top of a skyscraper in Jersey City, NJ – a nesting box of the endangered species, the peregrine falcon. The young falcon nestling is 23 days old today, June 3rd. Check out the baby on the Jersey City Falcon Cam.