Quiet

This may surprise many of you because I am rather the talkative sort in person, but I enjoy quiet.  As I grow older, I realize more and more how much I need quiet time to renew myself.  

The flurry of postings early this month are a result of the time I had to re-charge over the holidays, a welcome period of quiet in my busy life.  The time found me thinking of the ways I need to incorporate mindful quiet into my regular life, a challenge even more acute since I took up a job with a 12-month schedule and no longer have the summers off.   Last summer, I found some of the quiet I need by sitting on the porch with my coffee and a book before I went to work each day.  It’s a little cold for that plan to work now so I’m thinking of ways to find the same peaceful sense during the school year.  The stillness of the morning, a quiet walk in the chilly twilight, and regular workouts help to make this happen.  I am pledged to find more time for quiet in my daily life.

Saturday Night in Grown Up Land

The Saturday before we returned to classes, I made myself an adult beverage and set down to work on creating lessons for the 7th grade.  Moving to the Middle School meant teaching History to much younger students and both last year and this year it’s also entailed the creation of new lessons.  This year, in my second year in the Middle School, is easier in the sense that I know where the kids are developmentally and intellectually (the students are the same group I taught last year).  In addition, 7th grade History at our school is the first half of American history, something I know like the back of my hand.  This year it’s been much easier for me to take the topics and develop creative lessons for my classes.

Even so, for the second year in a row I’m in the business of developing all new lessons.  I like to be prepared in advance but sometimes advance is just a few weeks.  The unit for the next six weeks features the Constitution and a detour into Civics, two topics that are mighty familiar to me.  I want the students to fall in love with these ideas just as I did when I was their age and so I am working carefully to make that happen.

Which explains a Saturday night spent in the creation of lessons.  It doesn't explain why I find it so pleasing to prepare class on a Saturday night.  I guess I am a grown up.

Soup Friday: Cream of Carrot Soup

The recipe for this soup is from my friend M, a terrific cook.  When I asked for it she shrugged and said that it changes every time.  I hassled her anyway and got the recipe:

- 1 bag of carrots, peeled (I think she means a 1 lb bag.....that's what I use)

- 1 medium onion, chopped

- 2 ribs chopped celery

- 1 potato, peeled and chopped

- 4 cups veggie broth

- olive oil

- salt

- pepper

- nutmeg

- ½ cup half & half

Boil the carrots, onion, and celery in chicken or veg. broth. Add squash or a large potato or sweet potato. Peel carrots before cooking them so they are not bitter.  Add a bit of salt, pepper, nutmeg and, a tablespoon of olive oil  Once everything is cooked (very mushy) you have to liquify it in the blender until it becomes puree.  Keep adding broth to make sure that it is not too solid. Once you put it back in the pan you will need to add half of cup of light cream or half and half. 

I love the way that this the recipe comes together easily and keeps well in the fridge, making it perfect to make on a weekend and have on hand for a quick re-heated week night supper.  It's tasty well beyond the simplicity of it's ingredients.  I served it with homemade garlic-cheddar biscuits.  

That’s delicious!

Your Weekly Amaryllis: Week One

Last year’s amaryllis was such an enjoyable part of my winter that this year T got me another for Christmas.  I planted it on New Year’s Day and set it in a sunny spot with the poinsettia and ivy plant nearby to provide encouragement.

Each Thursday, I’ll post a new picture of the amaryllis.  By the time it blooms in February, the sunset will be after 5 pm and twilight will last until nearly 6 pm.  The temperatures will likely be warmer, a cheering thought this morning as I woke up to a windy 7 degree morning.  This week, the bulb is still a work in progress.

In the meantime, winter will be made brighter by the promise of a flower in the light of the window and a bloom will soon appear.  That’s a happy thought to contemplate.

Renewal

I was back at work Monday for meetings and the like.  Yesterday the students returned.  We all needed the break and the two weeks away found me refreshed and ready for the challenges that lie ahead.  I know that things will shortly grow hectic again and when that happens I’m determined to pause for renewal. I’ve placed a picture on the desktop of my computer to help remind me to take a deep breath.

This is my backyard and the birdhouse that T helped me hang last year.  It’s restful and hopeful to me, two things that always make life brighter.

Here we go 2015! 

On Light

 As I grow older (and the grey hairs on my head and lines around my smile certainly confirm that fact), I’ve become more aware of how the natural world affects my mood and disposition.  I’ve come to realize that time outside, especially time spent in the sunlight, always makes even the bleakest of my days better.  I’ve learned to pay attention to the ways in which natural light and darkness set the tone for the light and dark of my emotions and the state of my mental landscape.

This realization brought me a greater awareness of the ways I should manage the winter season.  As I realized the importance of sunlight in my life, I looked up the sunrise and sunset times in my corner of New Jersey.  I used this website to get the information.  Sometimes I’d print the calendar of the month’s sunrise and sunset; other times I’d simply record them on my daily calendar.  Then I could check in and receive reassurance that the days were getting longer and that difficult as things sometimes were, there was sunlight in my future. 

It was both a metaphorical and a real reassurance.  These days, knowing the timing of sunrise, sunset, and the moon calendar is a vital part of how I see my world.  Sometimes I even plan my day in order to step outside to see the sunrise or sunset or take advantage of a clear evening to admire the moon.  Each week in January we add just a bit more light to our days.  By the end of the month, the sun will set after 5 pm and twilight will extend after that.  I will welcome the light when it arrives.  Until then, I can look at my sunrise and sunset chart for the reassurance that there is a sure promise of light.

Winter

My parents were here for the holidays and in contrast to last year’s post-Christmas cold snap, the weather was pleasantly mild.  We even enjoyed a few of the clear, sunny days that make winter lovely.  Though I had hoped to deliver a big snowstorm for my mom,  she got just one day with very light snowflakes.

As I straightened up the house after their visit, I realized that I’m rather crossing my fingers for more of this mild weather.  Once Christmas has passed, my interest in snow seems to wane.  I thumb through my garden catalogs and start daydreaming of warmer days.  Usually these garden fantasies hold off until late-January but the garden daydream season seems to have arrived sooner than usual for me this winter.  I find myself ready to make plans for planting.  Since it is barely January, this is a wholly unreasonable position to take.  

I remind myself that last year at this time, we were awash in snow and frigidly cold temperatures.  

That scene is a marked contrast with the current weather, which has sometimes been seasonably cold but hasn’t yet been frigid.  Today’s forecast even calls for temps in the low 60s.

This year, on the relatively warm Monday afternoon after Christmas I took down the outdoor holiday lights and replaced them with the string of clear lights that I’m using to light the porch in the early evenings.  I stored away some of my Christmas decorations, set out some pinecones and greenery for January's porch cheer, and let my mind wander over to the months when I can have plants outdoors again.

I’ve some fear that in the months ahead winter will exact a cold revenge for my premature thoughts of warmth and spring.  But I’ll have a cozy blanket and a pile of garden catalogs to keep me toasty when that happens so I plan to take the risk.

Good Luck

My years in the South taught me that eating black-eyed peas on the first day of the year brings good luck.  Even though I now make my home in Yankee territory, it’s a custom I still I embrace.  I love me a black-eyed pea in all forms but lately my favorite form is a recipe I’ve had since my days as a Tennessean: Texas Caviar.  It’s a colorful collection of peas, corn, tomatoes, jalapeño, lime juice, ortega peppers, red onion, green pepper, cilantro and spices.  In the bowl before it’s all mixed together, it already looks pretty tasty.

Mixed together it’s even better and a delicious way to start 2015.

Soup Friday: Baked Potato Soup

One of Winter’s virtues is the fact that there are so many good recipes for soup, the perfect anecdote to chilly days and nights.  As we settle into the cold, I will be making plenty of soup for our Winter suppers.  Every Friday this month I plan to post a picture of the week’s soup and, when available, the recipe (or a link to it).  

Over Winter Break, I made the only recipe I keep secret: baked potato soup.  I make this soup a few times each Winter and it’s always delicious.  Recipe details will not be posted here but y’all are welcome to come on over and I’ll serve you up a bowl.  It’s worth the trip.

January 1: Peach Tree

It’s become my custom to select a part of my garden and feature it at the start of each month.  It’s a way to mark the seasons but it’s also more than that.  Changes that seem small each month add up to something greater when the year is complete and stopping to mark that passage of time makes me more aware of the subtleties in the world around me.  We’ve been in the front yard for the last few years but in 2015 we’re headed to the backyard again.

In 2013, I planted a dwarf redhead peach tree here at the intersection of the row of hostas, my clematis vine, and the red bird house at the corner of the garage.  Underneath, there is grass.  Spring will bring tulips and daffodils.  

The peach tree is coming along nicely; there may even be some fruit set on it this summer.  As the seasons of 2015 unfold, we’ll watch the peach tree’s monthly progress on the first of each month.

In January, the tree’s slim green leaves are long-gone and the branches look stark in the cold.  But if you look up close in the morning sunlight, there is evidence that the tree is already at work for the growing season that lies ahead.  

The tree has all the makings of a productive 2015.  That’s happy!