Did you know that upon leaving office every President is able to take cuttings from their favorite plant to give to friends.
Now adding green at my address will be one of those many cuttings from President Obama...
(Greenhouse is located off of Markham between War Memorial Stadium & UAMS on 7th & Palm Streets. Signs posted... )
Proceeds go to support Master Garadener projects throughout the city.
TBT: Last year at this time my Wisconsin book club was visiting my new home here in Arkansas. We had a wonderful time making new memories. FYI it's strawberry shortcake time again here...
Last night I joined a ZOOM call with 4 of the Happy Bookers as we discussed our upcoming trip to Croatia. Yes, Croatia.
I am truly blessed...
This transplanted Hungarian-Canadian now Texan biochemist, shared his story with a brief geography and history lesson of Hungary, interspersing his family's and Jewish community's fate as a result of the German and Russian tactics.
One of the occupation tactics was to move all the Jews into a 6 block radius, a Jewish ghetto, to be burned, but this was foiled with the arrival of the Russians.
We listened to what our speaker's Mom lived through as the youngest in her family having to move in and share a 2-bedroom apartment with 17 other family members. Then, when it was time for the family to evacuate and go to the train station where trains awaited to take them to the camps, his Mom, a secretary, ran into an acquaintance who invited her to lunch. This woman, living in the apartment, was the maid of the apartment's owner, a Jewish doctor who had been taken away. She offered false papers to help his Mom escape.
Andras, her 15-year-old son, had been left in an orphanage for a week and his Grandparents got him out. He and another boy contacted scarlet fever and were isolated. Surprisingly, when the soldiers opened the door where the 2 kids were being kept, they didn't go inside not wanting to contact the disease. The boys were left there until they were transported to a military hospital, where they were given 3 hot meals/day. It was such a gift in a dark time. When the Russians were getting closer, the Germans left in a hurry. The 15-year-old boys awoke one morning to an empty hospital. The temps were 20 below, and they headed to the basement of a nearby factory, hiding out there for a bit. They, then found his childhood home's street and his home, where there was no electricity or wood.
The Russians took about 3 weeks to occupy the city in 1945.
Andras and his Mom were reunited.
700,000 Hungarian Jewish lives were taken. Dr. Lacko's family amazingly had a high survival rate of 80% , albeit with some close calls. Dr. Lacko now lives in Dallas, but he immigrated to Canada from Hungary at age 17.
tUESDAY tUNES this week is another steamy one.
Take a listen to ARENA Y PROMESA (Sand & Promise)
by the Velvet label under Spanish Soul Blues. Short and poetic.
Who hasn't written in the sand at some time?
Sand and Promise...
"I wrote your name in the sand before the wave arrived
The words lasted seven seconds.
The promise remains whole.
The water erased what I said
the salt kept what I feel ..."
"Every tide brings your name written in another language of foam"
What the sea takes, the heart keeps..."
MONDAY MUSINGS: On Thursday about 5:30 am, the Atlanta crew pulled out of the driveway and left me with evidence they had been here...
These items can be returned, and the leftover foodstuff can be eaten, but there are a couple of other things. Things one can not buy, like the new family memories and a very undeniable 'quiet'...
This Bubbe is having withdrawal..
FOTO FRIDAY: RESTLESSness can occur at any time, but it's pretty obvious when you see this little guy all tangled up in his blankies that he is working hard in his sleep.
TBT: 2017 There was a new Kid on the block on this day in the End of the Rainbow Valley since this birth happened while I was on the phone with daughter Lori Sinapellido and her hubby Evan Lee, they got to choose the name. Drum roll, please: And the final answer is: Alex Tribek. ( I know, good luck to their Baby Tater Tot's eventual name.)
Chad Gad Yo... Looks like "an only kid" for Jacqueline.
Alex Trebek sure was cute...
MIDWEEK MUSINGS: Now that I have lived 7 decades, I am really seeing a correlation about life. Perhaps you also have heard it said that folks nearing death hold on until - a loved one can arrive/ a special occasion occurs.
Special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and holidays. For our extended family (machatunim- family of in-laws) we experienced it here this year in Little Rock. My brother married into this extended family and we have spent many holidays including special birthdays together.
Every stroke had been robbing him of his loves, first golf and then piano playing. Jerry was a man of many talents, although he couldn't read music, he composed and wrote songs. One made famous even by Jerry Vale! Those royalties went to the purchase of a car, another of his passions. He also followed the Trojans, our local basketball team and the state's Razorbacks. He coached Junior League Baseball and even one of his grandson's baseball teams.
Jerry sat at the Passover table, Thursday, celebrating what no one knew would be their last Passover seder together. He will be missed by many besides his wife, daughter, son, their spouses and an adoring set of grandchildren, who called him Pops, along with a community where he was a hypnotherapist, musically present, and even a voice in the paper's opinion page. We will miss him...
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tUESDAY tUNES : SIN TI , SIN Mí (Without You, Without Me) by Los Miranda, a Mexican vocal group made up of four siblings. They have a wonderful, tight sound and a great repertoire of boleros and other Latin styles."
MONDAY MUSINGS of "Foiled Again" should have been last week's entry, as it is exactly why I didn't have time to write. I wouldn't say I'm a procrastinator until it's time for really deep cleaning. Fortunately, Spring cleaning coincides with Passover when I have no other choice.
Passover has many more storage bins than Chanuka because I do use different dishes and storage containers. They all need to be brought in from their home in the storage area behind the carport. Then, cabinet shelves need to be cleared for all the Kosher for Passover dry foodstuff. Rearranging freezer and fridge space is also part of the process, add to that cleaning out silverware drawers, ( How do those food crumbs get in those drawers when only clean silverware is ever put in there? )
Anyhoo, I was behind. My counters needed to be prepped if the week's food prep was going to happen. Yes, Passover actually lasts an entire week. Some folks cover their countertops with contact paper but I still use the old way of using aluminum foil. I upcycle it afterwards for the grill, oven, and toaster oven catch trays, etc...
Everything has to come off the counters in order to apply the foil. But the finished result is very fulfilling. It has gotten a workout already and it will take a lot less time to remove it Thursday. So you see "foiled again" takes on a whole new meaning in my household.
Have you stopped recently and listened to how spring has sprung?
The birds are really making a lot of noise...
Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was Tshirts in their Perfect Settingg
TBT: 7 years ago, my next-door neighbor caught this pic... Here are his words: Patrick Bosley Beausoleil is with Karen Sherman.
tUESDAY tUNES : Looked who crossed my feed this week -Jeremy Keith from the Voice Knockouts. I like this artist's rendition of Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
Take a listen.
What do you think?
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
TBT : It was just 6 years ago when our worlds changed ... It was a blessing to live where we lived a natural isolation in the back of a valley. Natureman could receive his chemo and return to our mask-free world called home in the woods... the End of the Rainbow Valley...
In honor of WOMEN'S month the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) provided a peek into a special community relationship between Arkansan white and black women and insight of the relationship between Jewish women and Black Christian women.
The program was entitled Memories of the Ottenheimer Brothers and Rocket Plant on 10th & Spring Street even though we diverted to hear a bit re: libraries which were separate but not equal.
Full integration didn't start until after her. Black Adults were allowed in '51, 7th grade and up. This was before Brown vs Brown.
We also heard about the Women's Emergency Committee (WEC)1400, mostly white, well-off ladies from the PTA , AAUW secretish as they were laws around ties to NAACO but they pulled together. White and Black, Jews and Christians. Open Our schools.Door to door, car pooling to polls and nudging of husbands. Yes, the power of women. Improving community lives.
So how do the Ottenheimers come into the story. They were the first factory owners to hire a Black Women work force and help improve lives more than these workers could have ever earned elsewhere although not equal...
Take a look at the chart below.
This made a big difference in these women's lives. The company eventually merged into Kellwood who sold to Sears and local Jewish-owned department stores like Cohen's and Blass.
I am looking forward to learning more. But history was made... And we can learn from history and try to do better with each generation. Thanks to strong women, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
*Some of the workers' families were present for the program.
tUESDAY tUNES this week was heard while listening to the movie The Children Act with Emma Thompson who not only played this song on the piano but also sang this song. What a moving story and beautiful tune...
Take a watch'n listen: DOWN BY the SALLEY GARDENS...
MONDAY MUSINGS: It is that time of the year here in the South when the last fallen leaves/ pine needles need to be removed from gutters to let those spring showers flow easier to the downspouts.
New mulch will be added to give the front and backyard flower beds some extra nutrients besides keeping those weeds under control,. Some monster dandelions grew this month.
Spring is working overtime from that last, hopefully last freeze. Covering the azaleas protected one third of them. But the wind was ferocious and whipped some sheets off. I got plenty of exercise running back and forth trying to recover them. One can't possibly cover everything and although the dogwood thrived, the Japanese Maple lost its newest flaming red leaves, Its recuperating. Some plants are just too big to cover. If they are close to the house that helps.
The plants who resided inside during the winter months are back outside and acclimating. My living room looks naked with all that green back outside.
Spring cleaning now begins inside too...
HAPPY SPRING !
TBT 2021: Ever noticed how our country flips around blaming different races for our ills? Who's next?
MIDWEEK MUSINGS: Before I left for the Midwest, I registered for LifeQuest's spring quarter and filled my weekdays with all sorts of new learning possibilities. It's wonderful to have somebody else plan the lessons.
One teacher who touched so many lives, having taught to an overcrowded MacBride Hall ~1200 students annually, over 60,000 undergrads throughout his career. What a legacy!
SO, I shall take advantage of Life Quest's retired profs who volunteer their time and knowledge. Classes begin the last Monday of March if you're in town/ check your own cities to see if they offer LifeQuest. Go treat yourself.
tUESDAY tUNES : Facebook introduced me to this angelic tune sung by Cameroonian singer Irma ... easy listening fo' sure...
My Midwestern journey was a bit harried to say the least as there are just some things beyond one's control and that biggie was weather.
Starting off with thunderstorms plaguing my departure, the brief interludes of rain stopping, definitely helped my psyche. It wasn't pouring at least for the early highway ride to the airport and the plane did depart on time. But the pilot forewarned us our trip would be bumpy and the arrival would be dependent upon Ohare's flow since many regions were suffering stormy weather patterns. We did a not an unusual detour out over Lake Michigan. And thank goodness, made it in time for my airport brunch rendezvous with Kathy, one of my Costa Rican buddies who would be flying North out of Ohare!
Since it had started snowing, my connecting flight was delayed by half an hour as the plane needed de-icing at the gate. Okay, better safe than sorry. Then, for some reason, on the final approach, the pilot gunned it upon landing. I had never experienced that before. Scary. My nerves got a real workout as the next mode of transport was a rental car in Madison.
For some reason, the folks in the Hertz line were not happy, and after half an hour, I heard the workerbee say they were out of cars. WHAT? I not only had a car reserved, but I had also done the quick checkout. How would they resolve this faux pas of not having enough cars?
I took it as a snowstorm front was predicted during my stay. (The Coulee region is really hilly.) For once, thank goodness, there was an attendant on the lot to show me how to work the cruise control and other essentials. There was a control 'dial' which was really impractical. Who in the world thought that was a good idea?
I made my dinner date. But weather reports would plague me as a major snowstorm would hit the area by the weekend. My return was supposed to be Tuesday. The amount of snow kept changing throw in rain, sleet, ice and snow up to a possible 20". I was going to be stuck somewhere.
Even lodging plans would change as digging out a car after a snowplow buries it couldn't be my option, nor could an icy drive back to Madison.
Leaving Saturday became an option. My new ticket out of Rochester fell through as within 5 minutes as I tried to get my online boarding passes for the new ticket, I noticed that flight was now delayed 2 hours, missing the connecting flight in Ohare and the exact time the storm would roll in. NOT GOOD. This option would no longer work. Redialed AA and waited for a return call.
Meanwhile, I rechecked Madison departures and was able to nab a midafternoon flight and use the second part of that new ticket. Off I went, refilling the gas tank near the Madison airport, returning the rental with a plane that left on time.
But the adventure wasn't over as on my connecting LR flight after leaving the gate in Ohare, we went to an open part of the field where some 30 service vehicles were awaiting planes for a gigantic car/ plane wash for de-icing. What a system with electronic boards indicating which flight to stop, wait.. amazing.
I made it home and in my bed by 10pm Saturday night. That Midwestern storm is supposed to end today, Monday by 1pm. I am so glad to be back home, safe, even with impending thunderstorms and a cold front moving in...
As I click my heels... there's no place like home.
TBT: PROTESTing? My past feeds from over 15 years ago were filled with protest pics. I had 100's of photos from those days. I am just going to share one today because it encapsulates so many of society's ills...
tUESDAY tUNES : MUSIC TO MY EARS, A DIFFERENT KIND OF SONG.
Music comes in different rhythms. This is music to my ears that I must share from LSU Baton Rouge's Women Basketball Hall of Famer. Listen to the entire clip.
Since it was just International Women"s Day so here also is a wonderful interview with Seimone:INTERVIEW
