Take a Hike!

One of my favorite things to do is to HIKE.

I love being outdoors, watching wildlife, and seeing historical sites.  I haven't been able to do much hiking for a while because I've been plagued with plantar fasciitis off and on.  My feet would hurt if I walked too far or too fast, so I slowed down and scaled back.  Then my feet did better, but my balance and confidence deteriorated.  

The plantar fasciitis has finally retreated, and I've gotten better at walking.  Because I had to slow down for so long, I have to continually remind myself to walk a little faster - to "stop walking like an old lady."  It's a hard habit to break!

Anyway, the past few weeks, I've started hiking again.  It's crazy how drastically it has changed my attitude.  I feel like the old me - or more accurately, I feel like a younger me!

For my first "official" hike, I went to Shades State Park one day and hiked to the Pine Hills Nature Preserve, one of my favorite spots in the state.  To be honest, I didn't hike the entire trail and go down into the ravine because I was afraid - afraid I might fall, afraid I would have a terrible time getting back up out of the ravine.  Just afraid.  But I made it all the way to the end of Turkey Backbone, where the trail heads down about a zillion wooden steps to the bottom.  I missed seeing the honeycombed sandstone bluffs, Indian and Clifty creeks, the warm water upwellings in the creeks, the old woolen mill site, and Devil's Backbone, but I made it as far as I thought I should for my first time out in the woods alone.  And I reveled in it!

What hiking at Shades did was give me the confidence to hike someplace unfamiliar again.

Six days later, I drove to Berea, Kentucky, and attempted The Pinnacles in the Berea College Forest.  The first part of the trail headed up and up and up.  And up.  And then up some more.   It was relentless.  When I reached the first trail crossing, I turned toward the East Pinnacle, and the trail leveled out at last!  Easy walking for a good half mile, then a sharp little turn and a little uphill, a narrowing of the trail, and out of the shade of the trees into the baking sun.  That's where I turned around.  Back along the nice level portion, then down, down, down, down, down to the trailhead.  I never made it to the East Pinnacle, but again, I reveled in making it as far as I did, especially that first uphill section.  It convinced me that I could do even more!

Two days after that, I traveled farther south to Cumberland Gap National Park.  I found the Iron Furnace trailhead and headed up the trail in intermittent rain showers.  There were plenty of people on the trail to the furnace ruins, but once I left the furnace behind, I was completely alone.  Again, the trail climbed relentlessly up and up, to the historic gap where the Wilderness Road crossed the Cumberland Mountains from Tennessee into Kentucky.  As the trail approached the gap, it became steeper.  When I reached the gap, I heard voices!  A family hiking in the opposite direction took my picture.  They were the only people I encountered.  

And here's the proof I actually made it!  I didn't turn around until I reached the actual historic Cumberland Gap.  I walked the road blazed by Daniel Boone in 1775.  What an experience!  

So now I'm searching for interesting places to hike.  Any suggestions?  Leave a comment!

My Fourth CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Box - What I Got

And another CSA box from Teter Organic Farm!

This week we received tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, carrots, and (drum roll please) a WATERMELON!  I am so excited about the watermelon!

There were two containers of cherry tomatoes, but I traded them for some extra slicing tomatoes.  I have a really nice basil plant in my garden, so I'm looking forward to making several Caprese salads - YUM.  They're so simple and yet so special, too.

That watermelon, though.  I'm going to cut it up and put it in storage boxes so it will be ready to eat any time the urge hits.  I'll probably have to contend with That Man over it.  He's a watermelon junkie!

THIRTEEN (A Five-Minute Friday Post)

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear “THIRTEEN” is Friday the thirteenth, but I don’t think of thirteen as unlucky.  I’ve always thought of it as “lucky thirteen,” maybe because when I was growing up on the south side of Indianapolis, the cool radio station was WIFE, “Lucky Thirteen,” 1310 on the AM dial.  The DJs were our celebrities and heroes.

On another note, my mom told me about her close association with the number thirteen.  I knew her birthday was December 13, so obviously she turned 13 on the thirteenth.  But, when she was thirteen, her homeroom at school was room 13.  And I was born two days before my parents’ thirteenth wedding anniversary.

So the number thirteen has been a good sign in my family, and I call it my lucky number!

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This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "THIRTEEN."  For more information on Five-Minute Friday, click here.

The First Grand Makes Her Debut (A Throwback Thursday Post)

Just a couple days short of four years ago, That Girl and I made our stately way to the hospital.  There were some interesting moments that night!

For example, while I was trying to sleep on the couch, That Girl was given a painkiller, and when it hit her, the show began.  She let out with a "Whoooooooooo!" several times, interspersed with giggling and inappropriate comments to the attending nurse.

Wow.  Just.  Wow.

After a L-O-N-G time, I witnessed my first C-section.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  Please, please, never again.  That was just too, too much.

But I was the first family member to hold the resulting product, a tiny girl with expressive eyebrows!

And now, she's about to turn FOUR.  How did THAT happen?

Time flies...

Zucchini Bread (A CSA Box Recipe)

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 c oil
2 c sugar
2 c grated squash
1 t vanilla
3 T cinnamon
3 c all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c chopped pecans or walnuts

Beat eggs until foamy.  Add the next four ingredients.  Whisk or sift together dry ingredients, then add to mixture..  Fold in nuts.  Bake in two sprayed loaf pans.  Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans.

My Third Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Box - What I Got

Another CSA box from Teter Organic Farm!

This week we received zucchini or yellow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red onions, carrots, and scallions!

There were actually two containers of cherry tomatoes, but I traded them for some zucchini.  I haven't had a chance to do much with them yet because I left to visit my sister a few days after picking up the box.

However, I DID make zucchini bread (again) and refrigerator pickles - watch for recipes on Wednesdays!  I also ate some steamed zucchini with butter - simple, but oh, so tasty!  It's easy to overcook, though. 

I've been trying to eat up the cherry tomatoes, but there are SO MANY.  That's the way cherry tomatoes are - prolific.  I haven't grown them in years because there was a year I had ONE plant, and for the following several years I had volunteers all over the garden.  It doesn't take a green thumb to grow cherry tomatoes!

When I return from Kentucky, I'll start feasting!

WAY (A Five-Minute Friday Post)

This week's prompt is "WAY."

You know, this word just doesn't resonate with me at all.  I got nuthin'!  I don't know.  There's just not a lot that strikes me about the word "way."

How about "My way or the highway," or "I did it my way"?

Now, if I were in junior high or high school, when I was deep into Youth Fellowship at church, there would be no problem.  At that time, the Christian mantra was "One Way!"  Everything was about One Way.  There was even a song that essentially just repeated the phrase over and over.

The next thing that comes to mind is an old song:

"Show me the way to go home.
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed.
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it went right to my head..."

Ahem.

THAT'S a 180-degree shift!

No deep thoughts here this time.  Sorry!

That's just the WAY it is!

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This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "WAY."  For more information on Five-Minute Friday, click here.

Wilted Leaf Lettuce (A CSA Box Recipe)

Wilted Leaf Lettuce

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1/2 c vinegar
1/4 c sugar
2 bunches leaf lettuce
2 green onions, chopped
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped

Fry bacon until crisp.   Add vinegar and sugar, heat through.  Put lettuce, onions, and egg in a large bowl.  Pour bacon mixture over the lettuce mixture and toss well.  The lettuce will wilt slightly.

DONE (A Five-Minute Friday Post)

Seven months ago, I said, “Stick a fork in me - I’m DONE!”

I retired.  I was DONE with it all.  I was DONE with my so-called career.  I was DONE with working for someone else.  I thought I wanted a career; turns out I just wanted the paychecks.

People ask me what I do, and my answer is whatever I want!

Well, that might not be completely accurate, but it’s close!  I can choose what to do, when to do it, whether to do it, how to do it, and how much of it to do.  I can pace myself.  If I’m tired, I can stop.  I can even take a nap!  Try doing that at work!

The important thing is, yes, I'm DONE with working, but that ending means I can begin to find the way to my best life - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  It's a new and exciting adventure!

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This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "DONE."  For more information on Five-Minute Friday, click here.

Kohlrabi in White Sauce (A CSA Box Recipe)

Kohlrabi in White Sauce

4 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and cubed
2 T butter
4 T all purpose flour
1 c milk
1 t salt
1 t nutmeg
1 t white pepper

In a saucepan, cover the kohlrabi with water.  Bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes or until the kohlrabi can be pierced with a fork but is still firm.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of the water.  Place kohlrabi in a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Melt butter in the saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour until the mixture forms a paste.  Gradually whisk in the milk and reserved cooking water, stirring until thick and smooth.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients until well blended.  Cook another 10 minutes, then stir in the kohlrabi, tossing to coat evenly with the sauce.

My Second Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Box - What I Got

I neglected to take a picture of my second CSA box - sorry!

This time I got scallions, more zucchini, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, and cucumbers.  I passed on kale (traded for extra zucchini and roma tomatoes) because I still had some left from the previous box.

I sliced up the largest of the tomatoes for bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.  I made zucchini bread (YUM).  I sliced up the cucumbers, chopped up the largest onion, and made refrigerator pickles.  We ate some of the cherry tomatoes with a meal as a salad.  Another roma tomato was chopped up for burrito garnish.   I made wilted lettuce again, using some of the scallions, chopped kale from the first CSA box, and store-bought lettuce.  The rest of the tomatoes and some basil went toward caprese salad, one of my favorite summer treats.

I expect I'll roast zucchini again - there's so much of it - LOL!  And I'll probably make ratatouille, since I haven't, yet, from the CSA zucchinis.  Maybe some pickles, too.

It's been fun so far!  I'm looking forward to the next installment this week.

That Summer Feeling - OUTSIDE!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a weekend that reminded me of Summer.  Not summer, the hot season full of projects and busy-ness, but Summer, as in Summer Vacation from School.

And not the short, anemic, pitiful, so-called "summer break" so many kids have now.  Our school calendar ends the first week of June and starts August 1 - about a seven-week break, if there are no snow days to make up.

For me, Summer was thirteen glorious weeks of freedom - plenty of time to get bored and long for school to start again.  I'd get on my bike, pick up a friend or two, and we'd ride all over the neighborhood, aimlessly exploring all the streets.  Or we'd head to the creek that ran behind our houses and explore - again, aimlessly.

I've been adulting for decades.  It's been a long time since I had a Summer with a capital "S" but I got a taste of it.

That Thursday, I went exploring in the country - aimlessly!  I found a park I'd never visited and two quiet public access sites to the river.  Once I turned off the car, it was as if I were far away from home in the middle of nowhere.  At both places, I could only hear birds singing, and at one, just barely, a lawnmower.  I sat there for a little while and just soaked in the quiet and the sounds of being outside.

Friday, I drove up to the marina and went sailing.  I haven’t sailed the boat in a couple of years, what with bad weather, babies, schedules, working, and all the typical excuses.  I was on the water for a couple of hours - sunburn!  But not bad.  Just enough to know I’d been out a while - another Summer sensation.  It was soothing to just sail around - aimlessly!

Saturday, I went on my first Volksmarch since 1993 (now there's a thought)!  The route wandered from a park in the next town north, through the town, across the lake, through another park, and back.  Crossing the lake, I saw turtles basking on logs and a great blue heron guarding a dock.  They looked like they were enjoying Summer.

Sunday, I went to church at my church's woodsy outdoor chapel.  Sitting on a wooden bench under the trees for a worship service took me back to church camp.

Those few days felt like summer vacation.  All that time outside, the exploration, and the aimlessness.  It seems everything you do as an adult has a specific purpose or goal.  It was freeing to just BE for a change.

Enough adulting!  I’ll keep trying to recapture that feeling - aimless and outside!

Book Review: Wolf Master of Iron Mountain

I was asked for an honest review of this book by the author, Francesca Quarto, who lives nearby!

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At 189 pages, this is a fast read.  I had a hard time putting it down.  Creepy and engrossing.

In general, I don't often read books with a supernatural theme, but the Witch of Appalachia series intrigued me.  (And I'm on kind of an Appalachian kick right now.)

I was pleasantly surprised!  There are some minor issues that could have been rectified by more careful proofreading, BUT...  I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters.  It's a short book, and I think it could/should have been longer, but again, I really enjoyed it.

Cathleen comes from an Irish clan of Celtic mages.  She buys a radio station in an isolated mountain town where over several decades, people from the town have been murdered and visitors have disappeared.  With the sheriff, Cathleen tries to uncover the secrets casting a dark cloud over the town.

VACATION (A Five-Minute Friday post)

To me, the word “vacation” conjures The Great American Road Trip!  That’s what our vacations were when I was a kid.  Dad was in the military, so in the summer, he’d take his thirty-day leave, load up the car and hit the road!  Mom packed a cooler of food - nothing fancy, usually sandwiches and apples and Fritos.  Dad would drive like mad, and we’d stop at roadside rest parks for lunch.  If we were really lucky, we might get to eat at a hot dog stand - what decadence!

This was before the interstate system, so we drove on US highways and state roads, with the windows down (no air conditioning).  We always packed books to read (no radio stations in the middle of nowhere), played automobile bingo (we had wax tablets for that - oh my), sang camp songs, and stared out the windows.  Dad would drink coffee from a steel Thermos and munch Fritos to stay awake.  We often camped in national forests in a 9x9 canvas umbrella tent (now there's a memory - that distinctive canvas odor).  There were FIVE of us!  Somebody had to sleep in the car.  Oh my.  How did we do it?  

We had a Coleman camp stove and a Coleman lantern (no propane, just camp fuel/white gas).  We had an aluminum Coleman cooler.  Pepsi in returnable glass bottles.  No Garmin.  No smartphones.  Real paper maps!  But we saw a lot of national parks and monuments, and a lot of interesting sights (Wall Drugs, Dodge City, Tombstone, the Corn Palace).  We stopped at all the tourist traps where they sold rubber tomahawks, shot glasses, postcards, and Minnetonka moccasins.

I know Dad had an overarching plan for these trips, but to me they always felt improvised and spontaneous.  If there were giant dinosaurs along the way, we’d stop.  If there was a rodeo in a town nearby, we’d go.  Caves?  We must!  Wild West towns?  Of course!  Cliff dwellings?  Imperative!

I still prefer road trips for vacations.  I’m sort of puzzled by people who fly.  I want to go on MY schedule, not some airline’s.  I want to see what’s between me and my destination.  I want to make a side trip or two down some back roads.  I want to go exploring!

THAT’S a vacation!!!

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This post is part of the Five-Minute Friday link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "VACATION."  For more information on Five-Minute Friday, click here.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

The Fourth of July is full of sweet memories.

For the longest time, the Fourth of July meant one thing  -  going to my great aunt's place on a lake in southern Indiana.  That was my favorite day of the summer.  Mom would have made a chocolate fudge Bundt cake, deviled eggs, and a big dish of baked beans (Boston style).  We'd load up air mattresses, inner tubes, swimsuits, and fishing poles, and drive south down a US highway, turn onto a state road, turn onto a county road at an old one-room schoolhouse, skirt a tiny town, turn onto a gravel road at a small country store, then turn onto an unpaved lane that ended at Mac's Shack. 

That's what my great aunt and uncle called it.  It wasn't much - a perfect square of concrete block with a shallow hip roof painted green.  It had two big multipaned windows flanking the front jalousied door.  There was no air conditioning - just open all the windows!  There were a tiny sink, refrigerator, oven, and stovetop in the kitchen alongside a relatively fancy antique Hoosier cabinet.  There were convertible sofas in the main room, and a tiny bathroom in the back.  The exterior concrete block walls needed mortar repairs - you could see light through some of the cracks.  The furniture was the kind perfect for the lake - it didn't matter if you sat on it in your wet swimsuit.  There was no furnace - just a stone fireplace with heat exchangers my great uncle had designed when he built the Shack. 

Here's how my day would go once we arrived:

I'd carry our gear from the car to the Shack, greet all the guests, hug my aunt, then walk the few yards to the lake.  When I say the Shack was on the lake, I don't mean NEAR the lake - I mean ON the lake.  You could stand in the doorway and cast into the lake.  Of course, if you did, your line would end up in a jungle of cattails, but it would be in the water!  I'd check out the tadpole situation.  We always took our cups after lunch and used them to catch tadpoles. 

The main event was FOOD!  Always hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, pickles, deviled eggs, watermelon, and whatever else people felt like bringing.  It was a FEAST, always.  Nothing fancy, just plain old picnic food, and lots of it!

The rest of the day we'd take turns going for rides in the rowboat.  We'd "swim," which meant floating around on air mattresses and inner tubes in the middle of the lake.  The lake was small and didn't allow anything with more power than a trolling motor, so there was no danger of being run down by a maniac in a speedboat.  We'd walk down to the little store down the road and buy bait worms.  We'd fish for bluegill and sunfish and release whatever poor fishies we caught. 

As evening approached, we'd eat again, whatever was left from the original feast, then break out the sparklers, firecrackers, snakes, and bottle rockets.  My great aunt would launch her version of a chinese lantern - a sheet of newspaper with the four corners pinned together to make a balloon.  She'd set one on the ground, pinned corners down, then light the four points of the balloon with a match.  The balloon would fill with hot air and lift off the ground, sailing high into the air over the lake.  When the paper was consumed, the pin would fall into the lake with a soft hiss. 

The climax of the evening was the community fireworks shot off the dam.  We'd gather lawn chairs and line them up facing the lake.  Red flares lit the dam from end to end.  When the last flare burned out, the show began!  We'd ooh and aah with the best of them, and cheer after the grand finale.  We could hear everybody else cheering across the water. 

The day ended, we'd load up the car and head home, sunburned, happy, exhausted, and ready to collapse into bed.  What could be better?

That's my ideal Fourth. What's YOURS?

My First Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Box - What I Got

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up my first installment of the church's organic farm's CSA!!!  The box included radishes, kohlrabi, scallions, kale, pac choi, lettuce (Bibb or leaf), zucchini, and herbs (thyme, sage, chives, and lavender).  Everybody gets a box to use for the entire summer.  You sign in, look at any recipes that might be available, try any samples put out, then start down the line.

Each item has a sign indicating how much you are allotted.  So, I could get one bunch of radishes, four kohlrabies, 0.3 pound of scallions, two bunches of kale, three bunches of pac choi, two bunches/heads of lettuce, 2.5 pounds of zucchini, and whatever herbs you wanted to snip.  At the end of the line, you could dump stuff you don’t want to either donate to a local food pantry or trade with something already left there.  I dumped my radishes and picked up a couple more zucchinis.  I didn’t take my full allowance of kale, lettuce, or pac choi.  It was a LOT of vegetables!!!  I had a hard time getting them all into the refrigerator, and I only have a half share!!!

Now, what to DO with all that produce?

I made a couple of tried and true (for me) recipes - zucchini bread and wilted lettuce.  That Girl says the name "wilted lettuce" sounds disgusting, so, if that bothers you as much as it does her, you could say it's leaf lettuce (or use spinach instead, if you prefer) with hot bacon dressing.

The kohlrabi was totally new to me.  They look like slightly flattened green softballs, but are actually the swollen stems of a plant related to cabbage.  I got online, searched for recipes, and found one to try.  I warned That Man and The Boy that I was using them as guinea pigs in a culinary experiment.  The Boy opted out, the coward, but That Man gamely gave it a try.  He gave it a solid thumbs up for him ("pretty good"), and went for seconds.

I did the unthinkable and made wilted lettuce for the same meal.  Again, The Boy opted out (he's not much for adventures in the vegetable realm), and That Man ate seconds.

For another meal, I made roasted zucchini.

As for the rest of the haul, scallions are easy.  Pak choi - I don’t know - stir fry?  Moo goo gai pan?  Kale - hmmmm…  I’ll have to think about that.  I guess I could substitute it for the spinach in my Rustic Totellini Soup.

Getting the CSA box every other week is forcing me to try some vegetables I would normally pass up for the easy, familiar stuff.  It's FUN!

If you’re interested in the recipes I used, I’ll be posting them the next few Wednesdays, starting next week.