Category Archives: Food for Thought

Community, Food for Thought, News

Fire at the Post Office

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img_6194Yesterday, there was a fire at our town’s post office, and the fire was so intense that it gutted the building. All morning the fire raged, and Facebook was full of images and descriptions. This put our little town in an uproar, and Clif and I had a hard time concentrating on anything else.

With that fire and destruction, we have lost an essential part of our town. Despite email, FedEx, and UPS, the postal service is vital to our community—indeed to many communities—and now there is great big burnt shell where the post office once stood.

Many people criticize the U.S Postal Service, complaining of how the federal government can’t do anything right. I beg to disagree. Sure, every once in a while my New Yorker goes missing, or we receive mail that should have gone to someone else. But not very often. Mostly, day in and day out, our mail comes, delivered by conscientious carriers who actually bring the mail to our doorstep when we have a package.

While it does cost money to send letters—still a bargain, as far as I’m concerned—and packages, it doesn’t cost anything for individuals to receive mail. You might even call the U.S Postal Service a common good, a concept that today seems as dated as poodle skirts and saddle shoes. Spending for the common good? Where’s the profit in that?

And while I’m on the subject of the common good, I must praise the firefighters, from our town and from surrounding towns, who put out the fire and stopped it from spreading to other buildings. At town meetings, there is always grousing about how much the fire department costs. Yes, there is a cost. But what would our town be like without it?

Schools, fire departments, libraries, police departments, trash removal all cost money, but they are essential to having a decent society. (I could add other things such as public transportation, too.) The point is not that they cost taxpayers money. The point is, how do we collect the money fairly so that taxes aren’t a burden on those who don’t have much?

The postal service has already sprung into action with a plan for Winthrop’s mail. Working out of Augusta, carriers have already resumed home delivery in Winthrop. For those who had post office boxes or need to pick up packages, they will go to the Manchester post office, in the town next to us. The mail will be delivered, despite the loss of our post office.

Right now, fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire. I’m hoping it wasn’t arson.

And I expect a new post office will replace the burnt wreckage of the old one. But it will be quite a while before that happens, and, in the meantime, our post office will be sorely missed.

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Food for Thought, Frugal Living

What the World Needs Now…

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Happy Valentine’s Day to all readers near and far. Such a sweet holiday to show love for  your partner, your children, your friends, and even yourself.

In the spirit of, ahem, treating myself,  I’ll be heading to the store tomorrow, if the weather allows, to get a box of chocolates for half price. As we Mainers would say, it’s a wicked good deal to get chocolates the day after Valentine’s.

Unfortunately, it’s supposed to snow yet again, and I might not be able to go out and get those chocolates. But, there’s a good chance some will still be available on Thursday, so all is not lost.

Clif and I have been married for many, many years. In fact, we have a big anniversary coming up next month, but more about that when it’s closer to the day. Once upon a time, I would have been seriously miffed if Clif forgot to get me something for Valentine’s Day, and indeed that did happen now and then.

Somehow, though, gift-giving holidays have faded in significance for Clif and me, and often we don’t exchange gifts at all for birthdays. We might go out for a special treat, say, Chinese food, or a bike ride and call it good. It’s not that I don’t appreciate receiving presents—I sure do, and my daughters give me lovely ones—but when it comes to Clif, it doesn’t matter at all.

We have a good life together. We support each other in our various projects, and we help each other out. Age has mellowed both of us, and it seems like a blessing rather than a loss not to make a fuss about holidays and birthdays.

However, after writing the above, I must confess that every year I like coming up with a Valentine’s card to send to my special daughters and a few special friends. I was especially pleased with how this year’s card turned out—just the way I envisioned it, which doesn’t always happen, that’s for sure. Also, blue is my favorite color.

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I’ll be using this card for birthdays as well as Valentine’s Day.

After all, what the world needs now, is love, sweet love, and true blue as well.

 

Food for Thought

Snake Dream Addendum

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A couple of my blog friends made comments about my snake dream and what the interpretation might mean. Here is what Eliza wrote:    ” A snake is a symbol of the unconscious. Snakes or serpents indicate you’re in the process of healing and resolving issues The snake is a symbol for an untamed part of yourself or an untapped resource.
Snakes could represent your intuition or spiritual aspects of yourself; your instinctual drive, what moves you from the depths of your soul. Snakes or serpents tend to show up in dreams in times of transition and transformation.”

Now, sometimes a dream is just a dream, and sometimes it is something more. After reading what Eliza wrote, I thought more closely about the dream, which was, in fact, different from any snake dream I had ever had. (In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I had reoccurring snake dreams.)

Usually, in a snake dream, I am on the ground among the snakes, and this is not a happy place for me to be. In the dream I described in the previous post, I was high above the snake, and with admiration as well as some trepidation, I watched it move rapidly across the field. So fast! Then, into the woods it went after its prey.

The striking thing about this dream was that I was not as terrified as I usually am when I dream about snakes. I won’t say I was completely fear free—that would be going too far—but I was not terrified. My fear was well under control, and I could even admire the beauty of the snake. When I reflect back on that snake dream, I even feel exhilaration.

I am indeed in a time of transformation and transition as I go out into the world with Maya and the Book of Everything. I am working on a presentation for an author talk, and I’ll be going to the University of Maine at Orono for my first talk. Speaking in public is very difficult for me, but nowadays it’s what you have to do to promote your book, especially if you’re an Indie Author.

To borrow again from Eliza, onward, ho!

And many thanks, Eliza (and Akuokuo) for making me look closer at my dream.

Food for Thought, News

The Line Has Been Crossed: The Women’s March in Augusta, Maine

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On Saturday, Clif and I joined 10,000 people in  Augusta, Maine’s sister march of the Women’s March in Washington, DC. Because I am claustrophobic and therefore don’t like large crowds, I knew it would be grueling for me, and in fact I was reluctant to go. But earlier in the week, my friend Judy Johnson convinced me to attend when she said, “I want my warm body to be counted in the crowd.”

Yes, yes! And despite being pressed on all sides by people—something that makes me acutely uncomfortable—I was thrilled to be with the thousands who had come to stand up for women’s rights, children’s rights, men’s rights, and human rights.

Even though the past two months have been grim for progressives, the mood at the Augusta, Maine, march was anything but gloomy. Instead, there was an almost festive air at the gathering at the State Capital.  Judy  observed that there were lots of happy faces, and Clif noted that the event had a Common Ground Country Fair feeling.

Seeing so many good, beautiful, plain people out on a raw, gray January day brought tears to my eyes. There is hope for this country, despite the horrendous feelings and words that were unleashed by this election, where a terrible line has been crossed. These marches, not only in our country but also around the world, were a mighty rebuke to an administration for whom “alternative facts”—otherwise known as lies—are second nature. As one sign at the Augusta march proclaimed: When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.

All ages came to the Augusta march, from babies snug against their mother’s chests or backs to teenagers to young adults to older adults to seniors.  The crowd was so vast that I could barely hear the speeches—a little disappointing—but the main thing, as I was reminded by my friend Paul Johnson, was to be there.

Toward the end of the rally, the sun came out, and on the domed roof of the Capitol, Minerva stood bright and gold against a cerulean sky.  May her wisdom shine on us all.

Scenes from a rally:

Me, taking notes and Paul Johnson, sitting.

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Green peace!

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Yes, we can.

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The crowd.

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In honor of Carrie Fisher.

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Judy and Paul Johnson.

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Minerva, gleaming over us all.

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Food for Thought

Living the Creative Life

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“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”  —Maya Angelou

On Facebook last week, I learned that January is creativity month, very appropriate for many of us in the United States when the days are short, and the nights are cold. However, I can’t help but think that every month should be creativity month because it seems to me that creativity brings spark into our lives and helps give it meaning.

There are, of course, many different ways of being creative, from knitting and crocheting to sewing to writing to singing to taking pictures to cooking to gardening to weaving to making things great and small. As the current movie Hidden Figures illustrates, even math can be creative. The creative life does not follow one track nor should it. One of the beauties of creativity is the different forms it takes.

Nowhere is the scope of creativity more evident than through the  blogs I read. I follow many blogs, but the one feature they all share is an astonishing creativity—in all its various aspects. (Yes, I know there are blogs that are not so positive, but I don’t follow them.) When I read about the goings-on of my blog friends, what they create and how they live, I feel inspired and enlarged. It reminds me that there is much good in our species, something I need to keep in mind right now as the drum roll to repeal the Affordable Care Act gets ever louder.

I could feature any of the blogs I follow as prime examples of creativity, but for this post I want to focus on Melissa of The Aran Artisan and her incredible, nimble-fingered family. In “Creative Support for the Homeless,” a post written before Christmas, Melissa  told of how her family rented a table at a local craft fair. The post featured pictures of all the beautiful things she and her family made to sell, with proceeds going to “Galway Simon to show support for their work to end homelessness in our neighbouring mainland community.”

Readers, I’m not going to spoil the ending by revealing how Melissa and her family did at the craft fair. For that you must read her post to find out.

Creativity can also be, well, soothing. Last week, I had a sinus infection that made me feel  woozy. Fortunately, I wasn’t sick to my stomach, but every time I moved my head I felt dizzy, and even reading was a struggle—a very bad thing for me. One late afternoon, after forcing myself to do some household chores, I gave up and settled on the couch. I went to the Create TV channel, from American Public Television.

I learned the ins and outs of starting a llama farm business and then a soy candle business. I watched Pati make Mexican lasagne,  and I watched the recent instalment of This Old House and the progress they were making on an Arts and Crafts home. There was nothing negative, nothing harsh, just people doing a wide variety of creative things.

I know. We have to watch and read the news. We have to keep track of what is going on in the world, and all too often this isn’t pretty. But living creatively and following the creativity of others isn’t retreating from the world. Instead, for me, it provides a place of illumination and beauty, a way to recoup from the hustle and turmoil all too often created by our species.

This is not only good, but it is also necessary.

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Food for Thought, Nature

Let It Snow

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I’ve been getting updates from my daughter Shannon in North Carolina. A snowstorm is heading her way—six to seven inches are predicted—and it’s already throwing people in a tizzy. Yesterday, my son-in-law, Mike, took this picture of the milk case in a grocery store in North Carolina.

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This morning, here is what Shannon wrote in an email about the approaching snowstorm:

“It’s not suppose to start until later this afternoon/early evening and is most likely going to be rain at first and then mixed precipitation (yay!) so hopefully our commute home won’t be too bad. The main event is going to be later 11pm-midnight and at that point it’s going to be all snow – and then it’s suppose to continue through mid-day Saturday. We’re smack dab in the 5-7 inches range right now. Our new governor has declared a State of Emergency for all counties in NC and after school activities were already being canceled yesterday for most and the rest did so this morning.

“It was just crazy at the supermarket yesterday – I didn’t time it exactly but it was three hours after getting out of work that we walked through our front door. Some of that (maybe 20-30 minutes) was travel time and then we stopped and picked up some food on our way home (another 10-15 minutes) and the rest of it was spent in the grocery store – it was a madhouse!”

Now, I realize the South is unprepared for any kind of snowstorm at all. They simply don’t have the equipment to deal with snow, a rare event in North Carolina.

However, as a Mainer, it’s a little hard to understand getting upset about only six or seven inches of snow, and it almost seems as though Shannon and Mike have moved to a foreign country. As my daughter pointed out in another email, we got a foot of snow the night before she and her husband were supposed to leave Maine and head back to North Carolina. In the morning, within an hour, the driveway was cleared enough for them to leave, and the roads were well plowed.  Shannon and Mike left when they had planned and had no trouble driving.

This has made me reflect that when you live in Maine, you have to be adaptable. The seasons rock between extreme cold with snow and ice to extreme heat and humidity. We have to be prepared for it all, and I must admit that I take pride in being able to do so. This adaptability leads to a certain flexibility as well as a can-do attitude.  While we Mainers certainly take the weather seriously—nowadays, all people should take the weather seriously—we feel as though we can cope with the extremes.

In my pantry are cans of soup and baked beans. There are also buckets of water in the basement in case the power goes out. We have propane for our little camp stove, and lamp oil for our lanterns. We even have extra batteries for our flashlights.

So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

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Shannon and Mike’s car hours before heading South

 

And to Shannon and Mike and all in the South who are the storm’s path, stay snug and warm and safe.

Food for Thought

Will I Lose My Health Insurance?

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For some people, the Affordable Care Act is this:  The. Worst. Thing. Ever.  It represents all that’s wrong with this country and is a prime example of government overreach.  For other people, who saw their rates rise because of the Affordable Care Act, it has indeed been a burden. But for many, many people it has been a blessing, allowing them to have affordable health care and to get the treatment they need to stay healthy.

I fall into the third category. My husband retired a year ago, and the only reason he did so was because of the Affordable Care Act. Knowing we could get good insurance at a decent price, we both decided that it would be all right for Clif to retire. And so he did.

For the past year, the Affordable Care Act did exactly what it was supposed to do. It allowed us to purchase insurance at a reasonable rate. It covered my mammogram—very important as I have had breast cancer—our yearly exams, and our medication. We felt secure in the knowledge that if either of us had a stroke or a heart attack, then we could get the care we needed, and we wouldn’t have to worry about going into bankruptcy or losing our house.

This year, Clif turned sixty-five and went on Medicare, which turned out to be a little more expensive than what were paying through the Affordable Care Act. But it was still within what our modest budget could afford.

Oh, what a difference a day can make! On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump was elected president, and during the long campaign, he repeatedly stated that repealing the Affordable Care Act was his number one priority. Whenever he proclaimed this, the crowds cheered in approval.

If Trump is to be taken at his word, then I just might lose my current health insurance.  For an extra five or six hundred dollars a month, I could probably purchase catastrophic health insurance that would cover nothing but hospital costs should I have the aforementioned stroke or heart attack. However, simply put, we cannot afford the extra five or six hundred a month, no matter how frugal we are. Then there would be the extra cost of mammograms, physicals, etc.

Am I worried? You bet I am. Will President Trump  effectively end affordable health insurance for millions of people? Time will tell.

Sigh.

Animals - especially dogs, Food for Thought

The Day Before the Election

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I normally don’t write about politics—the focus of this blog is on nature, community, family, books, and food—but on this day before the election, I can hardly think of anything else. To say that I am anxious about the outcome is a big, big understatement.

In walking around my yard this morning, I took some pictures to cheer myself up.

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And finally I took one of my garden Buddha, a serene reminder to extend compassion to everyone.

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May we be filled with loving kindness,
May we be well.
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we be happy.