Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Ruby Tuesday



Pretty Dala Horses. These live on a power pole in Oakland, Nebraska. Oakland markets itself as "The Swedish Capital of Nebraska." They have a Swedish Festival every other June that's lots of fun to attend - good old Smalltown, USA type fun. The Dala Horses that decorate their main street have their origin in Sweden in the district of (duh!) Dala. I've also heard them called Viking Horses. They aren't all red, but the ones I chose for Ruby Tuesday had to be.

If it doesn't stop snowing pretty soon, I'm going to have to start doing "White Wednesdays!"

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Ruby Tuesday



Isn't this the coolest cup you ever laid eyes on?

Monday, January 19, 2009

What was I like in High School?

(This is for Scarlet. I was afraid it would get too long to put in her comments.)

Around these here parts, High School is grades 9-12, so I’m trying to keep it within those years (1971-1974).

I was pretty lazy when it came to school work. Most of my grades were at least a “C”. One of my science teachers mercifully gave me a “D” one year, even though I didn’t earn it. He was a good enough teacher, I just had some kind of mental block and wouldn’t allow myself to learn his subject. When I went to college in 1985, I earned an “A+” in his subject, which causes me to think that youth is not wasted on the young, but maybe education is. So I wasn’t a brain by any stretch of the imagination.

I was as much of an athlete as they allowed girls to be back then. I did very well in track at the long distances – at least until I started smoking. The longest distance a girl could compete in at that time was the 880. That was when it was still measured in yards, not meters. 880 was twice around the track and I qualified for State one year, where I came in 8th or 9th. I was also on an 880 relay team that still holds the school record. We didn’t have a girl’s basketball team at my school, but we played volleyball. We also qualified for state tournament my Sophomore year and I got to play for a few minutes. I really wasn’t tall enough to be a good spiker and I was too skinny to muster up a power serve. In the summers, I played on a fast-pitch softball team. We weren’t very good. One of the girls’ moms was the coach and I think my mom was her assistant. We mostly just showed up and played.

Another thing I enjoyed competing in was Declam. The Declam team had several categories: poetry, prose, drama, extemporaneous speaking and so on. I did readings in poetry and prose and participated in the drama. Our Declam coach was very liberal minded. We met at his basement apartment for practices and he’d let us smoke. I’m sure he would have gotten into deep trouble if we’d gotten caught.

The thing I most enjoyed was the music activities; I was in Mixed Chorus, Girls Glee, Swing Choir, marching band, pep band and concert band. For as small of a school as we were, we always managed to really kick butt when it came to music competitions. That was always a lot of fun.

I think if you asked any of the 32 people I graduated with about me, they would remember me as kind of a flake. Not really very smart, but fairly good at some things. I remember feeling lonely a lot of times. My dad died when I was 13 and I had a lot of trouble coming to terms with that. I didn’t get into a lot of trouble in High School, but that was because I was good at being sneaky and didn’t get caught.

I’d continue with this and post some of the things I’m ashamed of, but my kids read this once in a while and I’d be embarrassed to have them know certain things about my past.

SO, now it’s someone else’s turn; what were YOU like in High School?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Ruby Tuesday



Pomegranate Seeds. I'd never eaten pomegranate before Halloween '08, when Jack brought some home and fixed them for us to eat while we watched our scary movie. ("From Hell" - Johnny Depp starred as a Scotland Yard Inspector who was investigating the Jack the Ripper slayings. Good show.)

Anyway, these seeds are DELICIOUS!

And speaking of "delicious"... have you noticed how many different kind of apples there are to choose from nowadays? I seem to recall, when I was a kid, we could get Red Delicious or Granny Smith at the grocery store. And there were certain seasons of the year (like right now) when the Reds weren't very delicious. They were mostly over-ripe, brown and bitter inside.

Now, at my store we have no fewer than eight varieties to choose from at any given time: Gala, Braeburn, Honey Crisp, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Pinata, Washingtons, Jonathans and the old standbys Red D. & Granny S. are good year-round. And I'm pretty sure I've left out a couple of other varieties that actually have seasons.

My, how the times they are a'changin'....

Friday, January 02, 2009

f-Stop Friday

It's frightfully cold here!



This ol' boy has surely seen better days!