Saint Barbara Branches

I love Advent.  Besides the beautiful weather (you have to admit that 6" of fresh, fluffy snow is beautiful,) but it is mostly because of the many fun little traditions -- as well as more somber ones -- my family has during this month-long period of preparation.  I hope to be able post about each, but I know the end of the semester will be hectic, so I make no guarantees.
In the next week there are three "major" advent feasts for my family: The feast of St. Barbara today, Dec. 4th,  the feast of St. Nicholas on Monday, Dec. 6th, and the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Wednesday, Dec. 8th.
The story of St. Barbara is like a fairy tale.  Her father locked her in a tower to protect her from the outside world, especially the numerous unsavory suitors attracted by her great beauty.  Unknown to her father, Barbara converted to Christianity and consecrated herself to God as a virgin.  Long story short, her father found out about her conversion when Barbara ordered a third window constructed in honor of the Blessed Trinity. He ordered her death, and struck the killing blow himself.  He was struck by lightning and killed for his evil deed.  Legend has it that Saint Barbara had a twig from a cherry tree that she watered while locked up in her tower.  The twig bloomed, cheering her lonely quarters.  Another legend says that the twig was caught in her gown and bloomed when she died. And so came the tradition of cutting cherry branches on St. Barbara's feast day of December 4th.  Apple and plum also work, and I've heard that lilac does as well.  The simple way to do it is to cut the branches, then recut the ends under running water, either at an angle or with a slit up the stem a couple of inches.  Keep the branches in clean water and they will bloom by Christmas.  They say that whoever's branch has the most blossoms on it by Christmas is Mary's favorite.  Another traditions says that if the unmarried maidens cut a branch and their branch blooms on Christmas Eve, the girl will be married the following year.  My sisters and I will be trying that this year- I'll let you know how it goes!
If you want a more specific way of cutting and forcing the branches, click here.

St. Andrew Novena

I fully intended to do some research and write up a nice little history and such on this, but I ran out of time. So here's the short version. Also, I realize that it is a little late.

The St. Andrew Novena is to be recited 15 times a day from the Feast of St. Andrew on November 30th (yes, I know that is today, and that it is almost over,) to Christmas Eve.




Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.


(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (30th November) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.)

Imprimatur
+MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York
New York, February 6, 1897

For more info, wait until next year or visit

http://www.fisheaters.com/customsadvent7.html (Fisheaters is one of my favorite sources for Catholic Tradition Info!)

http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/qt/Andrew_Novena.htm

http://www.4marks.com/articles/details.html?article_id=5851 (Probably the best out of these three for information on the St. Andrew Novena)

My family and I have been praying this Novena for the last few years, and I also find it to be a wonderful meditation for the Advent season.  I believe I have also had some favorable results in obtaining favors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello!  I hope everyone has a nice long list of things to be thankful for this year!
I was asked to email this recipe to my sister this morning, so I thought that since I had it on the computer, I would share it with the rest of the world.  I cannot take credit for this recipe, although I slightly modified the amounts to fit into a larger pan.  It is a Taste of Home Recipe, originally titled "Mom's Sweet Potato Bake." I don't know what year it came out, but it has been a favorite at our house since we first made it.  It is good hot, cold, and in between.  It is an excellent side dish, and also a good desert.  I think I've had the leftovers for breakfast a few times, too.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Bake

Ingredients

• 4 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (40 oz. can or cooked prepared without milk or butter)
• 1 ⅓ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 
  TOPPING:
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 teaspoons cold butter (2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, salt and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a greased 9”x13” baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160º or a knife comes out clean;.

The original recipe can be found here: Mom's Sweet Potato Bake Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

Adoro te Devote: I Am the Dog, Baby

Here is an interesting -- and relevant -- rant by an excellent blogger:
Adoro te Devote: I Am the Dog, Baby

I go back and forth with facebook. Sometimes, I really enjoy it. I have a few friends who are excellent posters. They post the funny little events and details in their lives, and give me a glimpse into a world outside my own. They bring a smile on a dreary day, and I am thankful for that. But facebook, and other social networks, have a dark side, too.
The downside of facebook is the ease with which a person can hurt another person. Sometimes this is done intentionally, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes the hurt seems to be the fact that so-and-so found out on facebook. Big news or small, complaint or triumph, I have seen many people post things that they should have told people personally (whether that be phone, email, letter, or face-to-face) instead of blabbing it to everyone on their friends list. I have been guilty this myself. You get caught up in the moment and it doesn't take long to hit that post button. Sometimes my home feed feels more like a supermarket tabloid because of this! Then, we see it on facebook, and have to comment. Pretty soon we are sure we know the whole story. It's like a party line with hundreds of people listening in, yet so many don't seem to care.
I like the way people are able to connect on facebook, I really do. I like the way great aunt Mary can watch little Joe take his first steps and how cousin Len in Australia can see all the pictures from the Christmas party hours after. I like how I can pray for friends who I know need it, and I like how the words of wisdom from a three-year-old can be passed on to hundreds who need to hear them. But these are only good things if we remember to stay closer to those who are closer to us. Pick up the phone and CALL your mom, your sister, and your best friend. Then think about posting it, and remember that EVERYONE is listening in.

Stop in and Say Hi...

Hi all!
Yes, it is 1 am, and yes, I should be sleeping.  I just finished a history assignment and figured a few more minutes awake wouldn't hurt, right?
Anyhow, I just looked at the stats on my blog, and found out that I've been getting a lot more traffic than I thought!  Either that or there's a glitch in the system and my computer is lying to me.  Who knows.  Either way, I'd love to see who's out there, if anyone, reading my blog....shoot.  I just saw a mouse run under my desk.  Got to go.
God Bless,
Rae
P.S.
Any comments will be posted directly if anyone wants to say hi and where they are from, or how they got here, or whatever.  :)

Taxes

Taxes.  That inevitable force in life, right next to death.  Funny, we seem to avoid both, don't we?  If you ask me, too much of either isn't very healthy.  Taxes have come up two of my classes the past couple of weeks.  First was in my Business Plan Developement Class.  If you have a business, you really can't legally avoid taxes.  If anyone knows a way around that without running into the risk of liability, let me know.  The other class that has prompted ponderings is my U.S. History class.  We are studying the events leading up to the American Revolution.  I shan't get into details, but apperently taxes had something to do with it.  It was something about the British raising taxes to pay for things that America neither wanted nor needed, and America not having a say in things like the rest of England. I guess I'd be pretty irritated too, if my government was taking my hard earned cash and using it to pay for things that I didn't think it should be paying for.  Especially if I was loosing out in other ways.  What would really bug me would be if I knew that the majority voted one way and the government still insisted on doing things another way.
Now, I do know that taxes are in many ways a necissary evil.  After all, taxes pay for things like roads and these community college classes I'm taking.  But it seems like that money goes for many things that I really don't see the benefit of, too.  Such as bike trails that people drive their SUVs to to get exercise.  I could probably go on all night.  But when it comes down to it, grandpa says it best.  This is a video clip from one of my favorite movies, You Can't Take it With You.

And the rain rain rain came down down down....

in rushing, rising rivets.  Yes, it is raining in Minnesota.  Lightly, right now.  Sometime in the last 48 hours we have gotten over 5 1/2 inches of rain here at the farm.  We don't know how much, because the rain gauge overflowed.  Up here, that's the worst of it.  From what I've heard, there is rain lots of other places doing more damage.  Long story short, it's wet here.

In other news....

Our last puppy will be gone on Saturday.  We will miss Rex, but we're happy he will be going to a great home in Washington State. I won't cry, honest....(sniff sniff)

Amy, our last milk cow's only daughter, is going to be calving soon.  We can't wait!  In addition to the fun of a new "baby" around, I'm looking forward to fresh milk for drinking and cooking and cheese making. I hope I will have time to make some mozzarella soon!  Fresh cheese is sooooooo yummy, especially on homemade pizza. Another reason we can't WAIT to see this new calf is it's parentage.  Amy is a Jersey milk cow, and the bull was a Belted Galloway/Angus cross.  If you have never seen Belted Galloways, they look like Oreo cookies.  What the Jersey will do to the unique color pattern, I daren't hazard a guess.  I do know that as long as he/she has the Jersey eyes, it will be cute.

Also new on the farm are 20 muscovy ducklings and 5 Khaki Campbell crosses.  We have had muscovies in the past, and I love them.  They really are a must on any farm, and would also fit nicely into most backyards.  They don't need a pond, because they can't really swim- they sink.  They eat flies and mosquitos, and who doesn't need fewer of those pests??? And, as a bonus, they don't quack.  Not that quaking is a bad thing, but if you are in town, quite pets are probably better received by the neighbors.  It's also better for those who raise large numbers for their lean, beef-like meat.  They do make some noise.  The drakes hiss, and the females kind of peep.

Last on the list of newcomers are the chickens, but there are quite a few of them.  We are currently experimenting with our meat birds.  Instead of our usual cornish-crosses, which don't graze very well, we're raising out a batch of Freedom Ranger chicks.  They are a colored meat bird, and are bred for their grazing.  We can already see a big difference in their activity compared to the cornish-cross-- they are constantly running around and scratching for feed.  We do expect them to eat a little more than the others, but we are also hoping for a superior meat from them.  Hopefully it will turn out well.
We also have some new laying hens.  We are trying to convert our current flock mixed variety chickens to about four different breeds.  Our beginning of this endeavor has resulted in the purchase of 2 Americauna hens (blue egg layers,) two Blue Cochin hens (brown egg layers) and a rooster, and two Silkie Bantam hens and a rooster.

Well, that's life on this rainy Thursday. If I don't post again soon, assume I floated away or was eaten by my homework.

Mater-Welon Pops

You ever have one of those great ideas that are so simple you wonder how you could have possibly not thought of it sooner?  This was one of those ideas.  Frozen watermelon.  Does it get any more simple?

Ingredients:

Seedless Watermelon

Equipment:

Large Knife
Cutting Board
Cookie sheet/plastic pan lid/plate/etc.

Instructions:

Cut watermelon, removing the rind (unless of course you want to keep the rind on, which would also probably work.)  I found that thinner slices, 1/2 inch or less, worked best when it came time for eating.  Other than that, you can go crazy.  I did cubes, which were perfect with a splash of mango rum on them, and strips, and wedges.

Place the watermelon on the pan, and freeze until, well, frozen.  I don't know how long they will last in the freezer, but probably not long once people figure out that they are as good as store-bought-corn-syrup-and-dye popsicles....

Latest puppy pictures

Well, actually it's a video.  Have you ever tried to take photos of 16 week old puppies? Not as easy as you might think.

August Ramblings

Hello!  I am done with the summer semester, and now have three weeks off to catch up with the rest of my life!  Things got a little busier than I originally planned, largely due the the 6 week, 4 credit college algebra class I ended up taking.  The class I wanted to take, Intro to Small Business, was canceled, so I got to do algebra instead.  I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, but I did pass.  Which means that I have fulfilled all of my math requirements and any further study can be strictly for pleasure and application! 

I also got the required computer class out of the way, and it did teach me something very important- I prefer Mac to Microsoft.  So now I have a new Mac computer.  Well, it’s a little more (or a lot more) complicated than that, but the fact remains that I am having a blast learning the ins and outs of my new computer and its really cool features.  Like the one that lets me have a conversation with my computer.  True, it primarily consists of knock-knock jokes, but hey, it’s still lots of fun.  

I was also reminded this past week of one of the reasons I decided to dive into this blog in the first place (or tiptoe in, as the case may be.)  I’ve been flipping through the back issues of “Taste of Home Magazine.”  It’s unbelievable how far they have gone-- in the wrong direction.  In addition to adding advertising, it seems like they shortened-- or completely cut out-- some of the best features in the magazine. 

For instance, they used to have column with some of the funny things kids would say about food.  I remember wanting to send it in when my little brothers would call sardines “sour-beans.”  And when one brother was 6 or 7 and he was cracking nuts under our walnut tree in the yard.  I asked him what he was doing and he said “I’m cracking walnuts, and inside are pecans!”  

I think the best thing about TOH was the fact that it was so much like an old fashioned community.  It gave the feeling of sitting in the kitchen with aunts, sisters, and grandmas all telling stories and cooking together.  True, you rarely knew the women (and occasionally men) who were writing and cooking, but you knew people like them, or at least wanted to.  And you knew that the recipes were recipes that weren’t just liked by the more sophisticated palates, but by families.  The new magazine seems to have lost that feel.  Maybe it’s just because it has lost it’s nostalgic feeling, with fancy new layouts.  Maybe it’s the adds every other page trying to get you to try a recipe because it has some brand or other in it instead of because someone’s family thinks it’s the best ever.  Who knows.  I just know I miss the old Taste of Home.  Someday I hope someone can recreate it.  Maybe the magazine itself will-- when they do, I’ll subscribe and buy a few gift subscriptions.  Or maybe I’ll just have to do it myself.  In the mean time, I do plan on putting some of my family’s favorite recipes up here.  Right after I paint my bathroom...    

The usual

I DO intend to put more up here than puppy pictures, honest!  But life is crazy, so I have to stick to the essentials.  Besides, who can resist a face like this? 

The puppies are growing fast, that's for sure.  And they are all so sweet.  It's hard to get good pictures because all the want to do is play!  

But now and then they do cooperate.

More Puppy Pictures!

Wow. Have I really been out of school for over a week? Time does fly. I'm slowly adjusting to the new routine. The hardest part is still getting up in the morning- and going to be at night. My sisters and I have watched all of the Die Hard movies (edited) this week, and Lethal Weapon 4 (also edited,) while working on projects at night.

I ran out of dishcloth yarn a couple of days ago, so I finally started the baby quilt I bought material for before Easter. I was able to finish the top last night. This is my first time sewing a quilt and I think it turned out pretty well. 
The puppies are growing fast!  We moved them outside this week.  During the day they play in the backyard, where they can have lots of socialization and supervision.  At night they are now sleeping in a converted playhouse.  We bought them all collars, so now we can tell them apart, and now they have names!

"Reddi" was the first puppy named, by my 3 year old niece.  She saw the red collar and knew just what to name her!

This one is "Rex."  I think my 7 year old brother named him.  

"Abby"

"Sarah"

"Yankee"

"Hettie"

"Storm"

"Ducky"

"Echo"

They are all SO sweet.  We let Charlie play with them today.  He is SUCH a good daddy!  Although typically he will wander away, given the chance, he stays in the yard when he is with the puppies.  He even led them back to their doghouse when it started to rain today (with our help, of course,) something Dutchess doesn't seem to enjoy doing. 

  He doesn't even mind when they climb on him!  

This is Dutchess and Charlie's second batch of puppies.  My older sister took the only male out of last years litter.  Size wise, he's a little closer to Charlie than Dutchess.

 

Personality wise, he's a cross between the two.  He has Dutchess's enthusiastic friendliness, but is still mellow like Charlie. 

I created a photobucket account, and there are more puppy pictures there.  I THINK this link will work http://s986.photobucket.com/albums/ae349/The_Rambling_Amateur/Puppies%202010/ - never having used it, I can't be sure.  
If anyone is interested in adopting one of these sweethearts, we are asking $250 for them.  Charlie is a purebred Newfoundland, and Dutchess is a purebred Golden Retriever.  The puppies are hybrids. :)  You can contact me by commenting with your email address.  All comments are moderated and I will NOT post any comments with personal info, including email addresses. 

Puppies!!!

I had hoped to post this MUCH sooner, but it's been such a crazy week between papers and tests and taking care of the new family, it just didn't happen.  Last Sunday, our Golden Retriever, Dutchess, had puppies!

She started out under the porch, but after the first two we had to move her to the house because it was getting cold.

Charlie, our Newfoundland daddy, was pretty proud when he heard the news.

By 8:30 pm, there were six little black puppies, and we thought she was done.

But when I checked them at 11, there were 2 more, and an hour later she had a total of nine.  By that time I didn't care if there would be more or not, I was going to bed.  Sure enough, woke up Monday morning to find a total of 10 puppies waiting for me!

We lost one the second day, so we're back down to 9, but the rest seem pretty healthy.

We've had to split them into two shifts, so Dutchie will have enough milk-- and room!

They're sweet.  We have different colored ribbons on them, so we can keep track of who's who.

I'll try to keep posting pictures.  If anyone wants one, let me know.  They are a hybrid of purebreds, and if they are anything like the last batch, they are the sweetest pups imaginable.

Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers

This is my excuse for not having puppy pictures up a week ago…they are coming up next!

I wrote this as a synthesis paper for my Advanced Composition class. The main source is Penguin's World War Poetry.


                                 Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers

We are all familiar with the army and the navy. We hear about the marines and the National Guard. But there is another branch to America's defense, a branch that spreads across all: the mothers. When their strong, brave sons and daughters leave, they are strong enough to remain behind. While their children venture into battle with artillery, they battle with prayers. Every letter, every phone call, even the sound of a car on the drive makes them pause. Is it her son? Or someone to tell her there is no one left to listen for? They hang banners in their windows to remind us of something they can never forget. They see how war changes people; they see the shadows in the eyes of the men and women they once comforted on their knees. These are the lucky ones. Others see the flag, draped over a coffin like the blanket over his cradle too few years ago, as blue stars turn to gold.

World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but still the wars continue. It was during this war a custom began of hanging a banner with a star for family members fighting in the war. A Blue Star Banner, or Service Flag, as it is also called, is white with a red border and stars down the center. It was designed and patented by World War I Army Captain Robert L. Queissner of the 5th Ohio Infantry, who had two sons serving on the front lines. It was later designated by Congress as the official flag to be displayed in honor of a family member serving during war or hostilities in the United States armed forces. There is a blue star, symbolizing hope and pride, for each family member serving. If one of these is killed in combat, the blue star is covered with a slightly smaller gold star, symbolizing the sacrifice made by the family (H. Con, Res. 109). The custom continues today.

"And for each one, far off, apart, / Seven swords have rent a woman's heart" (3. 11-12). So ends Marjorie Pickthall's poem, "Marching Men". Referring to the sorrows of Mary, the mother of Christ, she reminds us of those who watched as their sons marched off to fight the Great War. Janie Reinart, mother of Ohio National Guard Specialist Joseph Reinart and coauthor and coeditor with Mary Anne Mayer of "Love you more than you know: Mothers' Stories about Sending their Sons and Daughters to War", writes that she "had thought about sending her son away to school, away to a new job, away to be married, but never, never away to war" (19-20) Theresa Hooley, in her poem "A War Film," shows a young mother during the first World War who does think of it:

The sudden terror that assaulted me? . . .

The body I had bourne

Nine moons beneath my heart,

A part of me . . .

If, someday,

It should be taken away

To War. Tortured. Torn.

Slain.

Rotting in No Man's Land, out in the rain -
My little son . . . (3.16-25)
She than thinks of the mothers, so many mothers, who watched their sons march off to the war that had already claimed so many. Another woman writes to Jane Addams, chairwoman of the Woman's Peace Party:

We are, through God's grace, the parents of two big, healthy boys, and it is, when with motherly pride I look at them, that my heart is wrung at the thought of all those mothers . . . who have to send forth these treasured tokens of God, either never to see them again or else to get them back crippled or blind or demented (Denkert 127).

And indeed, few, if any, make it through war untouched. In her children's novel, "The Singing Tree," Kate Seredy gives a vivid picture of a family in Hungary during World War I. They are safe from the fighting, but still the war reaches out its hand, scarring the ones they love. One woman, after her husband's brief (and unauthorized) visit confides in a neighbor: "This man . . . He was not my Peter. He was a stranger I don't know and, God forgive me, I cannot love (Seredy 162)." He had changed, now lashing out against the neighbors and home he had once loved-- He had learned to hate. How many mothers found their sweet little boys turned to angry, hate-filled men by this cruel machine they called war? Much of the poetry from World War I is dark, angry, and frightening—reflecting the horror of the trenches. This horror didn't end with the war. We read poems like "The Survivor Coming Home," and see Robert Graves close with the lines "'Safe home.' Safe? Twig and bough / Drip, drip, drip with Death!" (6.29-30). If this is difficult for us to read, think how much more so it must be for a mother who not only reads it, but sees it in her child's eyes…a nightmare no hug can erase. Mary Anne Mayer tells us too, that the war didn't end with her son's return. Though his physical wounds healed, he still seemed distant. She could look into his eyes and see there were stories she would never hear. One blue star mother of World War I writes her son:

When you come marching home old fellow bring me back the same boy I gave my country, - true, and clean, and gently, and brave . . . Live for her [his future wife] or if God wills, die for her; but do either with courage (Gordon 130).

Of the three sons sent, two stars were to be covered with gold. This has happened to so many mothers, after seconds, minutes, months, and years of hoping and praying their babies make it home safe.

    How does one endure those long hours of separation, waiting and wondering not knowing if their loved one is safe or suffering? When each day may bring the call that he has been hurt or killed? Poems like Jessie Pope's "Socks" show the wandering mind of a mother knitting for her soldier. He was so brave saying good bye. Was he warm enough? What were the newsboys saying? No, it isn't his battalion. There is so much he doesn't know! But he'll be alright, surely. (1-20) One wonders how long she can believe that, how long she will fight the tears. Mary Anne Mayer tells us she could not echo her son's brave prayer, "God, let Your Will be done, I got no control here." She wanted her son home safely. (33) The rosary and Daily Mass for all the soldiers gave her strength, however; for "who would better understand the suffering of our troops than Mary, who stood and watched the Passion and death of her Son?" (32)

    Although Janie Reinart and Mary Anne Mayer both saw their sons home again safely, there are many who have not been as fortunate. There is an image forever engraved in the mind of the Mrs. Mayer: the mother of one of her son's fallen brothers, sitting in front of the Pieta statue, that tragic figure of Mary holding Christ after His Crucifixion. "It is really the wives and mothers etc of these boys with the glassy eyes who do the real suffering" 1^st Lt. Edward Lukert wrote his wife during World War I. "They are laid away in countless graves but a telegram is dispatched to the 'nearest kin,' who lives to remember and mourn and grieve" (161). How many telegrams were sent? How many more only received a card saying their son or daughter was missing in action? One Civil War mother received a letter from a woman whose family had cared for her son when he died. Imagine her sorrow at hearing that her son's last words were: "My dear mother, if I only could see you once more before I die!" It was a wish that was never granted. (Liggan 95) In a letter to her son, Richard, who was killed in Vietnam thirty years before, Theresa O. Davis writes of the emptiness that she felt at hearing of his death, though she had to "put up a front" for her younger children, who had already lost their father to war. "I still miss you." She writes. "I will always miss you" (Davis 440)

    "Under the level winter sky / I saw a thousand Christs go by." Marjorie Pickthall begins "Marching Men." "And for each one, far off, apart, / Seven swords have rent a woman's heart." (1-2, 11-12) She begins her poem with tribute to the sacrifice of so many men and women who have suffered, even unto death, for so many people they will never meet. She finishes the poem with a reflection on their mothers, who suffered and suffer still. Each deserves honor, and none should be forgotten.


Works Cited:

"Blue Star Service Flag." 12 April 2010. http://www.military-money-matters.com/gold-star    -service.html image

Carroll, Andrew, ed. War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars. New         York: Scribner 2001.

Davis, Theresa O. "Letter to her son, killed 30 years before." Carroll 440-441

Denkart, Mrs. M. "Letter to Jane Addams." Carroll 127-28

Gordon, Kate. "Letter to Son" Carroll 130

Graves, Robert. "The Survivor Comes Home." Walter. 171

Hooley, Theresa. "A War Film." Walter 190

"H. Con. Res. 109--108th Congress: A concurrent resolution on the Blue Star Flag, outlining its         history and encouraging continued use." GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation).     2009.    April 11, 2010 <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=         108_cong _bills&docid=f:hc109enr.txt.pdf>

Liggan, Martha. "Letter to Mother of Confederate Soldier." Carrol 94-96

Lukert, 1^st Lt. Edward. "Extended Correspondence." Carroll 156-162

"Mary After the Crucifixion." A scan of an antique holy card. No other information available

Pickthall, Marjorie. "Marching Men." Walter 43

Pope, Jessie. "Socks." Walter 189

Reinart, Janie, and Mary Anne Mayer. Love you more than you know: Mothers' Stories about sending their Sons and Daughters to War. :Gray & Co. 2009.

Seredy, Kate. The Singing Tree. 1939. New York, NY: Dell 1975

Walter, George, ed. The Penguin Book of World War Poetry. New York: Penguin 2004

Wendel Berry Meets Louis L'Amour

Between school and Easter I have not had the time to post anything.  I could add a few other excuses, too, like a cold, and a film shoot, and LIFE, but that's another story.

 My Advanced Comp. teacher suggested that I post my first paper from that class, the one that I was trying not to write when I started this blog, and the one that prevented me from posting again sooner.  It is a synthesis paper that brings together the essays of Wendell Berry and a short story by Louis L'Amour.  I highly recommend both authors.

                        Mirror Valley Meets Wendell Berry
When outsiders come in and try to change the ways a community does things, we find two problems. The first is that the community doesn't trust the strangers. The second is that the strangers don't know the community. In order for us to effectively solve problems in an area, we must first become a part of that area, and then educate ourselves and others in order to find the best solution for the problem.

"Merrano of the Dry Country" is a short story written by "western" author Louis L'Amour. It tells the tale of a young man who returns to the community that drove his parents away to claim his inheritance. They hated his father because he was different, a Mexican "greaser," and because he married the girl they all wanted. The ranchers of Mirror Valley hated Merrano because he dared to return, and dared to stay when they tried to drive him out. And they hated him because he succeeded where the others were failing.
    Louis L'Amour and Wendell Berry had very different lives, yet both have many of the same ideals. The themes of strong community, respect for the environment, and self sufficiency are common in the works of both men. In his essay We have Begun, Wendell Berry outlines those things that should be "obvious" to a person familiar with the land they work. He says:

1. This is land that needs to be farmed with great care by people who know it well.
   
2. It needs perennial vegetation—trees or grass.
   
3. The steeper slopes should be permanently forested.
   
4. In any year, most of the land that is not forested should be in grass.
   
5. Any farming that is none here should make use of grazing animals.
   
6. The bottomlands, ridgetops, and gentler slopes can be planted in row crops, but they should not be continuously in cultivation. On most farms no more than 5 or 10 percent should be plowed in any year, the crops should be grown in small plots or in strips. No land should remain in cultivation for more than a year or two.
   
7. Even grazing should be done with close attention and care, and on an appropriate scale, in order to avoid both overgrazing and the heavy treading that will expose the soil to erosion. (13)
   

When we read the description of Merrano's ranch, we can see how it reflects nearly every point. That the land is farmed, or ranched, in this case, with care is obvious in the knowledge Merrano shows of the area. He knew water would be a problem, so he created dams to hold the water for the dry season. He knew what grasses were native and he planted them, along with an orchard. This covers Berry's second point–that there should be perennial vegetation. Merrano makes use of grazing animals, but is very careful not to over graze. In contrast, the ranchers of Mirror Valley do not follow this idea of grazing on an appropriate scale; rather they put too much stock on the range, and the result was too little water, too little grass, and eventual drought. The ranchers saw the huge herds of buffalo and believed that the range would support as many cattle. In Merrano's words, the ranchers "came into a rich, new country, and nothing [would] convince [them] it would not always stay rich" (L'Amour 50). Unfortunately, they were wrong, and because of their error they were in danger of ruin.
But can we really blame the ranchers? This was a land the likes of which they had never seen. This is, I think, true for many of the ecological problems. People don't know. They think they know, but they can't see far enough ahead to realize the implications of their actions. Even seeing the results of the overgrazing, it was easy for the ranchers to blame it on "climate change" (L'Amour 46). But it wasn't the climate that changed; it was the way the land reacted to the climate. The eroded soil could no longer hold what little moisture it received. So how can we change the way people react to the land? In his essay "The Working Wilderness," Courtney White asked Julia Davis-Stafford, of the progressively managed, 100,000 acre, CS ranch in northeastern New Mexico, how to change the land ethics of the ranchers, as the ethics of the Davises were changed. Her answer to him is an answer for us: "We didn't change our ethics. We're the same people we were 15 years ago. What changed was our knowledge" (Working Wilderness 162). This distinction between ethics and knowledge is an important one, because in recognizing it we can avoid jumping to conclusions about one side of an issue or the other, and in acknowledging it, we can open ourselves up to a greater understanding of the issue at hand.

The beauty of fiction is that it can give us a more complete understanding of an event than we usually see with a "true" story. This is because, with reality, we are stuck in the position of the observer. There are things we do not, and cannot know, although we may assume them. As Wendell Berry said, "Imagination knows more than the eye sees." When we read a story, we know what is going on in the characters' minds, at least so far as the author is willing to show us. Also, in a short story such as Merrano of the Dry Country, the problems are simple. The cattle are dying, and nobody likes Merrano. The solutions are also simple. Get off your high horse and listen to Merrano. But what about real life? Can these principles of community, knowledge of the land, and peaceful resolutions really work outside the world of fiction and essays? Certainly not as simply, but definitely yes.

In Bringing the Society Back In- Grassroots Ecosystem Management, Accountability, and Sustainable Communities, Edward Weber studies three communities, Willapa Bay, Washington, Henry's Fork Watershed, Idaho, and Applegate Valley, Oregon, that have had successfully overcome serious disagreements by working within the community to resolve differences. Like in Merrano, the issue had escalated to the point of threats of violence. However, the two sides were a little more complicated. Each of the communities relied on the health of the environment for the health of their communities and economies. And each of the communities found themselves divided between the environmentalist groups and the loggers, ranchers, and farmers who made their living from the land (45). As Wendell Berry puts it, "The effort is not only defined by the problem but is limited by it (75)." Neither side could find resolutions, because neither side was willing to see beyond their own problems. As one person put it, it was "owls versus jobs, fish versus people," an entirely too simplistic approach to the problem (Weber 48). No one believed that both the environment and the economy could win.

Fortunately, there were leaders and citizens within these communities who realized that there had to be a solution (Weber 60). They began a conversation with one another, as Merrano did with the Drakes. Wendell Berry says of conversation:

Nobody beginning a conversation can know how it will end. And there is always the possibility that a conversation, by bringing its participants under one another's influence, will change them, possibly for the better. (122)

As a result of these conversations, the citizens created institutions to reconnect society with the government institutions, thereby giving people their voice back. Previously, there had been this feeling that the government was "inaccessible, biased, inefficient, and ineffective" (Weber 52). Also ineffective was the method of breaking things into subcategories, and trying to fix each part separately. The allegiance created by one community pointed out:

A sustainable community needs to be developed by the people who make up the community. It cannot be designed by a consultant. It cannot be implemented by experts hired specifically for the project. It needs to be implemented every day by the people who live and work in the community. (qtd. Weber 194)

Berry talks about how the knowledge should be carried from the university to the regions it supports, in the agricultural extension system, and how information needs to be likewise carried back to the university, telling them what works and what doesn't (124), again bringing the community and education together.

This is what we see in L'Amour's story, as well. Once the ranchers were able to realize that Merrano wasn't just a greaser and that he knew what he was talking about, mainly by the example he was able to show them on his own ranch, they were willing to change what they were doing. As long as he was an outsider, they wouldn't listen. Why should they? Hadn't they run more cattle than he had, and on that range? But by going in and seeing the grass, and seeing the water, and seeing the healthy cows, they were able to realize that these were things they could and should do, too. And they did them. The cases on the west coast are not isolated incidences, either. Courtney White talks about ranching communities who, like the Davises, have come together as a community to implement new ideas in conservation. "Alone, it is doubtful that any one ranching operation can survive economically or socially by itself anymore," White quotes Frank Hayes, in his book Revolution on the Range. "Together they can make a difference among themselves and as a group. (qtd. in White 75)

It's the easiest thing in the world to sit back and say what other people ought to be doing. It is also easy to keep doing what we are doing, and consider our failures to be the fault of something beyond our own control. It is much harder to work with others and take the chance of learning something new about them, and about ourselves. Yet the rewards for the latter far outweigh those of the former. These are things Wendell Berry and Louis L'Amour have both recognized and shared.

Works Cited

Berry, Wendell. The Way of Ignorance. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2005. Print

L'Amour, Louis. "Merrano of the Dry Country." L'Amour, Louis. The Strong Shall live. Bantam    Reissue / September 1992. New York: Bantam Books, 1980, reprinted 1992. 43-79. Print

Weber, Edward P. Bringing Society Back in : Grassroots Ecosystem Management    Accountability, and Sustainable Communities. eBook ISBN: 9780585446721.    Cambridge, Mass.: MIT    Press, 2003. Accessed netlibrary.com 27 Feb. 2010    <http://www.netlibrary.com.proxy.elm4you.org/Reader/> Ebook.

White, Courtney. Revolution on the Range: The rise of a New Ranch in the American West. Washington, D.C.: Shearwater Books, 2008. Accessed on Amazon.com 1 March 2010    http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Range-Rise-Ranch-American/dp/1597261742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267491445&sr=8-1#reader_1597261742 Ebook.

White, Courtney. "The Working Wilderness: A Call for a Land Health Movement." Berry, Wendell. The Way of Ignorance. Berkley, CA: Counterpoint Press, 2005. 159-180. Print

A Book Review...

Two of my favorite hobbies (and chores) are cooking and baking.  Another favorite, not surprisingly, is reading cook books.  They feed off each other nicely.  I don’t get too many complaints from my family, although I know my mother wishes that “cleaning” was a little closer to the top of the list :j.  Cookies, cakes, quick breads, and most other baked goods have been within my skill mastery for a long time.  But somehow bread, regular old yeast bread, always alluded me.  It didn’t even matter if I only had to bake it- I still managed to mess it up.  If involved yeast, I had to pass it by (with one delicious exception, but that’s another post.)
    Enter Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  I came across this cookbook in the USCCA e-Newsletter a few months ago.  The review said it told how to make a bread dough you could store in the refrigerator, then pull out when you wanted bread.  Sounded good, but considering my previous relationship with yeast bread, I passed the email onto my mom, knowing that she would probably find it more useful than I would.  (My mom makes the best 100% whole wheat bread in the whole world, by the way.)  She thought it looked interesting, and got the brilliant idea of renting it from the library.  After reading, I decided to try my hand at a batch.  It turned out perfect.
    The recipes in the book range from crusty french bread, to pitas, to pizza, to rich brioche.  They are really easy to make, at least the ones we have tried, and really versatile.  The Master Recipe is for boule, a crusty round loaf of bread.  It only has four ingredients, and mixes up in about ten minutes.  There is no kneading, instead the bread is allowed to rise until it falls and then refrigerated.  The recipe itself is exact (no “4-6 cups of flour”, ONE part of yeast recipes that always killed me,) but still forgiving.  And this one bread dough makes really good:
round loaves
baguettes
pitas
pizza
and probably a few other things I haven’t tried yet.  My other favorite recipe in the book is the braided challah, which I have also used for hamburger buns, raisin bread, and, just today, really yummy caramel pecan rolls. 
    I admit, I have had a few mess-ups.  The recipes using whole wheat flour did not work well for us, but that may be because we are used to the aforementioned best-in-the-world whole wheat bread, and because we mill our own flour.  I also have made some mistakes in measuring due to a really noisy kitchen, and I’ve completely forgotten to put a few batches of bread away after their rise and fall.  This isn’t a problem with the master recipe, which I have let sit over night without problems, but it is NOT good when there is eggs in the bread, like the challah or the chocolate bread. 
    So that is the review for my new favorite cookbook.  Check your library and try it out.  If you are considering purchasing it through Amazon, they will give me a tiny percentage if you order through the link on the little widget.  Kind of a nice deal- I get a good picture of the book and a little extra change, and you don’t have to go searching for it.  I have mixed feelings about Amazon.  I love it because I can find what I need so easily, but at the same time it bugs me because I know I should hunt local a little more.  Of course not everyone has a local bookstore, and Amazon has small stores...I think the best thing about Amazon is the product reviews.  You get a variety of opinions, and sometimes really good advice.  Do the pros outweigh the cons?  Depends on the product. Am I rambling?  Sorry.  Enjoy!

Not sure how this all works...

so any tips would be more than welcome!  Can I comment on my own blog?  I've tried, but it doesn't seem to work. 
Spring break is here!  I have a whole week off!  Except, of course, for the studying I should get ahead on...and caught up on.  Which I WILL do, even if it is absolutely gorgeous outside...

Hello

Hello!  You may be wondering exactly what this blog is all about.  Well, most likely it is about a little bit of everything.  I imagine you will find things like recipes, book and movie reviews, dishcloth patterns, interesting (or uninteresting) experiences, and puppy pictures.  Or anything else that I happen to write about.  What you aren't likely to find is expert opinions, celebrity gossip, or New York fashion advice.  But I make no guarantees.....

Welcome!

Welcome to The Rambling Amateur.  Or am I The Rambling Amateur?  I haven't decided yet.  I am an amateur, and I'm sure I ramble, so draw your own conclusions.  I also procrastinate, which is what I'm doing right now.  I'm supposed to be studying for a test, but decided I needed another break.  A sane person would probably walk away from the computer, but I've never claimed to be sane.  Again, draw your own conclusions :) Enjoy!